Return to the Star Dou Great Forest

The poor Pink-Haired Fox had finally met its "natural predators."

The two little girls genuinely adored it, but they were young and didn't know their own strength. The Little Fox had lost plenty of fur from their petting.

So now, whenever the Pink-Haired Fox saw the two little girls, it would reflexively turn and run.

Leisurely, happy days always passed quickly.

Only half a month remained until the 2023 All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament hosted by the Heaven Dou Empire.

During this time, Soul Master Academies across Douluo Continent were quietly building up their strength for this premier event of the Soul Master world.

Chang Li had long since completed Saint Freya Academy's registration for the tournament.

The academy's seven competing members had also been decided.

Other than Zhang Lexuan and Keqing, the remaining five were all students Saint Freya Academy had recruited over the past few years.

However, the five of them possessed only average talent and were destined to achieve little on the path of Soul Masters.

Thus, they decisively chose to sell themselves to Lu Jingming and undergo Fusion Surgery.

After this tournament, they would bid farewell to Saint Freya Academy, abandon their original identities, and join the Golden Guard and Wuchang Division respectively.

Before that, however, they had to give their all in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament. After all, it was precisely because of this tournament that they had gained the precious opportunity to undergo Fusion Surgery.

Because resources were limited and they had yet to render any service, they ultimately received only Soul Ancestor-level Fusion Surgery.

Still, that did not matter. They were merely supplementary forces; the true mainstays were Zhang Lexuan and Keqing.

The two had cultivated diligently within Shrek Academy's Golden Tree for a full year and had already successfully broken through to the Soul Sage realm.

Upon their return, with Jing Liu's assistance, they had smoothly obtained their seventh Soul Rings.

With two powerful Soul Sages leading the team, Saint Freya Academy had practically secured victory in this tournament. With such an overwhelming advantage, how could they possibly lose?

The Haiyuan had been left in Shrek City for Ningguang's use, while the second airborne Soul Tool Battleship had yet to be completed.

Left with no other choice, Zhang Lexuan and the others could only rely on Flying Soul Tools to travel to the Heaven Dou Empire.

Besides the seven competitors, the traveling party also included Jing Liu and Lu Jingming, making nine people in total. Oh, and the Pink-Haired Fox had to be counted too.

Lu Jingming happened to need to visit the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain his third Soul Ring. At the same time, he was quite curious about this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament and intended to watch it.

After all, it was a world-class competition. With such a lively event, he did not want to miss it.

Lu Jingming had always been eager to explore this world. Previously, his knowledge of it had existed only in written descriptions, lacking any real experience.

Because he was still young, he had never set foot anywhere beyond Haiyuan City. This trip was the perfect chance to take in the splendor of Heaven Dou City.

Since they were going to the Star Dou Great Forest, they had no choice but to take a detour.

But there were still half a month before the tournament began, so Lu Jingming had plenty of time to obtain his third Soul Ring.

Back then, constrained by his own assumptions, Lu Jingming had believed that, like ordinary Soul Masters of Douluo Continent, the Soul Skills he obtained were closely tied to the Types of Soul Beasts he hunted. Thus, when acquiring his first Soul Ring, he had focused solely on finding Soul Beasts with destruction and death attributes.

However, when he obtained his second Soul Ring, The Great Black Tower told him that his Black Abyss White Flower was fundamentally different from other people's martial souls.

No matter what attribute the absorbed Soul Beast's Soul Ring possessed, the Soul Skill gained would be a power inherently contained within Black Abyss White Flower itself.

Absorbing Soul Rings and increasing his cultivation was, in essence, merely unsealing Black Abyss White Flower's true power.

Therefore, what truly determined the strength of his Soul Skills was not the Soul Beast's attribute, but the age of the absorbed Soul Ring. The greater its age, the stronger the Soul Skill he obtained.

This meant Lu Jingming no longer needed to painstakingly seek out and hunt Soul Beasts with death and destruction attributes.

After all, Soul Beasts with such attributes were exceedingly rare to begin with, while his requirements for Soul Ring age were particularly high.

Take his third Soul Ring, for instance. When ordinary Soul Masters reached the Soul Elder realm, most absorbed Thousand-Year Soul Rings, yet he had set his sights on a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

As for physical constitution, as long as he could endure the agonizing pain of absorbing the Soul Ring, he could force his way through it with White Flower's Power of Creation.

As for his spiritual strength, a flash of red light passed through Lu Jingming's eyes, a sign of spiritual power condensed to an extreme degree.

He had practiced swordsmanship since childhood. What he learned had not been ordinary sword techniques; what Jing Liu had truly taught him was how to temper his spiritual will into a sharp sword and condense Sword Intent.

Once Sword Intent reached great mastery, he would be able to unleash formidable power no matter what weapon he wielded.

Although Lu Jingming's Sword Intent had yet to reach even the introductory stage, his spiritual power had steadily risen alongside his long years of sword practice.

Now, his spiritual power far surpassed that of spiritual-type Soul Masters at the same level.

For that reason, he was extremely confident about absorbing the Soul Ring of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

He did not need to fear being blasted apart by violent Soul Power, nor did he need to fear that the lingering remnant soul of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast would injure his own soul.

Although there were other methods of increasing Soul Ring age later on, the Soul Power feedback gained from absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his level could save him a great deal of cultivation time.

After arriving at the Star Dou Great Forest, Zhang Lexuan and Keqing led the team in waiting outside the forest.

Only Lu Jingming and Jing Liu entered the Star Dou Great Forest. The Little Fox was also left behind in Keqing's care.

Since their target was a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Jing Liu directly led Lu Jingming deep into the core region.

The Soul Beasts living in the core region were incredibly powerful, whether in age or bloodline.

Even so, finding a Soul Beast with roughly ten thousand years of cultivation was no easy task, and they spent quite some time searching.

Along the way, they encountered several Soul Beasts, but their cultivation ages were all too high, far beyond the limit Lu Jingming could absorb.

Just then, Jing Liu sensed a Soul Beast moving at high speed.

This Soul Beast radiated the aura of light and flame, and its cultivation age was around fifteen thousand years—exactly suitable for Lu Jingming to absorb.

After receiving Jing Liu's warning, black mist billowed from Lu Jingming's hand, and a pitch-black spear appeared in his grasp.

He steadily walked forward a few steps, arriving at an open area, then quietly waited for the Soul Beast's arrival.

A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast already possessed combat strength roughly equivalent to that of a Soul King.

By all reason, such a powerful opponent was not something a mere Soul Elder like Lu Jingming could contend against.

Yet Lu Jingming was not afraid in the slightest. He was no ordinary Soul Master. His formidable physical constitution, spiritual power far beyond others of his level, and the Black Abyss Spear in his hand all gave him the confidence to challenge opponents above his rank.

In his eyes, it was merely a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Its intelligence had yet to fully develop, and its beastly nature remained dominant. Why would he fear it?