Star Dou Great Forest

"Don't be ridiculous. This isn't a pleasure trip. When I'm back and have time, I'll take you home."

Han Yu rolled his eyes at her and flatly refused her request. Was she kidding? There was no telling what might happen on this trip. Taking her along as dead weight would be no different from courting death.

"Ah."

Hearing this, Xiao Wu pouted, somewhat displeased.

"I'll take you home when I have time."

Han Yu held two fingers against Xiao Wu's forehead and chuckled. He was growing fonder and fonder of this little rabbit.

"All right."

With no other choice, Xiao Wu could only bury the matter deep in her heart once more. Sitting beside Han Yu, she chattered away, gossiping about all sorts of things at Nuoding Academy.

The Star Dou Great Forest lay directly south of the Tiandou Empire, its expanse stretching across two great empires. No one knew how many years the Star Dou Great Forest had existed on the Douluo Continent. It covered an area nearly as large as the entire Balak Kingdom.

As one of the three great gathering places for wild Soul Beasts, it was naturally the place every Soul Master most hoped to visit.

"Old man, can you beat a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

Han Yu reached out to push a branch away from his face and asked Tang Hao, who was walking beside him, out of curiosity.

The two had set out from Nuoding City that morning. This time, Tang Hao had not concealed his movements. After Han Yu entered the Star Dou Great Forest, Tang Hao had stepped out of the shadows and headed deeper into the forest with him.

Two dark lines appeared on Tang Hao's face. He had no desire to answer Han Yu's question or satisfy his curiosity, so he strode ahead to lead the way.

"Old man, what if we run into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and you can't beat it?"

In the forest, where the trees blotted out the sky and sun, Tang Hao was the only one who could hear him speak. Han Yu kept asking questions, hoping for some answers.

"If I can't beat it, run."

Tang Hao flicked a bug that had fallen onto his face away with a finger and spoke without looking back.

"Old man, how good are you with the Clear Sky Hammer?"

Han Yu had activated his Blue Silver Domain as soon as he entered the Star Dou Great Forest. Now he knew everything within a hundred meters like the back of his hand and wasn't worried about any danger. Besides, Tang Hao was here, so this trip was practically a vacation.

"Old man, what kind of Soul Beast do you think I should absorb?"

After spending ages asking questions, Han Yu finally asked one Tang Hao wanted to hear. Tang Hao's expression remained unchanged as he answered without looking back:

"Strength type."

No kidding.

Han Yu rolled his eyes. Who didn't know to add strength-type Soul Rings to a Clear Sky Hammer? The Soul Rings currently attached to his Clear Sky Hammer were already something of a mixed bag, and neither of their two Soul Skills could be used to attack directly.

It seemed the Clear Sky Hammer didn't have many Soul Skills to use at higher levels either, only those self-created moves.

"Hey, old man. Do you know Ring Detonation? I heard someone say the Clear Sky Hammer's Ring Detonation is really powerful."

Han Yu reached out and tugged on Tang Hao, who was leading the way. He was never one who could keep his composure, and he still wanted to learn the Clear Sky Hammer's Self-Created Soul Skills.

"Ring Detonation is the ultimate secret of the Great Sumeru Hammer. If you want to learn it, first get your physical conditioning-"

Tang Hao stopped and studied Han Yu carefully with his deep eyes. He had meant to say Han Yu's physical conditioning was insufficient, but suddenly remembered that Han Yu had already absorbed the Blue Silver Emperor's Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Bone. Even if his physical conditioning had yet to meet the Great Sumeru Hammer's requirements, the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone's Soul Skill had long since given him powers of recovery far beyond Tang Hao's own.

"When there's a chance, I'll teach you."

After tossing out those words lightly, Tang Hao continued leading the way.

Yes, Han Yu was no longer the little thing he had once been. In the blink of an eye, he had grown so much, and it was time to pass on the Clear Sky Hammer's Self-Created Soul Skills.

Where Han Yu couldn't see, the corners of Tang Hao's mouth curved slightly upward, and a flash of fervor passed through his eyes.

"Clear Sky Sect, wait for me."

The Clear Sky Hammer had become the strongest Tool Martial Soul on the Douluo Continent, and Tang Chen, with the Clear Sky Hammer in hand, had even been able to stand alongside the god-level Martial Souls, the Six-Winged Angel and the Sea God Martial Soul. This was not only due to Tang Chen's own strength, but even more so to the Clear Sky Sect's Self-Created Soul Skills.

The Great Sumeru Hammer condensed all of one's Soul Rings into one and poured them into the Clear Sky Hammer, transforming them into the purest strength and attack power. It multiplied one's strength geometrically, forcibly shattered all constraints, and unleashed tremendous power beyond one's own Soul Power. It followed the path of one force overcoming ten techniques.

Because this cultivation method placed extremely high demands on its practitioner, anyone who was not an exceptionally gifted genius with excellent physical conditioning could never cultivate it successfully and would instead risk their life. Geniuses who mastered the Great Sumeru Hammer were generally given the title of Clear Sky Douluo. The previous Clear Sky Douluo was Tang Chen, and the current one was Tang Hao.

Ring Detonation, however, was the ultimate secret of the Great Sumeru Hammer and could not be used unless absolutely necessary.

Each Soul Ring could be detonated once. After detonation, the Soul Ring's power would be unleashed in full, instantly becoming the user's own power and merging into the attack. The higher the quality of the Soul Ring used for Ring Detonation, the greater the effect, but the greater the backlash as well.

Naturally, such a powerful ultimate secret came at a tremendous cost. After one use of Ring Detonation, the detonated Soul Ring would disappear for three days, leaving only its Soul Power. It would take a full three days for the Soul Ring to gradually recover, and at least thirty-six days had to pass after one use before it could be used again. This was not because the body could not recover quickly enough, but because there was a risk of the Soul Ring truly shattering.

Oh well. Since Tang Hao had said so, Han Yu chuckled and hurried after him.

In the Core Circle of the Star Dou Great Forest, a round head poked out of the bushes. It looked around and, finding that no one had noticed it, breathed a sigh of relief before creeping out of the bushes.

Only when the Soul Beast was fully exposed to the sun could its true appearance be seen. It was no more than a meter long, and its entire body was covered in brilliant golden fur that looked lifelike in the sunlight.

Beneath the fur seemed to be fine golden scales. Its whole body resembled translucent crystal, giving it a strange texture.

Most peculiar were its eyes. Besides the normal pair, it had a third eye with a vertical pupil. Golden light flickered in its two normal eyes, while the vertical pupil emitted a red light, an eerie shade of red.

The Soul Beast was round all over, like a cub that had yet to grow up. After glancing around, it picked a direction and slowly headed off on its four little short legs with light steps. Human words actually came out of its mouth.

"What's so scary about the outside anyway? Di Tian, Bi Ji, and the others never let me come out to play. Watching them suck up to that big bug all day is so boring."

Remembering those boring days, the Soul Beast's two ears drooped against its head. But the next moment, it perked up and ran forward, letting out excited roars as it went.

What it didn't know was that, the moment after it left the Star Dou Great Forest's core area, a tiger arrived. Its body was entirely black, and it had a pair of wings on its back. It lowered its head and sniffed carefully, then, excitement in its red eyes, raced off in the direction the Soul Beast had gone.