At the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, ancient trees towered into the sky, blotting out the sun.
The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and the distinctive smell of rotting vegetation. From time to time, distant, unfamiliar beast roars echoed from afar, proclaiming the danger and vitality of this primeval jungle.
The group of four stood at the forest entrance. Their invisible pressure silenced every whisper and drove away every prying gaze around them.
"Your Highness,"
Zhu Zhuyun quietly drew close and lowered her voice, her warm breath brushing his ear.
"Zhuqing has been... very strange these past two days."
Dai Weisi turned his head and saw the undisguised worry in her eyes. His lips curled into a playful smile.
"How so?"
"She's been too obedient,"
Zhu Zhuyun said, her delicate brows knitting slightly as she pinpointed the heart of the problem.
"Ever since she heard we were coming to the Star Dou Great Forest that day, she's become unusually compliant. She's even... gone out of her way to please us."
"When things turn strange, there's bound to be a demon behind them. I'm worried she's bottling up some nasty scheme."
"Heh."
Dai Weisi chuckled and slipped an arm around Zhu Zhuyun's slender waist, pulling her close against him.
Of course he knew what Zhu Zhuqing was thinking. This little wildcat was more than just obedient: she had taken the initiative in bed as though she were a different person. She made no attempt to hide how desperately she wanted to numb herself.
"Let her bottle it up,"
Dai Weisi said, his voice carrying a hint of amusement and absolute control.
"I'd like to see what waves a cat stripped of its claws and fangs can still stir up."
"The more hope she has, the more despair she'll feel later. Don't you think that's more interesting?"
Zhu Zhuyun was taken aback, but she soon understood what Dai Weisi meant.
She gazed into his deep, confident eyes, and her worry gradually faded, replaced by a sense of reassurance.
This man seemed forever able to toy with everything in the palm of his hand.
Elsewhere, Dugu Bo was concentrating on the mingled presences coming from deep within the forest, his expression somewhat grim.
"My lord, the presences in the inner reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest are far more complex and powerful than I imagined."
"Although this old servant has spent time here, I know very little about the Core Circle. I have never had any definite information about Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."
He was being candid. Titled Douluo were powerful, but they would not provoke the true overlords of the Star Dou Great Forest's Core Circle without reason.
Going into that place was extremely dangerous!
"Information?"
Dai Weisi released Zhu Zhuyun, strode forward, and patted Dugu Bo on the shoulder.
"We don't need information. Sometimes, the most direct method is the most effective."
Dugu Bo was startled. "What do you mean, my lord?"
Dai Weisi grinned, his smile looking particularly brazen in the shadowy forest.
"Old Poison, stop holding back. Show your Martial Soul Avatar. We're going to swagger right in."
"I guarantee we won't have to look for them. Those hundred-thousand-year-old giants will come knocking on our door."
"What?!"
Dugu Bo's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Use a Titled Douluo's Martial Soul Avatar as bait and charge straight into the Soul Beast empire's lair to blast fish?
What a mad, arrogant plan!
Even Shi Mo Douluo's stone-carved face, unchanged for ages, showed a crack. Clearly, he too had been shocked by Dai Weisi's idea.
"My lord, this..."
"Soul Beasts are territorial. If we do this, it'll be no different from declaring war on every powerful Soul Beast in the entire Star Dou Great Forest!"
Dugu Bo's voice was trembling.
"So what if we declare war?"
Dai Weisi's tone was calm.
"I said my Seventh Soul Ring had to be a hundred thousand years old. Anyone who dares stand in our way gets slaughtered too!"
Seeing the golden flames burning in Dai Weisi's eyes, Dugu Bo felt his last trace of hesitation vanish like smoke.
He remembered the dazzling red of that sixth ring and his lord's inconceivable strength.
"Yes! This old servant obeys!"
Dugu Bo took a deep breath and said no more.
Surging Soul Power erupted, and emerald-green and crimson-black light shot into the sky!
"Martial Soul Avatar, Netherworld Jade Serpent Emperor!"
With an earth-shaking roar, Dugu Bo's body swelled rapidly within the light.
A terrifying giant serpent appeared in a forest clearing!
Its entire body was covered in scales of interwoven emerald green and crimson black, with mysterious dark-gold patterns flowing across them in rings.
Its enormous head was savage and terrifying, and its eyes flickered with a ghostly light, radiating a chill and venom potent enough to freeze the soul.
At the same time, the terrifying pressure of a Titled Douluo and a top-tier Beast Martial Soul swept through the forest in all directions like a tsunami!
For a moment, ten thousand beasts submitted and a hundred birds fell silent!
Countless Soul Beasts trembled under that presence and fled madly away from the area. The entire outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest seemed to be undergoing a calamity.
"Go!"
Dai Weisi let out a low shout, wrapped an arm around Zhu Zhuyun, and pushed off with his toes, leaping onto the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's broad back ahead of the others.
Shi Mo Douluo silently picked Zhu Zhuqing up and followed close behind.
"Hiss-!"
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor let out a roar. Its enormous body was like a green train, crushing every bush and ancient tree in its path as it charged recklessly toward the Star Dou Great Forest's Core Circle with unstoppable momentum!
Star Dou Great Forest, core area, Lake of Life.
Jade-green waves rippled across the lake. The rich breath of life formed an almost tangible mist that shrouded its surface.
By the lake, a dainty, pretty girl in a pink dress sat on a smooth bluestone, her fair calves swaying gently beneath the water. Her gaze was vacant, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
She was Xiao Wu, the darling of this forest, a hundred-thousand-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit Soul Beast who had started her cultivation anew in human form.
"x@#$%@*(Sister Xiao Wu, look, I picked these flowers for you.)"
A muffled voice rang out. Er Ming, the mountain-like Titan Giant Ape, carefully cupped a huge bunch of colorful flowers in his hands and offered them to Xiao Wu.
His thick fingers made a striking contrast with the delicate, brilliant flowers.
Xiao Wu came to her senses and glanced over the flowers. She forced a faint smile, her voice somewhat listless.
"Thank you, Er Ming."
She accepted the flowers but merely set them aside and fell into a daze again.
Er Ming scratched his head, his enormous eyes full of confusion. He looked toward Da Ming, the Sky Azure Bull Python, who had raised his massive bull's head above the water not far away.
Da Ming slowly shook his head, a trace of helplessness in his deep eyes as well.
Ever since Sister Xiao Wu returned from the human world last time, she had been like this, gloomy and unhappy all day.
Just then, something happened!
"Roar-!!!"
An immensely powerful pressure, chilling and evil, filled with the presence of venom and death, burst in from the forest's outer region without warning and approached the core area at an astonishing speed!
"Boom!"
Er Ming's enormous body shot upright. A terrifying presence erupted from him as he beat his chest and let out a roar that shook heaven and earth!
His lantern-sized eyes were filled with fury and killing intent!
Da Ming also rose completely out of the lake, his golden eyes fixed on the direction from which the presence came.
"What is it, Er Ming?"
The sudden turn of events startled Xiao Wu out of her daze, and she immediately stood up.
Then she understood the situation in an instant.
An immensely powerful human presence, chilling and filled with venom, is barging into our territory without restraint?
Xiao Wu's face instantly darkened.
The Star Dou Great Forest was her home, a paradise for all Soul Beasts. No powerful human would be allowed to run wild here!
"Who dares be so bold?"
Xiao Wu's delicate brows shot up, her usual dainty charm vanishing.
"Come on, Er Ming! Let's go see just what sort of thing dares come to our territory and run wild!"