Seeing that everyone had eaten the Soul Power sausages Oscar made, Flender nodded in satisfaction.
"All right, that concludes today's lesson. But you must always remember that from now on, whenever you're together, Oscar is your logistics and supply support. Forget those meaningless spirit incantations. Staying alive, bringing out your full strength, and even surpassing your limits are what matter most!"
"Now, each of you can go back and make preparations. You'll have two days to adjust and rest. Early the morning after tomorrow, everyone will set out, with Teacher Zhao leading you to the Star Dou Great Forest to help Oscar obtain his third Soul Ring."
"Remember, this isn't just Oscar's business. It's a trial for all of you. Until you encounter a thousand-year soul beast, Teacher Zhao won't intervene lightly. You'll have to rely on yourselves for everything. Dismissed."
With that, Flender turned and left.
Lu Qian looked at Oscar, who was being supported by Ma Hongjun, and asked:
"Will your body recover in two days?"
"It should more or less recover. After all, I only overexerted my Soul Power. The dean already gave me medicine yesterday, and I feel like I'm recovering pretty well now."
"That's good."
Since Dai Mubai had left early again, Lu Qian spoke directly to Ma Hongjun:
"Brother Ma, while everyone's still here, tell us about the Star Dou Great Forest."
Lu Qian wasn't merely asking Ma Hongjun to introduce the place; he was helping him restore his image in everyone's eyes.
Ma Hongjun didn't decline and immediately began his introduction.
"The Star Dou Great Forest is one of the three most famous soul beast habitats on our Douluo Continent. It's so vast that its area almost equals the territory of the Balak Kingdom. It straddles the border between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, with two-fifths of its area in our Heaven Dou Empire and the other three-fifths in the Star Luo Empire."
"The Star Dou Great Forest is an enormous primeval forest. Its terrain is complex, with wetlands, swamps, and so on. The soul beasts there are also extremely fearsome, and the closer you get to the center of the forest, the stronger they become. They say there are even hundred-thousand-year soul beasts in there!"
"But because the Star Dou Great Forest has such an enormous population of soul beasts, as long as a Soul Master is strong enough and lucky enough, they can find the Soul Ring best suited to them inside."
"It's different from the Soul Hunting Forest controlled by Spirit Hall, which is only suitable for Soul Masters below rank thirty to hunt soul beasts in. These three great soul beast habitats are suitable for Soul Masters of every rank, but they're also extremely dangerous!"
"As a cradle of soul beasts, it still has a very high casualty rate among Soul Masters."
After listening to Ma Hongjun's introduction, Tang San's eyes lit up, and he said to Oscar:
"I hope you come away with something good this time."
"Sure enough, risks and rewards go hand in hand."
Although Lu Qian had long known about the Star Dou Great Forest, he still couldn't help making that remark after hearing Ma Hongjun's introduction.
Then, noticing Xiao Wu standing in a daze nearby, Lu Qian put on a serious air and asked Tang San:
"Tang San, do you think hundred-thousand-year soul beasts really exist on the continent?"
"Hundred-thousand-year soul beasts? Perhaps they do."
Tang San thought for a moment before answering.
"Then suppose a hundred-thousand-year soul beast appeared right in front of you. Would you kill it and take its Soul Ring?"
Lu Qian's gaze flicked casually toward Xiao Wu.
But Xiao Wu's attention was entirely focused on Tang San at that moment. It seemed she cared a great deal about his choice.
"Well, I really haven't thought about that."
"Then think about it now."
Xiao Wu suddenly spoke up.
It was very abrupt. Xiao Wu also felt she had been a little too impatient and lowered her head awkwardly.
Tang San and the others merely found it a little strange, but they would never connect it to the fact that Xiao Wu really was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
Seeing that Tang San hadn't immediately stated his position, Lu Qian decided to give him another push and spoke as though joking:
"Oh, Little San, I was just saying whatever came to mind. Don't take it seriously. How could you encounter a hundred-thousand-year soul beast just like that?"
Tang San immediately saw the light. That was right. How could he encounter a hundred-thousand-year soul beast just because he said so?
The odds of encountering one were already infinitesimal, yet he had actually started considering his choice.
Unable to help laughing at himself, Tang San shook his head and said:
"Heh, looks like I was overthinking it."
"Exactly. That's a hundred-thousand-year soul beast we're talking about. If I really ran into one, I'd probably be so scared I'd turn tail and run."
Ma Hongjun scratched his head and spoke with complete honesty.
"All right, all right. I was only making an offhand remark. Let's stop getting hung up on this."
Lu Qian took the initiative to end the topic, lest he seem too deliberate and make it easy for Tang San to spot a flaw.
Although they had only skimmed the surface of this topic, Lu Qian felt he had achieved his aim, because Tang San would never imagine that Xiao Wu, who had stayed by his side for six years, was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast that had transformed into human form.
In Xiao Wu's eyes, Tang San's performance just now hadn't even earned a passing grade, because he had hesitated!
Of course, Lu Qian wasn't counting on this single conversation to ruin their relationship. After all, her Brother San still held a very high place in Xiao Wu's eyes.
But even the strongest relationship couldn't withstand this kind of soul-searching question of principle. For example, if Tang San had directly said just now that he wanted the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, Lu Qian felt Xiao Wu would certainly have been deeply hurt.
Perhaps Xiao Wu couldn't bear to kill Tang San, but she would very likely leave in sorrow.
There was no helping it. The conflict between humans and soul beasts could be called a matter of principle.
Neither humans nor soul beasts could take the opposing side's standpoint when declaring their position, unless they were a traitor!
Even though Xiao Wu had now transformed into a human, she couldn't escape her innate position as a soul beast.
When Lu Qian looked at Xiao Wu again, her expression had already become very unnatural.
Her head was lowered, and no one knew what she was thinking. She didn't even respond when Tang San called her twice in a row.
"Little Ao, let me take you back to rest first."
Having stirred up trouble, Lu Qian was ready to find an excuse to retreat.
"Oh, sorry for the trouble."
"It's fine, no trouble at all. I'm not the one supporting you anyway, hahahaha."
"Lu Qian, could you have a little shame?"
Ma Hongjun shot Lu Qian an irritated glare.
Early in the morning two days later, Lu Qian arrived at the training ground ahead of time. Zhao Wuji was already waiting for everyone to arrive.
Lu Qian then made a point of observing Tang San and Xiao Wu again. It seemed that over these two days, the two had gone back to how they were before?
Sure enough, loosening the soil between Tang San and Xiao Wu was still rather difficult.
Before you continue