The forest returned to silence once again.
In less than half an hour, Shen Hanyu came back carrying a massive azure dragon.
He casually threw the jiao onto the ground, stepped on its enormous head with one foot, then patted the dust off his hands. With a random kick, he knocked the huge Azure Horned Jiao unconscious and sent it tumbling toward Yu Hairou. The Snow Empress understood immediately and encased it in ice as well, preserving only its life force.
"Five thousand five hundred years of cultivation, Azure Horned King Jiao. Given enough fortune, the bloodline in its body could even support it evolving all the way to become a top-tier sub-dragon species. What a pity, its lifespan will soon come to a complete end."
Both Yu Hairou and Xue Wu were absorbing nearly ten thousand-year-old solidified whale gel, and it would still take some time to fully absorb it. Not to mention, they still needed to absorb soul rings afterward. No matter how one looked at it, they would have to spend the night right here.
The group was currently located roughly in the middle area between the outer zone and the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest. The soul beasts here varied greatly in strength, ranging from a hundred-year to ten-thousand-year levels. This was one of the most chaotic regions in the entire Star Dou Great Forest.
It wasn't until night fell that the two girls finally began absorbing their soul rings. The process could very well take the entire night.
The group sat around the campfire chatting idly. Shen Liuyu pinched Shen Hanyu's arm and asked curiously:
"Brother, you said earlier that you've already chosen soul beasts for both Bing'er and me. What exactly are they? Tell us."
Shen Hanyu poked at the fire, glanced at Shen Liuyu, and said:
"The soul beast I chose for you isn't very old, only about sixty thousand years of cultivation. But in terms of actual combat power, it can at least be compared to an ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beast. What's more… this soul beast possesses six attributes."
Everyone looked at him in confusion. Before Shen Hanyu could continue, the Snow Empress spoke softly:
"The soul beast your brother has chosen for you is called the Dark Evil God Tiger. It carries the pure bloodline of an ancient evil god. If it could fully evolve, it might even become a new generation of evil god."
"This kind of soul beast is regarded as a cancer by the soul beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest, not only because of its bloodthirsty nature, nor solely because its bloodline restricts it to improving only by devouring other soul beasts, but more importantly because of its overwhelming power… Wind, lightning, time, space, strength, and ultimate evil. Any one of these six attributes alone can create an extremely powerful soul beast, let alone all six appearing together in one creature."
Shen Liuyu nearly choked on her own saliva as she listened. The others around her were equally stunned and dazed.
"Brother… are you saying you want your dear little sister to absorb the soul ring of such a freakish thing? Aren't you afraid that…"
Shen Liuyu didn't finish her sentence, but everyone more or less understood what she meant.
Shen Hanyu patted her shoulder reassuringly and said:
"You said it yourself, I'm your real brother. Do you think I would gamble with your life? Don't worry. When the time comes, there will be a way. I won't let you face any life-threatening danger."
Shen Liuyu let out an "oh" and fell silent. Shui Bing'er pulled Shen Liuyu closer, then looked at Shen Hanyu and said softly:
"That… um… for me…"
"No rush," Shen Hanyu replied gently. "I received news long ago that there is a race of Ice Spirit Butterflies in the Star Dou Great Forest. What we're looking for is one with a king-level or even emperor-level bloodline. Although it's slightly inferior to Ultimate Ice, I believe the soul skills you ultimately obtain will not disappoint you."
Shui Bing'er nodded obediently and asked no more questions. From childhood to now, she had always placed complete trust in Shen Hanyu's judgment.
…
The night passed peacefully.
Early the next morning, the group set off again.
As the first ten-thousand-year soul beast appeared in their line of sight, it officially signaled that they had entered the mixed zone, the area with the most complex soul beast distribution in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Shen Hanyu walked at the very front, leading everyone through the lush, densely vegetated forest at high speed.
At the same time, he deliberately controlled his aura to appear as if he were just above level ninety. This level of aura was strong enough to scare away and intimidate weaker soul beasts, while also serving as bait. A powerful yet seemingly vulnerable aura like this was extremely difficult for a ferocious, bloodthirsty soul beast like the Dark Evil God Tiger to resist. Its greedy nature as a soul beast would drive it to deliver itself right to them.
As they moved forward, the Snow Empress came to Shen Hanyu's side and said quietly:
"There are two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts in the core zone. What if they sense something and come out to interfere?"
Shen Hanyu glanced toward the depths of the forest and replied:
"If they have any brains, they won't come out on their own. But they may lack brains. If that happens, we'll just beat them half to death. The Titan Giant Ape can be left for Ah Yu to absorb later when she breaks through. As for the Azure Bull Python… well, we'll see."
The Snow Empress nodded slightly and asked no further questions.
…
Shen Hanyu's aura bait worked very quickly. Unfortunately, what came was not the anticipated Dark Evil God Tiger, but a massive nine-hundred-thousand-year White Armored Earth Dragon.
Shen Hanyu was quite familiar with this type of soul beast that possessed extremely strong defense.
Although its name contained the word "dragon," it could not truly be considered a dragon species, only a close relative of the dragon race, with a portion of the dragon bloodline in its body.
The inherited martial soul of the Holy Dragon Sect, one of the top sect forces on the continent, was precisely the White Armored Earth Dragon. Their sect master was also a veteran Soul Douluo, not far from becoming a Titled Douluo.
This also proved from the side that the White Armored Earth Dragon had a fairly decent upper limit, whether as a soul beast or as a martial soul. However, because its age and attributes did not match anyone present, the Snow Empress merely released a trace of her aura, and it fled in terror.
…
Meanwhile, in the core zone, at the Lake of Life.
A gigantic, muscular soul beast that resembled both an ape and a black gorilla stood by the lakeside. Its lantern-like orange-yellow eyes flickered with bone-chilling cold light.
Looking at the wide and calm lake surface before it, the Titan Giant Ape spoke in a deep voice:
"Big brother, how should we handle these humans who have barged in?"
As the Titan Giant Ape's words fell, the tranquil lake's surface began to surge. Then, a massive azure bull-headed python, over a hundred meters long, suddenly rose from beneath the water. On its long, enormous body were still two huge wounds, with black-purple soul power roiling around them, gruesome to behold.
The Azure Bull Python's huge eyes fixed on the Titan Giant Ape. A low, deep voice sounded:
"Second brother, the injuries that the human woman left on you and me last time have not yet fully healed. Now is not the time to act recklessly. Let's observe for the moment. If they dare to venture deeper, then we'll make our move."
The Titan Giant Ape nodded in agreement. It watched as the Azure Bull Python slowly sank back beneath the surface, and the lake gradually returned to calm once more…
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