Southern periphery of the Ming Dou Great Forest.
A deep, furious roar echoed through the air. Countless shrubs, flowers, grasses, and shorter trees instantly collapsed. A massive dark-yellow giant bear revealed its enormous figure.
This bear was over four meters long, its entire body rippling with muscle, exuding an astonishing presence.
Parts of its sturdy frame were covered in irregular dark-yellow crystals. Wherever it passed, any plant it touched was instantly encased in the same dark-yellow crystal, only to shatter into dust under its terrifying aura.
The creature it was chasing was a strange spherical metal object with six long metal legs extending from its bottom. Each leg had three segments, allowing it to dart swiftly through the dense forest while dodging the giant bear's attacks.
Inside this all-terrain exploration soul tool sat Xu Zihuang, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke.
Xu Zihuang sat calmly in the front main control seat, gripping the metal control lever with a composed expression.
Under his precise and timely maneuvers, the all-terrain exploration soul tool managed to gradually widen the distance from the giant bear.
Ju Zi and Ke Ke sat behind him. Ju Zi had to split her attention to maintain the level-5 soul shield of the exploration tool. Seeing the situation stabilize, she let out a long sigh of relief.
"A 3,000-year Crystal Bear… I never expected such a powerful variant soul beast to appear in the outer areas of the Ming Dou Great Forest."
Crystal Bears and Dreadclaw Bears actually belonged to the same species, both carrying the bloodline of the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear. However, the Crystal Bear was a weakened mutation. After mutating, its overall strength was actually inferior to that of a normal Dreadclaw Bear.
Nevertheless, there was no denying that the Crystal Bear remained an extremely powerful soul beast. Though it only possessed 3,000 years of cultivation, it could utterly crush the Nether Dual-Headed Wolf and the Blazing Fire Monkey King that Xu Zihuang's group had encountered earlier.
This was the overwhelming advantage brought by a soul beast's race and bloodline. When the bloodline was strong enough, fighting above one's cultivation level was commonplace.
Possessing the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear bloodline, the Crystal Bear boasted outstanding offensive and defensive capabilities, along with a unique mutated ability.
Anything alive that it touched—be it plant, soul beast, or human—would undergo crystallization. Upon receiving another attack, the target would directly shatter into pieces.
It was essentially an ultimate weakened version of Xu Zihuang's second soul skill, Mirror Destruction.
Xu Zihuang's Mirror Destruction could be locked onto and released remotely through mental power—meaning its range was, however far his mental power could extend.
The Crystal Bear, however, had to physically touch its opponent to activate this ability.
Evidently, the Crystal Bear lacked any long-range attacks, which was precisely why Xu Zihuang was able to easily leave it behind while piloting the all-terrain exploration soul tool.
Over the past half-month, the three of them had been traveling southward along the outer regions of the Ming Dou Great Forest. The temperature had clearly risen significantly.
With Xu Zihuang's physical constitution and cultivation, he was completely unaffected by heat or cold, but the hot and humid climate had taken a noticeable toll on Ju Zi and Ke Ke.
Both girls were now wearing only thin layers of clothing, their bodies glistening with fragrant sweat that filled the interior of the soul tool with a light, pleasant scent.
Unlike Ju Zi, whose full chest rose and fell dramatically as she caught her breath, Ke Ke appeared exceptionally excited.
"Sister Ju Zi, that was so thrilling! I really thought that Crystal Bear's paw was about to smash us just now. The Ming Dou Great Forest is way more interesting than I expected!"
From the initial Dual-Headed Nether Wolf, to the later Nightmare Man-Eating Flowers, and now the Crystal Bear they had just encountered, this journey had greatly broadened Ke Ke's horizons.
Of course, the reason she felt excitement rather than danger was entirely because she believed Yu Tianhuang could perfectly protect them.
They had previously encountered a passing 10,000-year flying soul beast, a Cyan Jade Bird. This type of soul beast was naturally violent and had attacked the moment it discovered the trio.
Yet even such a powerful flying soul beast with 10,000 years of cultivation had been easily defeated by Xu Zihuang alone.
After nearly a month of shared training and adventures, the two girls' trust and reliance on Xu Zihuang had unknowingly reached an unprecedented level.
"It's not fun at all. Getting hit by that Crystal Bear wouldn't exactly be a joke," Ju Zi huffed in annoyance.
"But Tianhuang is here, isn't he? Nothing will happen to us," Ke Ke replied carelessly, stretching lazily with a giggle. Although her figure was quite flat, the thin clothes still outlined some subtle curves.
At that moment, Xu Zihuang steered the all-terrain exploration soul tool to a relatively high and open area. He turned back to Ju Zi and Ke Ke and said,
"Senior Ju Zi, Senior Ke Ke, let's stop here for a bit to recover soul power."
Ke Ke showed no intention of restraining herself under Xu Zihuang's gaze; instead, she continued stretching comfortably.
As a naturally bold and straightforward girl, she had long since figured things out during this trip. He's already seen everything anyway—so why bother acting reserved? Just do whatever feels comfortable.
Ju Zi's mindset was similar to Ke Ke's. Moreover, compared to Ke Ke, she harbored different feelings toward Xu Zihuang. In the end, unable to withstand the heat and constantly egged on by Ke Ke, she too had decided to "be honest" with them.
"Then Tianhuang, you recover your soul power first. Ke Ke and I will keep watch," Ju Zi replied softly, preparing to stand and switch places with Xu Zihuang.
Xu Zihuang nodded. After continuously controlling the soul tool, nearly eighty percent of his soul power had been depleted; he naturally wouldn't refuse.
However, the interior space of the all-terrain exploration soul tool was quite cramped, so switching seats inevitably led to physical contact.
Xu Zihuang's expression remained unchanged, and Ju Zi also maintained her composure outwardly, but her heart was far less calm than his.
Xu Zihuang understood Ju Zi's personality well. After that night when her emotions had wavered and he had deliberately said those slightly suggestive words to test her feelings, he had once again fallen silent.
He understood the principle of not overdoing things. Most of the time, Ju Zi was extremely calm. To truly move her, the right moment and atmosphere were essential.
The smooth, slippery sensation of skin against skin, along with the pleasant fragrance emanating from Ju Zi, lingered around Xu Zihuang's nose.
After switching places, he happened to catch Ke Ke's mischievous, knowing grin.
"So, sister Ju Zi's skin feels really nice, right? Smooth enough?"
By saying this outright, she directly brought the earlier ambiguous physical contact into the open.
"Ke Ke!" Ju Zi's face flushed red as she turned to glare at the girl with no filter.
Xu Zihuang merely smiled without responding and entered meditation to cultivate.
At a time like this, replying would be inappropriate. An affirmative answer would seem too frivolous, while denial would come off as hypocritical.
Ke Ke stuck out her tongue at Ju Zi, signaling she knew she'd gone too far.
Ju Zi didn't pursue the matter further. And so, both Ju Zi and Ke Ke quieted down.
The Ming Dou Great Forest was only about half the size of the Star Dou Great Forest. According to their estimates, they would exit from the southern side in roughly one more day.
The closer they got to the south, the denser the trees became.
By the time they reached their current resting spot, sunlight could barely penetrate through the canopy.
The dim light and rising miasma limited their visibility to only a few dozen meters around them.
As time passed, the thin layer of mist in the surroundings seemed to gradually thicken.
Fifteen minutes later, Xu Zihuang abruptly opened his eyes, which now gleamed brightly. He warned in a low voice, "Soul beasts are approaching. Senior Ju Zi, switch places with me."
Hearing the warning, Ju Zi and Ke Ke froze for a moment before immediately becoming alert.
"Got it."
In this situation, Ju Zi had no time to worry about anything else. She quickly switched places with Xu Zihuang, their skin brushing against each other once more.
Xu Zihuang gripped the control lever again, and the brilliant golden light in his eyes suddenly intensified.
Under the innate ability of his Golden Eyes martial soul, he soon clearly saw the approaching soul beasts. Just as he had sensed earlier while multitasking with his mental power, these soul beasts weren't individually powerful, but there were more than five hundred of them.
They were ant-type soul beasts extremely similar to Thousand-Jun Ants, yet their bodies were crystalline and semi-transparent. From their ferocious mouthparts, they continuously sprayed white mist that merged into the surrounding fog with faint "hiss" sounds.
Wherever the mist passed, low-lying flowers, grasses, and trees visibly withered at a speed visible to the naked eye. The towering ancient trees with abundant vitality were temporarily unaffected.
"Another mutated soul beast—this time, mutated Thousand-Jun Ants." Xu Zihuang raised an eyebrow. Over this period, he had gradually discovered a pattern regarding mutated soul beasts in the Ming Dou Great Forest.
The ones that mutated were generally lower-tier soul beasts, like the initial Nether Wolves and now these Thousand-Jun Ants. Of course, this might also be because Xu Zihuang's group had not ventured deep into the forest.
As soon as Xu Zihuang finished speaking, Ju Zi and Ke Ke also spotted the densely packed white Thousand-Jun Ants. The thick white mist rose around them, and faint white smoke actually began rising from the special, rare-metal alloy shell of the all-terrain exploration soul tool.
"T-These… are Thousand-Jun Ants?" Ke Ke asked in disbelief.
"No time to worry about that—let's get out of here first!"
Ju Zi decisively activated the level-5 soul shield attached to the exploration tool. This shield was meant to defend against physical attacks but could also block the corrosive acid mist sprayed by the mutated ant swarm.
Xu Zihuang responded with action. Instead of choosing to fight the mutated Thousand-Jun Ant swarm, he picked the direction where the white mist was thinnest and broke through.
The ant swarm and its corrosive acid mist posed no threat to him personally, but he had to consider Ju Zi and Ke Ke.
If the soul shield failed and the acid mist seeped in, it could cause irreversible damage to the two girls' bodies.
After all, this was a highly potent corrosive acid mist, and he could not expose the destruction attribute of his second martial soul while Ju Zi and Ke Ke were conscious.
The six metal legs beneath the all-terrain exploration soul tool moved in perfect rhythm, allowing the three of them to escape the area without major incident.
After another period of rest, they continued on their way.
By the time the sky gradually darkened, they finally emerged from the southern border of the Ming Dou Great Forest.
A flash of brilliant golden light crossed their vision, and all three instinctively looked into the distance.
What appeared before them was a world of gold. At the horizon, countless dazzling golden rays shimmered, and under their gaze, the sun slowly set.
The darkness inside the Ming Dou Great Forest contrasted sharply with the magnificent scene before them, leaving a strong impression on Ju Zi and Ke Ke.
Following the contour of the Ming Dou Mountain Range, they had traversed the northern and southern outer regions of the forest and now arrived at the southern coast of the Sun Moon Empire.
Ke Ke exclaimed in awe, "I never imagined a sunset over the sea could be this beautiful!"
Ju Zi's eyes were similarly entranced, lost in thought.
She had once believed there was nothing in this world worth lingering over—that her sole purpose in life was to avenge her father and destroy the Star Luo Empire. Yet now, she discovered a trace of hesitation growing in her heart.
It wasn't because of the breathtaking view before her, but because of the warmth she had felt along the journey from Yu Tianhuang and Ke Ke.
She was no longer the lone, hatred-filled girl she once was.
But soon, the dazed look in her eyes vanished, replaced by determination—and a hint of bitterness.
She could no longer turn back. Nor could she forget that hatred.
Xu Zihuang carefully observed the subtle changes in Ju Zi's expression from the corner of his eye.
Though he sympathized with Ju Zi's past—or rather, felt a slight kinship with it—at his current stage, he was powerless to change anything. In fact, he still needed to make use of the hatred in her heart.
This world was simply that cruel. As long as you were weak, you could accomplish nothing. He did not pretend to be righteous. What he needed to do now was increase his strength as much as possible and use everything at his disposal to achieve his goals.
At Ke Ke's suggestion, the three of them used flight soul tools to reach the beach, where they set up camp for the night.
The sparkling sea, the bright moon above the ocean, and the young man and women gathered around a bonfire formed a scene as beautiful as a painting.
Three tents were pitched there, flapping loudly in the sea breeze.
Night had fallen deeply. After eating their fill, Ke Ke had long since returned to her tent to sleep, leaving only Xu Zihuang and Ju Zi sitting opposite each other.
Ju Zi sat on a smooth rock, arms wrapped around her legs, chin resting on her knees, gazing silently at the bonfire.
Xu Zihuang softly reminded her, "It's getting late. We still have to continue the journey back to the academy tomorrow. Senior Ju Zi, go rest in the tent. I'll keep watch tonight."
After a long silence with her head lowered, Ju Zi finally raised her head to look at Xu Zihuang. The thousands of words brewing in her heart ultimately turned into a sweet smile.
"Tianhuang… thank you."
With that, she turned and slipped into her tent. That smile seemed to contain countless emotions—everything conveyed without words.
Until now, the two of them had maintained a special tacit understanding. She no longer actively brought up her past, and Yu Tianhuang knowingly never asked.
Yet the next time they met, they might very well be on opposite sides of a battlefield.
Although her goal was solely to destroy the Star Luo Empire and had no direct conflict with Yu Tianhuang, who hailed from the Heaven Soul Empire, once war began, it would no longer be up to her. Invading the relatively weaker Heaven Soul Empire compared to Star Luo would be inevitable.
Xu Zihuang quietly stood up. After watching Ju Zi's figure disappear into the tent, he gazed toward the southern sea, his eyes profound.
Everything was progressing exactly as he had foreseen. When the time was right, he would also need to make a trip back to Moon Pivot Island.
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