"Ha ha."
Following Zhu Zhuqing's line of thought, Yu Tianling also felt that the comedic effect was somewhat off the charts.
And so, the two kept imagining possibilities, one remark after another, their laughter ringing out from the carriage from time to time.
Twenty days later, in a town near the Star Dou Great Forest.
Returning to familiar ground, Yu Tianling naturally took Zhu Zhuqing to the Forest Hotel to rest for a night before setting out the next day.
Separate rooms, of course!
If anyone asked Yu Tianling, he would tell them, "How can I settle down before breaking through level one hundred!" He spent every day with his head hanging from his belt; who knew when the protagonist's halo might jinx him to death? Until he could fully guarantee his freedom, Yu Tianling would not lose his virginity so early!
Half a month passed.
"Ling, if we go any farther, we'll enter the inner region of the Star Dou Great Forest. Won't that be too dangerous?"
Zhu Zhuqing stopped Yu Tianling, who intended to keep going, looking somewhat worried.
In truth, Zhu Zhuqing's concern was not unfounded.
The outskirts and inner region of the Star Dou Great Forest simply could not be compared. The outskirts were home to Soul Beasts of relatively low ages, with the occasional one around ten thousand years old, whereas the inner region was precisely the opposite. It was the habitat of powerful thousand-year and ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts. If a weaker Soul Master accidentally entered the inner region, they would most likely face ten deaths and no chance of survival.
Normally, only Soul Masters at the Soul Emperor level or above dared venture deeper in groups, and even then, they could not get entangled with powerful Soul Beasts when they encountered them. They could only flee.
But was Yu Tianling an ordinary person?
Absolutely not.
"Qing'er, don't worry. As long as no hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast appears, there isn't a Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest that can keep us here!"
On this point, Yu Tianling was exceptionally confident.
Although he was only at level sixty-something now, with his powerful Soul Rings, Soul Skills, and God of War Domain, Yu Tianling had absolutely no fear.
"Let's go. We've searched the outskirts for half a month without finding a Soul Beast we're happy with. It looks like they must all be in the inner region. The sooner we hunt one down, the sooner you can resume cultivating."
With that, Yu Tianling took Zhu Zhuqing's hand and continued toward the inner region.
"Logically, the Soul Beasts we're targeting should spend most of their time in the outskirts. Why can't we suddenly find a single one there now? Could something have happened in the Star Dou Great Forest?"
Being led along by the hand, Zhu Zhuqing voiced her confusion.
Three years of study had given Zhu Zhuqing a thorough knowledge of Soul Beasts. She was very familiar with which species lived in which areas, which was why she was so puzzled now that she had failed to find a suitable Soul Beast by following what she had learned.
"Generally speaking, there are two possible reasons for this."
"One is that some special Immortal Herb might have appeared in the inner region, drawing even the Soul Beasts from the outskirts to rush in without regard for their lives."
Yu Tianling paused, then continued, "The other possibility is that a powerful Soul Beast recently appeared in the outskirts, perhaps even a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast. Its oppressive presence sent many of the Soul Beasts in the outskirts fleeing in every direction, which is why we haven't found any suitable ones in their recorded habitats."
After Yu Tianling finished, both of them fell into thought, a little curious as well. Regardless, neither stopped walking, and they continued onward.
As they gradually ventured deeper into the inner region of the Star Dou Great Forest, traces of human activity grew increasingly scarce. The trees became ever more lush and densely packed, blotting out the sky and sun, with almost no light filtering down through the leaves.
"Hm?" ×2
The two exchanged a sudden glance as they walked, having abruptly caught a strong scent of blood.
Realizing that something might be happening up ahead, perhaps even something connected to the disappearance of the Soul Beasts in the outskirts, they hurried forward. After passing through a thicket, they saw the source of it all.
Before them lay a large clearing, its ground covered in Blue Silver Grass. Numerous Soul Beasts had gathered there, locked in a relentless melee. An unknown number had died in the fighting, most of them thousand-year Soul Beasts. Purple Soul Rings floated everywhere, and blood covered the ground. Among them, Yu Tianling and Zhu Zhuqing spotted the Soul Beasts they had been searching for.
"What is this?!"
Zhu Zhuqing covered her mouth in surprise and looked at Yu Tianling beside her, not daring to make a sound.
For the moment, Yu Tianling could not quite understand what had happened either. In response to Zhu Zhuqing's question, he could only shake his head slightly.
There were simply too many Soul Beasts here, with quite a few ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts among them, so the two could only keep watching, ready to act when an opportunity arose, while also seeing just why these Soul Beasts had suddenly gone berserk.
As time passed, only a handful of ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts remained on the field, eyeing one another like tigers watching their prey. The others had either died or left in fear.
Only then did Yu Tianling and Zhu Zhuqing finally see the cause of the Soul Beasts' frenzy: a deep-black fruit growing in the middle of the grass.
"Dark Night Bodhi Fruit!" ×2
Yu Tianling and Zhu Zhuqing abruptly exchanged another glance, their eyes filled with desire. Neither had expected to encounter such a rare, legendary medicinal herb here.
The Dark Night Bodhi Fruit was an immortal treasure of the highest order. Its effects were no less potent than those of Aromatic Silk Beauty, and even surpassed them.
When consumed by a Soul Beast with the darkness attribute, a Dark Night Bodhi Fruit could purify its bloodline and increase its age. When consumed by a person with the darkness attribute, it could strengthen that attribute. It could be called the medicinal herb that every darkness-attribute Soul Master on the entire continent dreamed of obtaining.
"Qing'er, this is wonderful! As long as you eat this Dark Night Bodhi Fruit, you'll definitely be able to activate the Hell Spirit Cat's darkness attribute. You might very well even gain Ultimate Darkness directly!"
Yu Tianling leaned close to Zhu Zhuqing's ear and whispered, unable to conceal the excitement in his voice.
His original plan had been to hunt a darkness-attribute Soul Beast and combine it with the Immortal Herbs he already had to achieve Martial Soul Evolution, thereby restoring the Hell Spirit Cat's darkness attribute.
But if they could seize this Dark Night Bodhi Fruit, it would no longer matter whether they hunted a darkness-attribute Soul Beast for her third Soul Ring, and her strength would far exceed his expectations!
"!"
Hearing Yu Tianling's words, Zhu Zhuqing had clearly thought of this as well. But looking at the several ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts gathered around the Dark Night Bodhi Fruit, waiting for it to ripen, she hesitated somewhat.
Yu Tianling naturally noticed Zhu Zhuqing's concern, but in his view, a few severely wounded ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts were not too much of a problem. It was worth a try. If he succeeded, this trip would not have been in vain.
Seeing how confident Yu Tianling was, Zhu Zhuqing chose to trust him.
"Then stay here and wait in a bit. Whatever you do, don't reveal yourself. Once the Dark Night Bodhi Fruit ripens, these Soul Beasts will definitely fight among themselves again. When they've all wounded one another, I'll activate my domain immediately and snatch the Dark Night Bodhi Fruit."
After seeing Zhu Zhuqing agree, Yu Tianling quietly gave her these instructions, then fixed his eyes on the situation before him.