Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, three years had passed (the pace picked up so the story wouldn't drag).
Qin Chuan had turned eighteen (and finally escaped the Shackles of Love!).
Three years ago, he had been level 56. Now he was level 71.
A leap of fifteen levels was an unbelievable rate of progress for any Soul Master.
He had collected all seven white Soul Rings. Just two more, and he could unlock the Time Stasis Domain!
Hu Liena had advanced from level 52 to level 60. Her Soul Power had reached its limit, and she was stuck at the level 60 bottleneck. She needed a Sixth Soul Ring to advance.
Xie Yue was level 62.
Yan was level 59.
Over the past three years, the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall had grown steadily.
Yue Guan had taken them all over to gain experience, hunt Soul Beasts, fight, and cultivate. They had gone through that routine countless times. And Qin Chuan, as the most exceptional member of the group, had long since become one of them.
One morning, five people stood at the entrance to the Star Dou Great Forest.
The morning mist had yet to clear. Milky-white vapor drifted along the ground, clinging damply to their faces.
The trees at the forest's edge were already more than thirty meters tall. Moss and vines crawled over their thick trunks.
The layer of fallen leaves was deep. Each step sank into it, soft beneath their feet, with dampness seeping through their soles.
The air was thick with the smell of pine resin, rotting leaves, and earth, mixed with the hard-to-place, rank odor of wild beasts that wormed its way into their nostrils.
Qin Chuan took a deep breath. It felt familiar.
The last time he had come to the Star Dou Great Forest had been three years ago, when he'd hunted the Illusion Bell alone for its Soul Ring. He had ventured into the forest's depths and slain a twenty-five-thousand-year Golden-Patterned Sword-Toothed Tiger with the Zhu Xian Sword.
This time was different. With Yue Guan in charge, their safety was on an entirely different level.
Yue Guan stood at the head of the group. Today he wore a fitted, dark-gray outfit, and his hair was tied back with a silver hairpin. He looked a little more spirited than usual.
"Are you all ready?" Yue Guan glanced back at them.
"Ready, ready. Let's go!" Yan rubbed his hands together, excitement written all over his face. "I've been cooped up in the city for half a month. My hands are itching for a fight."
Xie Yue shot Yan a glance without answering. He simply checked the Moon Blade at his waist, making sure it was securely fastened.
Hu Liena stood beside Qin Chuan. Today, she had tied her hair in a high ponytail, gathering her long purplish-red hair behind her head and revealing her smooth forehead and slender neck.
Three years had made her more mature. Her features were more defined, and her figure had filled out.
"Let's go." Yue Guan stepped into the forest.
The other four followed in turn, and soon the dense canopy swallowed them up.
As soon as they entered the outer forest, movement began among the surrounding undergrowth.
Rustling sounds came from every direction. Now and then, a pair of glowing eyes flashed deep in the grass, then slipped away.
A Grey-Backed Poison Snake, about half a meter long, was coiled around a tree root ahead. It raised its triangular head slightly, its tongue flicking nonstop.
Yan was about to step on it when Xie Yue yanked him back.
"Why step on it? Go around."
"I don't like the look of it. I want to step on it."
"Childish!"
Yue Guan led the way. The Soul Power pressure he released almost carelessly was enough to make every low-level Soul Beast within a hundred meters flatten itself to the ground.
The century-old Soul Beasts sensed his aura and cowered in caves and under bushes, not daring to breathe too loudly.
After traveling at high speed for more than half an hour, the group reached the forest's middle region.
The trees here were even taller. Some ancient trees were more than five meters in diameter, their canopies connected overhead and blocking out the sky completely. The light dimmed, leaving shadows everywhere.
As he walked, Qin Chuan used his Six Paths Reincarnation Eye to passively sense his surroundings. He had the Soul Beast distribution within a ten-kilometer radius completely under control.
"Nana, have you decided what kind of Soul Beast you want this time?" Qin Chuan turned to Hu Liena.
She walked to his right. At his question, she turned her head toward him. "At least thirty thousand years old, and a control-type Soul Beast. Ideally, it would be compatible with my Demon Fox Martial Soul, so there'll be less resistance when I absorb it."
Qin Chuan nodded. "A control-type Soul Beast that's lived for thirty thousand years. That narrows the options quite a bit."
Yue Guan chimed in. "There are plenty of control-type Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, but not many that have lived for more than thirty thousand years. We'll have to reach the forest's depths for a chance of finding one."
They continued deeper into the forest.
Soul Beasts became more numerous along the way, and their levels grew higher, too.
A Black Giant Scorpion crawled out from behind a rock on their left. Its tail stinger arched high, giving off purple poisonous mist. Qin Chuan glanced at it. It had about three thousand years of cultivation.
Yue Guan didn't even look at it. He pressed a wave of Soul Power in its direction, and the scorpion's body suddenly sank. Its eight legs went limp, and it sprawled on the ground without moving.
"Impressive," Yan muttered quietly behind them.
After another half hour or so, a shallow stream appeared ahead. Its water was clear enough to reveal the pebbles below and a few finger-length fish. Several enormous footprints marked the muddy bank. They were three-toed and more than two inches deep.
Yue Guan crouched to look at them. "Tiger-Lion Beast tracks. And it's no youngster."
Just as he finished speaking, a deep growl came from the bushes across the stream.
A huge beast, nearly four meters long, emerged from behind the bushes. Its head resembled a tiger's, its body a lion's, and its limbs were thick and powerful. Its coat was deep gold with black stripes, striking against the dim forest.
Qin Chuan scanned it with his Samsara Eye. Twelve thousand years old, and a mutant.
The Tiger-Lion Beast was nearly twice the size of an ordinary one, and its coat was the wrong color, too. Ordinary Tiger-Lion Beasts were grayish-white; this one was gold and black. Its mutated physique meant it was much stronger than an ordinary Tiger-Lion Beast of the same age.
"A twelve-thousand-year-old mutant Tiger-Lion Beast," Qin Chuan said.
Yue Guan stood up and glanced at him. "You've got a good eye."
The Tiger-Lion Beast crouched on the far side of the stream, its golden, slit-pupiled eyes fixed on the group as it growled continuously. It didn't attack right away. It was weighing its options.
Yue Guan took one step toward it.
The Tiger-Lion Beast's body tensed. Its limbs bulged with muscle as it took up an attack stance.
Yue Guan didn't summon his Martial Soul. He simply focused and released his Soul Power pressure.
That pressure instantly covered the Tiger-Lion Beast from head to toe.
Its golden pupils narrowed to slits. Its growl turned to a whimper, and its four legs began to shake. It let out another unwilling roar, but it had already started backing away.
After retreating a few steps, the Tiger-Lion Beast suddenly turned and plunged into the bushes, fleeing.
"A twelve-thousand-year-old mutant. Could've been good practice if we'd run into it somewhere else," Xie Yue said regretfully.
"No need to invite trouble," Yue Guan said, and continued leading the way.
The group pressed on. The light in the forest grew dimmer, the ground beneath their feet more slippery, and the air so damp it felt as if they could wring water from it.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and a second huge creature appeared within Qin Chuan's range of perception.
About two hundred meters straight ahead, a giant snake was coiled in the crown of an enormous ancient tree.
Its body was about as thick as an adult's waist. Its scales were deep purple, and silvery-white arcs of electricity occasionally flashed between them.
An eighteen-thousand-year Thunder-Patterned Python.