Deep in the Sunset Forest

The Sunset Forest was not as vast as the Star Dou Great Forest, but it was darker.

Morning mist crept along the ground, and strangely colored moss filled the spaces between the roots. Sunlight could not reach the forest floor; it broke into bright flecks across the canopy. Dugu Bo walked at the front, unhurried, while poisonous insects around him burrowed into the soil as if they had met their natural enemy.

The others from Shrek followed behind.

Ning Rongrong was unusually quiet today.

After breaking through Level 30, she needed her Third Soul Ring. She had always thought a Soul Ring was something her family would arrange for her: all that mattered was the right age and the right attributes. But once she was in the forest, smelling damp earth and the rank scent left by Soul Beasts, she realized that every Soul Ring was not selected from a Ledger.

They were what remained after a battle.

Tang San crouched beside a plant and gently rubbed a Leaf between his fingertips. "The poison here is much stronger than at the outskirts, but it doesn't look as though it spread naturally."

Dugu Bo did not look back. "Good eye."

Bai Jin walked alongside them, a blade of grass dangling lazily from his mouth. "Old Poison, could you be a little more generous with your praise? Children need encouragement."

Dugu Bo sneered. "Let's see you encourage one."

Bai Jin looked at Tang San. "Good work. Keep it up. Don't die."

Tang San said, "...Thank you, Senior."

Xiao Wu could not help laughing.

The group pressed deeper into the forest. Before long, Zhu Zhuqing stopped abruptly, flashed forward, and landed beside a fallen log. She brushed her fingertips across the bark and came away with a little black ash.

"Someone's been here."