Chapter 16: The Great Forest of Mingdou

Although the time had passed noon, considering the objectives for Ye Xixuan and Beibei to obtain their soul rings this time, the group decided to set out early.

Beibei needed to hunt soul beasts of the sub-dragon class possessing the bloodline of the Radiant Holy Dragon. Even within the Star Dou Forest, such soul beasts were extremely rare, let alone finding one with the exact required age.

Ye Xixuan’s second soul ring did not have such stringent requirements; he cared more about the cultivation level and quality of the target soul beast.

Old Mu had previously told him that with his current physical strength, he could easily absorb the soul ring of a soul beast with about three thousand years of cultivation. Moreover, his Martial Soul, the Shadow of Mind Demon, had an ultimate darkness attribute, which inherently suppressed soul beasts with dark attributes. Thus, during the absorption process, there was no need to worry about backlash.

So naturally, the stronger the target soul beast, the better.

The four of them soon arrived outside the East Gate of Shrek Academy.

At that moment, Beibei’s heart was already filled with the joy of soon acquiring a soul ring and leveling up; all other thoughts had long been cast aside. After all, at his age, he still had a youthful temperament, far less composed than Ye Xixuan’s memories of his past life.

Beibei clasped his hands behind his head, tilting his chin proudly, then grinned broadly at Ye Xixuan.

“Xixuan, see you at the peak next time.”

“Go down and settle yourself a bit first; you two little brats talking about meeting at the peak,” Old Xuan said, pulling a chicken bone from his mouth and tapping Beibei’s head with a grumpy tone.

“Alright, let’s get going quickly, don’t waste the old man’s time for drinking and eating meat.”

“Ah—Old Xuan, slow down!” Beibei couldn’t keep up for more than three seconds before Old Xuan dragged him soaring into the sky, his terrified screams echoing overhead.

Though Beibei appeared serious, he often played tricks; as Old Xuan described, he was sly and mischievous. It was hard to say that Old Xuan’s actions were without some personal motive.

Ye Xixuan smiled with a hint of schadenfreude. He still remembered that on the second day they met, Beibei had already betrayed him to the senior sister.

“Lexuan, shall we set off now?”

***

“Don’t you want to say goodbye to that little girl from the Tang Sect?” Zhang Lexuan turned her gaze from the direction where Old Xuan and Beibei had disappeared, giving Ye Xixuan a sidelong look, a subtle meaning hidden beneath her calm tone.

Zhang Lexuan had met Tang Ya before. In fact, Tang Ya’s second soul ring was obtained with Ye Xixuan’s help, about a few months ago.

At that time, Zhang Lexuan was leading disciples from the inner academy hunting soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest. On their return to Shrek Academy, she had brought back a plant-type soul beast that matched Tang Ya’s Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. Coincidentally, this soul beast was exactly the same as Tang Ya’s second soul ring in Ye Xixuan’s past life memory—Ghost Vine.

Over the years, Ye Xixuan increasingly noticed the subtle attitude his senior sister held towards him, though he could never quite pin down what it was.

“No need, Lexuan, I just visited Xiao Ya last night. Let’s be like Old Xuan and Senior Brother Bei—quick in and out.”

“Mm.” Zhang Lexuan responded lightly, her expression as unreadable as ever. The sapphire on her storage soul ring gleamed, and a pair of slender silver wings unfolded behind her.

The wingspan was not very large, about two meters, but each wing boasted ten jet nozzles.

“This is a seventh-level flying soul device developed by the Soul Guidance Division,” Zhang Lexuan explained to Ye Xixuan. “The Star Dou Forest lies south of the Ming Dou Mountains, bordering the South Sea at its southernmost edge. The journey is long, so I’ll fly us over with this device. We’ll tie ourselves together with a rope.”

“A rope?” Ye Xixuan suddenly had an idea.

“Lexuan, haven’t you forgotten the effect of my first soul skill? The chains I create with it are much stronger than ordinary ropes, and as long as they contact my body, they can exist indefinitely.”

“That works too.” Zhang Lexuan smiled and nodded, allowing Ye Xixuan to use his first soul skill to condense a jet-black shadow chain, clumsily binding their bodies tightly together.

Ye Xixuan’s height now barely reached Zhang Lexuan’s chest, his back pressed against her front. His movements were stiff because whenever he raised his head, he felt the heavy pressure on the back of his head, wrapped in softness and fragrant warmth.

Zhang Lexuan seemed completely unfazed, wrapping her arms around Ye Xixuan from behind and leaning close to whisper in his ear, “Xixuan, ready to depart.”

“Uh.” Ye Xixuan felt even more awkward and silently regretted having suggested this.

Over the years, he had seen how much his senior sister cared for him; in his heart, she held a place nearly as important as Tang Ya. Yet his feelings for her were more of respect, and such intimate contact felt almost like sacrilege.

***

The ten jet nozzles on the wings of the flying soul device burst forth with fierce white light, and Zhang Lexuan and Ye Xixuan instantly soared into the air.

The piercing roar was deafening, disrupting Ye Xixuan’s wandering thoughts.

The soul guidance technology originally from the Douluo Continent was indeed far behind the Sun Moon Empire now; the seventh-level flying soul device lacked even the ability to deploy a soul-guided shield, relying solely on its own soul power to resist wind resistance.

To avoid trouble, Zhang Lexuan climbed to an altitude of a thousand meters, making it difficult to be spotted from below. She first bypassed the Star Dou Forest located southeast of Shrek, then headed directly south, penetrating deep into the heartland of the Xingluo Empire.

The Ming Dou Mountains formed the border between the Sun Moon Empire and the Xingluo Empire, with armies stationed on both sides. Entering the Star Dou Forest from the Ming Dou Mountains was clearly inadvisable.

Thus, Zhang Lexuan chose this safer flight path.

As time passed, Ye Xixuan’s emotions gradually settled. Even his senior sister herself seemed indifferent to these matters; perhaps he was overthinking.

The roaring wind drowned out most conversation during the flight. Occasionally, when they stopped to rest and recover soul power, Zhang Lexuan’s attitude toward Ye Xixuan remained unchanged—gentle and patient as ever.

Thus, traveling intermittently, they finally glimpsed a deep and dense forest before nightfall.

This was the border between the Xingluo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire: the northern two-thirds dominated by the steep and perilous Ming Dou Mountains, and the remaining one-third the vast Star Dou Forest appearing before Ye Xixuan and Zhang Lexuan.

The golden-red sunset was about to dip below the horizon, its brilliant light illuminating the thick canopy of the Star Dou Forest, while inside lay utter darkness, heavy with oppressive silence.