Star Dou Forest

Star Dou Forest, located at the center of Douluo Continent and spanning the border between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, is one of the three major wild spirit beast habitats on the Douluo Continent.

On the periphery of the Star Dou Forest, there are tens of thousands of various low-year spirit beasts, capable of meeting the spirit ring requirements for any type of Martial Soul.

The Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow is a sparrow-like spirit beast with a body gradient of dark silver and ink blue. It is slightly larger than an ordinary sparrow, and its eyes are a pair of retractable, crystalline vertical pupils.

It excels at lurking and stalking, possessing extremely strong visual locking and static perception capabilities. Its vision can penetrate thin barriers to track movement trajectories, making it a natural "hunting marksman."

It is precisely because of this characteristic that its spirit ring has a very high probability of granting the Martial Soul an "auto-aim" spirit ring skill.

This has led the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow to become the favorite spirit beast of long-range attack-type Spirit Masters, bar none.

Ever since Zhang Yang awakened his Martial Soul, Zhang Lingyue had been planning the optimal combination of spirit ring skills for him.

After scouring a large amount of intelligence data through the internal channels of the Martial Soul Hall, Zhang Lingyue finally decided to choose the "auto-aim" of the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow as Zhang Yang's first spirit ring skill.

Afterward, Zhang Lingyue also used the internal channels of the Martial Soul Hall to confirm that there had been reports of Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow sightings on the periphery of the Star Dou Forest within the last year.

Therefore, they came.

The carriage departed from Heding City in the Silves Kingdom, crossed the Vicksrock Plain, entered the territory of the Haagen-Dazs Kingdom, and finally arrived at the capital, Haagen-Dazs City.

After resting for two days in Haagen-Dazs City, Zhang Yang's family set off from the south gate of Haagen-Dazs City by carriage, crossed the Star Dou Mountain Range along the winding mountain roads, and finally arrived at the last stop before entering the Star Dou Forest.

This was a small town twice the size of Heding City Academy, with shops lining the streets, offering all kinds of goods.

Zhang Yang observed carefully and noticed that all the shops here were related to the business of Spirit Masters.

There were shops selling weapons, armor, various potions, and all kinds of adventure clothing, focusing on waterproof, quick-dry, storage-capable, and thermal-insulating features, and so on.

One of the most exaggerated garments even had over a dozen pockets, designed to accommodate various types of miscellaneous items.

"It's getting late. We'll rest for a day and officially enter the Star Dou Forest tomorrow," Zhang Lingyue said.

Zhang Yang and Zhu Ranqing had no objections. The family found a decent-looking hotel, ate something, and rented a room to rest.

Having been jolted in the carriage for a day, Zhang Yang was already mentally exhausted. After taking a shower, he couldn't wait to crawl into bed and soon drifted off into dreamland.

Due to the fatigue of the journey, Zhang Yang even started snoring.

Beside the dining table, Zhang Lingyue and Zhu Ranqing, who were discussing the shopping list, couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Haha, he's so tired he's snoring," Zhu Ranqing laughed at her son's cuteness.

"I really didn't expect this," Zhang Lingyue shook his head helplessly. "Yangyang is following us to the Star Dou Forest at such a young age. I originally thought it would be when he was eleven or twelve."

The implication in Zhang Lingyue's words was still a sigh at Zhang Yang's heaven-defying cultivation talent.

After the two finished discussing the shopping list, the waiter changed the water in the washbasin in the room to clean, hot water. Zhang Lingyue took the list and went out to shop, while Zhu Ranqing enjoyed a nice bath.

By the time Zhang Lingyue returned from shopping, Zhu Ranqing's hot bath was nearing its end.

Seeing that his son was sleeping soundly and his dear wife hadn't come out of the tub yet, Zhang Lingyue shamelessly took off his coat and entered the bathroom.

The next day.

Well-rested and full of energy, Zhang Yang, led by a radiant Zhu Ranqing and a slightly fatigued-looking Zhang Lingyue, left the supply town and headed toward the Star Dou Forest.

Although this supply town was within close proximity to the Star Dou Forest, Zhang Yang's family still had to walk more than fifty kilometers after leaving the town before they truly arrived at the edge of the Star Dou Forest.

No one could say for sure how many years the Star Dou Forest had existed. From afar, Zhang Yang could already smell the fresh scent of plants and the damp earth from the great forest.

Finally, they arrived at the edge of the Star Dou Forest, and what Zhang Yang saw was an endless expanse of green.

The towering trees were at least over 20 meters tall, with trunks so thick that two people couldn't wrap their arms around them, and this was only the outermost periphery of the Star Dou Forest.

The dense forest had no paths, and with the heavy shadows of the trees, visibility was severely limited.

Upon arriving at the forest, the air became even more comfortable, as if the temperature had dropped by several degrees.

The refreshing feeling, mixed with the fragrance of damp soil, constantly stimulated Zhang Yang's sense of smell.

At the very last moment before entering the forest, Zhang Lingyue stopped and said to Zhang Yang with a solemn expression, "Son, from now on, we are officially within the range of the Star Dou Forest."

"It is extremely dangerous in here; you could face attacks from thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year spirit beasts at any time."

"Therefore, after entering the forest, you must never leave a 20-meter radius of your mother and me. Do you understand?"

Zhang Yang nodded earnestly, "I understand clearly, Dad."

"Very good. Rest for a bit, recover your strength, and then we'll set off."

The family found a relatively flat spot to sit down. Zhang Lingyue took a water skin and a bag of sweets from his storage Soul Tool.

Sweets were a guarantee of energy. Zhang Lingyue had prepared a large amount of exquisite sweets back in Heding City to meet the family's needs in the Star Dou Forest.

After eating the pastries, drinking some water, and resting for another hour, the family stood up and took their first step into the Star Dou Forest.

The terrain inside the Star Dou Forest was very complex, and there were no paths in the forest at all. The task of clearing the way naturally fell to Zhang Lingyue.

With his axe Martial Soul appearing in his right hand, Zhang Lingyue swung his battle axe to cut through every obstacle in front of them, without affecting their speed of advance in the slightest.

And in order to protect Zhang Yang, Zhu Ranqing also summoned her Martial Soul at this time.

"Martial Soul Possession!"

With a surge of spirit power, Zhu Ranqing's eyes changed color simultaneously; her left eye turned ink green and her right eye azure blue. A long, ink-colored tail swayed gently behind her, and ten thorn-like claws emerged from her slender fingertips.

Beneath her feet, two yellow and two purple spirit rings pulsed with a rhythmic cadence.

Zhang Yang raised an eyebrow; his mother's Martial Soul Possession made his nerves twitch inexplicably.

The surname Zhu, a feline-type beast soul, and the grandfather's house he had never visited because it was "too far"...

Knowing this was not the time to ask, Zhang Yang kept quiet and raised Lord M14, aiming toward every suspicious direction.

The Star Dou Forest truly lived up to its reputation as one of the most dangerous spirit beast forests in the world. Soon, Zhang Lingyue paused, his voice dropping low: "Careful, it's a pack of spirit beasts."

Zhang Yang froze, while Zhu Ranqing took a side-step to shield him: "Lingyue, what's going on?"

"It's a group of ten-year spirit beasts, and they've already spotted us." Zhang Lingyue narrowed his eyes: "However, they don't seem to be aggressive types. We'll skirt around them."

Zhang Lingyue retreated slowly, then led Zhang Yang and Zhu Ranqing to change their course.

During this time, Zhang Lingyue used the sudden situation to instruct Zhang Yang: "Spirit beast resources are finite, so unless it is necessary, do not slaughter them wantonly."

Zhang Yang nodded.

Do not kill without necessity; this was something Zhang Yang had already learned at the academy.

It was also a philosophy consistently advocated by the Martial Soul Hall.

Otherwise, why would spirit masters need to apply for tokens from the Martial Soul Hall when hunting in the managed Soul Hunting Forest?

"It is for the sake of future generations," Zhang Lingyue said.