Before dawn, the sky was still veiled in thin mist.
Li Zhexian pressed two fingers together like a sword, carving a few lines into the table before him.
Wood shavings clung faintly to the grooves of his writing.
The fewer who knew of this trip,
the better chance he had of avoiding the Pope's notice.
His Chasewind Colt thundered along the road, hooves striking like the wind, his figure flashing like white light across the highway.
In the space of ten miles, a silhouette, breathtakingly beautiful, appeared faintly ahead.
Li Zhexian's lips curved upward. He urged his horse forward, reaching her in just a few breaths.
Seeing Qian Renxue standing at the roadside, he laughed and asked:
"Where's your horse?"
Qian Renxue pointed toward a side path.
"I walked from the post station there. I didn't bring one."
Her gaze lowered, golden hair veiling half her jade-like face. Her voice was so soft it nearly dissolved into the morning breeze.
"I've been waiting for you here."
"If it's not trouble, could you fetch a—"
Before she could finish her words, a long hand had already stretched out in front of her.
Qian Renxue's beautiful eyes widened with a smile, but she pretended not to understand and looked up at him.
Li Zhexian raised his brows and said, "A few days apart, and already you're being distant?"
"This trip is urgent—buying another horse would waste time."
"Come. I'll carry you."
The corners of Qian Renxue's lips slightly curled up, but she forced herself to suppress it. She pretended to be indifferent as she handed her hand to him.
Cough. It was perfectly normal for a Spirit Emperor to need help getting on a horse.
The moment her tender hand fell into the white-robed youth's palm, her heart slightly trembled.
A gentle force came, and Qian Renxue only felt her body lighten. Her golden hair flew, her skirt fluttered, and she was already sitting sideways in front of Li Zhexian.
Li Zhexian's forearm slipped past her waist to hold the reins, the pose nearly the same as drawing her into his embrace.
At her nose lingered the clean, wind-swept scent of him,
tinged with faint wine.
Her jade cheeks burned. She leaned back slightly—
yet couldn't help inching closer.
Above her, a clear voice sounded:
"Are you steady?"
"Mm!"
"Hyah—!"
The colt let out a long neigh.
Its four hooves soared into the air, and it galloped away, leaving no trace of dust, facing the dawn light on the eastern horizon.
Moments later—
from the roadside grove, another Windchasing Colt burst forth.
It looked at the figure in the distance, which had already shrunk into a black dot, and let out a long, wronged cry.
...
Traveling day and night, a day and a half later, the two of them finally arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest.
The forest sprawled like an ancient beast lying across heaven and earth.
The instant they stepped beneath its canopy,
the stench of rot and blood washed over them.
Towering ancient trees covered the sky and blocked out the sun, and vines twisted like giant serpents.
Every step forward was like stepping on an unknown danger.
Li Zhexian pushed aside the rampant thorns.
His sword intent gathered faintly, slicing away noxious mists that blocked their path.
Qian Renxue warily scanned her surroundings. "Li Zhexian, what kind of Spirit Beast are you looking for?"
Li Zhexian's brows were furrowed tightly. "I haven't thought about it yet."
This was not false. His third Spirit Ring, the Dragon-Headed Swordhawk, was already a rare beast with a touch of divinity.
If his fourth Spirit Ring were mediocre, it would disgrace the keen edge of the Qinglian Sword.
"Perhaps…"
"We'll have to go deep into the middle-back section of the Star Dou Forest to search," Li Zhexian told Qian Renxue in a solemn tone.
He would never dare to set foot in the depths of the Star Dou Forest right now. Not to mention the two Spirit Beast kings of the Lake of Life, there was an unimaginably great terror lurking underground.
Even the middle-back section was a dangerous place where ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Beasts ran amok.
he Blood-Toothed Demon Tiger he encountered last time was only located in the middle section of the forest.
But Li Zhexian was not without any reliance. After all, there were two Titled Douluo secretly accompanying him.
Qian Renxue nodded without hesitation. She did not weigh whether it was dangerous or not. If Li Zhexian wanted to go, she would follow.
Within a day, they skirted the territories of several ten-thousand-year beasts, clashing with a few ferocious creatures along the way.
At last, they stepped into the forest's middle-back section.
Beyond here—
lay the true forbidden area.
The trees here were not as thick as in the middle section, and were even slightly shorter.
But the branches and leaves were all jet-black, layered upon each other, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.
Standing inside, the light was dim and unclear. The slightly cool air was permeated with a bloody scent and an indescribable, complex smell.
All sounds of nature were silent, and it was so oppressive it gave people heart palpitations.
"Be careful," Li Zhexian whispered.
The Qinglian Sword floated at his side, sword qi hidden but taut.
Qian Renxue inclined her head, a thread of light coalescing at her fingertips, illuminating the darkness around them.
The two of them explored the middle-back section of the Star Dou Forest horizontally, as if treading on thin ice with every step.
...
In Sunset Forest—
Tang San slowly stood up. His naked upper body was soaked in fresh blood. The surface of his skin was covered with spiderweb-like cracks.
In front of him, the carcass of a ten-thousand-year-old Dark Demon Spider was shriveled like a sack.
ight hideously twisted, fierce, and terrifying dark-red spider lances extended out from its back.
"I finally succeeded..." Tang San's voice was hoarse.
Buzz buzz—Buzz buzz—
His Spirit Power was boiling. Waves of air surged around him. The surrounding plants were blown to a breaking point.
Yellow, yellow, purple, and black, four Spirit Rings rose up. That deep black Spirit Ring was especially soul-stirring.
In order to absorb a ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Ring beyond his rank, he had just experienced a narrow escape from death.
However, as long as he thought about Li Zhexian's contemptuous appearance in the arena, he almost gnashed his teeth to pieces, but he endured it stubbornly.
"Pressure makes one progress, Xiao San. Your advance in this time is astonishing." Flander looked at Tang San in amazement.
"A ten-thousand-year-old fourth Spirit Ring is enough to look down on..." The words were stuck in his throat. He suddenly remembered the white-robed youth's unbelievable configuration of his first three Spirit Rings, and he could only change his words:
"...is enough to shock many people!"
"In this Spirit Master Tournament's finals, Xiao San, there is much to be done!"
Upon hearing this, Tang San's fists suddenly clenched, and a cold light surged in the depths of his jet-black eyes.
"Li Zhexian…"
"I hope you'll enjoy the 'surprise' I've prepared."
Flander warily looked around. "Now that the Spirit Ring is in hand, we will immediately set off to return to Spirit City to prepare for the final battle!"
At the same time, deep underground, in the Lake of Life.
The end of the tunnel suddenly opened up, and a magnificent palace was embedded into the earth's veins.
The jet-black stone walls emitted a cold, hard metallic sheen under the dim light of Spirit Power, as if they were stubbornly pressed into the earth by a great force.
In the humid air, a dense vital energy scattered into a light blue haze, flowing like gauze.
The dome of the palace was over a hundred meters high. On the inverted stalactite columns, crystals condensed with a glowing green light.
Five peerless Spirit Beasts, as huge as mountains, were coiled up, their aura as heavy and deep as an abyss.
In the center, where they were surrounded, a ten-meter-long ice silkworm was curled up.
Its entire body was as transparent as if it were carved from crystal. From under its shell, star-like silver threads exuded. It was actually flowing, liquid-state vital energy, winding and seeping into every corner of the palace.
In the southeast corner of the palace—
rare immortal herbs clustered into a flower garden.
Within—
a Spirit Beast with a vertical pupil on its forehead, stepping on golden flames, and with its entire body of golden hair flowing with divine radiance, was rolling around in the flower garden.
In a flash, the divine butterfly landed in the stamen of an immortal herb. The patterns of lava and ice on its twin wings suddenly flickered on and off.
As if it had sensed something, its butterfly wings flapped quickly. It suddenly soared into the sky, actually wanting to rush out of this deep underground palace.