After leaving Sunset Forest, Lin Yuan feared that Dugu Bo might suddenly come back to settle accounts with him.
Only after sprinting several hundred li did he dare stop to rest.
Finding a secluded spot, Lin Yuan ate a little dry food and drank some water, then sat cross-legged to recover the Soul Power and stamina he had expended on the journey.
The night passed without incident.
At first light the next day, Lin Yuan shed the black robe he had used as a disguise, bathed in a nearby river, and changed into clean clothes.
Then, looking like an ordinary Soul Master, he headed toward Star Dou Great Forest.
His Soul Power had already reached rank thirty-nine. Once he refined the shoot of the Black Jade Divine Bamboo, he would surely break through to Soul Ancestor.
He therefore planned to find a suitable, secluded cave on the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest, refine this immortal herb first, and then search for a Soul Ring.
Since it was closest to the border of the Star Luo Empire.
In the end, on a tall mountain on the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest where the two nations met, he found the nest of a hundred-year-old flamingo.
After slaughtering the flamingo to improve his meal, he released his Martial Soul and created a bamboo grove at the cave entrance to conceal it. He also scattered beast-repelling powder.
Only after finishing all this did Lin Yuan feel at ease enough to take out the Black Jade Divine Bamboo shoot, peel it, and eat it.
Though the Black Jade Divine Bamboo shoot had an extremely hard outer skin, its flesh was soft, tender, and sweet, just like a fully ripened honey peach.
Lin Yuan swallowed the flesh in a few quick bites, then circulated the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula to refine it.
He directed its medicinal power toward strengthening his Lone Bamboo Martial Soul.
As for his Second Martial Soul, which had yet to take shape, if he was going to do it, he would certainly make it the best.
That would have to wait until he had the strength someday to go after the Fire Dragon King beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes.
Lin Yuan refined it from the afternoon until two or three in the morning before finally succeeding in refining the Black Jade Divine Bamboo's Soul Power.
Now I've finally reached rank forty too. Twelve years old, with Innate Soul Power of rank three-it really hasn't been easy.
Lin Yuan could not help sighing inwardly.
Thinking back over these years, in his pursuit of strength, he had not hesitated to leave his parents and his homeland, eating in the wind and sleeping beneath the dew. During his three years away from home, he had spent well over half that time dressed in black with his face covered and a Veiled Hat on his head.
Now, his efforts had finally borne some fruit.
He had only just turned twelve and was already rank forty. If he could find a suitable fourth Soul Ring, he could gain another two or three Soul Power Levels on top of the Soul Power increase granted by the ring.
The original novel mentioned that absorbing Black Jade Divine Bamboo greatly strengthens the Martial Soul, adding a tough, unyielding aspect to its original flexibility and greatly enhancing the combat power of the absorber's Martial Soul itself.
Let's see how powerful it is after refining the Black Jade Divine Bamboo!
Three Soul Rings-yellow, purple, and purple-rose from beneath his feet. Lin Yuan was just about to test the strength of his Lone Bamboo Martial Soul after refining the Black Jade Divine Bamboo immortal herb.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of clothing whipping through the air, followed by a thud, as though someone had dropped from above and landed on both feet outside the cave.
Could that Old Poison have followed me here?
Lin Yuan's heart jolted, and he could not help imagining the worst.
"Hehe, my dear little sister, surrender. You won't escape your big sister's grasp today!" A somewhat seductive, pampered female voice rang out beyond the cave.
This left Lin Yuan a little stunned, but he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Since it was not Old Poison pursuing him, that meant these people were merely passing by. There was nothing to worry about.
"Little sister, why look at me like that? Even if you find that playboy Dai Mubai, you couldn't possibly defeat Weiss and me. As long as you come back with your big sister now, I promise you can live out the rest of your life in peace."
The woman's voice remained unhurried throughout, but her words carried a considerable threat.
Lin Yuan was instantly speechless. He had merely run in the opposite direction from the way he had come when leaving Sunset Forest to avoid running into Old Poison. How had he happened to stumble into the clichéd scene of Zhu Zhuyun hunting down her younger sister, Zhu Zhuqing?
If there were no other Transmigrators in this world.
Lin Yuan certainly would not have minded playing the hero rescuing the beauty. Perhaps he might even win her heart in the process.
After all, what man could resist the little kitty from the Douluo I era, before Dai Mubai had defiled her?
But in this world riddled with danger and overrun with Transmigrators, he was better off keeping his head down.
It was best to remain hidden in the shadows and work hard to build up his strength.
If he could have the last laugh and ultimately become a god, what woman would be beyond his reach?
Still, the group Zhu Zhuyun had brought was not very strong. Zhu Zhuyun was the only Soul Ancestor; the rest were Soul Elders or even Soul Grandmasters. She really had gone to painstaking lengths.
A Soul Ancestor leading a group of two- and three-ring Soul Masters to hunt down a single Soul Grandmaster had pursued her all the way from Star Luo City to the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest at the Star Luo Empire's border, yet still had not succeeded.
They were letting her off far too obviously.
At this thought, curiosity drove Lin Yuan to creep silently toward the cave entrance.
Pfft!
The sound of an arrow piercing flesh rang out, accompanied by Zhu Zhuyun's triumphant laughter.
"Give up, my dear little sister, or you won't be so lucky next time."
"In your dreams." Zhu Zhuqing's voice sounded rather weak.
"Hmph, refusing the offered wine only to drink the wine of punishment. Attack! Kill her..." Zhu Zhuyun snorted impatiently.
By then, Lin Yuan had crept behind a boulder at the cave entrance. Under cover of the bamboo grove, he began stealing glances at the clearing outside.
He saw four Soul Grandmasters surrounding and attacking Zhu Zhuqing, whose figure was extraordinarily voluptuous and whose face was cold and aloof. Farther away, two Soul Elders with bow Martial Souls fired Soul Power arrows from time to time, attacking from a distance.
There was also a support-type Soul Grandmaster with a violin Martial Soul playing his violin in the distance. It was quiet enough that Lin Yuan had to concentrate to barely hear it.
But for Zhu Zhuqing, who was extremely close, it served to disrupt her concentration.
Before long, two more Soul Power arrows protruded from Zhu Zhuqing's shoulders, and wounds covered her body. Finally, Zhu Zhuyun, whose face bore a sixty- to seventy-percent resemblance to hers and whose figure was even more exaggerated, struck her shoulder with a claw. Her body flew backward, her back slammed into a tree, and she gradually lost consciousness.
Seeing this, Lin Yuan knew there was nothing worth watching.
Because Zhu Zhuyun would not kill her own younger sister. Rather than a hunt to kill her, this was more of an effort to drive her away. Otherwise, Zhu Zhuqing could never have made it here alive.
Take that seemingly perilous fight just now-if the people Zhu Zhuyun had brought had gotten serious.
Zhu Zhuqing, a Soul Grandmaster whose speed alone could rival a Soul Elder's and who was not particularly outstanding in any other respect, would have died countless times over.
Just as Lin Yuan lost interest and planned to retreat into the cave, wait until dawn, and venture deeper into Star Dou Great Forest the next day to find a suitable fourth Soul Ring.
A sudden voice stopped him in his tracks. "So many people bullying one little girl. Don't you think you're going too far?"
Before you continue