No one slept soundly that night.
The inn's beds were so hard they hurt your bones, and the bedding smelled damp and musty, but these weren't the reasons that kept everyone tossing and turning.
The oppressive feeling emanating from the direction of the forest slowly and steadily pounded against everyone's nerves like a tide.
Feng Qingxuan managed to close his eyes and rest for a while as dawn approached. When he woke up, the sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten. He put on his coat and went to the entrance of the inn, where he found Sword Douluo Chen Xin already standing there.
Chen Xin, dressed in white, stood motionless on the stone steps in front of the inn, facing the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The morning light shone from behind him, making his long silver hair and snow-white robe glow slightly, making him look like a sword standing on the stone steps from a distance.
Feng Qingxuan walked to his side and followed his gaze—the morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the ancient trees at the edge of the forest were faintly visible in the mist, looking no different from yesterday.
" Your Sword Douluo is up very early," Feng Qingxuan said.
Chen Xin didn't reply. After a moment, he suddenly spoke, his voice very soft. "Last night, in the latter half of the night, something was lingering at the edge of the forest. Less than five miles from us."
Feng Qingxuan frowned.
"The biggest difference between a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast is not strength, but intelligence."
Chen Xin finally withdrew her gaze and turned to look at Feng Qingxuan. "It knew we were here. Last night it didn't come to forage; it came to investigate. It was watching us."
Feng Qingxuan remained silent for a few seconds, then slowly exhaled.
As dawn broke, the people in the inn gradually woke up. Li Ji prepared a simple breakfast in the backyard. He processed a few pieces of military rations into something soft and palatable, and the group quickly ate their fill with hot water.
After Lin Yuan finished inspecting the carriage and returned, he nodded to Feng Qingxuan, indicating that they could depart at any time.
"Let's proceed according to the plan we discussed last night." Feng Qingxuan mounted his horse and glanced back at the innkeeper—the old man was leaning against the doorframe, yawning, showing no interest in their actions.
"Go into the forest. First, find Soul Beast for Bai Yu."
Three carriages drove out of the town, heading towards the edge of the forest along the dirt road worn down by countless Soul Master. The closer they got to the forest, the stronger the scent of grass and trees became in the air.
"Stop." Feng Qingxuan raised his right hand.
The carriage stopped at the edge of the forest. From here, the carriage could not go any further. The ancient trees overhead blocked out the sun, and their thick trunks required several people to encircle them.
The ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, which made a damp, muffled sound when stepped on. The light in the forest was dim, with sunlight being cut into fragmented spots by the layers of tree canopy.
Feng Qingxuan turned to Lin Yuan: "Elder Lin, you are Agility Attack System with the widest perception range. You go ahead and scout the way. Once you find a suitable Thousand-Year Soul Beast for the Wind Chime Martial Soul, send a signal."
Then he said to Li Ji, "Old Li, you should set up the first supply point now, mark it well, so we don't get lost on our way back."
The two nodded simultaneously. Lin Yuan's figure flashed, and he disappeared silently into the depths of the dense forest.
Li Ji unloaded a bag of dry rations and several jugs of water from the carriage and hid them in a hollow ancient tree. He also carved an inconspicuous arrow mark on the trunk.
Bai Yu stood at the edge of the forest, took a deep breath, and caught up with the group. The Wind Chime on her wrist swayed gently in the forest breeze, but made no sound—she used her Soul Power to suppress the clapper. The first rule for entering the forest: do not make unnecessary noise.
The group slowly advanced along the marks left by Lin Yuan. Most of the Soul Beast on the outskirts of the forest were between ten and a hundred years old. Sensing the presence of humans, they all gave way. A few foolish ones were startled by a wisp of poisonous breath released by Dugu Bo from afar and scattered in all directions. Dugu Bo snorted and had no interest in even glancing at them.
Chen Xin walked in the middle of the group, remaining silent throughout. His pace was slow, but each step was extremely steady. Feng Qingxuan noticed that his right hand was always slightly open, with his five fingers always in a clenched position.
After walking for about two hours, a short bird call suddenly came from the dense forest ahead. It was Lin Yuan's signal.
"Found it." Feng Qingxuan quickened his pace.
The group walked through a patch of low bushes, and suddenly the view opened up before them. It was a forest clearing with an ancient tree in the center, its trunk charred black from being struck by lightning.
Lin Yuan squatted on a large tree at the edge of the open space, gestured to the crowd, and pointed to the area below the broken wood.
Feng Qingxuan followed his gesture and looked over. There was a naturally formed hole at the base of the broken tree. The entrance was small, but the bottom was nowhere in sight. There were traces of claws scratching the edge of the hole, and the soil was still fresh.
" Wind Attribute, around three thousand years old," Lin Yuan said in a low voice. "It peeked out just now; its body was bluish-gray, and it wasn't very big. It should be some kind of mutated weasel-like Soul Beast. It reacted extremely quickly; it retreated as soon as I got close."
"Three thousand years?" Feng Qingxuan's brows twitched slightly as he looked at Bai Yu. The upper limit of a normal Soul Master's Third Soul Ring is about 1,700 years, so three thousand years is beyond the normal range.
But Bai Yu is different—she not only took the Flexibility Strengthening Pill, but also the Nurturing Grace and Supporting Splendor Pill made from Immortal Herb, making her meridians' endurance and Martial Soul quality far surpass those of other Soul Master of the same level. Only she herself knows exactly how many years she can endure.
He didn't make the decision for Bai Yu.
"It's fast, agile, and a good match for your Wind Chime Martial Soul. But its age is also considerably higher than a normal Third Soul Ring." Feng Qingxuan looked at Bai Yu. " Bai Yu, you decide."
Bai Yu stood at the edge of the open space, staring at the dark opening. Her Wind Chime trembled slightly on her wrist, not from fear, but from resonance.
She could sense the chaotic Wind Attribute Soul Power fluctuations inside the cave—more than a level stronger than those of the Thousand-Year Soul Beast on the outside, but not something she couldn't withstand.
After taking those two pills, her meridians became much stronger than before. Although three thousand years was beyond the norm, she had an intuition that told her: it was possible.
Bai Yu nodded.
"Alright." Feng Qingxuan took a step back. "Elder Lin, I'll leave it to you. Senior Dugu, please seal the entrance to prevent it from burrowing deep into the tree roots."
Dugu Bo flicked his fingers, and a dark green poisonous breath silently seeped into the soil around the tree hole, forming a green poison ring around the entrance. As long as the Soul Beast ran out, it would collide with this poison ring and be instantly paralyzed.
Lin Yuan silently descended from the tree, holding a short knife in his right hand and gesturing to Bai Yu with his left—"Follow me, keep five steps away."
Bai Yu took a deep breath and followed.
Lin Yuan walked about three steps from the cave entrance and suddenly stopped. His ears twitched—inside the cave, the Soul Beast's breathing rate had changed. It had gone from alert to a rapid, pre-attack breathing pattern.
"It's coming out," Lin Yuan said softly.
Before he could finish speaking, a bluish-gray shadow darted out of the cave entrance like lightning, heading straight for Lin Yuan's face. It was so fast that it left a blurry afterimage in the air.
But Lin Yuan was Soul Saint of the Agility Attack System, and when it came to speed, he had never been afraid of anyone. He swayed his body and moved half a step to the left, barely dodging the sharp claw. At the same time, he gripped the short sword in his right hand and slammed the back of the blade hard against the back of the gray-blue shadow's neck.
Bang! The Soul Beast was knocked over and tumbled to the ground. It was indeed a mutated weasel-like Soul Beast, less than three feet long, with a bluish-gray body and four claws that gleamed with a pale blue Wind Attribute light. It rolled over, trying to pounce again, but Lin Yuan's blade tip was already pressed against its throat.
" Bai Yu." Lin Yuan suppressed the Soul Beast and turned around.
Bai Yu stepped forward and looked down at the Soul Beast. Its eyes were amber, and it struggled desperately to break free of control. Bai Yu drew the short sword from his waist, took a deep breath, and stabbed it into the Soul Beast's vital spot.
A purple Soul Ring slowly rose from the corpse of the Soul Beast, emitting a soft light in the dim forest.
"Sit down and absorb the Soul Ring. I'll protect you." Lin Yuan sheathed his short sword in his boot, turned his back to Bai Yu, and faced the forest.
Bai Yu sat cross-legged and guided the Soul Ring to Martial Soul Fusion with her Wind Chime Martial Soul.
A purple halo enveloped her entire body, and the Wind Chime on her wrist began to chime involuntarily—ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, the clear sound echoing through the forest.
Dugu Bo leaned against the broken wood and glanced at Bai Yu: "This little girl has a good foundation; she's absorbing the nutrients quite steadily."
Feng Qingxuan didn't respond, his gaze fixed on Bai Yu. Normally, absorbing Thousand-Year Soul Ring would take Bai Yu about fifteen minutes with his current Soul Power. The purple aura remained stable, and the rhythm of the Wind Chime didn't falter.
A quarter of an hour later, the purple halo slowly receded. Bai Yu opened her eyes and looked down at the Wind Chime on her wrist—the bell's color was more translucent than before, and a faint silver pattern had appeared in the cyan luster.
What surprised her even more was the surge of Soul Power within her body—after taking the pill, she only knew that her Soul Power had increased significantly, but she didn't know exactly how much.
At this moment, the Soul Ring entered her body, and the Soul Power she had accumulated was completely activated and stabilized. She clearly sensed that she had reached level thirty-five.
" Third Soul Skill," Bai Yu's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement, " Wind Chime - Wind Guard - The sound of bells condenses into wind chimes that surround teammates, absorbing a certain amount of damage."
"This Soul Skill is very useful." Lin Yuan nodded. "A support skill that can absorb damage is a life-saving trump card in a team."
Feng Qingxuan nodded. "Mission accomplished. Elder Lin, proceed according to plan."
Lin Yuan clasped his hands in a fist salute and led Bai Yu away along the way they had come. The two figures quickly disappeared into the dense forest, and the marks that Li Ji had set up along the way were clearly visible on the tree trunks. Bai Yu looked back at the group in the clearing one last time, then followed Lin Yuan through the bushes and disappeared into the shadows of the towering ancient trees.
Feng Qingxuan watched them leave until he could no longer hear the sound of the Wind Chime on Bai Yu's wrist, then turned around to face the remaining three.
"First objective achieved." His voice deepened. "Next, it's my turn."