An old Blue Star native, scarred by poverty

By then, the sun had set, and Chen Ping did not dare keep wandering outside at night.

After following the main road for a while, he found a sheltered slope, gathered some firewood, and lit a small campfire.

Then Chen Ping took a handful of powder from a paper packet in his back basket. He tossed a small pinch into the campfire to burn, then mixed the rest with water and sprinkled it around his resting area.

This was powdered, dried dung from a thousand-year soul beast, which Chen Ping had spent a considerable sum to buy. At most, he had reached the Star Dou Forest's buffer zone; he had yet to enter its outer region.

Dung from a thousand-year soul beast was enough to scare off any younger soul beasts nearby that might stumble upon him.

Just as animals marked their territory with urine, powdered dung from older soul beasts had the same effect.

Whether burned or mixed with water, it would release the scent that had grown faint after drying.

That was also why Chen Ping dared to light a fire.

Although Yu Xiaogang's Ten Great Martial Soul Competition Theory was wrong practically across the board, some of the common knowledge he discussed outside that theoretical framework was sound.

For example, one should not light fires in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Although most soul beasts feared flames, a small minority loved them, and most of that minority were deadly creatures.

Of course, if someone insisted on lighting a fire as Chen Ping did, their best option was to buy some dried soul beast dung from a beast at least a thousand years old, toss part of it into the fire, and mix the rest with water to sprinkle on the ground.

That way, as long as they did not wander into the mixed region, they generally would not encounter danger even if they lit fires freely in the outer region.

Even if a dangerous fire-attribute soul beast appeared, once it smelled the thousand-year soul beast dung, it would tuck its tail between its legs and keep far away.

Taking a coarse hemp blanket from his back basket, Chen Ping comfortably wrapped it around himself. He leaned against the sheltered slope, warmed himself by the fire, and narrowed his eyes in contentment.

The main reason Chen Ping wanted a fire was that he was not used to the nights on the Douluo Continent.

Once the sun set, the whole world seemed to lose every source of light in an instant. Clear nights were all right, at least, with a bright moon and a sky full of stars hanging overhead.

But he was unlucky today. It was overcast.

It truly was so dark he could not see his fingers in front of his face. There were no warm incandescent lights at home, no streetlights lining the city streets, and certainly no dazzling neon lights downtown.

There was only darkness, cold, and silence.

To Chen Ping, this environment was nothing short of a curse. It was also a bit of "fussiness" he had retained even after coming to the Douluo Continent.

At night, he needed at least a little light nearby, however faint. Darkness so complete that he could not see his own outstretched fingers was simply too much.

There really were many things whose indispensability only struck people after they had lost them.

He warmed several flatbreads that had gone cold and hard, and their original aroma immediately rose again, wafting straight into his nose.

Washing them down with the lightly salted water he had used earlier to replenish his strength, Chen Ping finished several flatbreads weighing a pound apiece, then slept peacefully until dawn.

The jade rabbit sank in the west, and the golden crow rose in the east.

When the first ray of sunlight fell on Chen Ping, he soon woke.

This was one of the few nights he had given up meditation in favor of sleep. Even if he had merely curled up and dozed through the night, it still counted as getting some sleep.

He was about to enter the Star Dou Forest, and meditation was an intensely private affair. Unless he had no other choice, Chen Ping did not dare meditate out in the wilderness.

After all, he had already gained a little foothold in meditating while moving, so he could find time to cultivate during the day as well.

Under those circumstances, the gains from a night of meditation in the wild were hardly worth the risks.

Thus, thanks to his soul hunting trip, Chen Ping had enjoyed a proper sleep for the first time in ages and felt thoroughly refreshed.

"This brand of soul beast dung works pretty well. It's so much cheaper than other brands of thousand-year soul beast dung, but the effectiveness hasn't suffered."

Having gone an entire night without being bothered by wild animals or soul beasts, Chen Ping nodded in satisfaction. It seemed cheap goods were not necessarily bad goods.

Chen Ping was not someone who blindly chased bargains. Powdered thousand-year soul beast dung generally sold for ten Gold Soul Coins a pound.

Dung from predators such as bears, tigers, and lions cost several times as much, with some selling for thirty or fifty Gold Soul Coins a pound.

But the powdered soul beast dung he had bought cost only three Gold Soul Coins a pound!

At such a low price, he would never have dared buy it if he had not spent Academic Genius Points to inspect it and confirm that it really was dung from a thousand-year soul beast.

Although he had no idea whether the stallholder was selling his powdered soul beast dung so cheaply because a donkey had kicked him in the head, Chen Ping happily bought three pounds.

Used sparingly, one pound of powdered soul beast dung would last Chen Ping over a month of wandering around the Star Dou Forest. He had bought the remaining two pounds to resell because it was simply too cheap to pass up.

With powder this cheap, he could make a tidy profit just by selling it on.

Making money was etched deep into Chen Ping's genes. Naturally, he could not let an opportunity like this slip away.

He was an old Blue Star native, scarred by poverty. He could not bear to miss earning even a single cent.

Not long after he set off, a wooden sign beside the road caught Chen Ping's attention.

"Fifty li ahead lies the boundary of the Star Dou Great Forest. Soul beasts roam the area. Stay safe."

A short while farther on, a nimble black shadow flashed through the treetops ahead of Chen Ping and vanished into the far end of the canopy.

At the sight, Chen Ping's heart gave a sudden jolt, and his mind raced.

As everyone knew, when Huo Gua entered the Star Dou Forest, he had also encountered a sign like this fifty li from the forest.

Then Huo Gua had continued onward and encountered that Godslayer Wind Baboon.

Putting that together with the black shadow in the treetops just now, Chen Ping turned around and left without another word.

I can't take this road.

Although he had arrived here more than two months-nearly three months-ahead of little Huo.

But heaven knew whether the butterfly effect of his arrival on the Douluo Continent might also bring Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Electrolux here ahead of time.

Chen Ping acknowledged their value. Selling him ten million times over would not be enough to buy either of them. But he treasured his own life more and had no intention of gambling with it.

He had a clearly planned path for his own growth and had prepared more than one backup plan. There was no need to rush headlong into the spiderweb woven by the Tang God King.

Watching Chen Ping turn and leave, the black shadow that had been traveling through the trees froze as well. It quickly descended from the canopy to a branch and studied the retreating Chen Ping in puzzlement.

The black shadow was none other than a rather powerful Wind Baboon. Although it had only ten years of cultivation, its muscles were well developed, and its strength was probably no less than that of an ordinary adult.

Its little brain could not comprehend why Chen Ping had turned back halfway through his journey, but the Wind Baboon soon put the matter out of its mind.

If there was no meat to gnaw on, it would eat some fruit first.

The next time one of those very young-looking humans appeared alone, it would not be too late to feast on meat.