Abundance Mutation

On the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

The carriage stopped in a forest clearing.

Qian Daoliu stepped out first.

Guang Ling followed behind with Lin Yuan and Qian Renxue, while several Spirit Hall Soul Masters tended to the horses.

After they entered the forest, their surroundings soon grew quiet.

Towering ancient trees blocked out the sunlight.

Morning dew still clung to the blades of grass.

Qian Renxue walked beside Qian Daoliu.

"What Soul Beast should I choose for my first Soul Ring?"

"One with a light or sacred attribute."

Qian Daoliu said, "Keep its age to around four hundred years."

The Six-Winged Angel had a complete inheritance.

The choice of every Soul Ring affected future development.

Even the first Soul Ring could not be chosen carelessly.

Holding the Imperial Bow, Lin Yuan walked at the rear of the group.

Ever since they entered the forest, the Imperial Bow had been trembling faintly.

The direction had never changed.

Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.

It was very far away.

Yet it was becoming clearer and clearer.

Guang Ling noticed something unusual about him.

"Did you find something?"

"The Imperial Bow is giving a warning."

Guang Ling briefly paused.

"A Soul Beast?"

"It doesn't seem like one."

Lin Yuan looked into the depths of the forest.

"It feels more like it's encountered something that must be killed."

Some of the ease faded from Guang Ling's face.

The Imperial Bow had inherited the power of The Hunt.

Anything that could make it manifest killing intent on its own could not possibly be an ordinary Soul Beast.

Qian Daoliu had clearly heard their conversation as well.

"Find a Soul Ring for Xiao Xue first."

"We'll investigate the rest afterward."

The group continued deeper.

Before long, a low growl came from ahead.

The bushes were smashed aside.

A Gale Wolf charged out of the forest.

Its presence indicated an age of only around a hundred years.

But its appearance was extremely abnormal.

The skin on its back had split open.

Several tender green branches grew out of its flesh.

Its severed right forepaw had already regrown, but it was several times larger than its other three paws.

More bizarrely, a partially formed mouth had grown on its abdomen.

The Gale Wolf stared fixedly at them.

There was none of a wild beast's wariness in its eyes.

Only madness.

"What kind of Soul Beast is this?"

It was the first time Qian Renxue had seen anything like it.

Qian Daoliu did not answer.

He sensed dense vitality emanating from this Soul Beast.

Far too dense.

So dense that it had become a form of contamination.

The Gale Wolf roared and lunged straight at Lin Yuan, who was closest.

Lin Yuan raised the Imperial Bow.

He did not use a Soul Skill.

A star arrow shot out instantly, piercing the Gale Wolf's skull.

The Gale Wolf crashed heavily to the ground.

But the next moment, the branches on its back suddenly stabbed into the ground.

Green light surged into the corpse.

The skull pierced by the arrow began to heal.

Bones reconnected.

Flesh grew rapidly.

It actually stood up again.

Qian Renxue's expression changed.

"It didn't die?"

"No."

Lin Yuan watched the Gale Wolf.

"It's already dead."

Some power was merely forcing this body to keep moving.

The Imperial Bow trembled continuously in his hand.

The judgment delivered by the will of The Hunt was unmistakably clear.

An Abomination of Abundance.

"Star Chaser."

A sky-blue Soul Ring lit up.

The arrow pierced the Gale Wolf's chest.

This time, the starlight did not immediately vanish.

The cold power of The Hunt spread along the green branches inside its body.

The branches rapidly withered.

The Gale Wolf's body fell with them.

It did not rise again.

Qian Daoliu approached the corpse.

He reached out to touch the withered branches.

The moment the Six-Winged Angel's sacred Soul Power drew near, a wisp of green Qi emerged from the branches.

The green Qi tried to coil around his fingers.

Qian Daoliu immediately purified it.

"This isn't the Soul Beast's own power."

He looked around.

The forest was too quiet.

There was no birdsong.

No sound of insects.

The nearby Soul Beasts seemed to have fled this area long ago.

"Step back."

The moment Qian Daoliu finished speaking, the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul suddenly appeared behind him on its own.

Three pairs of wings spread fully.

The Angel Holy Sword trembled softly.

This was a warning from a god-level Martial Soul.

Some power capable of threatening the Six-Winged Angel was spreading deep within the forest.

Qian Daoliu raised his head and looked into the distance.

There was clearly no unusual phenomenon there.

Yet he sensed an immense presence of life awakening.

"Change course."

Qian Daoliu made his decision.

"Find out what happened here first."

Qian Renxue did not object.

Lin Yuan tightened his grip on the Imperial Bow.

From the moment they entered the forest, that was the direction the Imperial Bow had locked onto.

They advanced into the depths of the forest.

More and more abnormal traces appeared along the way.

Torn hides.

Severed limbs that had regrown.

And branches growing in flesh.

The farther they went, the denser the presence of life in the air became.

The vegetation grew far too lush.

Flowers rotted the moment they bloomed.

Then new buds grew from the rotting flesh.

Life and death had lost their original boundary.

Meanwhile.

Outside the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

An ancient tree so broad that it took more than ten people joining hands to encircle it stood silently.

It had originally been no more than a ten-thousand-year Plant-type Soul Beast.

Now, however, blood-colored patterns covered the surface of its trunk.

Its crown blotted out the sky.

Every leaf radiated dense vitality.

A drop of green liquid seeped from a crack in the bark and fell to the ground.

The surrounding vegetation instantly surged in growth.

Several Soul Beasts dwelling nearby inhaled the green Qi.

The wounds on their bodies rapidly healed.

Immediately afterward, their bones twisted.

Their flesh proliferated.

Extra limbs burrowed out of their wounds.

One Soul Beast collapsed.

A moment later, it rose again in an even more twisted form.

The ancient tree gently swayed its branches and leaves.

More green motes of light drifted out through the forest.

It did not actively attack any living creature.

It merely followed the instinct of that power.

Heal.

Grow.

Prolong life.

Even if the flesh collapsed.

Even if the soul had long since vanished.

It still had to keep living.

The power of Abundance continued to leak out.

More and more Soul Beasts became infected.

In the direction of the convoy, the Six-Winged Angel behind Qian Daoliu trembled again.

This time, the warning was more violent than before.

At that same moment.

Beneath the Lake of Life.

The figure sleeping within the silver light slowly opened its eyes.

Deep within her purple pupils was reflected the ancient tree that kept growing.

The Silver Dragon King had slumbered for years.

This was the first time an outside power had startled her awake.

Because that power did not belong to Soul Beasts.

Nor to the Divine Realm.

Nor to this world.

In the darkness, her voice slowly rang out.

"Foreign divine power..."

"Is contaminating the Star Dou Great Forest."

The power of Abundance was still leaking out.

Green motes of light drifted into the distance on the night breeze.

One Soul Beast after another was tainted by its presence.

Wounds healed.

Severed limbs regrew.

But the newly grown flesh was already beyond their control.

Low growls kept rising from the forest.

Yet the ancient tree did not stop.

It simply continued to release life.

Making every living creature that came into contact with it unable to truly die.

Meanwhile.

Beneath the Lake of Life.

The figure slumbering within silver light slowly opened her eyes.

Her purple eyes gazed through the lake water and the earth, toward the depths of the forest.

The Silver Dragon King sensed an unfamiliar presence.

Brimming with vitality.

Yet instinctively repulsive to her.

That was not the Goddess of Life's divine power.

Nor did it belong to the Douluo Continent.

It was more like a law of life that had lost its restraints.

"Di Tian."

A calm voice rang out in the underground space.

In the darkness, a man dressed in black knelt on one knee.

"My lord."

"A foreign power has appeared in the forest."

The Silver Dragon King looked in the direction of the ancient tree.

"Go and find its source."

Di Tian lowered his head in assent.

"Yes."

He was just about to rise when the Silver Dragon King spoke again.

"Wait."

Di Tian stopped moving.

The Silver Dragon King fell silent for a moment, the gravity in her eyes lingering.

"That presence is very dangerous."

"Do not rashly come into contact with it."

"If you discover anything abnormal, return immediately."

Di Tian's heart trembled slightly.

With the Silver Dragon King's strength, she was actually so wary of an unknown presence.

He asked no further questions.

"Understood."

The next moment, darkness swallowed his figure.

Far away.

The ancient tree tainted by Abundance slowly unfurled its branches and leaves.

Green light illuminated the forest.

And at its roots, dozens of pairs of already distorted beast eyes opened at once.