"Four-Eyed Owl?" Ling Feng furrowed his brow.
He'd only asked on a whim, prompted by a sudden hunch. He hadn't expected such a coincidence.
"May I ask how you're called?" Ling Feng asked.
The peddler thought Ling Feng wanted to hire him to venture into the forest, so he gave his name. "My name is Flender!"
It really is him! What a coincidence!
He'd only just gotten away from Yu Xiaogang, and now he'd run into Yu Xiaogang's good big brother, Flender.
Of course, Flender regarded Yu Xiaogang as a good brother, but Yu Xiaogang might not have sincerely thought of Flender as one.
Besides, Yu Xiaogang was locked up now. Whether the two of them would ever meet in this lifetime was anyone's guess.
His potential only reaches Soul Douluo at most, and his Martial Soul is nothing special. He's not worth recruiting! Ling Feng thought it over and gave up on the idea of subduing Flender.
Ling Feng nodded, then led Bibi Dong around Flender to find a place to stay.
"Hey, don't you two need a helper? My Four-Eyed Owl can fly!"
Flender called after them, unwilling to let this business slip away.
The two of them had come to Sunset Forest without any luggage. They might have Soul Tools on them.
Anyone with a Soul Tool was a real fat sheep. How could Flender let them get away?
Without money, how could he make his dream come true?
Ling Feng found Flender a little annoying. He released a wisp of his Martial Soul Domain's aura, condensed it into a thread, and pressed it toward Flender.
"Stop following us!"
The killing intent and sinister aura of the Rakshasa Domain startled Flender. He didn't dare follow them any farther.
"What kind of skill is that? He can use it without a Soul Ring?"
Only then did Flender understand that it wasn't just the young woman—Ling Feng was a powerful expert too.
"So I was just being presumptuous. Why would they need a Soul Ancestor thug like me? But they're so young!"
"Good thing they didn't buy my map, or I'd be finished!"
The map he was selling was indeed a map of Sunset Forest, but the information on the Soul Beasts' territories had long since gone out of date.
If the two of them found out, they might come after him to settle the score.
"If I could recruit an expert like that, he'd make a great teacher once I established my Soul Master Academy!"
All he could do was dream. Why would such a talented expert ever help him?
Flender shook his head and went back to drumming up business.
The next day, Ling Feng took Bibi Dong toward the deepest part of Sunset Forest.
"Ling Feng, the Crypt Demon Spider's gathering place doesn't seem to be that way. Did we take a wrong turn?" Bibi Dong asked.
Bibi Dong had seen Ling Feng's second Soul Skill and thought it was quite good, so she wanted to absorb a Crypt Demon Spider Soul Ring too.
Ling Feng's second Soul Ring had come from a Crypt Demon Spider, so of course he knew they'd taken a wrong turn.
He wanted to visit the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well first and see if there were any Immortal Herbs suited to Bibi Dong, so she could have one too.
"Bibi Dong, I'll take you somewhere first, then we can go hunt Crypt Demon Spiders," Ling Feng said.
"Where?" Bibi Dong asked curiously.
"Just follow me!"
Half a day later, they reached the deepest part of Sunset Forest, where the ley lines converged.
"We're here! It's right up there," Ling Feng said.
Seeing the miasma above, Bibi Dong was inexplicably reminded of another place of trial: Lost Canyon.
It was shrouded in mist and full of danger too. Bibi Dong had only trained on its outskirts, but she knew how perilous a place like this could be.
"Ling Feng, be careful of the miasma," Bibi Dong warned him.
"Don't worry!" Ling Feng thought for a moment, bit his finger, and held it out to Bibi Dong.
"What are you doing? You shouldn't hurt yourself!" Bibi Dong asked.
"Drink a little of my blood, and you won't have to worry about this miasma," Ling Feng said.
He had cultivated the Ice and Fire Golden Body, and his blood could detoxify and ward off miasma.
If Bibi Dong drank some, she wouldn't just become immune to the miasma here—her resistance to poison would also increase considerably, and she'd become immune to some ordinary poisons.
Only then did Bibi Dong notice the faint golden glow in the blood seeping from Ling Feng's finger.
She stopped refusing, opened her mouth, and held his finger between her lips, sucking at the blood.
His blood didn't smell fishy. It even had a faint, sweet fragrance. Bibi Dong felt no discomfort as she drank it.
Ling Feng had thought Bibi Dong would open her mouth and let him drip the blood in, but he hadn't expected her to put his finger right in her mouth.
The soft, warm feel of her lips, and their perfectly applied lipstick, left Ling Feng's thoughts wandering.
During their journey, Bibi Dong had spent some time being intimate with him every day, leaving Ling Feng increasingly worked up.
"That should be enough. Don't keep sucking!" Ling Feng reminded her after a while.
Bibi Dong seemed reluctant. She stuck out her tongue and licked the wound on Ling Feng's finger.
Ling Feng's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly pulled his finger back. "Where did Bibi Dong learn tricks like that?"
He had no idea that although Bibi Dong had checked out of the Rose Hotel in Suotuo City, she had taken a book of illustrations from the room.
It was full of all kinds of positions. Bibi Dong would flip through it from time to time to study the theory, preparing to try it out on Ling Feng.
"Come on, I'll carry you up," Ling Feng said.
The path here was steep and rugged, and poisonous miasma blocked their view. Bibi Dong could climb up herself, but it would be easier for Ling Feng.
Bibi Dong didn't refuse the chance to get close to Ling Feng.
Ling Feng used Martial Soul Possession, and a pair of purple wings formed from Soul Power sprouted from his back.
"Ling Feng, what happened to your Martial Soul? Why does it look like this?" Bibi Dong asked, astonished.
She clearly remembered that Ling Feng's Martial Soul had been an ordinary Demon Spider Martial Soul. It had only gained the traits of a Death Demon Spider because of the exceptional quality of his third Soul Ring.
But now, Bibi Dong felt that Ling Feng's Martial Soul had changed into something she couldn't recognize.
And Ling Feng's Martial Soul seemed to faintly suppress her Death Spider Emperor.
What kind of Martial Soul is this? Bibi Dong wondered, full of questions.
This was the first time Ling Feng had shown anyone his Martial Soul since it evolved.
"That's because my Martial Soul underwent a Second Awakening!" Ling Feng explained.
"Second Awakening?"
"You came up with a new Martial Soul Theory?" This was the first time Bibi Dong had heard that a Martial Soul could undergo a Second Awakening.
"Something like that!" Ling Feng nodded, without explaining further. "Come on, let's get up there!"
Bibi Dong knew this was a Soul Beast Forest, not a good place to chat, so she wrapped her arms around him.
Ling Feng carried Bibi Dong, flapped his wings, and flew up the sheer cliff into the valley.
Seeing the miasma rushing toward her, Bibi Dong was about to hold her breath when she realized its poison no longer seemed to affect her.
After they entered the valley, Ling Feng set Bibi Dong down.
The place looked no different from when Ling Feng had left, except that some of the spirit herbs had grown considerably older.
"Good, no one's discovered this place."