As expected, things went smoothly.
Dugu Bo didn't have to put much thought into condensing his soul core; it happened as naturally as water flowing down a stream. He formed a soul core with ease. Although it was far inferior to Su Wen's black hole variant, Dugu Bo couldn't hide the grin tugging at his lips.
"My cultivation speed has increased fourfold! And after condensing my soul core, I can store even more soul power. Although I'm only at Rank 92 now, I have a decent chance if I fight against Yue Guan or Gui Mei."
"How impressive!"
Dugu Bo grinned widely.
"I didn't expect you to have such secret techniques. Did you find these all in the secret realm?"
Su Wen only smiled in response, saying nothing.
With nearly half a year left before the tournament, the Heaven Dou Class One had gotten back on track. With the cultivation method Su Wen provided and the mutation of their martial spirits, their cultivation advanced rapidly, and one after another, they broke through to the Soul Ancestor level. However, aside from Dugu Yan, who had already obtained her spirit ring, the others were stuck at the threshold for nearly a month.
It was time to make a trip to the Star Dou Great Forest.
…
"What do you want me here for?" Dugu Bo asked, face full of reluctance. Ever since glimpsing the hope of "becoming a god," he wanted nothing more than to devote every minute of his day to cultivation. Who knew, maybe one day he really could ascend to godhood with his granddaughter.
Su Wen remained silent.
He held a snow silkworm in his palm, bit into it, and tore it apart. It didn't taste as foul as he'd imagined; instead, a faint coolness spread through his mouth, making him feel much more awake.
He nodded slightly.
It had to be said, the spiritual energy from ten thousand years ago was indeed abundant.
At this time, the Star Dou Great Forest was still in its "complete" state. The human population was limited, soul masters even fewer, and their impact had not yet reached the level it would ten thousand years later. Of course, the main reason was the Spirit Hall's restriction on soul beast hunting.
Ten thousand years later, Shrek would act without restraint.
"A 7,000-year-old Azure-beaked Gale Bird!"
"On guard!"
"Yu Feng, Osler, harass and distract it!"
"Shimo and Shimo, try to intercept it!"
"..."
"Jade Phosphor Violet Poison!"
"..."
As a deep purple spirit ring rose from beneath the soul beast's corpse, Yu Feng began absorbing the ring while the other five guarded him.
"Good teamwork," Dugu Bo nodded approvingly when he saw this. The kids he'd once seen as playful brats now acted with some real discipline.
Su Wen, meanwhile, switched to a hands-off approach.
A slender Blue Silver Grass sprouted from his palm, coiling around his wrist. It seemed to interact eagerly with Su Wen, and as it sensed the rich, familiar land around them, it touched the soil, and Su Wen's spiritual power quickly spread through the surrounding Blue Silver Grass.
At Level 32 and nearly two thousand years of age, the Blue Silver Emperor (second form) already showed impressive power.
The surrounding Blue Silver Grass surged like waves, linking their spiritual energy together under the command of their "Emperor." On a metal arena, Ah Yin's powers might be limited, but here in the Star Dou Great Forest, it was like having a god's-eye view.
Absolutely overpowered.
After all, Blue Silver Grass was the most common plant on the Douluo Continent, found everywhere.
Which meant that once Ah Yin grew stronger, Su Wen's eyes and ears would be everywhere in this world...
When he returned to the present, he planned to merge Ah Yin into the Golden Tree. Golden Tree plus Ah Yin would be truly overpowered. If "Big Eye" could really outwit time's correction, then Ah Yin from this timeline would vanish due to Su Wen's actions, so there would never be two Ah Yins in the Golden Tree.
"Blue Silver... No, something's off!" Clearly, Dugu Bo noticed something unusual as well.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed from the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.
A terrifying aura swept over them.
In the next moment—
A shadow large enough to blot out the sun covered several hundred meters.
A titanic body stood tall. It seemed to have sensed the fluttering Ah Yin in Su Wen's palm. Its huge pupils were filled with surprise as it spoke in human tongue: "This is... Ah Yin's aura?!"
"Titan Giant Ape!" Dugu Bo's face turned grave.
But then—
It seemed that Ah Yin was soothing the Titan, or perhaps saying something. The giant's mountain-like body gave Su Wen a complicated look, then turned and stalked away...
[Titan Giant Ape]
[Cultivation: 100,000 Years]
[Attribute: Gravity]
[Potential: 7]
[…]
Su Wen's expression revealed nothing as he thought.
He had come to the forest partly to meet the Titan. In the future, when the Titan would already be Tang San's follower, Su Wen never considered recruiting it. But ten thousand years ago...
He couldn't help but probe a bit.
The Titan was more of a tank, but what made it special was its gravity field. This could buff allies and debuff enemies—a strong support-tank hybrid.
The main tank, of course, would be the Golden Behemoth—no contest.
But whether to recruit the Titan or not, he still had time to decide. And there was another formidable beast deep in the forest: the Sky Azure Bull Python. If he could get both, it might even weaken Tang San, the future God King.
There was also the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. In the original, this beast was even more overpowered than the Titan, with six attributes (evil, time, space, lightning, wind, strength...). Its first form was already terrifying, and after evolving, it could defy the heavens. If Su Wen met it, he wouldn't hesitate to bring it back and store it in a spirit ball for later use.
Unfortunately, after wandering around, he hadn't encountered it.
The third purple spirit ball remained empty for now. Su Wen wasn't interested in ordinary soul beasts—things like Man-faced Demon Spiders just didn't cut it.
Osler and the others all obtained their fourth spirit rings.
Upon entering the Soul Ancestor realm, most even advanced one or two more levels, reaching Rank 42 or 43.
"All right, you take them back," Su Wen said with a smile.
"What about you?" Dugu Bo asked in surprise.
"I... am going to Sea God Island," Su Wen replied softly.
Since the Sea God was a god of faith, the trust of all marine creatures in Sea God Island—and the entire ocean—was crucial. Su Wen's plan to exploit this was about to begin. If he could drain the current Sea God's power, that would definitely affect Tang San in the future.
After all, Tang San inherited the Sea God's position from the current god.
"..."
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched.
"So that's why you brought me here, huh?"
…