Star Dou Great Forest

[This is not a mindless power fantasy, this is not a mindless power fantasy, this is not a mindless power fantasy! If you cannot accept failure, I apologize; perhaps my writing style does not suit your tastes.]

[The protagonist passed away from illness at a young age and only knows the plot of the first Douluo Dalu. I will not write the specifics, as it is pure filler; there is not much of a transmigration experience in the plot, but collecting the immortal-grade medicinal herbs is a must.]

[Same cohort as Ma Xiaotao, same cohort as Ma Xiaotao, same cohort as Ma Xiaotao; important things must be said three times.]

[Main Text]

"Dad!"

"Mom!"

Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, Yue Ling sprinted forward with all his might.

Tree branches and weeds along the path scraped viciously against his body. His slender arms and calves were covered in dense, jagged wounds, and beads of blood constantly seeped out.

His orange hair was matted with sweat, sticking messily to his forehead, and his once gentle eyes had turned bloodshot.

His heart was filled with panic, yet deep beneath his gaze, he suppressed a bone-chilling hatred.

He could not care about anything at this moment. Regardless of what soul beast territory lay ahead, he only knew to bury his head and run.

He could not stop, and he dared not look back.

Behind him lay the chance at survival his parents had bought with their lives.

"Evil Soul Master... Fifth Elder!"

Yue Ling bit his lower lip so hard that the taste of blood filled his mouth, only then managing to steady his churning emotions.

He was originally a villager from Hundred Flowers Village. At his soul awakening at age six, he possessed twin martial souls: the Wonder-Silk Heavenly Chrysanthemum and the Love-Sickness Heartbreak Red. He was also born with full soul power, a genius rarely seen in the village for decades.

The old village chief had deliberated repeatedly before gifting him the ancestral Wonder-Silk Heavenly Chrysanthemum, hoping only that he would one day give back to the village.

After consuming it, he had awakened a domain through a stroke of luck.

But human hearts were treacherous. The village chief's son had grown jealous of this immortal herb and, driven by greed, secretly colluded with that Evil Soul Master known as the Fifth Elder, directly betraying the entire Hundred Flowers Village.

His parents, in order to stall the five-ringed Evil Soul Master who had come in pursuit, were already beyond hope.

The final images and voices of his parents echoed in his mind over and over.

"A-Ling, you are the hope of Hundred Flowers Village. Keep this book safe; it was passed down by our ancestors!"

"Ling-ling, live well... Mom and Dad are leaving..."

Yue Ling would never forget the reluctant looks in his parents' eyes before they left, the smiles they forced themselves to wear, and the Hundred Flowers Record that had been shoved into his arms.

"Power... I need power!"

He bit his lip again until blood beaded on the surface.

When he was young, his parents and the old village chief had studied the path of his martial soul together.

Control, support, defense—all these paths had been rejected.

His Wonder-Silk Heavenly Chrysanthemum would only follow the path of pure assault!

Without power, one could only be slaughtered! He would turn those originally soft petals into blades capable of killing his enemies!

A fierce rage surged in the boy's heart. He wished he could instantly possess heaven-defying strength to slaughter every Evil Soul Master and make that selfish, vicious traitor pay the price.

But impulse was useless.

Yue Ling forcibly suppressed the restlessness in his heart, constantly reminding himself.

He was too weak right now.

The priority was to survive. Only by living would he have a chance at revenge!

He had to escape the Star Dou Great Forest first. Now, he could only use his final trump card.

Confirming that the Hundred Flowers Record in his arms was intact, Yue Ling took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and pressed his palms heavily against the ground.

"Heavenly Chrysanthemum Domain!"

Above the ground, delicate chrysanthemums broke through the soil, swaying gently in the breeze.

Originally, only his Love-Sickness Heartbreak Red carried a domain, which focused on large-scale control. But after consuming the ten-thousand-year Wonder-Silk Heavenly Chrysanthemum, his first martial soul had also awakened its exclusive domain.

This domain had a key ability—Ten Thousand Chrysanthemums Shared Vision.

The entire sea of flowers shared a field of vision, capable of seeing through all invisibility and illusions. Every enemy's soul power fluctuations would be marked by the petals, leaving them nowhere to hide. Its detection ability was incredibly powerful.

This was his only reliance now, and his only chance to escape the forest and obtain his second soul ring.

At this moment, he only had twenty levels of soul power. Being alone in the Star Dou Great Forest was already a nine-out-of-ten chance of death, and with a Soul King Evil Soul Master in hot pursuit, his situation was perilous to the extreme.

As for his parents, the probability was... they were already gone.

A sudden, rapid sound of wind breaking came from the forest in the distance.

Yue Ling's heart constricted violently. He shook his head hard, trying to suppress the surging grief. But the more he restrained it, the more intense the heartache and panic became, and tears fell uncontrollably.

While relying on his domain to detect movements around him, he raised his hand to quickly wipe away his tears.

The moment the domain spread out, a patch of iron briars on his left entered his vision.

These briars had thick branches and black thorns; they were thousand-year soul beasts.

Thanks to the ten-thousand-year chrysanthemum plant remodeling his body, his physique far exceeded that of an ordinary Great Soul Master, giving him the foundation to barely absorb a thousand-year soul ring beyond his level.

But the iron briars were absolutely out of the question.

This soul beast specialized in defense and counter-shocks. Absorbing it would likely only grant a defensive soul skill and would bias his martial soul toward a defensive stance, which completely contradicted his unwavering path of pure assault.

He could not choose it.

He would continue searching. If there truly were no other options, he would then force himself to absorb it.

Plant-type martial souls were already at a disadvantage in the early stages. Since he was taking the assault path, he absolutely could not settle on his soul rings.

Yue Ling lifted his feet and continued to grope forward.

Keeping the domain active consumed a massive amount of soul power and mental energy. He tried to compress the domain range to his immediate surroundings to save a little, but he could not hold it for long.

Plants were the most tenacious; as long as the roots remained, they would grow endlessly.

But right now, this tenacity could not support his situation.

The entire forest was deathly still, quiet to the point of terror, and so oppressive it made it hard to breathe.

Yue Ling lightened his footsteps, inching forward without daring to make a sound, fearing he would startle a high-level soul beast.

He counted silently in his heart.

He could hold on for two more minutes at most before his soul power and mental energy were completely exhausted.

Within one minute, he had to find a place to hide and recover.

He was drenched in sweat, covered in dust, and in a state of utter disarray, having long since lost his usual clean and sharp appearance.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bushes beside him.

Yue Ling's body tensed instantly, and he immediately entered a state of maximum alert.

"Chirp... chirp..."

Two crisp bird calls rang out, and a small bird flew out from the bushes.

A false alarm.

Yue Ling breathed a slight sigh of relief. He reached out to push aside the bushes in front of him, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

A sunflower nearly three meters tall stood quietly in the forest, swaying gently with the wind. It was a genuine thousand-year plant soul beast.

He could not defeat ordinary thousand-year soul beasts, but plant soul beasts had the weakest intelligence and were the easiest to deal with; it was his most suitable choice at the moment. Even if its attributes were not perfect, it was far better than absorbing the iron briars.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yue Ling exerted his strength.

He pushed the Heavenly Chrysanthemum Domain to its limit, the suppression of a superior plant martial soul spreading out completely to firmly envelop the thousand-year sunflower.

Under the domain's suppression, the sunflower instantly withered, its vitality significantly stifled.

Now!

Yue Ling gripped his short blade, rushed forward, and stabbed fiercely at the sunflower's core.

But a thousand-year soul beast had already developed intelligence; even suppressed by the domain, its instinctive self-preservation was still extremely strong.

A thick layer of light-energy shield instantly manifested, firmly protecting the flower's body.

The short blade struck the light shield heavily. A violent energy backlash exploded, and the frail Yue Ling was sent flying backward.

"Pfft—"

A mouthful of blood sprayed out, staining the corners of his mouth.

Yue Ling raised his hand to wipe away the blood, his heart turning cold.

It was still too much of a stretch.

Even for the weakest thousand-year plant soul beast, this instinctive protective light shield was simply not something he, at level twenty, could break.

As he was sent flying, the domain's suppression instantly collapsed, and the sunflower broke free from its restraints. Its petals lit up with a blinding golden light, frantically gathering sunlight to brew a solar beam with immense lethality.

"Oh no!"

Yue Ling's heart sank with urgency.

His soul power and mental energy were on the verge of exhaustion; he could not withstand this powerful attack!

He had to fight to the death!

"Heavenly Chrysanthemum Domain!"

He gritted his teeth and squeezed out the last remaining soul power in his body, forcibly activating the domain a second time to suppress the sunflower.

Just then, a cold, harsh laugh suddenly came from the forest in the distance.

"This power... a domain?"

"Little brat, you hid it well. I finally found you! Hehehe!"

The Evil Soul Master's figure tore through the air, his black wings flapping rapidly. He moved with incredible speed, following the soul power fluctuations straight toward this location.

Behind him was the pursuing Soul King Evil Soul Master, and before him was the thousand-year sunflower about to launch a lethal strike.

A desperate situation!

Yue Ling did not dare to look back, staring fixedly at the light-energy shield before him.

"First Soul Skill, Heavenly Chrysanthemum Body Protection!"

His yellow hundred-year soul ring lit up, and layers of chrysanthemum-petal light gauze wrapped around his entire body, protecting his vital points and maximizing his defense.

Gritting his teeth, he rushed forward again. His short blade hacked fiercely at the light-energy shield again and again, the clanging sounds ringing out incessantly.

With the attribute suppression of a superior martial soul, the sunflower's strength had already been weakened by more than half, yet its remaining self-preservation power was still formidable.

The thick light shield remained unmoved; no matter how he hacked, he could not break through!

Bone-chilling despair instantly enveloped him.

The Soul King's aura behind him grew closer, and the bone-piercing malice locked onto him firmly. The soul beast's shield before him was indestructible, his own soul power was about to be completely exhausted, and his domain could not hold for another moment.

A dead end in front, a pursuit behind.

Yue Ling's body felt cold. At this moment, only one thought remained in his mind.

Survive!