Oh no! How did a Medusa sneak onto the Douluo set?

Li Hao's heart skipped a beat.

Go foraging in the Star Dou Forest?

What kind of sick joke is that!

Is that place meant for a beginner village villager? Isn't that a slaughterhouse for Soul Master, a hellish Asura for Soul Beast?

He was in a six-and-a-half-year-old body, his soul power entirely dependent on his daughter's handouts, and his only Martial Soul was a broken Fishing Rod.

With this setup, entering the Star Dou Forest?

He'd likely just be walking in as a dessert for the Soul Beast.

"Not going."

Li Hao didn't even think about it, refusing decisively.

The first rule of a salted fish's self-cultivation is to stay away from all danger.

"Wuu..."

Xiao Wu's large eyes instantly welled up with moisture, her little mouth pouted, and tears began to swirl in her eye sockets.

"Daddy doesn't love Xiao Wu anymore... Xiao Wu just wants one bite... just one..."

As she spoke, she held up a tiny finger, gesturing to show how small a bite she meant.

The sight of her on the verge of tears made Li Hao's heart shatter.

What a sin!

Who could withstand this!

This wasn't a raising game at all; this was PUA! Precision PUA from a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast loli!

"Fine, fine, fine, I'm afraid of you."

Li Hao raised his hands in surrender, his face a mask of hopelessness.

"It's a deal, only the outer perimeter! The very outermost circle! We find the fruit and come right back, not one step further!"

"Yay! Daddy is the best!"

Xiao Wu instantly broke into a smile, hugging his neck and planting kisses all over his face.

Li Hao sighed helplessly.

Oh well, just consider it a spring outing with his daughter.

Besides, with Xiao Wu, a hundred-thousand-year-old local rabbit, around, the outer perimeter shouldn't... nothing major should happen, right?

Probably.

Li Hao brought along his tool for survival, that plain, unremarkable Fishing Rod Martial Soul.

In case he really ran into a blind Soul Beast, maybe he could trip it with the fishing line?

He could only comfort himself with that thought.

The figures of the father and daughter soon disappeared onto the small path leading to the Star Dou Forest.

The moment they stepped into the forest, the air felt different.

Humid, fresh, carrying the fragrance of soil and vegetation, yet also laced with a faint, lingering scent of danger.

Li Hao's nerves tightened instantly, and his palms began to sweat as he gripped the Fishing Rod.

However, Xiao Wu in his arms seemed to have returned home, her entire body relaxing.

"Daddy, to the left, there's a hundred-year Nether Wolf sleeping over there, let's go around it."

"Daddy, there's a ten-year Datura Snake on that tree ahead, it's in a bad mood, let's go to the right."

"Daddy, this flower is poisonous, don't touch it."

Li Hao remained in a state of complete bewilderment throughout the journey.

Carrying Xiao Wu, he had become nothing more than a heartless walking machine.

Turn left, turn right, go straight, stop.

Xiao Wu's sensory abilities in this forest were practically a human radar, even more absurd than using a full-map hack in the games he played in his past life.

Danger zones, Soul Beast distribution, poisonous plants... all information was crystal clear.

"Our Xiao Wu is truly amazing."

Li Hao praised her from the bottom of his heart.

"Hee hee, of course!"

Xiao Wu puffed out her little chest proudly.

Under Xiao Wu's precise navigation, they avoided all potential dangers without a hitch and successfully found those bright red berries in a thicket on the forest's outer perimeter.

Li Hao picked one, confirmed it wasn't poisonous, and fed it to Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu took a big bite and squinted her eyes in happiness.

"Sweet!"

Watching his daughter's satisfied smile, Li Hao finally set his anxious heart at ease.

Mission accomplished, time to pack up and go home!

He picked a large handful of berries, cradled them in his shirt, and scooped up Xiao Wu, preparing to head back the way they came.

However, the moment he turned around.

BOOM--!

A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar erupted from the depths of the forest without any warning!

The entire earth trembled violently!

Li Hao stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

Immediately following, an indescribably terrifying energy fluctuation swept out from the depths of the forest like a tsunami.

That energy was overbearing, destructive, and filled with a tyrannical aura.

"Wooo--!"

"Roar--!"

Countless Soul Beast in the forest let out terrified screeches.

Li Hao turned back in horror to see countless birds taking flight in the distance, blotting out the sky.

On the ground, herds of Soul Beast, whether hundred-year or thousand-year, were now acting like they had gone mad, fleeing desperately toward the outer edges of the forest in every direction.

A massive beast tide had erupted!

"Holy crap!"

Li Hao's scalp tingled; he clutched Xiao Wu and turned to run.

He had only one thought now: run! Get as far away from here as possible!

"Daddy, this way!"

Though Xiao Wu in his arms was pale with fright, she immediately pointed in a direction.

Li Hao didn't hesitate; he turned instantly and charged behind a massive boulder Xiao Wu had indicated.

They had just hidden when the beast tide thundered past them, the ground shaking so hard it made their bodies numb.

Li Hao held Xiao Wu tightly, not daring to even breathe loudly.

He was incredibly grateful that he had listened to his daughter.

Otherwise, with their small frames, they would have been trampled into meat paste in a second if they had been caught in the beast tide.

He didn't know how much time had passed before the earth-shaking commotion finally subsided.

Li Hao poked his head out, cautiously observing his surroundings.

The woodland not far ahead had completely changed.

The originally dense trees had been destroyed in swathes, broken trunks lay scattered everywhere, some still burning with purple-black flames.

The ground was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and deep, bottomless pits emitted purple-black toxic gas, the surrounding vegetation completely withered.

The entire area was a mess, as if it had been carpet-bombed.

This... what level of battle was this?

A Title Douluo?

Or were Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast fighting to the death?

Li Hao's heart hammered against his ribs, and he pulled Xiao Wu, wanting to slip away immediately.

This place was too dangerous; staying even one more second could cost them their lives.

But just then, Xiao Wu in his arms suddenly tugged at him.

"Daddy..."

Xiao Wu's voice carried a hint of trembling, her small finger pointing toward the very center of the devastated battlefield.

Li Hao followed the direction she pointed.

In the largest crater at the center of the battlefield, a massive serpentine Soul Beast lay in a pool of blood.

Its body was enormous; just the part exposed outside the crater was over ten meters long.

It was covered in seven-colored scales, but most of them were now shattered and curled, revealing the mangled, bloody flesh beneath.

Purple-black blood seeped continuously from all over its body, staining the ground beneath it a bizarre color.

Its life force was weak to the point of extinction, like a candle in the wind, ready to flicker out at any moment.

"Daddy..."

Xiao Wu's eyes turned red again; she gripped Li Hao's clothes tightly, her voice choked with sobs.

"Save her... she's so pitiful..."

"She is dying..."

Xiao Wu could clearly feel that the massive seven-colored snake was enduring immense agony, its soul wailing in despair.

That sensation made her feel as if she were suffering the same pain.

Li Hao's body, however, went rigid.

He stared fixedly at the form of the snake.

The seven-colored scales, the colossal size, and that aura—noble and overbearing even in the throes of death...

A name that existed only in his memories, belonging to an entirely different novel, surged wildly into his mind.

Dou Qi turning into wings... terrifying indeed... thirty years east of the river...

No, no, no!

It's Queen Medusa!

How the hell is Queen Medusa from Battle Through the Heavens here?

Why would she appear in the Star Dou Forest of the Douluo Continent!

Has the world-building gone completely haywire?

Did I not transmigrate into the Douluo Continent, but rather some Qidian Universe battle royale set?

Li Hao's brain was in chaos; his worldview had suffered an unprecedented shock.

His instinct was to refuse.

Are you kidding me? Save Queen Medusa?

What am I supposed to save her with?

Should I use this Level 1 Martial Soul Fishing Rod to give her a light scratch?

She is a truly ruthless character, violent by nature and decisive in slaughter. If I save her, what if she turns around and swallows me and my daughter whole?

However, just as he prepared to grab Xiao Wu and run, a long-absent mechanical voice exploded in his mind!

[Detected a pure soul unit on the verge of death (Otherworld Projection: Queen Medusa), meeting the criteria for healing.]

[Warning: This unit possesses an extremely high energy level. Healing/evolution will trigger a massive energy tide. Host, please choose with caution!]