The Trail of Emerald Garlic

The next day at noon, Du Hao and his two companions finally arrived at the Soul Hunting Forest.

"Finally here. My poor backside." Du Hao jumped off the carriage and leaned against the wheel, feeling as though his rear end no longer belonged to him.

This was even worse than the ox cart Old Jack had used to take them to school. At least that one hadn't rattled so absurdly.

"Alright, stop complaining." Zhu Zhuqing, who had stepped down after him, stood to the side and chuckled softly.

Flender, who had already disembarked, looked over and teased with a smile, "I told you to let me fly you here, but you wouldn't have it. How is it now? You brought this suffering upon yourselves."

In truth, Flender wasn't fond of this carriage either; it wasn't as fast as he was, and it cost money—his heart ached for every coin.

Hearing Flender say this, Du Hao didn't bother to argue. As for letting this guy carry them both through the air? That was even more out of the question.

With Zhu Zhuqing and himself, that made two people. One could imagine the awkward posture Flender would have to use to carry them. It certainly wouldn't be pleasant.

"Alright, stop dawdling."

Flender turned and walked toward the entrance of the Soul Hunting Forest. "After we get your spirit ring, I still have to help this girl beside you hunt for hers. If you're any slower, I'm going to start charging you." His tone grew a bit wistful by the end.

He never expected that he, Flender, would one day suffer a loss, and at the hands of a young boy at that.

It had been agreed that he would only help one person obtain a spirit ring.

He hadn't anticipated another person being dragged along midway. If it weren't for the fact that this kid had promised to attend his academy later, Flender would have taken the opportunity to demand payment.

Du Hao and Zhu Zhuqing exchanged a smile and hurried to catch up with Flender.

Arriving at the main gate of the Soul Hunting Forest, Flender, who was walking in front, took out the Spirit Hall token given to him by Grandmaster and led Du Hao and Zhu Zhuqing inside with ease.

"Principal Flender, why are you walking so fast?" Hearing the various sounds of spirit beasts in his ears, Du Hao hurriedly shouted at the back ahead of him.

The moment they stepped into the forest, Du Hao immediately felt the surrounding temperature drop significantly compared to the outside.

Towering trees blocked out the sun, and the group standing below could barely see any light from the sky. Only a few faint glimmers filtered through the branches and leaves, providing a hint of residual warmth.

The surroundings were filled with all sorts of cries; it was impossible to distinguish whether they were birds, insects, or the dangerous aura emitted by predators lurking in the shadows.

"Hao, I feel like many eyes are watching us." Zhu Zhuqing looked around with a guarded expression.

Originally, she thought that with a Spirit Saint like Flender present, she shouldn't feel such fear.

But after entering, she realized she might have overestimated herself.

Walking in such a dangerous place, she constantly felt as if pairs of eyes were fixed upon them from all directions.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here." Du Hao reached out and took Zhu Zhuqing's small hand in his.

"Mm~" The little kitten let out a soft whimper.

Feeling the warmth from his palm, it was just like that winter. So warm, so reassuring.

Flender looked back at Du Hao and his companion, suddenly acting as if he had discovered a new world, clicking his tongue in wonder.

"If I remember correctly, this kid is only six years old, right?" he muttered to himself, feeling as though he couldn't keep up with the changing times.

Were the youngsters these days all so precocious?

"Little Hao, I'm going up to search for the Emerald Garlic. You two be careful down there. If there's danger, shout, and I'll be there immediately." No sooner had he finished speaking than Flender summoned his wings and flew into the sky without waiting for a reply.

If he stayed here any longer, these two youngsters would likely start showing off their affection again. It was better to leave.

Watching Flender fly away, Du Hao took a deep breath.

"Zhuqing, let's head in that direction." He hoped that owl in the sky wouldn't be too unreliable.

If he flew too far away, even if they truly encountered danger, he feared he wouldn't be able to make it back in time, and they would be done for.

At this stage, a novice spirit master was useless for hunting; even if they released their spirit, they would at most just be a side dish for the opponent...

As for the only thing on Du Hao that could be considered a weapon, it was the hidden weapon Tang San had given him earlier.

A simplified version of the Zhuge Crossbow!

The power of the simplified version was less than half of the original, and its flaw was that it could only fire one bolt at a time...

But it wasn't without its advantages. After modifications, the magazine capacity of the Zhuge Crossbow had been increased to 20 bolts. Although it could only fire in single shots, its power was not to be underestimated.

It was even comparable to modern firearms.

As for why he hadn't suggested that Tang San use gunpowder to make a real pistol back then?

That depended on the prompt that had suddenly popped up at the time.

"Option 1 [White]: Gunpowder is the key to the advancement of human civilization, but also a cruel lock-opener! The current era is not suitable for such items to appear. Reward: None..."

"Option 2 [Black/Red]: Gentlemen, I love war, I love slaughter! I love all of this, returning to the most primitive... Hint: Within five years, a 100% chance to trigger the Douluo Continent World War event! Reward: Complete blueprints for modern weapons, 100,000-year spirit bone x1."

When he saw this option back then, Du Hao felt terrible.

Are you kidding me? A world war!

And it would definitely erupt within five years! If he had delayed it by ten years, Du Hao might have gambled on this.

But five years... let's forget about it.

Within these five years, even if he cheated to the extreme, becoming a god would still be a bit too difficult. It wouldn't be good if the Spirit Hall directly declared war on the world then.

As they ventured deeper, the surrounding environment gradually became wilder. Tall trees grew in clusters, and the oppressive atmosphere in the air intensified.

This indicated they had entered the area outside the forest's core. They weren't far from the core.

"Ah Hao! Come here quickly, I found something!" Zhu Zhuqing's shout instantly attracted Flender's attention as he patrolled overhead.

Flender swooped down in a straight line.

"What's going on?" Flender, upon landing, saw the two of them squatting near the roots of a large tree.

He walked over and looked closely, discovering a verdant crystal growing in a corner of the tree roots.

"Is this Emerald Garlic?" Comparing it to the picture Grandmaster had shown him before, Flender recognized the green crystal at a glance.

"But this one is too small?" The garlic appeared to be less than a hundred years old, perhaps not even fifty.

Hearing Flender's words, Du Hao stood up. "Principal Flender, although Emerald Garlic is a rare plant spirit beast, as long as we can find one nearby, there will definitely be other Emerald Garlic nearby!"

Du Hao remembered clearly all the knowledge Grandmaster had personally instructed him with before they set off!

Flender, listening intently, immediately understood the boy's intention. "Since that's the case, I'll go up and check the surroundings for you now."

Without further ado, he leaped up.

Using the current large tree as the center, he began to continuously patrol the corners of the surrounding trees!

Thanks to Flender's owl spirit, which gave him sharp eyesight, no other reconnaissance spirit master could achieve this level of efficiency.

Indeed, after a short while, Flender's joyous news came from above!

"Xiao Hao! Found another one..."