Star Dou Great Forest

Two months passed after they settled in, and during that time, no one came to disturb them or ask after them. It was as though Zhu Zhuqing had been abandoned by the Zhu Family.

Zhu Zhuqing's parents seemed to have evaporated into thin air, and even Zhu Zhuyun was nowhere to be seen.

Over those two months, she learned many combat techniques from her elder sister, as well as basic knowledge about Soul Beasts.

She also reached the beginner stage of the first transformation in the Spiritual Power Manual her mother had given her, "Nine Transformations of the Soul Spirit."

"Nine Transformations of the Soul Spirit."

The first transformation was the "Soul Awakening Realm."

This first transformation was further divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced stages.

The beginner stage involved sensing the spiritual power within the body, then gradually learning to control it.

Only at the intermediate stage could that spiritual power be put to use.

At the outermost edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, two girls appeared. Both wore black and carried sharp daggers, with metal masks concealing their beautiful faces.

Even so, the figures of these two girls, one tall and one short, still caught the eye.

The taller girl stood around one and a half meters tall, her figure particularly striking against her black clothes.

The shorter girl stood around one meter thirty. Though her figure was less developed than the taller girl's, it had already begun to take shape, and the glimpse of her face beside her metal mask showed that she, too, was a budding beauty.

These two girls were Zhu Zhuqing and her sister.

Only with Zhu Yang's help had they managed to secure this opportunity to go out.

They had come out this time to hunt for Zhu Zhuqing's first Soul Ring.

Afraid of inviting trouble, Zhu Zhuqing had held back for a full two months before asking her sister to take her out to obtain her first Soul Ring. After all, she could not carelessly expose her innate full Soul Power.

In this cold-blooded family, she dared not take that risk.

Only after repeatedly asking her sister how long other children needed to raise their Soul Power from rank eight to rank ten did Zhu Zhuqing seek out Zhu Yang. As it happened, Zhu Yang was taking two children from the family to obtain Soul Rings this time. Otherwise, the two young girls would not even have known where the Star Dou Great Forest was.

Having a map did not mean they could find their way. Those were two different things.

Before coming out, the two had already discussed which Soul Beasts they intended to obtain Soul Rings from. They had even calculated the ages of the rings.

The maximum age one could absorb for a first Soul Ring was 423 years, while for a second Soul Ring, it was 764 years.

Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul was feline, so she would be best served by absorbing a speed-type or attack-type Soul Ring. A beast Martial Soul was best paired with a Soul Ring from a similar beast.

Cats, leopards, tigers, and lions all belonged to the feline family.

Zhu Zhuqing most wanted to absorb a tiger-type or leopard-type Soul Ring, improving both her attack and speed for a more balanced result.

Her sister had selected a hundred-year-old Flat-Headed Leopard Cat for her. This kind of Flat-Headed Leopard Cat was exceptionally fast and possessed a certain amount of offensive power.

Zhu Zhuqing, however, had set her sights on a hundred-year-old Ancient Desolate Sky-Swallowing Tiger. That kind of tiger Soul Beast was what she truly wanted.

Weeds grew thick outside the Star Dou Great Forest. The two girls used their daggers to clear a path, ruthlessly cutting down every clump of Blue Silver Grass that blocked their way.

The grassy fragrance of Blue Silver Grass slowly spread through the air, smelling pleasantly sweet.

As the two gradually ventured deeper, the forest's damp scent washed over them. Traces of danger lingered within it-the scent given off by some Soul Beast, warning that the area ahead was its territory and that they should not approach carelessly.

"Slow down," Zhu Zhulin said, signaling to her younger sister.

Seeing her sister's gesture, Zhu Zhuqing immediately crouched down, held her breath, and reined in her presence. Even the spiritual perception she had just extended was immediately drawn back close to her body.

Crouching among the Blue Silver Grass, Zhu Zhulin said, "There should be a hundred-year-old Demon Cloud Giant Wolf's habitat up ahead. Let's move away. These Demon Cloud Giant Wolves hate the scent of humans more than anything."

"We'll move slowly to the left and circle around that way."

Holding her younger sister's small hand, Zhu Zhulin headed left. They moved slowly and quietly, afraid of disturbing the hundred-year-old Demon Cloud Giant Wolf resting beneath a tree ahead.

Whoosh-

Just as the two were about to leave the outermost edge of the Demon Cloud Giant Wolf's territory, several purplish-black arrows shot through the air toward them, whistling exceptionally loudly.

Awooo-

The sound enraged the Demon Cloud Giant Wolf resting beneath the tree. It raised its head and howled into the air, proclaiming its claim to this territory.

Zhu Zhulin and Zhu Zhuqing were startled. They had never imagined someone would deliberately shoot arrows their way. Judging by their trajectory, the arrows must have been fired from high in the towering tree behind them, whose crown reached into the clouds.

The archer was particularly crafty, too, vanishing after firing those few arrows. It seemed entirely deliberate.

"This is bad! Run! It's a five-hundred-year-old Demon Cloud Giant Wolf! Look at the rings beneath its chin-there are five!" Zhu Zhulin cried out.

She immediately activated her Martial Soul. In an instant, Martial Soul Possession took effect, and a purple Hell Spirit Cat appeared behind her.

In a flash, she scooped Zhu Zhuqing up with her left arm and sprinted to the left.

"Huff, huff, huff-"

Zhu Zhulin crouched on the ground, gasping for breath. After running for over ten minutes, they had finally shaken off the five-hundred-year-old Demon Cloud Giant Wolf.

Zhu Zhuqing, meanwhile, watched their surroundings warily. She crouched on the ground with her dagger clenched tightly in her right hand, for she had sensed danger approaching.

Roar-

A mighty roar erupted from the Blue Silver Grass ahead, followed by a streak of lightning flashing out of it. A large, vividly marked tiger appeared before the two girls.

The tiger was as tall and powerfully built as an ox, with a large blue marking shaped like the character for "king" on its forehead.

Blue and black patterns covered its body, with several patches of white fur on its chest, belly, and inner legs. Its thick blue-and-black coat lay smoothly over its body like a warm fur overcoat.

Its limbs were thick and powerful, its claw tips extending beyond its toes. Its long, thick tail, patterned with blue-and-black rings, swayed in a slight curve like a steel whip. Long whiskers grew from its white muzzle, adding to its imposing majesty, and those whiskers gleamed with streaks of cold light.

Most notably, a pointed horn crackling with purple lightning rose from the tiger's head, a terrifying aura surging around it.

The Lightning Wind Tiger regarded the two with an icy gaze, as though looking at a delicious breakfast. It slowly circled them, preparing to find a favorable position from which to attack.

"A Lightning Wind Tiger around four hundred years old? How is that possible?"

Zhu Zhulin looked astonished. The Lightning Wind Tiger was one of the very highest-ranked tiger Soul Beasts.

Its pointed horn could release lightning, and the strength of the lightning it gathered depended on the Soul Beast's age. At four hundred years, the gathered lightning was precisely this purple color.

"Zhu Zhuqing, run! This Lightning Wind Tiger isn't something the two of us can handle. I'll hold it off!"

Zhu Zhulin shouted to her younger sister. The two yellow Soul Rings around her were already lighting up one after another, with the first in particular blazing to its limit.

The sharp claws on both her hands suddenly extended, and the Soul Skill of her first Soul Ring enveloped her whole body. Her speed instantly doubled, and she darted straight in front of Zhu Zhuqing.

Yet Zhu Zhuqing did not retreat in the slightest. She had already decided that rather than choosing another day, she would seize the one fate had put before her. She wanted this Lightning Wind Tiger, even if it fell a little short of the Ancient Desolate Sky-Swallowing Tiger.