Chapter 200: Moving to the Sun Moon Forest! A 100,000-Year Destruction Beast
On the jagged boundary of the Star Dou Great Forest, the violent, residual spirit power fluctuations finally began to subside, leaving behind a heavy, suffocating silence.
Du Busi sat heavily on a scorched boulder, his expression grim. Although the deep gashes across his body had stopped bleeding—sealed by the sheer density of his tyrannical spirit power—his tattered robes and the lingering, charred scent of ozone clearly recorded the soul-stirring battle that had just taken place.
Long Aotian stood a few paces away. His jaw was tight, his eyes locked onto the dark, endless sea of ancient trees behind them with a solemn expression.
"Aotian is right; the current Star Dou Great Forest is indeed too much trouble for us," Du Busi said, his gruff voice breaking the tense silence.
He closed his eyes, recalling the terrifying spatial suppression brought down by Di Tian's colossal, descending hand. Even as a Level 98 Super Douluo, an entity standing near the very apex of the continent, Du Busi had felt a raw, tangible threat of death in that split second.
"If Star Dou won't work, we'll simply change locations," Liu Yuan said, his tone perfectly steady, unaffected by the lingering pressure of the Beast God. "The Star Dou Great Forest isn't the only place on the continent where Spirit Beasts gather."
He stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the horizon. "Although the Sun Moon Forest doesn't boast as many species of Spirit Beasts as Star Dou, its environment is incredibly secluded and its territory is vast. There are 100,000-year Spirit Beasts lurking there as well. Because of its remote location, it receives far less attention from human powerhouses. If we go there, we won't have to worry about not finding a suitable Spirit Beast for my ring."
"The Sun Moon Forest?" Long Aotian frowned, calculating the logistics. "The distance is quite far, spanning across the continent, but it is indeed a viable option."
Du Busi nodded slowly, clearly approving of the pragmatic plan. Since the Star Dou Great Forest was currently under Di Tian's furious watch, stepping foot inside again anytime soon would be nothing short of suicidal.
He pushed himself up from the boulder. Though his movements were somewhat stiff from the residual shockwaves of the battle, his imposing aura had already stabilized, returning to its original, mountain-like state.
"Then let's go. Liu Yuan, you urgently need a sixth spirit ring," Du Busi declared, his eyes flashing with renewed determination. "The sooner we set out and apply the Soul Spirit system, the stronger our trump cards will be against our enemies."
The three of them set off immediately, leaving the oppressive canopy of Star Dou behind.
The Sun Moon Forest was located on the far western side of the continent. Even relying on Du Busi's terrifying traveling speed to carry them, the journey took several days of continuous flight. They passed through a series of small border cities, deliberately sticking to the wilderness and avoiding any bustling downtown areas to prevent unnecessary trouble or exposure.
A few days later, as they crossed the final stretch of barren wasteland, rolling coniferous forests finally appeared before their eyes, stretching out like a dark green ocean.
The vegetation of the Sun Moon Forest was completely different from the humid, broad-leafed density of the Star Dou Great Forest. The climate here was biting and cold, dominated by towering, needle-leaved fir trees. Every gust of wind carried the crisp, sharp scent of pine resin and frost.
"So this is the Sun Moon Forest." Liu Yuan landed softly, his boots crunching against the frost-covered grass at the forest's edge.
He opened his Double Pupils. Deep purple light swirled within his eyes as his vision pierced through the dense treeline, scanning the area ahead. There wasn't the suffocating, omnipresent pressure of ancient predators like in the Star Dou Forest, but the spatial flow within his enhanced field of vision was far more active and frequent. This environmental quirk would make it much easier to track the energy signatures of high-level Spirit Beasts.
"Sun Moon Forest... I hope you don't disappoint me," Liu Yuan whispered, his lips curving into a faint, anticipatory smile.
In stark contrast to the low profile kept by Liu Yuan's group, another team was actively busy in a flatter, winding river valley elsewhere in the vast forest.
It was a specialized field team of students from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.
Huo Yuhao, dressed in a sleek, light blue martial uniform, held a complex-looking metal diagnostic instrument. He stood at the center of the makeshift camp, directing Ke Ke and Ju Zi as they ran rigorous tests on a massive, humanoid spirit tool.
"Data is stable; the thruster output power is hovering right around eighty-five percent," Ju Zi reported, her eyes intently tracking the glowing runes on the data board in her hands.
Ke Ke was kneeling beside the machine, rapidly debugging the spirit tool's core array. Her fingers danced across the controller as she spoke up, "Yuhao, sense the spirit power fluctuations around us. I feel like the spirit power flow in this forest is a bit strange today. It's erratic."
Huo Yuhao closed his eyes, fully releasing his Spiritual Detection to blanket the surrounding valley. As a Spirit Master possessing the Ultimate Ice Spirit, his senses were supernaturally attuned to even the most microscopic temperature changes in the environment.
Just as his spiritual net expanded, a violent, chilling fluctuation erupted deep within his Sea of Consciousness.
It was an aura. An incredibly familiar, bone-piercing aura belonging exclusively to the Far North.
"Wait." Huo Yuhao snapped his eyes open, his expression suddenly filled with intense surprise and deep doubt.
"What's wrong?" Ju Zi immediately put down her instrument, stepping forward with genuine concern.
Huo Yuhao didn't answer her right away. His focus turned entirely inward as he quickly communicated with the entity residing in his mind. 'Ice Empress, just now...'Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the Ice Empress's stunning figure materialized. This absolute ruler of the Far North appeared unusually agitated. Her emerald eyes flashed with a complex, trembling light.'I felt an aura. It's the Snow Empress's aura, but... it's extremely faint. It feels more like a residual mark, or some kind of power fluctuation originating from the exact same source.''Snow Empress?' Huo Yuhao's heart jolted in shock.
Tianmeng Iceworm's lazy yet serious voice followed immediately. 'Yuhao, the Ice Empress must have sensed it wrong. Think about it. The Snow Empress is in Liu Yuan's hands, and he's the successor of the Body Sect. Why on earth would he be all the way out here in the Sun Moon Forest? Besides us and some local Spirit Beasts, there can't possibly be the aura of any other human powerhouses nearby. It doesn't make logical sense.'The Ice Empress paced within the golden sea of his mind, pondering for a moment before letting out a heavy, melancholic sigh. Her phantom form gradually began to dissipate.'You're right. The Snow Empress's aura was forcibly altered when she was taken. Even if she were physically here, her presence wouldn't feel this intermittent and broken. Perhaps... perhaps I just miss her too much and suffered a hallucination.''Don't overthink it,' Tianmeng Iceworm comforted gently.'We need to find the key data point for this spirit tool experiment. Let's focus on the academy's mission first.'
Huo Yuhao nodded slowly. He suppressed the strange, lingering feeling of unease in his heart, forcing his attention back to the physical world to continue the spirit tool testing with Ju Zi and Ke Ke.
He had absolutely no idea that within this very same forest, Liu Yuan's group was rapidly tearing through the treeline, heading deeper into the frozen heart of the woods.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During these three days, Liu Yuan's group plunged deep into the absolute core of the Sun Moon Forest, conducting a ruthless, carpet-style search.
The environment of this inner forest was far harsher than they had initially expected. Not only was there a natural, bone-chilling extreme cold that seeped into the meridians, but there were also numerous bizarre Spirit Beast species that simply didn't exist on the Douluo Continent's mainland. Adding to the desolate atmosphere, the frozen ground was frequently littered with the rusted, shattered remains of heavy spirit tools—metallic carcasses left behind by the Sun Moon Empire's army during past, large-scale military exercises.
It wasn't until the evening of the third day, standing at the jagged edge of a deep valley completely covered by a massive, ancient glacier, that Liu Yuan finally raised a hand, signaling them to stop.
"Found it."
There was a rare hint of physical fatigue in Liu Yuan's voice after three days of constant ocular strain, but the predatory light burning in his deep purple eyes was brighter than ever before.
Down below, resting heavily within a massive crack in the glacier, was a terrifyingly large Spirit Beast. Its entire body was covered in a thick, grayish-brown horny layer that looked like jagged mountain rock.
It was a creature radiating an absolute, suffocating aura of destruction. Its thick shell was etched with complex, glowing dark red patterns. With every slow, rumbling breath the beast took, the space immediately surrounding its maw would occasionally undergo subtle, terrifying disintegration—shattering into black voids before repairing itself.
"Destruction Beast," Liu Yuan said, enunciating each syllable with cold satisfaction.
The cultivation aura rolling off this Spirit Beast was incredibly dense. Although Liu Yuan couldn't judge its exact age down to the year, that heavy, restrained pressure clearly pointed to the absolute pinnacle: the 100,000-year level.
Its innate abilities were somewhat similar to the Hidden-Breaking Beast, specializing in aggressively interfering with energy flow. However, compared to the mere 'incorporeality' and disruption of the Hidden-Breaking Beast, this Destruction Beast's innate talent was far more extreme. It could fundamentally destroy and dissolve the core attributes of any spirit power it came into contact with.
For Liu Yuan, who possessed the Double Pupils, this was a match made in heaven.
Through his Double Pupils, he could already perfectly see the operating trajectory and structural flaws of any opponent's spirit power. If he could fuse that absolute vision with the Destruction Beast's ability to directly dissolve spirit power attributes, his offensive lethality would reach an beyond understanding level. This was infinitely stronger than simple energy interference.
"Its cultivation fluctuation is hovering right around 100,000 years, and its aura is incredibly steady," Liu Yuan analyzed, his gaze locked onto the sleeping titan.
A fierce flash of battle-hungry excitement crossed Du Busi's eyes. The old monster slowly took a step forward, the terrifying spirit power around his body beginning to swirl silently, warping the freezing air into a localized vacuum.
"It seems this long journey across the continent wasn't in vain," Du Busi grinned, cracking his knuckles. "This big fellow has some real kick to him."
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