Chapter 17: Light was shadow's reason for coming; shadow was light's way home
The Ming Dou Great Forest lay almost at the southernmost tip of the entire continent.
Though it was early spring, there was not the slightest chill at night. The temperature was considerably higher than in Shrek City.
Ye Xixuan and Zhang Lexuan sat facing each other in a patch of overgrown weeds, meditating and cultivating to restore themselves to peak condition.
The Ming Dou Great Forest had once been just one of the wild Soul Beast habitats within the Star Luo Empire. In terms of size, it had not even rivaled the Sunset Forest near Heaven Dou City. However, after the Sun Moon Continent collided with the original Douluo Continent, the Ming Dou Great Forest found itself bordering several mineral veins on the Sun Moon Empire's side that contained strange energies. This had given rise to many exceptionally aggressive Mutated Soul Beasts.
As those Mutated Soul Beasts bred and grew over thousands of years, their range expanded several times over, encompassing those mineral veins in the Sun Moon Empire as well as part of the Ming Dou Mountains.
By now, the Ming Dou Great Forest had grown to half the size of the Star Dou Great Forest. The Mutated Soul Beasts it produced in abundance were often particularly well suited to Soul Masters with unusual Martial Souls. Still, the Ming Dou Great Forest ultimately lacked some of the deeper foundations of its counterpart. Its number of high-level Soul Beasts could not begin to compare with the Star Dou Great Forest's.
The night sky in the continent's south was exceptionally clear, studded with stars that seemed close enough to touch yet impossibly distant.
A layer of lustrous white light shone around Zhang Lexuan, while a black halo flowed over Ye Xixuan's body. Black and white illuminated each other.
Drawn by the interplay of their auras, the two opened their eyes at the same moment, their gazes meeting.
Moonlight poured down from the night sky, wrapping Zhang Lexuan's delicate figure like a thin silver veil and lending her beauty a dreamy, cool serenity. At the sight of Ye Xixuan's slightly dazed expression, a gentle smile curved her lips.
"What is it?"
"Sister Lexuan, you're so beautiful." Ye Xixuan paused, then offered the heartfelt compliment. Loving beautiful things was human nature. Even at his young age, there were things that could captivate him.
This first flutter of his young heart would surely remain unforgettable for the rest of his life, even directly shaping his future preferences in matters between men and women.
Zhang Lexuan's gaze grew even gentler as she looked at Ye Xixuan, but she did not forget to remind him of the precautions he would need to take once they entered the Ming Dou Great Forest.
"Although our Martial Souls are more powerful at night, we Soul Masters aren't the only ones with that trait. Some Soul Beasts possess it too. This is your first time entering a wild Soul Beast habitat, so remember, you mustn't stray too far from me. Your own safety comes first. Do you understand, Xixuan?"
"Yes, Sister Lexuan." Ye Xixuan nodded solemnly. Just as Zhang Lexuan had said, the nighttime environment would not hinder their Martial Souls or abilities. Instead, it would strengthen them, so they planned to try their luck in the Ming Dou Great Forest that very night.
Zhang Lexuan thoughtfully handed Ye Xixuan some dry rations and water.
"Eat something first, then rest a little. Get yourself into the best possible condition."
A quarter of an hour later, the two officially entered the Ming Dou Great Forest.
As soon as Ye Xixuan approached the outskirts of the Ming Dou Great Forest, he caught a strong smell of decay, and stifling heat and humidity washed over him. Huge, dense canopies blocked the starlight, leaving everything around them pitch-black, without a single ray of light. Perhaps there was some visibility here only during the day.
This was the greatest difference between the southern Soul Beast forests and other Soul Beast habitats. Year-round heat and abundant rainfall made the environment extremely harsh. As plants and Soul Beast carcasses rotted, miasma could fill any corner of the forest.
"Xixuan, stay close." Zhang Lexuan gave the grave reminder as she released her Martial Soul.
Light suddenly appeared behind her-a bright crescent moon suspended in the air, as though it hung from the treetops. The instant it appeared, it illuminated everything around them.
Under the moonlight, Zhang Lexuan's skin looked translucent and fair, giving her an ethereal air untouched by the mundane world.
Releasing a Martial Soul without revealing its Soul Rings required exceptionally strong control over one's Martial Soul. Only highly gifted Soul Masters could accomplish it.
Ye Xixuan followed closely at Zhang Lexuan's side, likewise releasing only his Martial Soul. The shadow beneath his feet was not the shadow of his own body. Instead, it took an irregular shape and seemed faintly inclined to spread outward. Eerie and deathly still, it seemed to lead into another world.
This was the original form of his Martial Soul, Mind Demon Shadow. His first Soul Skill, Condensed Shadow, was the manifestation of that intangible shadow projected into the mortal world.
Bathed in the moonlight of Zhang Lexuan's Silver Moon Martial Soul, Ye Xixuan's aura visibly strengthened. An invisible power seemed to flow ceaselessly into his body. The shadow beneath him slowly spread, covering a wider area and adding a measure of spectral chill to the Silver Moon Martial Soul above Zhang Lexuan's head. The moonlight it radiated became brighter and clearer as well.
The complementary effect of their Martial Souls had been verified countless times. After all, the moon existed only in darkness.
Their relationship was like that of inseparable light and shadow: light was shadow's reason for coming, and shadow was light's way home.
For now, Ye Xixuan's main limitation was the enormous gap between his Soul Power cultivation and Zhang Lexuan's. Once he truly matured, their coordinated combat might unleash a terrifying power that, while not a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, surpassed one.
They ventured deep into the Ming Dou Great Forest.
After a long while in the forest, Ye Xixuan and Zhang Lexuan suddenly stopped in unison.
A figure charged straight into the area illuminated by moonlight.
It was a large, crocodile-shaped Soul Beast, though its size was not especially imposing. Over three meters long, it had four eyes on its head and thick limbs like barrels. Its most distinctive feature was the layer of black plate armor covering its entire body. Each plate was palm-sized and looked extremely tough.
With a calm expression, Zhang Lexuan explained to Ye Xixuan, "This is a Scale Armor Beast. It should have a thousand years of cultivation. Scale Armor Beasts possess boundless strength and excel at close-quarters combat. With their astonishing defenses, they can all but ignore Soul Skill attacks from most Soul Beasts at the same cultivation level."
Naturally, this Scale Armor Beast posed no real threat to them.
What truly surprised Ye Xixuan was that there seemed to be hardly any weak Soul Beasts on the outskirts of the Ming Dou Great Forest. Their very first encounter was with a thousand-year Soul Beast. He did not know whether this was because the environment inside the Ming Dou Great Forest was too harsh or because competition was too fierce.
Just then, without warning, Zhang Lexuan pulled Ye Xixuan into her arms.
Following Zhang Lexuan's gaze, he saw the Scale Armor Beast abruptly come to a halt. Though it struggled madly, its body seemed frozen, unable to move an inch. Then an invisible force dragged it into the darkness.
Two yellow, two purple, and three black Soul Rings emerged beneath Zhang Lexuan's feet-a full seven rings in the optimal configuration-flashing one after another. Immediately afterward, a thin silver mist rose around her. Silver light blazed from her beautiful eyes as her Soul Power and imposing aura rose at an astonishing speed. The waxing half-moon above her head also gradually grew, developing toward a full moon.
Against that faint silver mist, Ye Xixuan discovered, to his horror, that countless densely packed silver threads crisscrossed the space around them.
"This is..."
(End of chapter)
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