"Big Brother Chu, there are black dots appearing in the sky behind us. Could it be some flying spirit beast is coming?"
Suddenly, Ma Hongjun, sitting on the summoned Fire Phoenix and facing the direction they came from, pointed at the sky behind them and tugged at Chu Chengzhou.
Immediately, Chu Chengzhou tensed up and quickly turned to look back.
This place was close to the Great Star Dou Forest; it wasn't impossible for a flying spirit beast to appear.
If they really encountered a flying spirit beast, they needed to land quickly.
After all, although the summoned Fire Phoenix could fly, he, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar couldn't. If they accidentally fell during combat, it would be disastrous.
Looking in the direction Ma Hongjun pointed, Chu Chengzhou saw three figures appearing in the distant sky behind them.
"Little Red, hurry and descend!"
Chu Chengzhou quickly patted Little Red's head, signaling it to land immediately.
His eyesight was excellent. While Ma Hongjun could only see tiny black dots, Chu Chengzhou clearly recognized that those weren't flying spirit beasts but Qian Renxue, with her angel wings spread out, and the two Title Douluo, Ci Xue and She Long, flying in the air.
"What's going on?"
After landing, Zhao Wuji asked Chu Chengzhou with some confusion.
"There are powerful people coming!"
Chu Chengzhou pointed at the sky behind them.
Everyone looked up and saw three small dots in the sky rapidly approaching. More accurately, they weren't approaching them but heading towards the Star Dou Forest ahead.
Not long after, as the distance closed, the three small dots in the sky grew larger.
"Whoa~, two Title Douluo!"
Upon recognizing the three figures in the sky, Zhao Wuji sucked in a breath of cold air.
The simplest way to determine if someone is a Title Douluo was to look at the number of soul rings they had.
Although Ci Xue and She Long hadn't released their martial souls or soul rings at this moment, who else besides Title Douluo could fly without relying on their martial souls?
Zhao Wuji originally thought that She Long, who had a minor disagreement with them in the hotel restaurant yesterday, was an eight-ring Soul Douluo, at most a formidable one. But he never expected that this unremarkable tall and thin middle-aged man was actually one of the few Title Monarchs on the continent!
While Zhao Wuji and the others were shocked to encounter two Title Douluo, Xiao Wu trembled slightly, shrinking her neck and standing behind Chu Chengzhou, minimizing her presence as much as possible.
Although she had mastery techniques, these two Douluo should not see through her identity; otherwise, they would have seen through her last night. Still, Xiao Wu was somewhat afraid.
It was like a sheep dressed in wolf skin mingling with a pack of wolves. Even if the other wolves in the pack didn't harbor ill intentions, the sheep would still be extremely frightened.
"Don't be afraid, Xiao Wu. We have no grudge with these two Douluo, and they won't attack us."
Noticing Xiao Wu's actions and understanding her fear, Chu Chengzhou turned around, hugged her, and comforted her.
Soon, the three figures of Qian Renxue flew over their heads.
Perhaps they didn't notice Chu Chengzhou and the others below, or perhaps they saw but didn't care. They flew straight ahead without stopping.
"Wow~, that golden-haired girl sure has a grand entourage. She brings two Title Douluo as bodyguards when hunting for souls!"
Long after the three had gone, Ma Hongjun couldn't help but exclaim.
He, Ma Hongjun, was also considered a genius, but when hunting for souls, at most, he had a seven-ring Soul Sage leading the team.
Moreover, the gap between a seven-ring Soul Sage and a nine-ring Title Douluo was huge. A team leader and a bodyguard were not the same concept.
"Yes, we're all hunting souls; why is the difference so big?"
Glancing at Zhao Wuji and then himself, Oscar couldn't help but sigh.
It was true what they said: sometimes, the gap between people can even be greater than the gap between humans and dogs!
Zhao Wuji: "…"
Are you implying yourself, or are you disliking me for not being a Title Douluo?
At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing spoke: "I don't know if you've noticed, but that woman looks about twenty, but her soul power level is that of a five-ring Soul King.
And since her destination is the Star Dou Forest, her soul power should already be at level 60."
Compared to Ci Xue and She Long, the two Title Douluo, what astonished Zhu Zhuqing more was Qian Renxue, surrounded by five soul rings.
She could tell that although Qian Renxue was older than her, not by much—she appeared about twenty—but her soul power level far exceeded her imagination.
A five-ring Soul King at twenty was already a genius among geniuses, let alone someone about to advance to a six-ring Soul Emperor?
"Zhu Zhuqing is right. Such talent truly befits the Six-Winged Angel martial soul!"
Ning Rongrong nodded in agreement.
"Six-Winged Angel? I think that girl only has two wings?"
Ma Hongjun was puzzled and confused.
"Ignorant! My father said that the Six-Winged Angel passed down by the Angel Family of the Spirit Hall is the strongest martial soul on the continent.
However, this martial soul is special. When possessed initially, it only has one pair of wings. At the Soul Emperor level, it gains two pairs of wings, and only at the Title Douluo level does it reach its complete form with three pairs of wings."
Ning Rongrong gave Ma Hongjun a disdainful look.
"I heard that over ten years ago, the Hao Tian Douluo killed the then Pope of the Spirit Hall, the Angel Douluo. Shouldn't the strongest martial soul on the continent be the Hao Tian Hammer?"
Oscar looked suspiciously at Ning Rongrong.
Oscar knew that Hao Tian Douluo crushed the Angel Douluo, not because he had any special sources of information; in fact, most soul masters in the soul master community were somewhat aware of this.
Since the Spirit Hall still had a wanted poster targeting Tang Hao with a simple charge of killing the former Pope of the Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, without any cause or effect mentioned.
"Xiao Ao, if you just look at the martial soul, the Hao Tian Hammer is inferior to the Six-Winged Angel. After all, soul masters possessing the Six-Winged Angel martial soul can awaken domain powers that even Title Douluo may not necessarily master.
As for why the Angel Douluo lost to the Hao Tian Douluo, it's simply that the person wasn't strong enough, which has nothing directly to do with the martial soul."
Chu Chengzhou explained.
Speaking of this, the Secret Room Douluo was also a genius. Although he was inferior to Tang Hao, when he was killed by Bibi Dong, he was only in his sixties. And a 95th-level Title Douluo in his sixties, who could say that Qian Xunji wasn't a genius?
It was just that this genius had bad luck and encountered an even more talented Tang Hao, who also mastered the unreasonable Great Sumeru Hammer.
The Great Sumeru Hammer's technique: exploding rings, although with significant side effects, the power was indeed off the charts. Combined with the difference in their ninth soul rings, Tang Hao at that time, freshly entering the Title Douluo level, managed to dominate three Title Douluo, including Qian Xunji.
"All right, stop discussing how talented others are. No matter how talented they are, it has nothing to do with you.
If you envy them, you might as well cultivate diligently. Your talents aren't bad either, and in the future, you might have the opportunity to become a Title Douluo."
Zhao Wuji clapped his hands and served everyone a bowl of soul-soothing chicken soup.
"Teacher Zhao speaks wisely. Future Sausage Lord, please take good care of me~!"
Chu Chengzhou nodded and smiled at Oscar.
Among the original Shrek Seven Monsters, if anyone had the potential to become a Title Douluo, it was undoubtedly Tang San and Oscar, who had full innate soul power, and Xiao Wu, a hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beast transformed, equivalent to having full innate soul power.
As for the others, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ma Hongjun were lacking.
Ning Rongrong, who had innate level 9, though talented, was restricted by the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul, limiting her maximum level. Without the immortal medicinal herb, Beautiful Silk Tulip, Ning Rongrong's future achievements would be the lowest.
Of course, the premise was that Ma Hongjun didn't die from whatever caused the deaths of others.
Oscar: "..."
Can we stop talking about sausages?
Two days later, on the outskirts of the Great Star Dou Forest, a small group cautiously moved through the forest.
Dai Mubai, with his White Tiger martial soul activated, walked at the front of the group, responsible for clearing the path for everyone.
The Star Dou Forest was a primeval forest. Unless the environment was too harsh, it was covered with vegetation everywhere, basically without paths. It relied entirely on soul masters coming to hunt souls to cut through obstacles and carve out a path.
Following behind Dai Mubai was Xiao Wu. Apart from the team leader Zhao Wuji, Xiao Wu had the highest soul power level.
Behind Xiao Wu were Ning Rongrong and Oscar, the two auxiliary-type soul masters, along with the Light Lion summon, Little Bai, which could serve as a meat shield in critical moments.
On both sides of the two and Little Bai, followed Zhu Zhuqing and Ma Hongjun. Chu Chengzhou, the part-time summoner and archer controlling the overall situation, and Zhao Wuji were positioned at the rear.
In addition, above the group, a fiery red figure flew.
The summoned Fire Phoenix could fly and naturally served as an aerial scout.
"Chirp chirp chirp——!"
Suddenly, the Fire Phoenix in the air emitted a series of phoenix cries.
"Stop! Stay alert, Chu kid, go check it out!"
Zhao Wuji immediately called a halt to the advancing group and ordered Chu Chengzhou.
He knew that Little Red had a brain and wouldn't cry out randomly unless something happened.
Slightly nodding, Chu Chengzhou leaped onto a large tree over thirty meters tall nearby.
"Chirp~!"
Above the canopy, seeing its master arrive, the summoned Fire Phoenix flapped its wings and pointed in a direction.
Turning to look, Chu Chengzhou saw a large gap suddenly appear in the dense forest to the side, revealing a small lake of considerable size.
On the shimmering lake surface, a flock of ducks, no, a group of elegant swans, was swimming.
Different from common white swans, except for their dark golden eyes, this group of swans playing in the water had fully golden feathers from head to tail.
From afar, they looked like small golden auspicious clouds floating on the water.
'Golden Feather Swans?'
Having read many books on spirit beasts early on, Chu Chengzhou immediately recognized what they were.
Golden Feather Swans, a type of agile flying spirit beast living in groups, had extremely fast flight speeds but were weaker in combat compared to other spirit beasts of the same age. Moreover, there was a sentence in the book that left a deep impression on Chu Chengzhou.
—Golden Feather Swans, with elegant postures, delicious taste, and rich nutritional value, were deeply loved by Emperor Xue Yu.
The Emperor Xue Yu recorded in the book was the father of the current Emperor Xue Ye of the Tian Dou Empire and the former emperor of the Tian Dou Empire.
If even the emperor praised it, the taste must be excellent.
Of course, taste wasn't the key point. The key was that Chu Chengzhou felt that the Golden Feather Swans seemed suitable to become Oscar's third soul ring.
The Golden Feather Swans had very fast flight speeds. If Oscar added their soul ring, even if unlucky and unable to form flying sausages, he could still form speed-enhancing sausages.
If the effect was the former, it would fulfill Oscar's wish perfectly. If unlucky and the effect was the latter, it wouldn't be too bad either.
However, adding the soul ring was Oscar's decision. Whether to choose the Golden Feather Swan as the third soul ring ultimately depended on Oscar himself.
Subsequently, noting the location of the lake, Chu Chengzhou jumped down from the tree.
"How is it?"
Zhao Wuji stepped forward and asked.
"There's a small lake ahead with a group of Golden Feather Swans ranging from a hundred to a thousand years old. Oscar, consider whether you want this kind of spirit beast."
"Golden Feather Swan? What kind of spirit beast is that?"
Oscar was somewhat bewildered. What kind of spirit beast was this? A swan with golden fur?
"Ignorant! The Golden Feather Swan is a type of agile flying spirit beast with very fast flight speeds. It looks similar to ordinary swans, but all its feathers are golden."
Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes at the illiterate Oscar.
"Very fast flight speed? That's great!"
Being called ignorant didn't bother Oscar. Instead, his eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded.
What he wanted was flying sausages. The faster the Golden Feather Swan flew, the better the effect of the third soul skill formed after adding the soul ring would be.
"Oscar, I need to remind you that a flying spirit beast doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a flying sausage. The soul skill effect might also enhance speed attributes."
Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but remind him.
Oscar's sausage martial soul wasn't a long-inherited martial soul. What kind of soul ring could form what kind of soul skill effect hadn't been explored or tested by predecessors, making the actual effect unknown with great uncertainty.
In fact, the most reliable way to obtain flying sausages was to add the Chicken Crest Phoenix Tail Snake soul ring.
After all, in the original story, Oscar's flying mushroom sausage was obtained this way.
However, the real trajectory differed somewhat from the original, and given the vastness of the Star Dou Forest, the Phoenix Tail Chicken Crest Snake wasn't a numerous species of spirit beasts. Stubbornly pursuing the Phoenix Tail Chicken Crest Snake, whether they'd encounter it was also uncertain.
Hearing this, Oscar pondered for a moment and made a decision: "I'll take the Golden Feather Swan! Even if it's not a flying sausage, a speed-enhancing sausage isn't bad either."
"Alright, Dai Mubai, clear the path in this direction!"
Nodding slightly, Chu Chengzhou pointed in the direction of the lake and told Dai Mubai.
Your job, clearing the path!
Dai Mubai glanced expressionlessly at Chu Chengzhou, then extended ten eight-inch-long blades on his tiger claws, starting to slash through the thorny bushes along the way.
The lake wasn't far. In just a few minutes, everyone quickly arrived at the edge of the lake.
"Oscar, what year do you want? There are quite a few thousand-year-old Golden Feather Swans here. Give me a number."
Behind the low shrubs, glancing at the numerous Golden Feather Swans playing on the lake surface, Chu Chengzhou turned to ask Oscar.
"I read in the book that the limit for a soul master's third soul ring is around seventeen hundred years. Let's go for a seventeen-hundred-year-old one!"
Oscar didn't hesitate much and directly said.
Clearly, Oscar must have read Master Yu Xiaogang's "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls."
"Are you sure?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Chengzhou was startled and then looked at Oscar as if he were an idiot.
"Uh~, is there anything wrong?"
Facing Chu Chengzhou's strange gaze, Oscar was puzzled.
"Oscar, how can Sister Xiao Wu have such a dumb little brother?
You said seventeen hundred years is the limit for a soul master's third soul ring. This limit includes beast martial soul soul masters. You are a food system soul master; your physique isn't as strong as a beast martial soul soul master of the same level. Around fifteen hundred years should be your limit.
Moreover, this is considering that the soul rings of spirit beasts like the Golden Feather Swan are relatively easy to absorb. Otherwise, the year limit would need to be lowered further."
Xiao Wu rolled her eyes and said impatiently.
"Uh, is that so?"
Oscar looked at everyone.
Except for the ignorant Ma Hongjun and Zhao Wuji, Chu Chengzhou, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Dai Mubai all nodded.
There was no need to say anything about Chu Chengzhou. Ning Rongrong and the others were all from noble families; they had long known what kind of soul rings could be added at each level, thanks to previous explorations by their ancestors, so they wouldn't be misled by Yu Xiaogang's theories.
What is a limit? If adding a soul ring of one more year results in death, that's called a limit!
Even Dai Mubai, who possessed the top-tier beast martial soul White Tiger, didn't dare to play like this. After all, adding a limit-year soul ring was like dancing on the edge of a knife; one misstep and it was over.
"Alright, then give me a fifteen-hundred-year-old one."
Oscar shrank his neck and said awkwardly.
Slightly nodding, Chu Chengzhou took out the Thousand-Forged Heavy Silver Bow from his storage necklace.
Holding the bow in his left hand, soul power surged in his right hand, and a highly condensed arrow of fire-attribute soul power suddenly materialized, aiming at a Golden Feather Swan frolicking with its companions on the distant lake surface.
This Golden Feather Swan was considered an elite in its group, around fifteen hundred years old, with a fluctuation of no more than thirty years.
At the same time, as the only auxiliary-type soul master in the team, Ning Rongrong very consciously manifested her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.
"Seven treasures turn out... uh, this is..."
Ning Rongrong was about to boost Chu Chengzhou with attribute enhancement soul skills when she suddenly noticed her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul glowing.
Swish——
As Ning Rongrong was distracted, a slight whooshing sound echoed, and the soul power arrow placed on the Thousand-Forged Silver Bow turned into a streak of crimson light, instantly shooting out.
Puff——!
The arrow was extremely fast, covering a hundred meters in an instant. The sound of flesh breaking and blood splattering rang out, and the distant Golden Feather Swan frolicking with its companions was pierced through both wings by the arrow.
Coo!
With its golden-feathered wings pierced, intense pain hit, and the Golden Feather Swan immediately emitted an unusual shriek.
Splash—
When disaster strikes, birds in the same forest scatter. The Golden Feather Swan was no exception. Its companion, suddenly injured, hurriedly flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
Upon hearing the distress call of their groupmate, the other Golden Feather Swans on the lake surface were quick to react, flapping their wings to ascend.
At this moment, the summoned Fire Phoenix flew in from afar, emitting the aura of the king of birds, startling the many Golden Feather Swans who were still shaken.
This group of Golden Feather Swans belonged to a small group, with the oldest being four to five thousand years old. Facing the vastly superior summoned Fire Phoenix, they fled as fast as they could.
Rescuing the injured companion?
No spirit beast group that survived in the Star Dou Forest would do this.
After all, the Star Dou Forest operated on the principle of survival of the fittest. Encountering a powerful predator, staying to rescue a companion would likely result in not only failing to save the companion but potentially losing the entire group.
After scaring away the group of Golden Feather Swans, the summoned Fire Phoenix swooped down, extending its phoenix talons, grabbing the injured Golden Feather Swan that couldn't escape due to its pierced wings, and flew to the shore.
Thud—
The sound of landing echoed, and the injured Golden Feather Swan crashed heavily onto the ground beside everyone.
At this moment, Zhao Wuji stepped forward and slapped the head of the Golden Feather Swan. Instantly, the previously violently struggling Golden Feather Swan was knocked unconscious.
"Oscar, hurry up!"
Zhao Wuji pulled out a short blade and gestured to Oscar.
"Bro~"
Suddenly, Xiao Wu softly called to Chu Chengzhou.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Promise me you won't indiscriminately kill spirit beasts in the future, okay?"
Glancing at the nearby Golden Feather Swan, whose body was stained in crimson, dying a rather pitiful death, Xiao Wu said with some reluctance.
"Uh, don't worry, I won't indiscriminately kill spirit beasts, especially not bunnies!
But Xiao Wu, don't feel sorry. The book says swans are omnivores. Who knows, the Golden Feather Swan Oscar killed might have eaten bunnies! He's avenging the bunnies!"
Seeing Xiao Wu feeling sympathetic for the goose and rabbit, Chu Chengzhou solemnly began to fool her.
"Nonsense, how could a swan eat bunnies?"
Xiao Wu rolled her eyes irritably.
"How could a swan not eat bunnies? I bet if you ask it whether it has eaten bunnies, it definitely won't dare to refute!"
Chu Chengzhou patted his chest confidently.
"Pfft!"
Zhu Zhuqing on the side couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"We'll cook iron pot stewed goose soon and avenge the bunnies!"
Glancing at Xiao Wu's undulating bosom, Chu Chengzhou suggested to her.
Swans are geese too, and conveniently, he had a large pot in his storage necklace.
Xiao Wu: "..."
At this moment, Oscar had already started refining the soul ring. After putting away the Thousand-Forged Heavy Silver Bow, Chu Chengzhou was about to step forward to handle the Golden Feather Swan when suddenly Ning Rongrong beside him shouted, "Wait!"
"What is it?"
Chu Chengzhou turned to look at Ning Rongrong.
"Senior Chu, can I see the bow you used earlier?"
Ning Rongrong said with fiery eyes.
As one of the three major sects on the continent, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, which had a Sword and Bone Douluo guarding it, although stronger than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family, the gap wasn't too large, belonging to the same tier of forces.
Why was the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect dripping with wealth while the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family lived 'without locking doors at night,' leading a bitter life?
Apart from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect being allies with the Tian Dou Empire, the main reason was the immense wealth brought by the inherited Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul had treasure-finding abilities. Just now, when Ning Rongrong was about to boost Chu Chengzhou with attribute enhancement soul skills, she froze completely because right after Chu Chengzhou took out that plain-looking, even aesthetically unpleasing silver-gray large bow, her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul emitted a strong reaction.
Such martial soul reactions weren't uncommon to her before, given that the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was famously wealthy, and she had seen countless treasures.
But reactions as strong as this were rare, as if the silver-gray bow in Chu Chengzhou's hand earlier was a peerless treasure.
------------------------------------------------------
Double Chapters Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)