Setting Out for Sunset Forest
Sunset Forest lay within the Heaven Dou Empire, southeast of Heaven Dou City. Spirit City lay southwest of the forest, with a vast stretch of the Heaven Dou Empire between them and a distance of roughly nine hundred li.
Aside from the coachman, only Ning Buhui and Bibi Dong were making the journey. The environment where the Wind Thunder Winged Tiger lived was simply too unusual; bringing more people would only make them a burden.
Sitting in the carriage bound for Sunset Forest, Ning Buhui felt the changes brought about by his breakthrough. First was his physique. Ever since breaking through to level thirty, he could clearly feel that his body had undergone another strengthening.
The sensation was different from absorbing a Soul Ring. It was more as though his entire skeleton had been realigned, his meridians were wider, and his Qi and blood were more abundant. Even the twenty-thousand-year-old Rift Soul Bone in his right arm seemed to have been reforged, and his palm tingled faintly when he clenched his fist.
Could the strengthening of his physique with every major breakthrough recorded in the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda also include the Soul Bones he already possessed? Wasn't a Soul Bone essentially a mass of energy that merely took the form of a bone? Ning Buhui was somewhat puzzled. He could test that later; for now, hunting for his Third Soul Ring came first.
He closed his eyes and felt the current strength and width of his meridians, as well as the strength of his muscles. By his rough estimate, his body as it was now could easily absorb a Soul Ring between 13,000 and 15,000 years old. Anything older would carry tremendous risk.
He opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and told Bibi Dong, who sat beside him with her eyes closed, what he had found.
Bibi Dong was somewhat surprised. She had thought that absorbing an 8,000- to 9,000-year-old Soul Ring as your third was already the limit, but she hadn't expected your body to have grown this strong. She extended a slender finger, fair as jade, and pressed it between your brows. Releasing a strand of Soul Power, she examined you carefully and found that it was indeed as you had said. This was truly an unexpected piece of good news.
Bibi Dong withdrew her finger and leaned back against the cushion, her expression calm once more. After a moment's thought, she said, "No one in the history of Douluo Continent has ever absorbed a Soul Ring over ten thousand years old as their third through their own strength. Even my own Third Soul Ring was only nearly two thousand years old. You've set a precedent."
She looked at Ning Buhui, a faint glimmer appearing in her eyes. "But your body being able to withstand it is one thing; finding a suitable Soul Beast is another. Wind Thunder Winged Tigers are rare to begin with, and they're highly intelligent. It would be wonderful if we encountered a suitable one, but you need to be prepared. If we can't find one..."
She left the sentence unfinished, but Ning Buhui already understood what she meant. If they truly couldn't find a suitable one, he would have to settle for another Soul Beast with a wind or thunder attribute, though none of the alternatives were particularly compatible with his Martial Soul.
Bibi Dong said no more and closed her eyes to rest again. Ning Buhui quieted down as well, leaning against the carriage wall and listening to the wind outside. The wheels rolled over the main road with a steady creak that lulled him toward sleep. There were still several days of travel ahead, and he couldn't cultivate in the carriage, so he simply closed his eyes to rest. Yet a giant tiger with blue and purple wings rose unbidden in his mind, streaking beneath thunderclouds as fast as lightning. He knew that with something weighing on his mind, he wouldn't sleep soundly.
On the third day of their journey, the road grew rough.
The trees on both sides grew ever taller, their gnarled branches blotting out the sky and sun. The earthy scent unique to forests filled the air. Ning Buhui lifted the curtain and saw a lush, dense forest ahead. There was no longer a road wide enough for the carriage to pass.
"This is far enough." Bibi Dong opened her eyes. "Get out."
Ning Buhui jumped down from the carriage and loosened his stiff body. The coachman turned the carriage around and headed back to the nearest town, where he would wait until the appointed time to pick them up.
Ning Buhui followed Bibi Dong into the woods.
The trees grew exceptionally tall, their crowns overlapping layer upon layer and blocking out most of the daylight. Thin mist wreathed the woods, making them look like a land of immortals. A thick carpet of rotting leaves covered the ground, soft underfoot, and the air was damp, heavy with the rich, earthy scent of vegetation and decaying soil.
Ning Buhui hadn't gone far before he began to feel chilled. It wasn't the cold weather, but the Yin Qi. In these woods, even the wind seemed to blow from some unfathomable depth, carrying an oppressive feeling that defied description.
"Though Sunset Forest is far smaller than Star Dou Great Forest, its environment is harsher. Its inner region is shrouded in poisonous miasma all year round. To get from here to Thunderstorm Canyon, we have to cross more than half the forest. Stay close behind me from here on." Bibi Dong's voice rang out as she described the features of Sunset Forest to him.
Ning Buhui nodded. He might not know the outskirts of Sunset Forest very well, but he knew exactly what the inner region was like. After all, the "yin-yang hotpot" was there. He had no intention of investigating it this time, though. With Bibi Dong accompanying him, no one could say how many of the Immortal Herbs they found would belong to him. After all, Immortal Herbs were so valuable that even Titled Douluo found them tremendously alluring.
After walking for roughly half an hour, they suddenly heard a roar from far away.
The sound was deep, like muffled thunder rolling up from underground, and it made the soles of their feet tingle. Immediately afterward, a flock of birds burst from the woods a hundred meters ahead and to their left, quickly vanishing from sight. Bibi Dong stopped, and Ning Buhui halted with her.
Something's wrong! He hadn't imagined it. The ground really was trembling, and the tremors were growing stronger, as though something terrifying was rushing toward them.
His throat tight, Ning Buhui looked at Bibi Dong and asked, "Teacher?"
Bibi Dong's expression turned grave. After a moment, she said, "This doesn't look good. We may have run into a beast tide that forms only once in a thousand years. I can sense more than a dozen Soul Beasts with powerful presences running toward us. I'm afraid it'll be hard to avoid them."
She seized Ning Buhui by the collar and swept him up to a tall tree. Ning Buhui wrapped his arms around the trunk and steadied himself. Looking out, he saw thick clouds of dust rising from the forest not far away. The herd surged out like a flood bursting through a levee, a vast, dark mass pouring simultaneously from the valley entrance, between the trees, from everywhere he could see. Ning Buhui felt terribly oppressed. How small a person seemed when faced with a beast tide this immense.
Bibi Dong said calmly, "Most of the Soul Beasts in this tide are under a thousand years old. There are around a hundred over ten thousand years old, and only five close to a hundred thousand. I'll hold back the ones that pose the greatest threat to you, but I won't have the attention to spare to look after you. Head south through the woods on your own, and remember to leave signals along the way. Once I get free, I'll follow the marks to find you. This is also a test for you. I hope you won't disappoint me."
With that, Bibi Dong brought him down to the ground, stood straight, and summoned her Soul Devouring Spider Emperor Martial Soul. Black, black, black, black, black, red, red! All seven were Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, and two were even Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings! She gathered her strength in secret, waiting for the beast tide to arrive.
Ning Buhui glanced at her and felt that this was the true Bibi Dong: cold, powerful, and confident, like an empress waiting for her subjects to pay homage.
"Take care, Teacher. Your disciple will not disappoint you." He looked away, and as soon as he finished speaking, he ran south through the woods.