They flew at full speed the whole way.
About eight hours later, Ji Yang and the others reached the Sunset Forest, thousands of miles away.
As the crow flew, the distance between the Sunset Forest and the Star Dou Great Forest was not much different from that between Nuoding City and the Star Dou Great Forest.
That was a rather subtle coincidence.
However, although they had reached the Sunset Forest, Ji Yang and the others did not immediately find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
While the Sunset Forest was only a quarter to a third the size of the Star Dou Great Forest, it still covered a vast area.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well occupied only a small portion of the Sunset Forest, so finding it would naturally take quite some time.
Fortunately, Ji Yang remembered the terrain surrounding the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well lay in a valley within the Sunset Forest, surrounded by a barrier of poisonous mist.
Those two details alone would let them rule out most areas of the Sunset Forest and save them considerable time.
"Hm?"
Just as Ji Yang was about to have Da Ming and Er Ming search for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well with those clues in mind, his spiritual power suddenly detected something unusual.
A battle was taking place beneath a nearby cliff.
A team of three was hunting a soul beast-a Holy Light Lion with twenty thousand years of cultivation.
An ordinary soul hunt to obtain a suitable soul ring would hardly have been rare or remarkable.
What made this team of three stand out was that two of them were Titled Douluos.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, or that person in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace?"
Ji Yang was a little surprised.
Within the Heaven Dou Empire, those were the only two possibilities with two Titled Douluos each.
Curious, Ji Yang continued extending his spiritual power to investigate further.
Soon, he had his answer.
The latter!
The remaining member of the trio was a young woman with a holy Six-Winged Angel martial soul.
She was around eighteen years old.
Who else could she be but Bibi Dong's daughter, Qian Renxue?
Judging by Qian Renxue's current cultivation, she was hunting for her sixth soul ring.
In other words, Qian Renxue was already a Quasi-Soul Emperor at just eighteen.
To most Soul Masters, that was undoubtedly terrifying.
After all, Qin Ming, who was called the youngest Soul Emperor during Douluo I, had only broken through to that realm around the age of thirty.
But to give a truly scathing assessment, Qian Renxue's cultivation at this age was rather underwhelming.
After all, Ma Xiaotao had been around the same age during Douluo II, yet she was already a Soul Emperor of at least level sixty-four.
And Ma Xiaotao did not possess Qian Renxue's talent and advantage of innate level 20 soul power.
Even accounting for Shrek Academy's better cultivation environment during Douluo II, this still showed just how much Qian Renxue had squandered her talent.
Had she simply focused on cultivating instead of pursuing some Heaven Dou infiltration and nation-stealing plan, reaching the Soul Saint realm at her age would have been a breeze.
Even the higher Soul Douluo realm would not have been impossible.
If she had then gone on to begin her divine trials, she would even have had a shot at becoming a Titled Douluo outright.
And so on!
Qian Renxue really had fallen off, wasting talent several times greater than an ordinary person's.
This became even clearer when she launched her palace coup at twenty-nine and her identity was exposed.
At that point, she was actually only a Soul Saint of around level seventy-eight.
She had fallen off completely!
In over ten years, she had only advanced fifteen or sixteen minor levels-an average of a level and a half per year?
Of course, this judgment rested on one premise.
That Qian Renxue's holy Six-Winged Angel martial soul did not possess an ultimate attribute.
If her holy Six-Winged Angel martial soul did possess an ultimate attribute, then it might just barely be understandable.
After all, Soul Masters with ultimate martial souls cultivated very slowly before reaching the Soul Saint realm.
But judging from Qian Renxue's current level, her earlier cultivation should not have been slow.
Not to mention that after she reached Soul Saint, the special nature of an ultimate martial soul would greatly accelerate her cultivation.
From that perspective, it did not quite add up.
All in all, Qian Renxue had still fallen off-completely!
"Brother Yang, are they people you know?"
Xiao Wu also noticed the disturbance in the distance and asked Ji Yang curiously.
"More or less. They're from Spirit Hall. That female Quasi-Soul Emperor with the Holy Angel martial soul is the daughter of Bibi Dong, the Pope of Spirit Hall who killed Aunt Rou. Bibi Dong gave birth to her after being raped by her own master, Qian Xunji."
"Because her daughter was born from that rape, Bibi Dong hated her bitterly. Hurt and acting out of spite, her daughter left Spirit Hall to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire. She replaced one of its princes, hoping to steal the nation in the future and bring the entire Heaven Dou Empire under Spirit Hall's control."
Ji Yang explained.
"She's that wicked woman's daughter?!"
At the thought of Bibi Dong, the enemy who had killed her mother, Xiao Wu's eyes instantly filled with rage and hatred.
Even Da Ming and Er Ming beside her grew indignant.
Although Qian Renxue was not the actual murderer, Bibi Dong, her connection to Bibi Dong alone was enough to stir their killing intent.
"Should we kill them? Those two human Titled Douluos aren't strong. Er Ming and I can deal with them easily!"
Da Ming looked coldly at Qian Renxue and her two companions.
Er Ming was already poised to strike.
One was a level ninety-two Titled Douluo, the other level ninety-three, and neither possessed a hundred thousand year soul ring. How could they possibly match the two of them, whose strength rivaled Super Douluos at the peak of level ninety-six?
Even before they had advanced into Two-Hundred-Thousand-Year Ferocious Beasts, those two would not have been their match.
"Let's forget it. From what Brother Yang said, she's a pitiful, unlucky girl too. Besides, if we kill her now, Spirit Hall's Titled Douluos will pour out in full force. That wouldn't be good for us!"
Xiao Wu shook her head.
After hearing Ji Yang's explanation, she could not deny that she felt some sympathy for Qian Renxue.
But it was the latter concern that weighed on her more and kept her wary.
Ji Yang had previously told her about Spirit Hall's general situation, especially its Titled Douluo experts.
Leaving everyone else aside, Qian Daoliu, a Level 99 Limit Douluo, and Golden Crocodile, a level 98 Super Douluo, were enough to give them a bitter cup to swallow.
Not to mention that Qian Renxue was the biological granddaughter of Qian Daoliu, that Limit Douluo.
After three years under Ji Yang's influence, she was no fool. She would not do something so irrational in a moment of anger.
"Well..."
Hearing Xiao Wu's words, Da Ming and Er Ming exchanged glances and felt she had a point.
"Then we'll do as you say, Sister Xiao Wu!"
Da Ming and Er Ming nodded.
Seeing this, Ji Yang felt immensely gratified.
It seemed his teaching and personal example over these past three years had really helped Xiao Wu!
At least Xiao Wu was no longer a reckless, foolish rabbit. She had developed some discernment and judgment.
"Who's there?"
"Who?"
While Ji Yang was thinking this, two voices laden with wariness rang out from nearby.
They belonged to Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo, who stood beside Qian Renxue.
Just a moment ago, they had sensed a powerful surge of hostility.
They had also been alerted by Da Ming and Er Ming's terrifying strength, which left them deeply apprehensive.
Where had these two unfamiliar Titled Douluos come from? They were at least Super Douluos, too!
If these newcomers were enemies rather than friends, they might not be able to protect their young mistress, Qian Renxue.
Before you continue