Leaving the Far North, Memories of the Star Dou Forest!

Upon hearing Electrolux's assurance, Xiao Yan finally felt the weight in his heart settle.

With the Holy Necromancer, who had spent most of his life studying magic and souls, taking action, finding a way to fuse Soul Bones was only a matter of time.

He composed himself and withdrew his attention from the Star River Sea of Consciousness.

Amid the frozen wasteland, the blizzard still raged.

Xiao Yan turned to look at Xiao Zhan, who had remained fully alert at his side, and lifted his chin.

"Father, the Spirit Rings have all been obtained, and everything that needed doing is done. Let's go home."

Xiao Zhan nodded without asking further questions.

He activated the vast Super Douluo Soul Power within him. The surging energy formed a solid invisible barrier that tightly protected Xiao Yan.

The two shot into the sky, turning into a streak of light as they sped through the howling snowstorm toward the outskirts of the Extreme North.

On their way here, Xiao Zhan had deliberately restrained his speed somewhat out of consideration for Xiao Yan's body.

Now, on the return journey, knowing that his son was completely unafraid of the cold, Xiao Zhan no longer held back.

A Rank 96 Super Douluo traveling at full speed left the ice plains and snowdrifts below as a blurred afterimage, while only sharp sonic booms remained in their ears.

In less than half a day, the white expanse in their vision gradually faded, replaced by sparse cold-resistant vegetation and exposed rocks.

The temperature rose noticeably. Only after they had completely crossed out of the Extreme North and stepped onto the borderlands of the Heaven Dou Empire did Xiao Zhan finally relax his tightly wound nerves.

He slowed down and looked at Xiao Yan flying beside him. Recalling what they had encountered in the Extreme North Core Zone, Xiao Zhan had once felt as though he were dreaming.

The seven-hundred-thousand-year Lord of the Far North, Snow Empress, had sacrificed herself and become a Soul Spirit. The three-hundred-thousand-year Ice Bear King Xiao Bai and the four-hundred-thousand-year Ice Empress had willingly submitted. Then there was that mysterious old man in the Sea of Consciousness who could wield the Emperor Sword in his hand.

Any one of those things, taken alone, would have caused an earth-shattering upheaval across Douluo Continent.

All the life-and-death battles and fortunate encounters of his first half of life combined could not compare to the scalp-numbing shock of what he had witnessed in these mere few hours.

However, as soon as that thought arose, Xiao Zhan silently shook his head.

No, if they were talking about something truly world-shattering, there was one more thing.

Xiao Zhan's thoughts drifted back twelve years on the wind.

At that time, he was only a Soul Master who had just broken through Rank 90.

In order to absorb a Spirit Ring and advance to Title Douluo, he had ventured alone deep into the Star Dou Forest, intending to hunt a suitable eighty- or ninety-thousand-year Soul Beast.

Before long, he entered the core region of the Star Dou Forest.

It was a jungle shrouded in dense mist all year round.

Xiao Zhan was hiding in the canopy of an ancient towering tree, holding his breath as he watched a passing Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast below—the Meteor Mountain-Suppressing Elephant.

The giant elephant was over thirty meters long, its entire body covered in heavy armor like solid rock. Every step it took sent powerful tremors through the ground.

This ferocious beast, possessing extreme earth attributes and gravity control, was practically a Spirit Ring tailor-made for his Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.

But he knew his limits. With his strength at the time, charging down there would only make him an extra meal for the beast.

Just as Xiao Zhan was preparing to quietly retreat after the giant elephant had gone farther away, a crisp, resounding infant's cry suddenly rang out from the depths of the deathly silent jungle.

Xiao Zhan followed the sound and saw an infant boy, still wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a nearby thicket.

An infant's cries in that perilous Core Zone were no different from a death warrant.

The Meteor Mountain-Suppressing Elephant, which had been preparing to leave, was instantly stirred.

Startled by the piercing sound, the giant elephant let out a roar that shook the forest. Its thick limbs moved as it charged toward the infant, like a moving mountain, intending to trample him.

Xiao Zhan's heart jolted.

He instinctively wanted to rush out and save the child, but the distance was too great, and the elephant's charge was far too fast. He had no time to act.

Just as he thought the infant was about to die beneath the elephant's foot, something unimaginable happened.

A massive Fuxi Bagua Formation Map appeared without warning in the void around the infant.

Dazzling starlight instantly illuminated the dark jungle.

Then, at the center of the formation, an ancient bronze bell of Mystic Yellow Gilded Gold quietly manifested.

The bronze bell trembled ever so slightly.

"Dong—"

It was the first majestic toll sounded by the Eastern Emperor Bell in this world.

A majesty that transcended the laws of the world rippled outward with the bell's chime.

The Hundred-Thousand-Year Meteor Mountain-Suppressing Elephant, which had charged up before the infant in a murderous frenzy, suddenly froze in midair the instant it came into contact with the bell's sound.

Then, without even letting out a cry of agony, its indestructible stone armor and mountain-like body silently broke apart and collapsed, turning into a fine blood mist that scattered through the air.

Yet the bell's chime did not stop there.

The sound waves crossed the boundaries of space and blanketed the entire Star Dou Forest in an instant.

Xiao Zhan's mind had gone completely blank.

He only knew that beneath that bell chime, the sounds of wind and falling leaves vanished, and the trees ceased swaying.

Deep within the Star Dou Forest, a pair of enormous golden dragon eyes that had been sleeping suddenly opened. They belonged to the Beast God, Di Tian.

Yet this strongest ferocious beast of the age discovered in horror that his body had been nailed firmly in place by an irresistible force of laws. He could not even move a finger.

Even the silver dragon figure deeper within the forest, who had been healing her wounds, fell into stasis beneath the suppression of that bell chime.

Xiao Zhan clung to the tree trunk, waiting in terror for death to descend.

But he soon discovered that the force suppressing all things passed directly through his body without causing him any harm.

He immediately guessed that the mysterious bell chime targeted only those with hostile intent.

Xiao Zhan no longer hesitated. His seventh Spirit Ring flared brightly, and he directly summoned his Martial Soul Avatar.

The Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron transformed into a massive cauldron and descended from the sky. He swept the unharmed infant from the ground into it.

At the same time, he also enclosed the red Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring that had condensed after the Meteor Mountain-Suppressing Elephant's death.

He could clearly sense that, for some unknown reason, he could actually absorb this Spirit Ring!

After doing all that, Xiao Zhan fled desperately toward the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest without looking back.

Along the way, he had been prepared at any moment to be surrounded and intercepted by all kinds of Soul Beasts.

But to his surprise, the entire forest was deathly silent.

Those Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts that were usually so vicious were all frozen in place in bizarre poses, helplessly watching this human swagger out of the forest.

Only after he stepped beyond the border of the Star Dou Forest did that law power suppressing heaven and earth finally lift, followed by the terrified roars of countless beasts behind him.

Thinking back on that incident, Xiao Zhan could not help sighing inwardly.

If he had chosen to stand by out of fear back then, how could the Xiao Clan now be on the verge of having two Title Douluos? How could he have reached Rank 96 today?

At that thought, Xiao Zhan's face filled with gratitude.

He turned his head and looked at his son beside him, whose expression was calm and whose handsome features were unparalleled.

Yan'er possessed heaven-defying talent, a steady temperament, and meticulous judgment. He was good in every way.

The only problem was that his mind was entirely devoted to cultivation. He was simply impervious to persuasion, soft or hard.

Taking advantage of this chance for father and son to be alone, Xiao Zhan decided to show some concern for his son's personal life.

He cleared his throat and pretended to look casually at the clouds ahead, his tone carrying a hint of gossip and probing.

"Ahem, Yan'er." Xiao Zhan rubbed his hands together.

"You've been at Shrek Academy for nearly a year now. Have you met any girl there whom you thought was pretty nice, someone who made your heart flutter even a little?"