After absorbing her soul ring, Hu Liena immediately stood up happily.
But apart from Bibi Dong, who kept gazing in a certain direction, she did not see the figure she could not stop thinking about.
"He's gone. Who knows whether we'll ever see him again? If you chase after him now, you can still catch up."
"Teacher, why are you crying?"
Hearing Bibi Dong's slightly hoarse voice, Hu Liena finally noticed the tear tracks at the corners of her eyes that had not yet dried. She immediately hugged Bibi Dong, nestling into her arms to comfort her.
"Let's go back. If we're lucky, we should see him again at the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament."
"Mm, I'll do whatever you say, Teacher."
"Ye Li, what if you never see An Dong'er and An Nana again? Are you sure you want to leave just like this?"
"If we never meet again, it can only mean we weren't fated to be. Why should I ask for more?"
Li Ye smiled and shook his head, speaking with an indifferent expression.
"I bet you'll turn the whole continent upside down looking for them when the time comes."
"Long'er, you understand me so well. Did you put my heart inside you? Let me check."
"Ah, Ye Li, you're so awful! How could you do that?"
Half an hour later, Liu Erlong held Li Ye's arm as she followed him aimlessly deeper into the forest.
The two spent several days walking through the forest. They did encounter quite a few ten-thousand-year soul beasts along the way, but none particularly suited Li Ye.
The main reason was that Li Ye and Liu Erlong spent every day hugging and cuddling, whispering sweet nothings, devoting great swaths of time to feeding the surrounding soul beasts dog food with their displays of affection.
"Ye Li, there's a ten-thousand-year Vajra White Tiger over there. Want it?"
"No, it's only just reached ten thousand years. Its age is too low."
"Then what about that ten-thousand-year Raging Flame Demon Tiger over there? It has the Fire Attribute and looks pretty suitable for you. Want it?"
"It is quite suitable, but its cultivation is still a little lacking. Let's keep looking."
"All right, then. Let's explore deeper into Star Dou Forest and see whether there's a soul beast with sufficiently high cultivation that suits your martial soul well enough."
Based on the advice Yu Xiaogang had previously given him, his targets on this trip included not only Vajra White Tigers over twenty thousand years old, but also strength-enhancing soul beasts such as White-Eyed Tiger Kings and Giant Strength Demon Apes. Of course, the most suitable choice was still a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.
However, Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears were not easy to find, and finding any of the soul beasts he needed with suitable cultivation was difficult too.
If he really could not find one, Li Ye would have no choice but to hunt a Fire Attribute soul beast over twenty thousand years old.
It was not that he disliked the soul rings of Fire Attribute soul beasts, but Fire Attribute soul skills were easily countered. His fire was not Ultimate Fire, either, so taking a Fire Attribute soul skill truly was not as good as taking an enhancement soul skill or an attributeless offensive soul skill.
Of course, if he someday raised his flames to the level of Ultimate Fire, his targets would naturally shift to Fire Attribute soul beasts.
Suddenly, Li Ye and Liu Erlong felt the earth quake and the mountains shake. Immediately afterward, the surrounding soul beasts began fleeing for their lives.
Clearly, some extremely powerful soul beasts were fighting in the distance. Otherwise, these ten-thousand-year soul beasts would never have fled in panic.
Exchanging a glance, Li Ye and Liu Erlong decided to go take a look. If they happened to encounter a suitable soul beast, they would see whether they could pick up a bargain.
After all, this was not the core region of Star Dou Forest. The soul beasts' cultivation would not exceed Fifty-Thousand-Year at most.
Had this been Sunset Forest, Li Ye would not have dared think that way. The powerful soul beasts in Sunset Forest were all scattered in places with abundant energy. Li Ye had no idea which places were rich in energy and which were deficient, so naturally, he would not know what level of soul beast he had discovered.
If he had known, how would he ever have had the chance to meet Liu Erlong back then? How could the two of them have gotten together?
Quietly finding a spot where the disturbances from the battle were weaker, where they could clearly see what soul beasts were fighting without being discovered by them, Li Ye and Liu Erlong began observing in secret.
"Ye Li, it's a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear and a Titan Giant Ape. I don't know how many tens of thousands of years old they are, but the two of us definitely aren't their match."
"The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear is twenty thousand years old, and the Titan Giant Ape is thirty thousand years old. We really aren't their match."
The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was a descendant of the ancient ferocious beast, the Behemoth Beast, and possessed a portion of its bloodline. Once fully grown, it had almost no natural predators and could tear giant dragons apart with its bare paws. Upon reaching ten-thousand-year cultivation, it could take on a Titled Douluo head-on. Possessing the power of Ultimate Metal, it ranked among the very pinnacle of soul beasts, with invincible defense to match its invincible attacks.
The Titan Giant Ape, an ancient variant, likewise ranked among the very pinnacle of soul beasts. A hundred-year Titan Giant Ape could rival an ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beast, while a ten-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape was enough to contend with an ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beast. It could likewise take on a Titled Douluo head-on with ten-thousand-year cultivation. Its attack, defense, speed, and other attributes were practically maxed out, and it could even use abilities like soul skills. It could be said to have no weaknesses at all.
Honestly, Li Ye thought this was a little overblown. If these two kinds of soul beasts were both so invincible, no other soul beasts would have any room to survive. Still, there was no denying that these two kinds of soul beasts were indeed powerful. Almost no one hunted them; after all, even if you could absorb their soul rings, the elders in your family might not be able to beat them.
There was one thing Li Ye found rather puzzling, though. He had thought that fool Er Ming should be the last Titan Giant Ape in Star Dou Forest, yet unexpectedly, there was another one here, and its cultivation was not low either.
Watching the two colossal creatures grapple at close quarters, fighting desperately to kill each other, Li Ye truly could not make heads or tails of it.
Just what hatred, what grudge, could make two such formidable beasts fight to the death here? It absolutely could not be because they were hungry and wanted to try a new flavor.
After all, ten-thousand-year soul beasts already possessed a certain degree of intelligence. Though they fell short of adult humans, they were certainly no less intelligent than children.
Both understood that the other was not to be trifled with and was not on their menu, yet they had still carried out this series of abnormal actions.
As the saying went, when things strayed from the norm, there had to be a demon at work. There had to be some treasure here, something precious enough that these two soul beasts would risk their lives to fight over it.
After telling Liu Erlong his guess, the two began surveying their surroundings from where they stood.
After observing for quite some time, the sharp-eyed Li Ye finally spotted a small flower giving off a strange glow atop a little mound. Judging by its appearance, it had to be an immortal-grade medicinal herb.
No wonder these two soul beasts were fighting to the death. So it was for an immortal herb. That made sense.
After all, immortal herbs could not only help soul masters increase their soul power and advance their martial souls, but could also help soul beasts improve their bloodlines and raise their cultivation.
An immortal herb's appeal was absolutely no less than placing the Emperor Auspicious Beast over his head to assist his cultivation, and even exceeded that of the Emperor Auspicious Beast.
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