The Star Dou Great Forest spans across the kingdoms of Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empire, extending far and wide, with a total area equivalent to a small kingdom.
The Mixed Zone, as the main area of the forest, is the largest and has the most diverse range of Soul Beast, mainly consisting of hundred-year-old and Thousand-Year Soul Beast, with occasional appearances of Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It is the main Soul Hunting ground for Soul Elder and Soul Ancestor Soul Master.
The frequent presence of human Soul Master has, in turn, led to the extreme aggression of the Soul Beast living in the area, Soul Hunting highly risky and resulting in the deaths of a large number of Soul Master every year.
Amidst the towering trees, a group of three walked on a patch of semi-humus soil covered with fallen leaves.
The soil here is soft and moist on the surface, but becomes hard and dry a foot below, making it suitable for cave-dwelling Soul Beast to live and hide.
In the three-person group, Dugu Bo walked in front, while Dugu Yan and Fang Lin walked side by side, closely following behind.
Last night, Fang Lin originally planned to rest for the night and return to Suotuo City the next day, but he was "warmly invited" by Dugu Bo who had rushed over, and today they entered the Star Dou Great Forest together.
Fortunately, with the Titled Douluo protecting us, there shouldn't be any danger unless we do something reckless. We can treat this as a sightseeing trip.
In the Star Dou Great Forest, there lived a Soul Beast that had nurtured a god.
"Do you have a definite direction for your Fourth Soul Ring?" Fang Lin asked Dugu Yan.
Dugu Yan nodded. "I plan to choose a spider-type Soul Beast. There's a high chance I'll obtain a venom Soul Skill in the form of a spider web, which will make up for the shortcomings of my first three Soul Skill."
Dugu Yan's first few Soul Skill are all poison mist type, which are area-of-effect control skills that only a normal Control System Soul Master can possess as their fifth Soul Skill. Dugu Yan's first three Soul Skill are all of this type.
The advantages are obvious, but the disadvantages are equally prominent: the release speed is slow, the power is dispersed, and it cannot achieve instantaneous release or strong single-point control.
Spider-type Soul Beast?
Fang Lin blinked in confusion and whispered, " Man Faced Demon Spider?"
As the king of spider-type Soul Beast, it was the first thing Fang Lin thought of. In the original book, Meng Yiran's Third Soul Ring target was also this type of Soul Beast.
Besides its superior speed and strength compared to other Soul Beast of its kind, the Man Faced Demon Spider also possesses a rare neurotoxin that can add a layer of mental corrosive effect to the poison of poison-type Soul Master.
"Both the Man Faced Demon Spider and the Cave Demon Spider will do," Dugu Yan pondered. " The Man Faced Demon Spider's core ability is venom, and my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison is sufficient. The Cave Demon Spider's silk can form various shapes and is very flexible. Absorbing its Soul Ring will improve my control over the form of venom or poisonous mist, making my methods less monotonous."
It seems that Dugu Yan intends to continue strengthening the Control System route... Fang Lin scratched his cheek. If it were him, he would prefer to add some close-range guerrilla Soul Skill, get close to the opponent, attack while releasing poison, wear them down, and then kill them with one blow.
Fang Lin did not offer any further opinions. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul has been passed down for hundreds of years, and its Soul Skill have a long history of development, so there must be many references left by predecessors.
" Yanyan, I've granted your wish! A 4,800-year-old Cave Demon Spider."
As the two chatted, Dugu Bo, who was walking ahead, chuckled.
A target Soul Beast has appeared.
Fang Lin subconsciously looked around, but the forest remained quiet, with no sign of any Soul Beast appearing.
Fang Lin channeled his Soul Power into his eyes, his gaze piercing through the mist in the dense forest, looking towards a kilometer away.
A patch of soil collapsed inward, and a giant, grayish-white spider slowly crawled out of the hole.
Its main body is about one meter long, flat and slender, covered with a layer of carapace, and its surface is covered with fine damp soil and moss fragments. When it sticks to the dark rock wall, it almost blends into the environment completely.
"You wait here, I'll be right back." Dugu Bo said, then suddenly leaped up.
In Fang Lin's view, Dugu Bo approached the Cave Demon Spider in a moment. The Cave Demon Spider's eight dark yellow compound eyes suddenly shrank into narrow vertical slits, and its legs slid, its body instantly disappearing into the cave.
The Cave Demon Spider is cunning and cautious by nature, and loves to lure its opponents into its tunnels to ambush and strangle them.
Fang Lin couldn't see what happened next, but it shouldn't take Dugu Bo long to deal with the Soul Beast.
Fang Lin did not disperse the Soul Power in his eyes, but continued to be vigilant about his surroundings, while pondering a possibility.
"Should we ask Dugu Bo to help us find that Man Faced Demon Spider? If I were to fight it one-on-one and kill it, I wonder if I could get External Soul Bone from it..."
According to the original book, the probability of Soul Beast dropping Soul Bone is one in a thousand, but there are two special cases where the drop rate is close to one hundred percent: one is when it willingly gets killed, and the other is when it is killed by someone in a state of extreme resentment.
The former is almost as difficult as a sacrifice, making it unlikely; the latter, on the other hand, is more promising.
But it also depends on the Soul Beast. To put it bluntly, you have to choose a Soul Beast that is vengeful and extremely ferocious.
That two-thousand-year-old Man Faced Demon Spider most likely belongs to this category.
"I just don't know if it's possible to obtain External Soul Bone without absorbing Soul Ring..."
Fang Lin pondered in his heart that the Man Faced Demon Spider had been chased by the Dragon Serpent Duo and then ambushed and killed by Tang San, but it did not have External Soul Bone after its death. It only appeared when Tang San absorbed the Soul Ring.
This is completely different from the situation where Soul Bone appear after Soul Beast dies, as is the usual case.
If Fang Lin had to personally kill the Soul Beast and absorb the Soul Ring to obtain the External Soul Bone, it would be virtually impossible for him to acquire them.
His Fourth Soul Ring is at least ten thousand years old, making it extremely difficult for him to torture and kill the Soul Beast he is hunting on his own.
"Why think so much? We should just grab what we can get first..."
Fang Lin pulled himself out of his thoughts. In the original book External Soul Bone were rare, but there were still some opportunities to obtain the six great Soul Bone.
If Tang Hao were carefree, there might be one in that cave, and the Wolf Bandits on the border of the empire also have one.
Fang Lin planned to wait until Tang San confirmed he had left Nuoding City before going to check on the former, and he could consider the latter once he reached level 40 or higher.
Why isn't Grandpa back yet?
Dugu Yan's voice sounded beside her, and the girl frowned slightly, looking somewhat uneasy.
It wasn't that I was worried about Dugu Bo's safety, but rather that the Cave Demon Spider might escape.
"Uh, maybe that hole is quite deep."
Fang Lin responded, then turned to look at the entrance of the Cave Demon Spider's hole. A moment later, he noticed that the hole, which was originally one meter wide, had suddenly expanded to two or three meters, and the once moist soil had become dry and scorched.
The ground looked as if it had been scraped by a sharp weapon, leaving long marks, as if some huge creature had slid out of the hole.
This mark is clearly not caused by Cave Demon Spider, indicating that another creature has emerged from the cave entrance.
"Be careful, Soul Beast might be coming." Fang Lin was startled and warned.
A kilometer is but a moment's time for Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
Sure enough, as a giant tree collapsed with a crash, a giant centipede, more than five meters long, emerged.
Its body is flat and stout, covered with a layer of dark red carapace, and more than a hundred pairs of walking legs are neatly arranged along the body, thinner in the front and thicker in the back, and the whole body is reddish-brown with sharp hook-like ends.
The pair of legs near the head are particularly thick, like sharp blades with fine serrations along the edges.
Its head also has two pairs of hook-shaped palatine teeth, the tips of which are oozing translucent, fiery red saliva that drips onto the trees with a sizzling sound and emits white smoke.
" The Blazing Flame Centipede!" Dugu Yan exclaimed in surprise, her pretty face turning slightly pale and her expression grim. "Its mouthparts are nearly seven inches long, indicating it's at least seven thousand years old."
Dugu Yan revealed the name of the Soul Beast.
A seven-thousand-year-old Soul Beast, its combat power is close to that of a human Soul Master at the Soul King level.
"Could Dugu Bo have gotten lost in the cave? Does it take this long to catch a Cave Demon Spider?"
Fang Lin cursed under his breath and made a decision in an instant.
"Delay it a bit, make a big fuss, and wait for your grandfather to come back!"
Trying to outrun a hundred-legged beast is like risking your life; you might as well just wait for Dugu Bo to rescue you.