Ye Chen, the Spendthrift

"Xiao Wu, let's rest for the night in Soul Hunting Town outside, then enter the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow."

Seeing that it was getting late, Ye Chen had no intention of entering the Star Dou Great Forest now.

After all, unlike the Soul Hunting Forests raised by humans, the Star Dou Great Forest was the largest wild soul beast gathering place on the continent. Small beast tides even broke out from time to time.

This Soul Hunting Town was said to be outside the Star Dou Great Forest, but it was actually still over a hundred kilometers away from it!

Moreover, there was not only the Soul Hunting Town near Suotuo City from the original story outside the Star Dou Great Forest. The Star Dou Great Forest covered a vast area, and there were quite a few similar Soul Hunting Towns.

"Mm-hmm."

Xiao Wu nodded.

The two found an inn in Soul Hunting Town and rested for the night. Early the next morning, before dawn had even broken, they set off for the Star Dou Great Forest.

Looking at the towering trees everywhere, Ye Chen, who was visiting the Star Dou Great Forest for the first time, could not help but feel awed.

Although the Soul Hunting Forest also had plenty of vegetation, neither its quantity nor variety could compare to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Furthermore, Ye Chen could sense that the free-floating Soul Power in the air of the Star Dou Great Forest was far more abundant than in Notting City.

The Soul Hunting Forest had a similar situation, but it was even more apparent in the Star Dou Great Forest.

After entering the Star Dou Great Forest, Ye Chen looked at the more than 140 million Gold Soul Coins in the System Shop and immediately bought a Lucky Card.

Searching aimlessly for soul beasts was certainly inefficient. Although Ye Chen could not be sure whether the Lucky Card would actually work, he still bought one.

There was no particular reason for it—he treated it as peace of mind. Besides, one million Gold Soul Coins was merely a small sum to the current Ye Chen.

Now that the little rabbit has come to the Star Dou Great Forest, will that big monkey appear?

Ye Chen suddenly thought of this.

In the original story, only a few days after Xiao Wu arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest, her little brother Er Ming had come. He had scared the Shrek group half to death at the time. Ye Chen did not know whether he would receive the same treatment this time.

Unlike Ye Chen's caution, Xiao Wu had been as cheerful as a rabbit ever since entering the Star Dou Great Forest.

Well, she was a rabbit to begin with.

"Xiao Wu, are you happy?"

Ye Chen asked Xiao Wu.

"Mm-hmm! I haven't been home in so long, of course I'm happy!"

Xiao Wu, who was frolicking about, accidentally let it slip.

"Home? Your home is in the Star Dou Great Forest?"

Xiao Wu: "!!!"

"Ahem~ Back then, my mother brought me to live in the Star Dou Great Forest to escape our enemies' pursuit."

Fortunately, Xiao Wu reacted quickly enough to cover it up.

"Ah~ So my Xiao Wu had such a pitiful past? You were actually a wild child when you were little?"

Knowing the truth, Ye Chen did not expose her and instead spoke with an exaggerated expression.

"You're the wild child!"

Xiao Wu immediately refused to accept Ye Chen calling her a wild child. Who was a wild child? She was an adorable little rabbit, alright?

"Mm-hmm, I'm a wild child, you're a wild child, we're both wild children!"

Ye Chen nodded solemnly.

"Damn it, Sister Xiao Wu is going to teach you a proper lesson today!"

At once, Xiao Wu pounced on Ye Chen beside her like a hungry tiger, and the two began tussling in a heap.

From the morning sun rising, to the blazing noon sun, and then to the beautiful evening sunset, Ye Chen, who had used a Lucky Card, seemed to have had rather poor luck. He had not found a soul beast suited to him.

He had encountered quite a few soul beasts, but none met Ye Chen's requirements.

For his Third Soul Ring, Ye Chen had set his target as a plant-type soul beast between one thousand and ten thousand years old, as long as its Innate Soul Skill had a decent effect.

It could be said that such requirements were extremely lenient, yet he had still failed to encounter one.

Seeing that it was getting late, Ye Chen took Xiao Wu to find an open area and began setting up a tent, preparing to camp for the night.

Since they were in the Star Dou Great Forest, the danger was considerable. Although the two were only in the outer region, they could still encounter powerful soul beasts, so after night fell, Ye Chen and Xiao Wu took turns guarding the night.

If he could only rely on their own strength, Ye Chen would never have come to such a dangerous place as the Star Dou Great Forest to search for his Third Soul Ring. After all, if they had bad luck and encountered a ten-thousand-year soul beast, Xiao Wu, a Four-Ring Soul Elder, would be no match for it.

But when it came to external equipment, things were different.

Ordinary firearms might be basically useless against high-year soul beasts, but high-year soul beasts would generally not appear in the outer region. Therefore, Ye Chen could still ensure their safety.

Furthermore, the System Shop sold not only ordinary firearms, but also advanced Soul Tools.

For example, it even sold ninth-grade Soul Tools with explosive power comparable to an ordinary Titled Douluo, as well as tenth-grade Soul Tools comparable to a level-99 Peerless Douluo. They were simply far too expensive.

A ninth-grade Soul Tool started at one hundred million Gold Soul Coins. The current Ye Chen could afford one, but tenth-grade Soul Tools started at one billion Gold Soul Coins, which was not something the current Ye Chen could afford.

And even if Ye Chen could afford them, there were many that he would be unable to use.

There was no other reason: his strength was insufficient, so he couldn't bring out the power of soul tools. Ye Chen could only use Fixed-Setting Soul Tools that required only a small amount of Soul Power to activate.

For three consecutive days, Ye Chen used three Lucky Cards, yet he still failed to find a target suitable for his Third Soul Ring. It left him utterly depressed.

If an ordinary Soul Master spent three days in the Star Dou Great Forest without finding a soul ring that suited them, that would be perfectly normal. But Ye Chen had used Lucky Cards.

The cost price of three Lucky Cards was three million Gold Soul Coins. With that much money, even if you lay around at home and hired Soul Master squads to do the work, surely they could capture the soul beast you needed alive and bring it back to you, right?

It was only because Ye Chen's parents had died early. Otherwise, they definitely would have broken his legs for being such a wastrel!

"Sigh..."

Thinking about how badly he had lost out, Ye Chen couldn't help but sigh.

"Chen Ge, isn't it normal that we haven't found the soul beast you need after only three days? Why do you look so dejected?"

Xiao Wu comforted Ye Chen from beside him.

"You don't understand. Your brother here has suffered a huge loss..."

It wasn't that Ye Chen lacked money, but this was still three million Gold Soul Coins! That was enough to pay 2,500 Three-Ring Soul Grandmasters a year's worth of Soul Master Subsidies!

Compared to that, the two of them's daily expenses over the past few years were practically nothing.

"A huge loss? How did you lose out?"

Hearing Ye Chen say that he had suffered a huge loss, Xiao Wu looked deeply curious.

"I'd better not tell you. Otherwise, you'll definitely be even sadder than I am..."

Ye Chen glanced at Xiao Wu, shook his head, and decided not to tell her.