After roughly two hours in a carriage, Yang Wudi and Yang Podi finally reached the outskirts of Sunset Forest.
On the outskirts of Sunset Forest was a soul hunting town. The town was not large, but it was crowded with all sorts of people. Most of its establishments were restaurants and hotels, along with shops selling supplies for surviving in a soul beast forest.
Seeing how curious Yang Podi was, Yang Wudi did not rush into Sunset Forest. Instead, he took his grandson around to have a look.
Soul Rending Town had more vendors than anything else, buying and selling all kinds of things, including forest necessities such as blades, swords, and other weapons, bows and arrows, ropes, and tents. There were even food vendors selling things like jerky for quick meals in the forest.
Ordinary people could not light fires in a soul beast forest, and did not even dare to. Firelight could easily attract fiercer soul beasts, especially at night, when soul beasts of all sizes would emerge, such as venomous spiders and ants.
There were also some more important supplies, of course, including the droppings of certain rare soul beasts, such as Titan Giant Ape dung or the droppings of certain venomous spiders-all powerful hunters in the forest.
Although these little things looked unremarkable, they were essential in the forest. Having them could prevent a great deal of trouble at night, as their scent could scare off many soul beasts attempting sneak attacks.
Other vendors sold things obtained in soul beast forests, including soul beast carcasses, limbs, and even important organs, such as rhinoceros horns and the paws of bear-type soul beasts. Others sold highly nourishing plants or things with some medicinal value.
There were even vendors selling various poisonous plants and medicinal herbs, which had also been found in Soul Hunting Forest. Relatively few people entered Soul Hunting Forest, and at least many places had not been thoroughly explored, so rather rare medicinal herbs and the like grew in many areas.
Of course, another kind of person was particularly common in Soul Hunting Forest: mercenaries. Their main job was to help people hunt the soul beasts and soul rings they needed, with prices determined by the soul beasts' ages and rarity. Judging by the prices, they were all extremely expensive.
Even a simple hundred-year soul beast cost at least several thousand gold soul coins, while a thousand-year soul beast required tens of thousands. For rare or particularly ferocious soul beasts, the price doubled or rose even higher. Few mercenaries would help hunt ten-thousand-year soul beasts, because hunting an ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beast required a Soul Emperor-level expert, as well as venturing deep into Soul Hunting Forest, which was extremely dangerous.
Of course, when hiring mercenaries to hunt soul rings, there was usually another matter to discuss: the soul beast's carcass and everything on it would belong to the mercenary team.
This could sometimes make things extremely dangerous. If a soul bone appeared, it would often lead to infighting or even the employer being killed to silence them. After all, the value of a soul bone was staggering. Even the mere thousand-year soul bone they had encountered at the last auction had fetched hundreds of thousands of gold soul coins.
After Yang Wudi took his grandson around the soul hunting town, the two walked straight into Sunset Forest.
Sun Sunset Forest was not a soul beast forest maintained by the empire, so no warrant was required to enter. Although no hundred-thousand-year soul beasts had been discovered there yet, it still had plenty of high-level soul beasts. Otherwise, it would not have been the Heaven Dou Empire's largest soul beast forest.
Some mercenaries saw Yang Wudi and Yang Podi and wanted to approach to offer their services, but Yang Wudi's fierce face frightened them all away. Others watched the old man Yang Wudi taking a child into Soul Hunting Forest and seemed to whisper about something. There were even figures flitting about.
After the two entered Sunset Forest, they both slowed down.
Soul Hunting Forest contained all kinds of towering trees, with weeds covering the entire forest. Blue silver grass made up most of the weeds, along with all sorts of unknown grasses and vines. Even as they walked, they were treading on weeds. Clearly, an inconspicuous little path had gradually formed only because many people had walked that way.
After entering Sunset Forest, they heard all sorts of strange sounds: hissing, cries, and even the roars of certain animals. Of course, an avian soul beast would also fly overhead from time to time, letting out a call.
Yang Wudi was in no hurry to take Yang Podi hunting for a soul beast. Instead, he kept introducing him to the forest's soul beasts, as well as the characteristics of the plants they saw.
For instance, the patch of bamboo they had just passed contained the soul beast lone bamboo. Although this type of soul beast had relatively weak offensive power, approaching it was still rather dangerous. Even the seemingly ordinary vines they occasionally encountered along the way were soul beasts. Any person or animal that approached could easily become entangled, so they posed a certain danger as well.
They also encountered some spider- and ant-type soul beasts, but most were ten-year soul beasts of relatively little value.
And so, the two dawdled through Sunset Forest for almost an entire day without finding a suitable soul beast. Although they encountered two strength-type soul beasts, their ages were simply too low to catch their interest.
When night fell, Yang Wudi found a clearing, pitched a tent, and scattered the dung of some unknown soul beast around it.
Then the two began chatting. "Podi, what did you think of spending the day in Sunset Forest?"
"Grandpa, I think soul beast forests are full of danger. Even some small soul beasts might be extremely dangerous, and unknown attacks could come at any moment."
"Podi, you're right. You must be absolutely careful in a soul beast forest and never let your guard down for even a moment. The slightest lapse could leave you facing all sorts of attacks, and some can be extremely strange."
"We're only on the outskirts of Sunset Forest right now. If we enter its central region, we'll encounter many ten-thousand-year soul beasts. The oldest I've ever encountered was even over eighty thousand years old. A soul beast like that was almost comparable in strength to a human Titled Douluo."
"Grandpa, a soul beast that's only just passed ten thousand years should be easy for you to handle, right?"
"Podi, you're right. Ten-thousand-year soul beasts really aren't much to me. Your grandpa can even defeat soul beasts between fifty and seventy thousand years old. But you must pay absolute attention to this: you must never get injured in a soul beast forest. Once you're injured, the smell of your blood will attract attacks from all sorts of soul beasts, one after another without end."
"Besides, almost everyone who enters Soul Hunting Forest does so to hunt for soul rings. If you're injured, both absorbing a soul ring and facing various attacks will be affected, so you must take particular care to protect yourself. Don't fight soul beasts unless it's necessary."
"Podi, there's one more thing, the most important of all. Remember this: in a soul beast village, the greatest danger is never the soul beasts, but people. Just like right now."
Clearly, Yang Wudi had sensed something.