Time flowed like water, the years slipping past in an instant.
After helping Tang San hunt for his second soul ring and obtain one that could free a group from control effects, Li Ye, who had reached level thirty, secretly set off for Sunset Forest alone.
As for why he had chosen Sunset Forest to hunt for a soul ring, his first reason was to find a soul beast unique to the forest, the Three-Eyed Demon Fox; his second was to locate the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well so he could plant Tang San's mother, Ah Yin, there later.
After all, Li Ye really was getting close to his limit with having to take Ah Yin out of his soul tool every day to sunbathe.
As for why he wanted to hunt a Three-Eyed Demon Fox for his third soul ring, it was naturally because Li Ye also wanted a clone-type soul skill.
He truly coveted that sort of skill. During his earlier sparring sessions with Tang San, Tang San had always been able to distract Li Ye with his skull bone's incarnation skill, then heal his injuries with his own recovery skill before finally using the Clear Sky Hammer to fight Li Ye.
And because they were only sparring, Li Ye had to suppress his soul power and his own strength, leaving him repeatedly toyed with by Tang San. If not for the Seven Desolate-Breaking Techniques Spear Old Demon had taught him, Li Ye would nearly have lost to Tang San.
Moreover, skills such as clones and incarnations were not merely used to confuse opponents. More importantly, a clone could possess a certain portion of its user's strength, including the ability to use their martial soul, soul skills, and even soul bone skills.
As for why Li Ye dared to go to Sunset Forest alone, that went back to something Spear Old Demon and Sword Old Ghost had told him not long ago.
Once Li Ye reached level thirty, he could let one of the two possess him-in other words, fight on his behalf.
With Li Ye's current physical constitution at the peak of Soul Ancestor, coupled with his spiritual power at the peak of Soul Emperor, either Spear Old Demon or Sword Old Ghost could display strength surpassing that of an ordinary Soul Saint.
Although he could only use this ability once every ten days, it was enough for Li Ye to protect himself in Sunset Forest.
Once Li Ye obtained his third soul ring, he would even be able to fight a Soul Douluo.
The only problem was that after each use, Li Ye had to endure a backlash, one that acted directly on his soul and caused extreme agony.
Thus, unless it was a critical moment, even if Li Ye wanted to use it, Spear Old Demon and Sword Old Ghost would not agree.
Following the location marked on the map, Li Ye traveled for over ten days before finally arriving at Sunset Forest.
"Hmph, stupid Grandpa, mean Grandpa! All you ever do is make me study that knowledge about poisons. Everyone's practically treating me like a little poison girl!"
"This time, I'll hunt for my third soul ring myself, and I won't get a poison-attribute soul ring. I'll make you furious, you rotten old man! Hmph!"
"There aren't any Three-Eyed Demon Foxes around here, and there's no sign of that poison formation of Dugu Bo's either. Did I come to a fake Sunset Forest?"
Li Ye searched a wide area without finding anything he wanted, leaving him unable to help questioning his life.
However, although he had failed to find either a Three-Eyed Demon Fox or Dugu Bo's poison formation, Li Ye did discover something amusing.
A beautiful girl with short purple hair, green eyes, and striking looks and figure was fighting a Fox Demon around fifteen hundred years old. She was none other than Dugu Yan, who had run off after losing her temper with Dugu Bo.
"First soul skill, Poison Mist Obstruction! Second soul skill, Jade Phosphor Erosion!"
Although Dugu Yan unleashed two soul skills in succession, one to confuse her opponent and the other to launch a surprise attack, the Fox Demon cleverly avoided them with a clone.
However, Dugu Yan, who was hidden behind the mist barrier, did not know that her attacks had missed. She still thought her opponent had been brought down by her poison, which was why it had remained silent for so long.
Not only was this Fox Demon exceptionally clever, it could even see through Dugu Yan's thoughts.
While Dugu Yan was feeling smug, it quietly circled behind her and launched a surprise attack.
Having never expected such an outcome, Dugu Yan was completely unprepared and was sent flying by a full-force swipe of the Fox Demon's claw.
Struck by such a heavy blow, Dugu Yan immediately fell to the ground in pain. Fortunately, she had the inner armor Dugu Bo had prepared for her, which spared her from serious injury.
Yet although she had not been seriously injured, she had lost the ability to fight.
"Hahahaha! You're killing me! I've never seen such a lousy Soul Grandmaster! Getting caught by a sneak attack like that-how did you have the nerve to come out here and make a fool of yourself? Hahahaha!"
Just as Dugu Yan thought she was going to die here today, Li Ye, who had been hiding in a tree, finally failed to hold himself back and burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
However, he laughed so hard that he lost his footing and tumbled out of the tree, leaving him looking somewhat disheveled.
But because Li Ye had appeared, the naturally wary Fox Demon immediately abandoned its attack on Dugu Yan and leaped aside, watching Li Ye warily.
"Hahahaha!" Li Ye still had not recovered. He remained on the ground, pounding it with his hand as he laughed.
Seeing this, the Fox Demon thought Li Ye was mocking it. Noticing that he was completely unguarded, it immediately lunged at him.
"Hmph, do you think I'm that fool from just now?" Just as the Fox Demon was about to strike him, Li Ye suddenly attacked, driving his spear straight through its abdomen.
Looking at the grievously wounded Fox Demon lying on the ground, Li Ye did not finish it off. Instead, he took out medicine for treating wounds, applied it to the Fox Demon's injury, and even considerately bandaged it.
"All right, I'll spare your life today. Whether you survive is your own business," Li Ye said as he looked at the Fox Demon lying on the ground.
With its intelligence, the Fox Demon naturally understood what Li Ye meant, but it was so badly injured that it could not even stand. How could it leave?
Li Ye naturally noticed this too, but for the sake of his pride, he was too embarrassed to say anything more in front of Dugu Yan.
Left with no choice, Li Ye hoisted Dugu Yan and the Fox Demon onto his shoulders, one on each side.
"Hey, you! What are you planning to do to me? Do you know who I am?" Dugu Yan asked nervously.
"My dear young lady, what else do you think I could do to you? Obviously, I'm finding somewhere to treat you two rookies," Li Ye said, at a loss for words.
He truly could not understand what was going through her head. At his age, could he possibly do anything else?
Although soul masters on the Douluo Continent matured very early, he really had not developed to that extent yet.
Though even if he had developed to that extent, Li Ye would not have done anything anyway.
"O-oh, I see! But what do you mean, this soul beast and I are two rookies?" Dugu Yan was a little ashamed at first, but her embarrassment immediately turned to anger.
"A self-important level-thirty Soul Grandmaster who got taken down in one move, and a thousand-year soul beast that went down the same way-what are you if not two rookies?" Li Ye curled his lip and muttered.
"What did you say? Put me down! Just watch me beat you, you arrogant jerk!" Dugu Yan said, embarrassed and angry.
"Are you serious?" Li Ye turned his head in earnest and glanced at Dugu Yan, whom he was carrying on his shoulder.
"N-no, I was just joking." Dugu Yan truly had not expected Li Ye to say that. He was not a gentleman at all. Could he not tell that she, a girl, had only said that in a fit of pique?
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