Wild Wormwood

Not long afterward.

The waiter brought the wine and dishes to the table.

Preoccupied with his concerns, Zhao Wuji remained silent throughout the meal, keeping his head down as he ate.

Shao Xin, on the other hand, had all his attention on Oscar and failed to notice anything unusual about Zhao Wuji.

Oscar did sense that the atmosphere at the table was somewhat strange, but limited by his age and experience, he could not understand why.

The three hurriedly finished dinner, then returned to their hotel rooms and went to sleep.

The next day.

Lin Rong's group entered the Star Dou Great Forest from within the Heaven Dou Empire, while Oscar's group of three entered it from within the Balak Kingdom.

The Star Dou Great Forest lay directly south of the Heaven Dou Empire, while the Balak Kingdom was to its southeast.

The territories of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Balak Kingdom bordered one another.

Thus, Lin Rong's group and Oscar's group were, broadly speaking, in the same region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Even so, given the sheer vastness of the Star Dou Great Forest, they were still at least seven or eight hundred kilometers apart.

Under normal circumstances, Lin Rong's group would not have encountered Oscar's group of three.

However, the area where Oscar's group was located happened to be one the Shadow Guards had searched relatively few times.

By sheer coincidence, after unfolding the map, the search route Lin Rong devised led directly into the area where Oscar's group was located.

They walked through the Star Dou Great Forest.

Fresh air washed over them, carrying the fragrance of grass and earth. It made people subconsciously forget that this was a primeval forest inhabited by soul beasts, lowering their guard without realizing it.

Even at the outskirts, none of the towering trees around them stood less than twenty meters tall.

The dense forest was overgrown with weeds, with no paths for people to walk on. Ancient trees blotted out the sky all around, their shadows swaying, making the entire forest feel dark and unfathomable.

Of the group, half the Guards cleared the way ahead while the other half guarded the rear.

Lin Rong walked in the very middle of the group.

Old Butler did the same, staying close at Lin Rong's side.

As for the Shadow Guards, they had naturally gone ahead to scout the route and gather information.

As he walked, Lin Rong occasionally took out the map to inspect it, wondering how long this journey would take before they gained something.

That was right—how long before they gained something, not whether they would gain anything at all.

Because on this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest, Lin Rong had no intention of returning before obtaining his Second Soul Ring.

There were not many people in the group. Including Lin Rong and Old Butler, there were only fourteen in total.

Among these fourteen, aside from Lin Rong himself, the weakest was a four-ring Soul Ancestor.

Although Lin Rong's Soul Power was only at rank twenty, with Old Butler, a Soul Douluo, carrying him along, he would not slow the group down.

Instead, it was the Guards who held back Lin Rong and Old Butler's travel speed.

Thus, after traveling for only half a day, Lin Rong decided to split the group into two teams.

The twelve Guards formed one team, while Lin Rong and Old Butler formed the other.

The two teams separated to search.

Since the Guard team was slower, they searched the first half of the planned route.

Old Butler took Lin Rong onward, heading directly for the latter half of the planned route.

Freed from the burden of the Guard team, Old Butler carried Lin Rong at full speed.

Several hours later, the two arrived in the area where Oscar's group of three was located.

"Xiao Ao, your first soul skill is the Soul Power Recovery Sausage." Shao Xin placed a hand on Oscar's shoulder and said, "But in battle, Soul Power consumption is not the only problem we face. There are also all sorts of sinister and vicious methods used by our opponents, with poison being the most common!"

"Therefore, your second soul skill should preferably possess both detoxification and healing effects."

"In nature, there is a medicinal herb called Wild Wormwood. It can clear heat and toxins, disperse blood stasis, and reduce swelling."

"Once Wild Wormwood becomes a plant-type soul beast, these effects become even stronger. It is the ideal choice for your Second Soul Ring."

Having said that, Shao Xin turned to Zhao Wuji.

"Also, Old Zhao, Wild Wormwood prefers warm, humid environments. I'll have to trouble you to pay more attention to places like that. There's a good chance soul beasts like Wild Wormwood grow there."

Zhao Wuji, who was clearing the way ahead, replied without turning his head, "Got it! Got it! You old fellow sure have a lot of demands."

The three searched according to this method and indeed found quite a few Wild Wormwoods. However, their cultivation was low, mostly under a hundred years, with only a few just over a hundred years old.

Shao Xin hoped for Oscar's Second Soul Ring to be around five hundred years old, so the three passed over those Wild Wormwoods that were only slightly over a hundred years old and continued searching for their next target.

Lin Rong was searching for bamboo and gourd vines mutated with spatial attributes, while Oscar was searching for Wild Wormwood around five hundred years old.

All three plants favored warm, humid environments, and they were located in the same area.

Thus, as time passed, the distance between them continued to shrink.

In the blink of an eye, two or three hours passed.

Somewhere in the Star Dou Great Forest, a large clump of Wild Wormwood grew along the shore of a sizable lake.

These Wild Wormwood plants were tall and sturdy, resembling trees.

Oscar and the other two entered the Wild Wormwood thicket, and before long, they vanished from sight.

The Wild Wormwood around the outskirts of the thicket had cultivation levels just over a hundred years. As the three ventured deeper, the ages of the Wild Wormwood they encountered steadily increased.

One hundred years, two hundred years, three hundred years...

When they reached the center of the Wild Wormwood thicket, they saw three Wild Wormwood plants with roughly five hundred years of cultivation entwined around a sky-blue bamboo stalk.

The bamboo was not tall, measuring only close to a meter, while the Wild Wormwood surrounding it stood at least three or four meters high.

The dense Wild Wormwood completely blocked off the view of this area.

If one had not ventured into this Wild Wormwood thicket, no one would have imagined that a bamboo stalk grew here.

Having lived a long life, Shao Xin knew that the world was vast and full of wonders. He did not care in the slightest why that bamboo grew here.

All he cared about now was Oscar's Second Soul Ring, so he instructed the two beside him, "Old Zhao, I'll have to trouble you. Go pull one of the three Wild Wormwood plants wrapped around that bamboo over here."

"Remember to be gentle. Don't kill the Wild Wormwood."

"Xiao Ao, once Old Zhao pulls that Wild Wormwood over, take advantage of the time before it completely loses its vitality and quickly go deliver the finishing blow. Understand?"

After Shao Xin finished speaking, Zhao Wuji headed straight toward the bamboo.

Five meters, four meters, three meters...

The instant Zhao Wuji stepped within one meter of the bamboo, a burst of dazzling silver light flashed.

The blinding silver light made Zhao Wuji shut his eyes instinctively.

When he opened them again, the bamboo that had originally been entwined by the three Wild Wormwood plants had vanished.

"Space Spirit Beast! Space Spirit Skill!"

Zhao Wuji was highly knowledgeable and quickly realized what had just happened.

"It possesses such high intelligence that it actually knew to use this Wild Wormwood thicket to conceal its existence."

"However, the Soul Power fluctuations released by that bamboo just now were very weak. It merely approached the level of a thousand-year Spirit Beast."

"No one has ever heard of this kind of Spirit Beast before. Could it be a new species born from mutation?"