At the gates of Nuoding Academy!
Lu Chen, who stood 1.8 meters tall, shouldered his pack and walked out of the academy.
Behind him were Xiao Wu, who had come to see him off, and Tang San, the number one bootlicker at her feet.
You had to hand it to Tang San: the fellow truly had perseverance. Even after making a clown of himself time and again, he still shamelessly sidled up to Xiao Wu, doggedly securing his place as her number one bootlicker.
Her scorpion braid flying behind her, Xiao Wu waved enthusiastically at Lu Chen, her voice clear, sweet, and brimming with youthful vitality:
"Boss Lu Chen, come back soon after you absorb your first spirit ring. We'll be waiting for you at the academy!"
After all, they had been roommates and companions for three years. At this moment of parting, Lu Chen turned to Xiao Wu and said gently:
"Hunting spirit beasts is fraught with danger. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but as long as fate allows it, we'll definitely meet again someday."
Xiao Wu really did have an innocent, carefree nature. She showed not the slightest nervousness and even said expectantly:
"We'll definitely meet again. Look at Little San-he's already absorbed two spirit rings and become a Soul Grandmaster, and he hasn't lost any arms or legs."
Little San was Tang San. As Xiao Wu's bootlicker, Tang San had already lost his own name in her presence.
Even when Xiao Wu called him Little San, Tang San gritted his teeth and accepted it with a face full of smiles.
It had to be said that bootlickers were truly terrifying creatures.
At that moment, a look mingling delight and malice surfaced in Bootlicker Tang's eyes.
He was delighted because once Lu Chen left, he would be the person closest to Xiao Wu.
Even if he was just a bootlicker, as long as he followed Xiao Wu around all day, the day might yet come when he found his way into her heart.
He thought maliciously that it would be best if Lu Chen died out there on this spirit beast hunt. Then he would have no rival left.
Tang San recalled his own two spirit beast hunts: the first for a Datura Snake and the second for a Ghost Vine. Despite ample preparations, he had narrowly escaped death both times.
Lu Chen was all alone. If he went hunting spirit beasts in the Spirit Beast Forest, he would most likely die there.
This was the darkest thought in Tang San's heart!
He looked at Lu Chen as though he were looking at a dead man!
Lu Chen was not blind. Malice toward him radiated from every inch of Tang San, so how could he fail to sense it?
But now was not yet the time to turn hostile!
For him, this journey meant a sky vast enough for birds to fly and a sea broad enough for fish to leap!
Once his wings were fully fledged, it would be time for a complete showdown with Tang Hao and Tang San, father and son.
He had not dared forget, even now, the harm and humiliation Tang Hao and Tang San had inflicted upon him and his parents back then.
Every day, all he thought about was growing strong as soon as possible, then taking revenge on Tang Hao and Tang San. He had to make this father and son regret ever coming into this world.
This was a major driving force behind Lu Chen's desire to grow stronger!
At that thought, Lu Chen turned and strode away, his ringing voice carrying back:
"Goodbye! I'm off!"
After saying goodbye to Xiao Wu, Lu Chen left Notting City. He did not immediately go hunting spirit beasts, but instead hurried back to Holy Soul Village.
Once he left this time, he might well be gone for several years. It would not be like attending Nuoding Academy, when he could at least return once a year.
Since he would be away for a long time, Lu Chen returned to Holy Soul Village and properly said goodbye to his parents, Lu An and Rose, as well as Grandpa Old Jack, the village chief who cared about him.
Three days later, with no lingering worries left, Lu Chen shouldered his pack once more and embarked on his spirit beast hunting journey without looking back.
Lu Chen held a tattered map he had bought in Notting City. Roughly marked on it were the major cities of the Two Great Empires, as well as some famous spirit beast forests.
Sunset Great Forest, for instance, and Star Dou Forest!
This time, Lu Chen's destination was Star Dou Forest, located in the center of the Douluo Continent, sandwiched between the Two Great Empires.
Star Dou Forest was currently the most expansive spirit beast forest on the continent. Divided into three sections-the Outer Zone, the Mixed Zone, and the Core Zone-it possessed countless spirit beast resources, but was also exceptionally dangerous.
The Outer Zone contained large numbers of hundred-year spirit beasts and thousand-year spirit beasts.
The Mixed Zone contained many powerful spirit beasts between ten thousand and fifty thousand years old.
The Core Zone contained nothing but terrifying spirit beasts over fifty thousand years old, and even held top-tier spirit beasts over a hundred thousand years old.
Star Dou Forest was the place Lu Chen had chosen to hunt spirit beasts. He believed that with its rich spirit beast resources, he would surely be able to rise in a short time.
How should his two martial souls, Blue Silver Grass and the Black Iron Sickle, develop in the future?
Over these past three years, Lu Chen had already considered that question countless times!
First of all, he certainly could not follow Tang San's example. The most important thing about twin martial souls was for each to draw on the other's strengths and make up for its weaknesses.
Tang San's Blue Silver Grass martial soul had initially followed a control path, then gained power-attack skills later on, becoming a combination of control and power attacks.
This created a certain overlap with the path of his second martial soul, the Clear Sky Hammer, preventing him from fully exploiting the advantages of twin martial souls.
In Lu Chen's vision, his Blue Silver Grass martial soul needed to continually improve its own life attribute and follow the support system path: restoring health and energy, providing shields and enhancements, and ultimately becoming capable of bringing the dead back to life.
With the life attribute of his first martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, his second martial soul, the Black Iron Sickle, could take on attributes such as destruction, darkness, and devastation.
The more savage, the better; the more overwhelming, the better!
As long as it was powerful enough, he would spare no cost-even if it meant perishing together with his enemy!
Only this way could he fully exploit the advantages of twin martial souls: ultimate life for his first martial soul and ultimate destruction for his second. With the two martial souls drawing on each other's strengths to make up for their weaknesses, they would be enough to turn him into a killing machine.
Once both paths he envisioned for his twin martial souls reached their respective extremes, he believed they would be enough to make him invincible beneath the heavens on this Douluo Continent.
After half a month of travel, a dust-covered Lu Chen finally arrived outside Star Dou Forest.
Recalling everything he had experienced over the past half month, Lu Chen could not help feeling deeply moved. Traveling far from home really was not easy.
Out on the road, there was far too much to guard against: bandits, wild beasts, crooked inns... One moment of carelessness could cost not only money, but even one's life.
Lu Chen was very fortunate. Thanks to his gold finger, which made him stronger just by breathing, he already had a 1.8-meter-tall physique at only nine years old, along with boundless physical strength. Only that had allowed him to break through one crisis after another.
With quite a bit of blood staining his hands, Lu Chen's gaze had grown cold, and his expression had become more mature as well. Surely anyone who had experienced life-and-death dangers could shed their old self and grow rapidly.
Now, looking at the endlessly stretching dark forest before him, Lu Chen spoke in an exhilarated tone:
"Star Dou Forest, I, Lu Chen, have finally arrived..."