Star Dou Outskirts: Xiao Wu Comes to Visit

On the third day after Skywater Academy left, Nan Feng went alone to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Classes at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and his duties as a guest elder had come to a halt for the time being. He told Ye Lingling that he was going outside the city to cultivate for a few days. His bundle contained only a short staff and a few pieces of dry rations.

After leaving the city, he followed the main road south for two days. On the evening of the second day, he reached the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.

In the fading light, the forest was deeper than any he had ever seen. Layers of canopy pressed down upon one another, blocking most of the daylight. The damp scent of vegetation hung among the trees, and fallen leaves had accumulated underfoot for who knew how many years. His steps made no sound on them.

Nan Feng found a sturdy old tree, climbed it, and spent the night in its branches.

Early the next morning, he climbed down and followed an abandoned hunters' trail deeper into the forest for an hour.

Soul Beasts were sparse in the outskirts. His Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light swept over the area and caught only a few scattered points of light, mostly ordinary ten- and hundred-year Soul Beasts.

He found a rock face sheltered from the wind and sat down, sinking his consciousness into the space inside the tower and circulating the Primordial World Qi Refining Art.

Soul Power circulated through his meridians, warm and steady, round after round. His level thirty-four Soul Power was nearly twice as dense as that of a Soul Master at the same level. The walls of his meridians had grown thick and resilient under the repeated washing of the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

The Power of Creation seeping through the crack in the third-floor door flowed along his meridians. Wherever it passed, hidden injuries healed and resistance to the flow of Soul Power was worn away.

He cultivated there for the entire morning. The mass of Qi in his dantian grew denser under the nurturing of the Power of Creation.

In the afternoon, his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light flickered in the background.

A pink point of light was approaching rapidly from the direction of the forest's outskirts. Its path was light and nimble, and it moved much faster than an ordinary Soul Master.

Nan Feng opened his eyes and rose from beneath the rock face.

The point of light drew closer and closer, paused for a beat a hundred paces away, then sped toward him.

By the time the pink figure sprang out from behind the bushes, Nan Feng had already made out her face.

Xiao Wu.

She wore a close-fitting pink outfit, her scorpion braid swinging behind her, and her forehead was covered in sweat. She rushed up to Nan Feng, came to an abrupt stop, and looked up at him.

"Tower Simpleton," she called him, her voice lower than usual as she continued to pant.

"How did you find me here?" Nan Feng asked.

"Ye Lingling told me." Xiao Wu tossed the small bundle from her shoulder onto the ground, planted her hands on her hips, and took a couple of breaths. "She said you'd come to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest to cultivate. I left Suotuo City yesterday and ran for a whole day and night. Shrek has a three-day holiday. I told Tang San I was going to see Zhu Zhuqing, but I didn't tell him I was coming to find you."

Nan Feng looked at her.

Xiao Wu was a little thinner than she had been when she graduated from Nuoding, and her cheekbones were more prominent. Her eyes were still just as bright, and her scorpion braid still swung back and forth.

The presence of the hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit about her was much fainter than it had been at Nuoding, her origin sealed more deeply. But Nan Feng's Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light could still detect the outline of that chain deep within the core of her Martial Soul.

"What happened?" Nan Feng asked.

Xiao Wu bit her lip and fell silent for two breaths.

"My Soul Power has reached level twenty-nine."

Nan Feng looked at her. Level twenty-nine was only one step away from level thirty. It was an iron law that once Soul Power reached a multiple of ten, it would remain stuck there forever without absorbing a Soul Ring.

Xiao Wu was different from an ordinary Soul Master. She was a hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit who had taken human form and begun cultivating anew. Her Martial Soul was her original body, and she had started cultivating her Soul Power again from zero. She could draw on the origin energy sealed within her original body to form her first six rings herself, without hunting Soul Beasts.

But forming them herself required a stable environment, preferably one with a great deal of Spiritual Power from the same source to draw upon. For a Soft Bone Rabbit, the Star Dou Great Forest was such a place.

"Is this about your Third Soul Ring?" Nan Feng asked.

Xiao Wu nodded and squatted down, resting her chin on her knees, her scorpion braid hanging at her side.

"I formed the first two rings myself when I was at Nuoding. My Soul Power was still weak then, so drawing a little out of my original body's origin was enough."

"The third ring needs nearly ten times as much origin energy as the first two. I tried forming it at Shrek Academy, but I only drew out a little before my meridians swelled so much I couldn't bear it."

"My mentor said my transformed body is still too weak to withstand the release of too much origin energy. To form the third ring, I have to return to the Star Dou Great Forest and use the Spiritual Power from the same source here to stabilize my meridians. Only then would I dare release my origin energy."

Nan Feng squatted down beside her.

Origin energy was her foundation, and every bit she used left it that much thinner. Her transformed body's meridians could only withstand so much; releasing too much at once would burst them outright. The Spiritual Power from the same source in the Star Dou Great Forest could help stabilize her meridians and make the release of her origin energy more gradual.

"When are you planning to return to the Star Dou Great Forest?" Nan Feng asked.

"Soon. Maybe another month or two of cultivation and I'll break through to level thirty." Xiao Wu tilted her head and looked at him. "But there's a problem. Shrek is too far from the Star Dou Great Forest. A round trip takes five or six days. Tang San trains every day, and if I suddenly disappear for several days, he'll definitely press me for answers."

"And every time I form a Soul Ring, I have to stay in the forest for several days before I can stabilize my origin. If I'm gone that long, I won't be able to hide it from Shrek."

Nan Feng was silent for a breath.

Tang San was too observant. Every time Xiao Wu finished forming a Soul Ring, her Soul Power fluctuations would change.

"Will you be safe going back to the Star Dou Great Forest alone?" Nan Feng asked.

Xiao Wu's eyelashes moved. She turned to look at the forest ahead and was silent for several breaths.

"My mother had some friends in the forest. I formed my first two rings near their territory. With their scent there, ordinary Soul Beasts don't dare come close."

"But the third ring needs more origin energy, and forming it will cause a bigger commotion. I'm not sure whether it'll draw anything else."

Nan Feng looked at her. The afternoon light cast her profile in sharp relief. Her scorpion braid had come a little loose, and a few stray hairs clung behind her ear.

"When you reach level thirty, I'll come to the Star Dou Great Forest to help you," Nan Feng said.

Xiao Wu tilted her head and looked at him.

"How will you help me? You can't go deep into the Star Dou Great Forest. The Soul Beasts there attack humans."

"I'll wait for you in the outskirts," Nan Feng said. "I'll keep watch outside while you form your Soul Ring. If the commotion draws other Soul Beasts, my Tower Realm can stop them. I'll set up a detection net in the outskirts, and I'll know in advance if any Soul Beasts come near."

Xiao Wu looked at him and was silent for a while.

Then she suddenly smiled, her lips curving upward as she tossed her scorpion braid behind her.

"All right. Come when the time comes, then. I'll wait for you on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, and you can keep watch for me."

Nan Feng nodded.

Xiao Wu stood up, brushed the dirt from her knees, and picked up her little bundle, slinging it back over her shoulder.

She stood in front of the rock face. Afternoon light filtered through gaps in the canopy and fell on her face.

She tilted her head to give him one last look, the curve of her smile still there.

"Tower Simpleton."

"Mm."

"Don't fool around in Heaven Dou City. Don't think I don't know how many people you have around you."

Without waiting for his answer, she turned and ran off along the hunters' trail. Her pink figure flickered between the pines and soon vanished deep among the shadows of the trees.

Nan Feng stood beneath the rock face, looking in the direction she had disappeared, and remained silent for several breaths.

He squatted down and sank his consciousness into the space inside the tower.

Old Huai poked his head out of the crack, a flash of green light passing through his cloudy eyes.

"What are you planning to do about that girl?"

"When she reaches level thirty, I'll go to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest and help keep watch for her. I'll come back after she finishes forming her Third Soul Ring."

Old Huai snorted.

"She'll form her Third Soul Ring herself, so she doesn't need to hunt a Soul Beast. But every bit of origin energy she uses is gone for good. By the time she's formed all six of her first rings, her origin will be much thinner."

"Starting with the seventh ring, she'll have to hunt Soul Beasts just like an ordinary Soul Master. When the time comes, you'll have to find her a suitable Soul Beast in advance."

Nan Feng did not respond.

He withdrew his consciousness from the tower, sat down cross-legged beneath the rock face again, and circulated the Primordial World Qi Refining Art.

Soul Power circulated through his meridians, warm and steady, round after round.

The deep black underlying light of the Soul Ring pulsed against the skin of his palm, answering the green light in the crack at the bottom of the tower as one rose and the other fell.

His Soul Power was at level thirty-four, and the crack in the third-floor door continued to widen. Xiao Wu was stuck at level twenty-nine; once her Soul Power reached level thirty, she would have to return to the Star Dou Great Forest to form her Third Soul Ring.