Star Dou Great Forest was the largest remaining gathering place for wild soul beasts on Douluo Continent.
Although its overall numbers no longer matched those of ten thousand years ago, back when Sea God Tang San had yet to ascend—
the current lord of the forest possessed a deterrent power far beyond that of the past.
Ten thousand years ago, the big shots of this forest had been the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, both with cultivation of over a hundred thousand years.
But now, the one stationed here was the Beast God Di Tian, whose cultivation exceeded eight hundred thousand years.
The two were simply not on the same level.
However, none of that was a problem for Li Changqing and the other two.
Their goal on this trip was merely a thousand-year soul beast in the outer region, nowhere near enough to alarm the slumbering lord of the forest.
The moment they entered the forest outskirts, the rich scent of vegetation mixed with the damp smell of soil rushed toward them.
Ancient trees towered overhead, blotting out the sky, while sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of leaves in scattered patches.
Faint Soul Power fluctuations permeated the air, and from time to time, the low growls of soul beasts echoed from afar.
Bei Bei walked at the front, vigilantly observing their surroundings and standing guard for Tang Ya.
Tang Ya followed in the middle, looking both nervous and expectant.
Li Changqing walked at the rear, his hands tucked into his pockets and his expression calm.
His powerful spiritual power spread like an invisible radar, covering several hundred meters around them. Nothing within that range could escape his senses.
After walking for a while, Li Changqing suddenly asked, "Have you decided what soul ring you want?"
Tang Ya immediately turned around. "Bei Bei and I discussed it. We're planning to find a thousand-year Mandala Snake."
At the mention of the Mandala Snake, Li Changqing did not so much as twitch a brow.
The outcome was exactly as he had expected.
For a trash martial soul like Blue Silver Grass, trying to defy fate and change one's destiny was basically impossible.
Choosing the same soul beast Tang San had absorbed might not be perfect, but at least it had already been proven viable.
There was no helping it. Blue Silver Grass itself was far too weak. Apart from taking that path, there was practically no room left to fall.
Because it could not possibly get any weaker.
Before long, they found a suitable thousand-year Mandala Snake.
There was not the slightest suspense in the battle.
Li Changqing and Bei Bei were responsible for severely wounding it, beating the enormous, dark-blue Mandala Snake until it was barely clinging to life.
Finally, Tang Ya personally delivered the fatal strike and claimed the final blow.
Amid a gentle glow, a pale purple soul ring slowly rose from the Mandala Snake's corpse, radiating the unique energy fluctuations of a thousand-year soul ring.
Time passed bit by bit, and night quietly descended.
The night was as black as ink, and under the moonlight, the Star Dou Great Forest cast vast, menacing shadows.
Giant trees rose into the heavens, their branches and leaves intertwined, covering the sky until only a few fragments of silvery light remained.
The wind wailed through the woods, mixed with the deep roars of unknown soul beasts in the distance, making this ancient forest seem even more secluded and eerie.
Tang Ya sat cross-legged on a smooth bluestone, faint blue Soul Power fluctuations swirling around her.
Her eyes were tightly closed, and fine beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.
The purple soul ring of the thousand-year Mandala Snake slowly revolved above her head, merging into her body bit by bit.
The absorption process was fairly stable. Bei Bei stayed by her side without taking a single step away, his gaze vigilantly sweeping their surroundings.
Li Changqing stood some distance away, his brows slightly furrowed.
Just a moment ago, he had sensed an extremely faint spatial fluctuation.
It had appeared abruptly and vanished just as quickly, as though something had torn open a crack high above the Star Dou Great Forest.
He raised his head toward the night sky, his gaze piercing through the layers of canopy before landing on the pitch-black heavens.
"Bei Bei."
He lowered his voice. "Keep an eye on your Xiao Ya. I'm going to look around and see if anything's going on."
Bei Bei paused slightly before nodding. "Be careful."
Li Changqing said nothing more. With a flicker of his body, he vanished into the shadows of the forest.
His footsteps were incredibly light and soundless, his speed so fast that he resembled a wisp of smoke streaking through the night.
His spiritual power spread out like an invisible net, covering several miles around him.
He remembered it clearly.
According to the normal timeline, Huo Yuhao should have been in the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest right now, and there was a high chance he was experiencing his encounter with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
That million-year ice silkworm was the most extraordinary existence in the entire history of Douluo Continent, without equal.
Because its appearance would completely change Huo Yuhao's fate.
But...
Li Changqing swept the area with his spiritual power three times. Within several miles, aside from a few low-level soul beasts and nocturnal animals, there was nothing.
No Huo Yuhao.
No frail, stubborn boy with burning eyes.
Li Changqing stopped beneath a giant tree that would have required ten people to encircle it, his frown deepening.
That made no sense.
He remembered it clearly. Huo Yuhao had encountered the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm during this period, and only then had everything that followed happened.
Yet after searching for so long, he had not only failed to find the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm—he had not sensed even the slightest trace of a human presence.
Had Huo Yuhao not come to the Star Dou Great Forest?
Or perhaps...
Had certain things already deviated because of his arrival?
He stood in the shadows beyond the moonlight for a long while, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.
If Huo Yuhao was not here, then what about Electrolux?
Would the remnant soul of that Holy Necromancer, Electrolux the Calamity of the Undead, still descend upon the Star Dou Great Forest?
Li Changqing's eyes suddenly sharpened.
He decided to give it a try.
He closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and mobilized the Soul Power within his body.
In an instant, a vast and majestic aura surged from him into the sky.
White and black light intertwined and churned around him. The yin and yang energies flowed from his palms like two swimming dragons, slowly spreading through the empty space behind him.
A Taiji Diagram.
The black and white colors merged with and opposed one another, slowly rotating as they emitted an ancient, mysterious aura.
The Taiji Diagram spun faster and faster, invisible waves spreading outward like ripples.
They pierced through the forest mist, through the thick clouds, and straight into the highest heavens.
What Li Changqing intended was to use his own aura as an anchor and try to guide over that remnant soul that did not belong in this world.
Time passed second by second.
The Taiji Diagram slowly revolved. The wind in the forest abruptly stopped, and the chirping of insects and cries of birds fell silent in an instant.
It was as if someone had pressed mute on the entire world, leaving only the faintest hum from the rotating Taiji Diagram.
Then, the dark night sky was torn apart.
A jet-black streak of light fell from the depths of the heavens, moving so fast there was almost no time to react.
Li Changqing's pupils contracted, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
It had come.
The pitch-black light did not pause in the slightest as it shot straight into his forehead.
In that instant, an icy and immense power surged into his Spiritual Sea like a tide, scrambling to take root and settle within that vast spiritual world.
Electrolux's lingering consciousness.
Li Changqing recognized that aura and was about to willingly open his Spiritual Sea to accept it.
But at that moment, a voice filled with coldness and the will of Destruction exploded in his mind like thunder:
"Get lost! What piece of trash dares compete with us husband and wife for someone!"
The voice was utterly domineering, carrying a pressure so immense it made one's soul tremble, as though it came from an ancient deity of primordial times.
Before the words had even faded, the jet-black light that had just entered his Spiritual Sea was forcibly driven out of Li Changqing's mind by an overbearing, utterly unreasonable force!
Electrolux's lingering consciousness let out an extremely brief, low hum.
Then it was completely ejected from Li Changqing's spiritual world.
Immediately afterward, two dazzling lights, one purple and one green, descended like meteors. Carrying unstoppable momentum, they slammed into Li Changqing's forehead one after the other.
The purple light blazed like fire, carrying an aura of Destruction and brutality.
The green light was gentle as water, yet contained the boundless mighty power of Life.
The instant the two lights entered his Spiritual Sea, Li Changqing felt his head spin, as though two mountains had crashed heavily onto his soul.
He let out a muffled groan, his knees buckling as he nearly fell to the ground.
He panted heavily, veins bulging at his temples. Bracing both hands against his knees, he struggled to steady his swaying body.
Li Changqing: "..."
He laboriously straightened up and rubbed his throbbing temples, his face filled with the bewilderment and shock of someone thinking, What the hell did I just invite in?
What was this supposed to be?
He had only wanted to catch a fish.
Instead, he had hooked two whales.
And those two whales had slapped away the fish he had originally wanted to catch.
The night breeze swept past, stirring the loose strands of hair over his forehead.
Li Changqing stood there, his expression shifting for a long while. In the end, he forced out an incomparably complicated smile and muttered, "Well... now I've really gone and made this huge."
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