Star Dou Forest

At dawn, three figures stood ready at the gates of Notting Academy.

Yu Xiaogang had changed into a dark gray outfit suited for movement, with a bulging pack slung over his back. His expression was more solemn than usual. Star Dou Forest was not a captive hunting ground like Soul Hunting Forest. It was a true kingdom of soul beasts, and a single misstep could cost them their lives.

Tang San stood beside his teacher, still wearing a faded blue robe washed nearly white. However, a Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges now hung at his waist, filled with newly forged hidden weapons and all sorts of emergency tools. Three years of working in the blacksmith shop had finally allowed him to gather enough materials to forge a new batch of more refined hidden weapons.

Sleeve arrows, Bone-Piercing Nails, dart stones—every one of them had been coated in anesthetic. They were more than enough to deal with low-level soul beasts.

Xiao Wu was the last to arrive. She still wore her pink dress, her scorpion braid hanging down her back. She carried a small bundle in one hand and had half a osmanthus cake in her mouth.

"Let's go, let's go. Stop dawdling," Xiao Wu said indistinctly as she skipped ahead.

Notting City was several times farther from Star Dou Forest than it was from Soul Hunting Forest.

Three days later, at the outskirts of Star Dou Forest.

Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky. Even in broad daylight, the forest was as dim as dusk. The damp air carried the scent of rotting leaves and moss, while the occasional growl of an unidentified soul beast echoed from deep within the woods, sending chills down their spines.

Yu Xiaogang walked in front, with Luo Sanpao already summoned. Its plump body burrowed through the underbrush, making use of its less-than-keen but still somewhat useful sense of smell.

"Star Dou Forest is not like Soul Hunting Forest," Yu Xiaogang said in a low voice. "There are no fences here, no patrols. We could encounter thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year soul beasts at any time. Stay close to me, and don't run around."

Tang San nodded. His right hand remained on the mechanism of the sleeve arrow at his waist, while his Purple Demon Eye operated at full force. His deep blue eyes glimmered with a cold, ghostly light in the darkness.

Three years of grueling cultivation had brought his Purple Demon Eye to a respectable level. Though it could not see through objects, it let him distinguish things in dim surroundings as clearly as in daylight.

Xiao Wu, however, was the most relaxed of the three.

She had grown up in Star Dou Forest and knew every blade of grass and tree here like the back of her hand. The soul beast auras that left Tang San and Yu Xiaogang on high alert felt no more remarkable to her than a neighbor's guard dog.

"Teacher," Xiao Wu suddenly said, stopping in her tracks as her small nose twitched slightly, "there's the sound of water ahead. There should be a swamp nearby."

Yu Xiaogang's expression shifted. A swamp—dark and damp—was precisely the environment where Ghost Vines were most likely to grow.

"Let's take a look."

The three followed the sound of water. After passing through a dense patch of thorny brush, the view suddenly opened up before them.

It was a marshland surrounded by ancient trees, not particularly large, spanning roughly a hundred zhang. A layer of dark green duckweed floated across its surface, and one or two bubbles occasionally rose up, releasing a faint stench of decay.

All kinds of shade-loving plants grew along the swamp's edge. Vines, moss, and fungi densely entwined the trunks of dead trees.

Tang San's gaze swept across the edge of the swamp inch by inch, the ghostly gleam of his Purple Demon Eye especially conspicuous in the gloom. Suddenly, his eyes fixed on a half-fallen ancient tree.

That ancient tree had been dead for many years. Most of its trunk was submerged in the swamp, while the portion above the water was densely covered in all sorts of vines. But what Tang San had noticed was one particular vine—it was completely different from the surrounding plants.

The vine was pitch-black, its body covered in dark red markings. Those markings were not still; they slowly writhed, as though something were flowing inside the vine.

Its tip split into five thin tendrils. Each tendril ended in a suction cup the size of a fingernail, with a ring of fine barbs at its center.

A Ghost Vine!

Tang San's heart lurched. Just as he was about to speak, Yu Xiaogang pressed a hand onto his shoulder.

"Don't make a sound." Yu Xiaogang's voice was extremely low, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "Look at the Ghost Vine's roots."

Tang San followed his teacher's gaze, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

At the Ghost Vine's roots, a massive snake head slowly emerged from the swamp's surface. Its head was triangular, its scales black as ink, and its vertical pupils a strange dark red. It stared coldly at the three on shore.

"A Blackwater Mystic Snake." Yu Xiaogang's voice was almost inaudible. "Its cultivation is at least five thousand years."

Tang San's breath caught slightly. A five-thousand-year Blackwater Mystic Snake. A soul beast of this level was already beyond what the three of them could handle. Even if Xiao Wu had reached the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, she might not be able to escape unscathed against a five-thousand-year soul beast.

"Withdraw." Yu Xiaogang gestured for them to retreat.

But it was already too late.

The Blackwater Mystic Snake seemed to have noticed their presence. Its enormous head slowly rose from the water, splashing loudly. Its body was as thick as a water barrel, and the portion above the surface alone was more than five meters long.

Those dark red vertical pupils locked onto Tang San at the shore. Its forked tongue flicked in and out as it let out a hiss that made their teeth ache.

"Sanpao, hold it back!" Yu Xiaogang made his decision without hesitation, and three soul rings lit up at once.

Luo Sanpao let out a low roar. Its fat body suddenly swelled by a full circle as it opened its mouth toward the Blackwater Mystic Snake. "A fart like thunder—Heaven-Rending Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!"

Boom!

A thunderous explosion erupted above the swamp as a yellow sphere of light shot toward the Blackwater Mystic Snake like a cannonball. The snake merely tilted its head slightly, allowing the light sphere to graze its scales and fly past before exploding on the water's surface, blasting up a column of water several meters high.

It was completely unharmed.

"Run!" Yu Xiaogang grabbed Tang San's wrist and turned to flee.

But Xiao Wu did not move. She stood where she was, staring at the Blackwater Mystic Snake as a strange light flashed in her eyes.

"Miss, run!" Tang San shouted as he looked back.

Xiao Wu still did not move. She slowly raised her right hand, gathering a ball of pearly white spiritual energy in her palm. It was entirely different from a soul master's Soul Power—pure, cool, and clear as moonlight.

The Blackwater Mystic Snake suddenly froze. Its dark red vertical pupils stared fixedly at the light in Xiao Wu's palm, shrinking violently. Its snake head tilted slightly backward as it let out a low, confused hiss.

Within that light, it sensed a familiar aura—the aura of the core region of Star Dou Forest, the pressure of those beings truly standing at the top of the food chain.

Though the light was still faint, that aura from its very origin could not be faked.

Xiao Wu stared into the Blackwater Mystic Snake's eyes, her lips moving slightly. No sound emerged, but the five-thousand-year giant snake shuddered as if something had struck it hard.

The next instant, the Blackwater Mystic Snake slowly lowered its head and pressed its enormous snake head against the water's surface, assuming an unmistakably submissive posture.

Tang San and Yu Xiaogang had already run dozens of meters away. When they looked back and saw this, both froze in astonishment.

"W-what is going on?" Yu Xiaogang's voice trembled slightly.

Xiao Wu withdrew the spiritual energy from her palm and waved at Tang San. "Come over. It won't attack us now."

Tang San hesitated for a moment, but he still hurried back. Looking at the Blackwater Mystic Snake, docile as a guard dog, then at Xiao Wu, he felt an indescribably complicated emotion well up within him.

Over the past three years, Xiao Wu's strength had continued to grow at a pace that left him far behind. At the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, she could crush soul beasts of the same level as easily as child's play. And now, even a five-thousand-year soul beast had bowed before her.

What about him? He had cultivated with everything he had, yet his Soul Power had only barely reached level twenty.

The gap between them seemed to be growing wider and wider.

"Miss," Tang San said, suppressing his complicated feelings as he pointed at the Ghost Vine still wrapped around the ancient tree, "since the Blackwater Mystic Snake won't attack us, then the Ghost Vine..."

Xiao Wu tilted her head, looking at the Ghost Vine, then at Tang San. A sly smile curled across her lips. "You want it?"

Tang San nodded honestly.

"Fine, I'll help you." Xiao Wu walked to the edge of the swamp and waved at the Blackwater Mystic Snake. "Hey, big black snake. Hand over that vine. We need its soul ring."

The Blackwater Mystic Snake lifted its eyelids to glance at Xiao Wu, then looked at the Ghost Vine. Hesitation flashed through its vertical pupils. The Ghost Vine was its companion. Only by relying on the Ghost Vine to drain the Soul Power from prey could it reign supreme over this swamp.

If it handed over the Ghost Vine...

Seeing its hesitation, Xiao Wu glared. The spiritual energy around her body suddenly erupted.

The pressure of the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment was released without restraint. It was not enough to crush a five-thousand-year soul beast, but when combined with the innate aura she carried from the core region of Star Dou Forest, its intimidation multiplied severalfold.

The Blackwater Mystic Snake shuddered all over and hesitated no longer.

Its enormous body leaped from the water. It bit down on the Ghost Vine's roots and gave a fierce yank, ripping the entire plant out of the ground, roots and all. Then it carefully placed it on an open patch of land by the shore.

Deprived of the nourishment of soil and swamp water, the Ghost Vine's pitch-black body convulsed violently. Its dark red patterns became chaotic and frenzied, while its five thin tendrils lashed wildly in every direction, carving deep furrows into the ground.

Xiao Wu stepped forward, forming her right hand into a palm as another ball of pearly white spiritual energy condensed within it. Her figure flickered, and she was already above the Ghost Vine. She struck the main vine with her palm.

Bang!

The Ghost Vine trembled violently, and the dark red patterns on its body immediately dimmed. It struggled madly, its five thin tendrils whipping toward Xiao Wu at once, the barbs on their suction cups glinting coldly.

But Xiao Wu was far faster than it was. Her body streaked through the air in one blurry afterimage after another. Every time she descended, her palm struck the Ghost Vine, and each blow weakened its aura by another fraction.

After more than a dozen strikes, the Ghost Vine finally stopped struggling.

Its body had nearly been smashed into two pieces. The dark red patterns had completely faded, and only its tip still twitched faintly, proving that it was alive.

"Xiao San, finish it!" Xiao Wu jumped back onto the shore and dusted off her hands, though there was no dust on them.

Tang San took a deep breath, pulled out a short sword from his waist, and walked to the Ghost Vine. The mutated plant-type soul beast that had stumped both his teacher and the system now lay on the ground, barely clinging to life and completely at his mercy.

He crouched and aimed his short sword at the Ghost Vine's core—a slightly raised node in the center of its main vine, equivalent to a soul beast's heart.

Pfft—

The short sword pierced the node. The Ghost Vine convulsed violently once before going completely rigid.

A bright purple glow slowly condensed above the Ghost Vine's corpse.

A thousand-year soul ring.

Yu Xiaogang snapped out of his shock and quickly stepped to Tang San's side, carefully examining the soul ring. The purple light was pure and dazzling, and its cultivation was at least fifteen hundred years.

"Eighteen hundred years." Yu Xiaogang's voice trembled with barely restrained excitement. "Xiao San, your luck has come! An eighteen-hundred-year Ghost Vine soul ring is the perfect choice for your second soul ring!"

Tang San sat cross-legged and slowly gathered his Soul Power in his right palm. Deep blue Blue Silver Grass grew from his hand, golden markings flowing across its blades.

The purple thousand-year soul ring slowly drifted over. Above his head, it contracted into a solid halo the size of a bracelet and settled onto his Blue Silver Grass martial soul.

Boom—

A cold, domineering force surged into Tang San's body, completely unlike the scorching heat he had felt when absorbing the Datura Snake soul ring. This force was like countless icy needles, stabbing through his meridians in every direction. Every piercing strike brought a pain that penetrated to his bones.

This was the Ghost Vine's trait—draining, devouring, assimilation.

Tang San clenched his teeth and circulated the internal power of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, slowly guiding and refining that cold energy. Though an eighteen-hundred-year soul ring far exceeded the usual limit for a second soul ring, the thousand-year first soul ring had already laid a solid foundation for him. His physique and the resilience of his meridians far surpassed those of soul masters at the same level. The force was domineering, but it remained within the limits of what he could endure.

Time passed second by second. The aura around Tang San grew increasingly powerful, while the dark red markings on his Blue Silver Grass martial soul became denser and deeper. Beneath him, the purple soul ring's light became brighter and more brilliant.

Finally—

Tang San abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them.

The purple soul ring beneath his feet stabilized completely. Its deep purple radiance was especially conspicuous in the forest at dusk.

His second soul ring—eighteen hundred years—had been successfully absorbed!

"Good!" Yu Xiaogang slapped his thigh hard, his eyes shining with irrepressible excitement. "An eighteen-hundred-year second soul ring! Xiao San, you've once again reshaped my understanding of soul ring limits! A thousand-year first soul ring and an eighteen-hundred-year second soul ring—let alone Notting Academy, even across the entire history of soul masters on the Douluo Continent, no one has reached such cultivation levels with their first two soul rings!"

Tang San slowly rose to his feet and lifted his right hand, his thoughts stirring slightly.

Deep blue Blue Silver Grass spread out from his palm. Compared to before, its leaves were now covered in dense dark red markings, each one slowly writhing as if alive. Along the edge of every blade of grass grew a ring of fine barbs, their tips flickering with an eerie red glow.

With another thought, the Blue Silver Grass shot out like a nimble snake and wrapped around a tree as thick as a bowl some distance away. The instant the grass leaves touched the trunk, the dark red patterns lit up. Streams of visible green motes were pulled from the bark and flowed upstream along the Blue Silver Grass, entering Tang San's body.

The tree visibly began to wither. Its leaves curled and yellowed. Tang San, meanwhile, felt a faint thread of life force merge into his body. The amount was small, but it undeniably existed.

A life-draining ability. The Ghost Vine's greatest ability had indeed been inherited by his Blue Silver Grass.

Tang San withdrew the Blue Silver Grass, a smile appearing on his lips. His second soul ring, eighteen hundred years, and a life-draining ability—this was already far beyond what he had expected before setting out.

"Not bad, Xiao San." Xiao Wu walked over, stood on tiptoe, and patted his head. "You broke through two more minor levels too. You're level twenty-two now."

Tang San sensed the increase in Soul Power within his body and nodded. Absorbing the eighteen-hundred-year soul ring had raised his Soul Power from level twenty to level twenty-two. The improvement was not huge, but the quality of his second soul ring and its life-draining ability had raised his combat strength by more than a full tier.

He turned toward Yu Xiaogang, only to find his teacher staring blankly at the completely withered tree, muttering under his breath.

"Eighteen hundred years... The theoretical limit for a second soul ring is seven or eight hundred years, yet what you absorbed is more than twice the theoretical limit..." Yu Xiaogang raised his head, his eyes flashing with almost fanatical thirst for knowledge. "Xiao San, the endurance of your physique and meridians has far surpassed anything my theoretical framework can explain. A thousand-year first soul ring, an eighteen-hundred-year second soul ring... If your third soul ring can break through ten thousand years..."

He did not finish, but Tang San already understood what his teacher meant. If his third soul ring could exceed ten thousand years, it would mean that the progression of his soul ring cultivation would completely shatter the age-old, conventional ladder of ten years, hundred years, thousand years, and ten thousand years that had governed the Douluo Continent for millennia.

Tang San nodded, then seemed to remember something and turned to Yu Xiaogang. "Teacher, that Blackwater Mystic Snake just now—"

He turned his head and discovered that the Blackwater Mystic Snake had somehow already slipped back into the depths of the swamp. Only rings of ripples remained on the water, gradually fading away.

Xiao Wu shrugged. "It ran away. It handed over the Ghost Vine and was probably afraid I'd change my mind and beat it up again."

Tang San looked at the swamp, now calm once more, then at Xiao Wu. Suddenly, he felt that the debt he owed this "miss" was growing greater and greater.

Xiao Wu did not notice his gaze. She merely looked up at the sky. "It'll be dark soon. Let's find somewhere safe to set up camp first. There are definitely mosquitoes by this swamp at night, and I don't want to get bitten all over."