"A surprise? What surprise?"
Lin Hao had never expected his teacher and Uncle Ghost to prepare a surprise for him. Brimming with curiosity, he hurriedly pressed them.
"Teacher, stop keeping me in suspense. What exactly is the surprise?"
Naturally, Chrysanthemum Douluo refused to reveal it. He merely waved a hand mysteriously and laughed in his soft, effeminate voice.
"You'll find out when the time comes!"
"Go take this Ten-Thousand-Year Blood Spirit Ginseng before its medicinal potency fades!"
At that, Lin Hao pursed his lips. Knowing further questions would get him nowhere, he stopped pestering them and turned toward the cultivation chamber.
Inside the chamber, Lin Hao sat cross-legged and placed the jade box before his knees.
After drawing a deep breath, he slowly opened its lid.
The blood-red, crystalline Ten-Thousand-Year Blood Spirit Ginseng appeared before him once more. Its rich aura of vitality washed over him, refreshing his spirits.
"What a treasure!"
Lin Hao exclaimed in admiration. Without further hesitation, he took the blood spirit ginseng from the jade box, bit straight through its skin, and sucked out all the concentrated juice within.
In an instant, Lin Hao felt a scorching current surge into his abdomen.
Then, with a boom, that heat erupted like a volcano, flooding through his limbs and bones, continually nourishing and tempering every inch of flesh and every bone in his body.
Lin Hao's skin turned crimson in an instant. He looked like a cooked prawn, and wisps of white steam even rose from his head.
The blazing energy surged through his body, bringing waves of searing pain.
Yet with it came an indescribable sense of comfort.
Lin Hao could clearly feel his muscles growing firmer and stronger, his bones harder and denser, and his meridians wider and more resilient.
And as it tempered his body...
Large amounts of the Ten-Thousand-Year Blood Spirit Ginseng's medicinal power also merged into Lin Hao's soul power, causing his cultivation to climb rapidly.
Finally, at a certain moment, Lin Hao felt as though a barrier within him had shattered. An even more tremendous surge of soul power poured from his dantian and circulated throughout his body!
He had reached level twenty!
"Haha! I did it!"
Having successfully broken through to level twenty...
Lin Hao immediately opened his eyes, two brilliant gleams shooting from them, and rose to his feet in excitement.
He clenched his fists, feeling the strength within him that was several times greater than before. His heart swelled with exhilaration.
Then Lin Hao eagerly pushed open the chamber door and went to tell his teacher, Chrysanthemum Douluo, the good news.
"Teacher! I've reached level twenty!"
After finding Chrysanthemum Douluo, Lin Hao spoke excitedly.
"Congratulations, Hao!"
Learning that Lin Hao had reached level twenty filled Chrysanthemum Douluo with delight. His handsome, effeminate face was wreathed in smiles.
"A seven-year-old Soul Grandmaster-that breaks even our Spirit Hall's record!"
"And you're a food system Soul Master, Hao. Reaching this stage is all the more remarkable!"
Afterward, Chrysanthemum Douluo took Lin Hao to find Ghost Douluo.
Ghost Douluo was also delighted to learn that Lin Hao had reached level twenty.
"Level twenty? Good! You certainly haven't disappointed us, Hao!"
A rare smile appeared on Ghost Douluo's stern face as he patted Lin Hao's shoulder.
Then Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo exchanged a glance.
Chrysanthemum Douluo spoke with a soft laugh.
"Hao, now that you've reached level twenty, it's time to hunt for your second soul ring."
"As it happens, Uncle Ghost and I prepared a surprise for you long ago-a plant soul beast you'll definitely be pleased with!"
"A plant soul beast I'll definitely be pleased with?"
Lin Hao froze for a moment, intense anticipation rising in his heart.
"Let's go. We can talk on the way!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo smiled mysteriously. Without explaining further, he and Ghost Douluo set off with Lin Hao, heading straight for the Star Dou Great Forest.
Throughout the journey, Lin Hao brimmed with curiosity and kept asking what the surprise was.
But Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo kept their lips sealed, merely smiling and saying, "You'll know when we get there," leaving Lin Hao itching with curiosity.
Soon, the three arrived at the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
As far as the eye could see, a boundless green sea of trees spread before them.
Ancient trees towered from the earth, even the thinnest trunks requiring three to five people to encircle them. Their dense crowns overlapped in layer upon layer, blotting out the sky and sun.
Only scattered shafts of light spilled through gaps in the leaves, casting mottled patterns on the ground.
The air was thick with the scent of damp soil and rotting vegetation, mixed with the rank odors left by various soul beasts, making one's nerves tighten involuntarily.
Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo entered the forest with Lin Hao sheltered between them, one ahead and the other behind.
Upon entering the outer region, they could still see low shrubs and open forest clearings. Occasionally, a few ten-year dusky-blue elk or Soft Bone Rabbits darted past in panic.
But as they ventured deeper, the vegetation grew increasingly dense. Vines twisted and crisscrossed, and thick humus covered the ground, soft beneath their feet and rustling faintly with each step.
"Roar!"
A low beastly roar suddenly came from the dense woods to their right.
Immediately afterward, a jet-black Ghost Leopard with eerily gleaming eyes sprang from the bushes.
The Ghost Leopard was as large as a full-grown bull. Drool hung from its jaws; it was clearly ravenous.
But when it sensed the faint aura of Titled Douluos emanating from Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo...
Its eerie green pupils abruptly contracted. With a whimper, it tucked its tail, turned, and fled, vanishing into the depths of the forest in the blink of an eye.
Lin Hao clicked his tongue in wonder.
Such was the intimidating might of Titled Douluos-even soul beasts dared not approach.
As they continued deeper, the surrounding trees grew ever taller. Dark green moss covered their trunks, and thick vines coiled around their branches like giant pythons.
A faint miasma began to hang in the air, while strange insect calls and birdsong rose and fell all around them.
"Hiss, hiss-"
On a branch ahead, an emerald-green dragon viper with a pair of fleshy horns on its head flicked its tongue, watching the three warily.
The emerald dragon viper was over two meters long, and its aura suggested an age of roughly three hundred years.
Yet after just one glance, it swiftly withdrew into a hollow in the tree, not daring to make any provocative move.
Farther in, the terrain began to undulate, with low hills and gullies appearing.
In an area strewn with jagged rocks, Lin Hao spotted a group of scarlet Red Flame Scorpions with barbed backs basking on the stones.
Even the smallest of these Red Flame Scorpions was the size of a millstone. The largest, their leader, likewise rivaled a millstone in size, and its aura had unmistakably reached the level of a thousand-year soul beast.
Sensing their arrival, the thousand-year Red Flame Scorpion raised the scarlet venomous stinger on its tail high and let out a threatening hiss.
But once it saw that the newcomers included two Titled Douluos, it immediately quieted down and led its group into the crevices between the rocks, disappearing without a trace.
"Stay close, Hao."
Chrysanthemum Douluo glanced back to remind him.
"The inner region is just ahead. Ten-thousand-year soul beasts may appear there."
Lin Hao nodded, focused his mind, and followed closely behind the two Titled Douluos.
After they traveled for roughly another hour, the scenery changed again.
The trees began to thin, giving way to a rolling mountain range.
The mountains were faintly silver-gray, their rocks exposed and vegetation sparse-a stark contrast to the vibrant primeval forest they had just passed through.
Above the mountains, dark clouds gathered and thunder rumbled. From time to time, dazzling bolts of lightning plunged down, striking a valley with brutal force.
"We're almost there!"
A gleam of excitement flashed in Chrysanthemum Douluo's eyes as he and Ghost Douluo continued onward with Lin Hao.
Soon, as they approached the valley where lightning kept striking...
Following the direction of the falling bolts, Lin Hao suddenly noticed something.
On a cliff along one side of the valley grew a dark purple vine covered in golden markings resembling bamboo joints.
The vine swayed in the air, continually receiving the lightning strikes. Each time a bolt hit it, the golden markings flared with dazzling light, as though absorbing the lightning's power.
Lin Hao froze, his pupils widening abruptly as he blurted out.
"That's... a thousand-year Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine!!"
Before you continue