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Even though it had cost a full hundred stalks of Ninth-Grade Purple Lingzhi, in Davis's view, as long as Anna could break through to Level 90, any price paid was worth it!
"Well done, Nana!"
Davis smiled and rubbed Anna's small head. With her breakthrough to Level 90, more than half of the Seagod's Eighth Trial was considered complete. Next, he only needed to help her obtain her ninth soul ring and then go kill the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, and the Eighth Trial would be finished.
As for Anna's ninth soul ring, Davis had long made plans: it would be the Titan Giant Ape's elder brother, the Sky Azure Bull Python!
The Sky Azure Bull Python's cultivation not only exceeded a hundred thousand years—far surpassing that of the Titan Giant Ape and the Evil Eye Tyrant Whale King—but it also possessed Dragon Clan bloodline. Its strength was not to be underestimated.
Though it was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, its true combat power was no less than that of the Great Ten Savage Beasts of the Lake of Life! Using it as Anna's ninth soul ring was undoubtedly the perfect choice.
"Nana, since you've already broken through to Level 90, I'll take you to get your ninth soul ring right now!"
"Okay, then I'll leave it to you, Brother!" Anna gave a sweet smile, brandishing the Seagod Trident as she prepared to set off.
Although with their current strength, the two had nothing to fear even when facing a Peerless Douluo, Davis still brought along Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing just to be safe. As for Tang Yuehua, she was still in seclusion, so Davis did not disturb her.
Her soul power had already reached Level 81, and Davis was looking forward to her becoming a Title Douluo!
After bidding farewell to Tang Yuehua, the group of four took a carriage and headed together toward the Great Star Dou Forest to hunt the Sky Azure Bull Python.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. After half a month of travel, Davis and the others finally reached the deep inner regions of the Great Star Dou Forest.
From here on, hundred-year and thousand-year soul beasts were rare; the vast majority of what could be seen were ten-thousand-year soul beasts!
Even the Titan Giant Ape used to frequent this area for food back when it was alive. For weak Soul Masters, this was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous place. However...
"My heavens! What on earth happened here? Why are there so many corpses?" Upon seeing the scene before her, Zhu Zhuyun cried out in alarm.
The sight that met their eyes was a horrific landscape of corpses strewn everywhere and blood flowing like a sea. Bodies lay scattered in every direction, and the air was thick with the nauseating stench of blood and decay.
Only a small portion were the corpses of human Soul Masters; the vast majority were soul beasts. Furthermore, these soul beasts had been very powerful in life—at least at the ten-thousand-year level.
Davis even recognized many familiar soul beasts: a thirty-thousand-year Howling Sky Tiger, a fifty-thousand-year Datura Snake, a sixty-thousand-year Evil Eye Magic Tree, and so on.
"What exactly happened here?"
Zhu Zhuqing murmured to herself in bewilderment, simultaneously pulling out a fragrant silk handkerchief to cover her nose and mouth to keep herself from vomiting.
As for Anna, she couldn't control herself; the moment she smelled the stench of death, she turned aside and retched.
Of course, she couldn't be blamed. She had just eaten breakfast, and the rotting stench mixed with the smell of blood was indeed revolting.
Forget Anna—even Davis frowned inwardly upon smelling it. He also took out a towel to cover his nose and mouth before daring to approach the corpses.
After searching the bodies of the human Soul Masters for a moment, he eventually found a token engraved with a domineering Diamond Mammoth!
"Zhuyun, Zhuqing, look at this!" Davis handed the token to the two women. As for Anna... he let her continue throwing up for a while.
Seeing the symbol on the token, Zhu Zhuyun's eyebrows shot up. "Davis, this is the token of the Elephant Armor Clan."
"That's right. These people should be a Soul Master team from the Elephant Armor Clan. They were likely ordered by Spirit Hall to come here and hunt soul beasts."
Davis explained. As the Star Luo Empire had released news of high-grade medicinal herbs and demonstrated its strength by thunderously killing the Ghost Douluo, more and more Soul Master clans on the continent were leaning toward the Star Luo Empire's side.
Among them, the Sacred Dragon Clan, Black Tiger Clan, Rock Antelope Clan, and Wind Chime Bee Clan—who were originally supposed to submit to Spirit Hall—had already actively or passively surrendered to the Star Luo Empire. This further increased the Empire's influence.
However, the Elephant Armor Clan, Fire Leopard Clan, and Wind Sword Clan had always had deep ties with Spirit Hall. Therefore, they did not choose to surrender to Star Luo but decided to follow Spirit Hall to the bitter end.
"Hunting soul beasts? But is it necessary to be this ruthless?" Zhu Zhuqing glanced at the surrounding soul beast corpses; there were at least over a hundred ten-thousand-year soul beast bodies.
"This doesn't look like hunting; it's practically an indiscriminate slaughter of soul beasts. Doesn't Spirit Hall forbid the wanton killing of soul beasts?"
"Perhaps it's to obtain spirit bones?" Zhu Zhuyun analyzed. "Our Star Luo Empire is growing stronger and stronger, and our influence has already surpassed Spirit Hall's. Given Bibi Dong's personality, she would never allow us to grow unchecked. She will surely find every possible way to increase Spirit Hall's strength, and obtaining spirit bones... is undoubtedly the fastest way.
In this situation, the rule forbidding the wanton killing of soul beasts is no longer that important."
"It's very likely that things are exactly as Zhuyun analyzed." Davis nodded slightly, looking at Zhu Zhuyun with a gratified expression. It wasn't just her figure; this girl's intelligence had also grown significantly.
"Whether it's to stop Spirit Hall from growing too powerful or for the sake of the Great Star Dou Forest's ecology, we must stop them! If all the ten-thousand-year soul beasts in the forest are slaughtered, our descendants will be the ones to suffer!"
Zhu Zhuyun said, "In that case, Davis, let's go quickly! The people from Spirit Hall should be just ahead!"
"Alright, let's go." As he spoke, everyone released their martial souls simultaneously and sped toward the direction of the Lake of Life.
According to Davis's deduction, Bibi Dong's objective was very likely the hundred-thousand-year soul beast of the Lake of Life—the Sky Azure Bull Python!
As the group advanced rapidly, more and more corpses came into view. At the same time, a series of intense fighting sounds and shouts followed, indicating that a battle was happening up ahead.
"Nana!"
"Understood. Vast Sea Barrier." Anna immediately used the skill of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, releasing a barrier that enveloped everyone, hiding their figures and auras.
At the same time, Davis activated his Ice and Fire Evil Eyes to look toward the source of the fighting. He saw a familiar figure—Tang San!
Davis's eyes widened, his body jolting as he murmured, "Isn't that the little brat? What is he doing here?"
He saw Tang San engaged in combat with six or seven Soul Masters from Spirit Hall. Those Soul Masters were all extremely powerful; the weakest was a Level 72 Agility-System Battle Soul Saint, while the strongest was a Level 86 Power-System Battle Soul Douluo!
As for Tang San, more than seven years had passed since their last meeting. Seven years ago, Tang San was a Level 52 Battle Soul King. Now, his cultivation had reached Level 80, and he was only one soul ring away from becoming a Control-System Battle Soul Douluo!
(End of Chapter)