The next day, Lin Yang and Xiao Wu packed all their prepared supplies into their storage soul tools and set off lightly.
Once they left the small town, the two sped forward.
At first, there were still traces of human activity around them, but the closer they got to the Star Dou Great Forest, the more the surroundings approached a pristine ecosystem.
The dense forest that blocked out the sky was like an endless green ocean, but beneath this layer of breathtaking scenery hid countless hidden dangers.
In this place, hundred-year soul beasts were at the very bottom. Even thousand-year soul beasts could only carefully eke out a living.
Ten-thousand-year soul beasts were qualified to occupy a territory, while hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were the undisputed overlords of the entire forest.
Without a doubt, this… was paradise for soul beasts!
Although this was Lin Yang's first time coming to the Star Dou Great Forest, its fierce reputation was well-known, so he remained fully alert.
Xiao Wu, aside from being vigilant, also felt a sense of relaxation, comfort, and excitement.
This was her home—the place where she had truly lived.
The two sped along. With "Blindfold" active, they could directly ignore some lower-year soul beasts.
As they went deeper, thousand-year soul beasts gradually began to appear around them.
However, these two- or three-thousand-year soul beasts were not his targets either. The soul beasts Lin Yang had chosen this time needed to be at least nine thousand years old.
As for ten-thousand-year ones, he had considered them too.
He just didn't know if his current spiritual power could withstand the spiritual shock of a ten-thousand-year soul ring.
If he accidentally turned himself into an idiot, that would be hilarious.
As they continued deeper, Lin Yang and Xiao Wu also began to move more cautiously.
At that moment, a sudden change occurred!
Roar——!
An extremely muffled roar, like the angry howl of heaven and earth, suddenly came from a very distant place. Even so, the sound still made Lin Yang and Xiao Wu's eardrums tremble.
Immediately after, the entire Star Dou Great Forest seemed to come alive.
Flocks of birds flew away in panic, and ten thousand beasts stampeded!
Even some ten-thousand-year soul beasts deep in the Star Dou Forest had begun migrating outward.
This was the might of the forest overlord. A single angry roar was enough to cause turmoil across the entire forest.
"What the hell is that guy Er Ming doing, making such a huge commotion?" Xiao Wu covered her ears and couldn't help complaining.
Feeling the constant vibrations from the ground, Lin Yang looked at Xiao Wu and said in a low voice,
"Probably coming to find you. Go take a look."
Xiao Wu hesitated for a moment, then finally stamped her foot.
"Then I… I'll go back first. Er Ming might really have come out because of me."
"Mm, go ahead!" Lin Yang nodded.
"Be careful. I'll be back soon."
"No need. We'll meet back at the inn later."
"Alright!"
After the two made their agreement, Xiao Wu turned and transformed into a streak of afterimage, rushing toward the depths of the forest.
In just a few leaps, she had already disappeared into the dense woods.
After Xiao Wu left, Lin Yang took a deep breath and began searching for a soul beast suitable for himself.
The Titan Giant Ape's angry roar had triggered a small-to-medium beast tide in the Star Dou Great Forest.
This had caused suffering for the soul hunters currently in the forest. They cursed furiously, fleeing outward without looking back, wishing they had two extra legs.
Under these circumstances, continuing to hunt soul beasts was clearly not a wise move.
Lin Yang, however, did the opposite.
Although the beast tide caused chaos, it also brought out many soul beasts that were rarely seen on normal days.
The choices for soul beasts had also increased greatly.
However, along the way, he didn't encounter any particularly satisfying ones.
The pre-selected soul beasts were either too low in year limit (which he looked down on) or too high (which he had to avoid even upon seeing).
As expected, Lin Yang came up empty-handed on the first day.
But he wasn't anxious. The Star Dou Forest was vast and boundless—he hadn't even searched one-tenth of the mixed zone.
As night fell, Lin Yang found a hidden cave to hide in. He simply ate some dry rations and jerky to get by.
After eating, Lin Yang's mind stirred. The purple soul ring beneath him flashed, and as his eyes closed and opened, his pupils instantly changed from black to blood-red.
He wanted to see what the little rabbit was doing.
The moment he connected his vision to the little rabbit's side, two blinding rays of light slammed into his eyes like suddenly turned-on high beams, catching him off guard.
They nearly blinded him.
Tears poured out from the corners of his eyes.
Lin Yang cursed inwardly and quickly used "Blindfold" to block the blinding light.
"Blindfold" allowed him to roughly "see" the strength of soul masters.
The stronger the person, the more blinding and solid the light on their body.
Previously, he had used this ability to lock onto Tang Hao's position and, while in Suotuo City, had also helped him avoid many powerful soul masters.
Soul masters didn't release their aura at all times. The light on their bodies was mostly condensed and restrained, so Lin Yang had already gotten used to it.
But these two forest overlords were like super-high-wattage light bulbs, constantly announcing their presence.
Of course, Lin Yang also understood clearly that they were deterring the myriad beasts and warning powerful human experts.
After turning off this "strong-person filter," Lin Yang finally clearly saw the postures of these two colossal figures.
They were even more oppressive than he had imagined. Even just through "Blindfold," the mountain-crushing pressure still came rushing at him.
Once it erupted, it would surely change the colors of heaven and earth.
Yet at this moment, these two overlords standing at the peak of soul beasts appeared somewhat… awkward in front of a little girl.
Especially the Titan Giant Ape. A single roar could disturb the entire Star Dou Great Forest, yet right now it had deflated in front of Xiao Wu.
There was even a hint of cautious, slightly clumsy fawning.
Although paired with that enormous body it was a bit eyesore-inducing, the scene was truly amusing.
After confirming that Xiao Wu was safe, Lin Yang disconnected Blindfold, took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and entered shallow meditation to maintain enough energy for tomorrow.
The nights in the Star Dou Great Forest were not peaceful, especially after just experiencing a small beast tide.
Many soul beasts' territories had been disrupted or invaded, and conflicts between soul beasts were on the verge of erupting.
Throughout the entire night, roars, howls, and collision sounds came continuously from near and far, only gradually dying down at dawn.
As soon as the sky began to lighten, Lin Yang emerged from the hidden cave and continued his search for soul beasts.
In the end, he really did find a nine-thousand-year-old Scarlet Gold Beast.
The Scarlet Gold Beast possessed dual gold and fire attributes, which matched his Nichirin Blade martial soul perfectly.
Lin Yang's heart filled with joy. Just as he was about to launch a full-powered attack—
"Roar——!"
A roar filled with rage suddenly exploded from deep within the dense forest. Rolling sound waves swept over, making Lin Yang's ears buzz.
Before he could figure out what had happened, the Scarlet Gold Beast looked as if it had seen a Demon. Its aura instantly collapsed.
It didn't even care about the Lin Yang in front of it, turning into a streak of scarlet-gold light and fleeing headlong into the dense forest, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, Lin Yang couldn't be bothered with anything else.
For a nine-thousand-year Scarlet Gold Beast to show such fear, that beast roar just now definitely came from a ten-thousand-year soul beast.