Ming Dou Great Forest

<>

Chapter 16: Ming Dou Great Forest

Although noon had already passed, considering the Soul Rings Ye Xixuan and Bei Bei were seeking this time, the group still decided to set out as soon as possible.

Bei Bei needed to hunt a draconic Soul Beast with the radiant sacred dragon bloodline. Even in the Star Dou Great Forest, such Soul Beasts were exceedingly rare, let alone one of exactly the right age.

Ye Xixuan's second Soul Ring did not have such stringent requirements. He cared more about the target Soul Beast's cultivation and quality.

Mu En had told him before that his current physical strength was more than enough to withstand absorbing the Soul Ring of a Soul Beast with roughly three thousand years of cultivation. Moreover, his Martial Soul, Mind Demon Shadow, possessed the ultimate darkness attribute, which inherently suppressed dark-attribute Soul Beasts. He did not need to worry about backlash during the absorption process at all.

Naturally, the stronger the target Soul Beast, the better.

The four of them soon arrived outside Shrek Academy's eastern city gate.

By then, Bei Bei's heart was brimming with the joy of obtaining a Soul Ring and advancing, and he had long since tossed every other thought to the back of his mind. After all, at his age, he still had a boy's temperament, nowhere near as composed as he was in Ye Xixuan's memories of his previous life.

Bei Bei clasped his hands behind his head and lifted his chin smugly, then flashed Ye Xixuan a grin.

"Xixuan, next time, we'll meet at the summit."

"Go back and build a proper foundation first. You two little brats are already talking about meeting at the summit?" Xuan Zi sucked a chicken bone clean, then tapped Bei Bei on the head with it and spoke irritably.

"Enough. Let's get moving. Don't waste this old man's drinking and meat-eating time."

"Aah-slow down, Xuan Zi!" Bei Bei's dashing air lasted less than three seconds before Xuan Zi hauled him into the clouds, and his terrified screams promptly rang through the sky.

Despite Bei Bei's respectable appearance, he was often up to mischief. In Xuan Zi's words, he was a sly little rascal. It was hard to say that Xuan Zi had no personal motives for doing this.

Ye Xixuan chuckled at his misfortune. He still remembered how Bei Bei had sold him out to their eldest senior sister on the second day they had known each other.

"Sister Lexuan, shall we set off now too?"

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to that little girl from the Tang Sect?" Zhang Lexuan withdrew her gaze from the direction where Xuan Zi and Bei Bei had disappeared and glanced sideways at Ye Xixuan. Her even tone seemed to carry a faint, inexplicable undertone.

Zhang Lexuan had met Tang Ya. In fact, Ye Xixuan had even asked her to help with Tang Ya's second Soul Ring, probably a few months earlier.

At the time, Zhang Lexuan had been leading inner court disciples on a Soul Beast hunt in the Star Dou Great Forest. On her way back to Shrek Academy, she had brought Tang Ya a plant-type Soul Beast suited to her Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. As luck would have it, that Soul Beast was exactly the same as Tang Ya's second Soul Ring in Ye Xixuan's memories of his previous life: a ghost vine.

Over the years, Ye Xixuan had become increasingly aware of his eldest senior sister's subtle attitude toward him, but he really could not put his finger on what it was.

"No need, Sister Lexuan. I only visited Sister Xiaoya last night. Let's make a quick trip there and back, just like Xuan Zi and Senior Brother Bei."

"Mm." Zhang Lexuan answered softly. As always, he could not tell what she was feeling. Light flashed from the sapphire storage Soul Tool Ring on her slender, pale finger, and a pair of thin silver folding wings appeared behind her.

The folding wings did not have a particularly large span, only about two meters, but there were no fewer than ten thruster nozzles at the back.

Zhang Lexuan explained to Ye Xixuan, "This is a Seventh-Level Flying Soul Tool developed by the Soul Tool Department. The Ming Dou Great Forest lies south of the Ming Dou Mountains, and its southernmost reaches are even close to the South Sea Coast. It's a long journey, so I'll use the Flying Soul Tool to take you there. We'll tie ourselves together with a rope in a moment."

"A rope?" A flash of inspiration struck Ye Xixuan, and he offered a suggestion.

"Sister Lexuan, have you forgotten what my first Soul Skill does? The chains I make with my Soul Skill are much sturdier than rope, and as long as they stay in contact with my body, they can remain indefinitely."

"That works too." Zhang Lexuan smiled and nodded, letting Ye Xixuan use his first Soul Skill to form a pitch-black Shadow Chain and clumsily wind it tightly around their bodies.

Ye Xixuan's current height put his head right at Zhang Lexuan's chest, with his back pressed against her front. His movements were especially stiff, because whenever he raised his head, he could feel that heavy pressure against the back of it. Warm softness and a rich fragrance enveloped his body as well.

Zhang Lexuan herself seemed utterly unconcerned. She wrapped her arms around Ye Xixuan from behind, bent down, and whispered gently beside his ear, "Xixuan, we're about to set off."

"Mm." Ye Xixuan grew even more awkward. He could not help secretly regretting that he had suggested this himself.

He had seen all the care his eldest senior sister had shown him over the years, and her place in his heart was actually not much lower than Tang Ya's. However, what he felt toward her was mostly respect. Such intimate contact always felt as though he were profaning her.

The ten thruster nozzles on the Flying Soul Tool's folding wings erupted with blazing white light, and Zhang Lexuan carried Ye Xixuan into the air in an instant.

The piercing shriek was deafening, and it also disturbed Ye Xixuan's wandering thoughts.

Soul tool technology on the original Douluo Continent's side lagged far too far behind the Sun Moon Empire's. Even a Seventh-Level Flying Soul Tool lacked the ability to deploy a Soul Tool Shield, leaving its user to rely on their own Soul Power to resist the wind.

To avoid attracting trouble, Zhang Lexuan rose straight to an altitude of a thousand meters. From down below,

it was very difficult to make them out. She first skirted the Star Dou Great Forest southeast of Shrek, then headed directly south into the heartland of the Star Luo Empire.

The Ming Dou Mountains formed the border between the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire, and both sides had troops stationed there. Entering the Ming Dou Great Forest through the Ming Dou Mountains was clearly not advisable.

That was why Zhang Lexuan had chosen this safer flight route.

As time passed, Ye Xixuan's emotions gradually settled. Even his eldest senior sister herself did not mind these things. Perhaps he really was overthinking it.

The roar of the wind around them was too loud, so the two barely spoke during the flight. Whenever they stopped to rest and recover their Soul Power, Zhang Lexuan's attitude toward Ye Xixuan remained unchanged: as gentle and patient as ever.

For more novel content, please visit o o p . t w

Traveling in fits and starts like this, they finally caught sight of a deep, dense forest before nightfall.

Along the border between the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire, the steep, rugged Ming Dou Mountains to the north occupied two-thirds of its length. The remaining third was the Ming Dou Great Forest now spread before Ye Xixuan and Zhang Lexuan.

The golden-red setting sun was about to sink below the horizon. Brilliant golden light fell across the Ming Dou Great Forest's thick canopy, but beneath it lay utter darkness, heavy with an oppressive air.

(End of chapter)