"She went to hunt soul beasts alone?"Su Yuntao was surprised. "Aren't you going with her?"
"Do you really think she's just a commoner?" Tang San responded with a rhetorical question."You've seen her personality. She's headstrong and domineering. Ordinary civilians don't raise daughters like that."
Su Yuntao was quiet for a moment, then sighed."…It looks like it won't be easy for you to catch up with her."
Tang San: "???"
"But I believe in you, Xiao San," Su Yuntao grinned."With your talent, you'll definitely win her over one day. After all, you're a real spirit research master. You even experimented on yourself and absorbed a thousand-year soul ring ahead of your level—not like that so-called 'Master'."
He patted Tang San's shoulder encouragingly."When you get married, you'd better invite me to your wedding. By then, maybe you'll already be a Titled Douluo. I'll be able to tell people that even Titled Douluo call me 'Taoge.'"
Tang San was speechless."If you really attend my wedding, I guarantee you won't still be a Great Spirit Master by then."
"Haha, that's true. But at your cultivation speed, I'll probably be a Spirit Elder at most when that day comes," Su Yuntao said with a self-deprecating laugh.
As they talked, they arrived at the first village on their list: Zonghun Village.
As the name implied, a spirit sect had once emerged here—hence the name.The villagers near Nuoding City seemed to have a rather literal naming sense.
Meanwhile, in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Xiao Wu had entered the outer region and was calling out softly for the Titan Giant Ape.
After a short while, a massive figure more than twenty meters tall pushed aside the towering bushes and emerged. But instead of reaching for her like usual, the Titan Giant Ape stared at her with visible confusion.
Even though Xiao Wu had taken human form, soul beasts could usually still sense one another's presence through aura alone. But now, the familiar soul beast aura on Xiao Wu's body was faint—almost nonexistent.If it weren't for the last lingering traces, the Titan Giant Ape might have mistaken her for an ordinary human who just happened to look like Xiao Wu.
"…Sister Xiao Wu?" it asked tentatively.
"Huh? You don't recognize me?" Xiao Wu put her hands on her hips, clearly displeased."Don't tell me you forgot your big sister in just a few months?"
"No, no!"The Titan Giant Ape quickly shook its head, then carefully picked her up and placed her on its broad shoulder. As it lumbered toward the core region of the forest, it asked,"Sister Xiao Wu, are you here to get a spirit ring?"
"Yeah," Xiao Wu nodded. "Take me to the lake. I want Da Ming to bring me to the center. The life force is strongest there—I want to condense a thousand-year soul ring."
The Titan Giant Ape paused mid-stride, its pace noticeably slowing.
"That… Sister Xiao Wu… you can't go to the Lake of Life. Da Ming can't enter it anymore. He's been… driven out."
"Driven out?" Xiao Wu frowned."Was it a hundred-thousand-year soul beast from somewhere else? You and Da Ming couldn't beat it and let someone else take over our home?"
"It's… a bit more complicated than that."The Titan Giant Ape looked uneasy."We're actually the ones who came later. There's an ancient soul beast master under the Lake of Life—he's been in deep sleep for ages. Recently, he awakened… and let the Beast God and the others out."
"…Beast God?" Xiao Wu blinked. "Who?"
"He's from the Black Dragon Clan—a Golden-Eyed Black Dragon," the Titan Giant Ape explained, a flicker of fear in its eyes."His cultivation is close to 900,000 years."
Xiao Wu shuddered."900,000 years?! But my mother told me that soul beasts can only live 100,000 years before they're struck down by heavenly tribulation."
"That's true for most," the Titan Giant Ape replied."But if you survive the tribulation, you can keep cultivating—first to 200,000 years, then 300,000. In theory, if a soul beast passes through nine tribulations, we can become million-year soul beasts—what human soul masters call 'gods.'"
There was a flicker of longing in the Titan Giant Ape's massive eyes.
"My aunt chose to take human form because she knew she wouldn't survive her tribulation. Transforming was the only way to keep living."
"Tribulations don't affect humans," it added quietly."Most soul beasts who reach 100,000 years die from the tribulation. That's why there are so few of us."
Xiao Wu fell silent, absorbing this newfound truth.Then she asked slowly,"…When my mother was hunted, and you and Da Ming weren't there—did that black dragon… not help?"
She knew no one was obligated to help, but the thought still made her angry.
"Sister Xiao Wu…"The Titan Giant Ape hesitated, then gave in to her steady gaze and spoke the truth.
"Di Tian, the Beast God, doesn't like soul beasts who transform into humans. He sees it as a betrayal. The heavenly tribulation only targets soul beasts, and transforming is a way of avoiding it. So even if a transformed beast still has its original soul beast core, they're treated as human in his eyes."
"In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Da Ming and I have powerful bloodlines, and that Di Tian was busy managing the other hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, he would never have allowed my aunt to live near the Lake of Life—let alone raise you there."
"To him, you're someone who abandoned your soul beast identity, and no matter how powerful you become, even if you reach level 99, your lifespan will only be around a thousand years. To someone like Di Tian, who could nap for a few decades, that's like watching a candle flicker and go out."
"…And that day we were gone, it was because Di Tian ordered us to help capture a tonic—something with immense benefits for soul beasts."
Xiao Wu's eyes narrowed."What kind of tonic?"
"An Ice Silkworm in the extreme north found a huge cache of ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow. It consumed and absorbed it all, reaching 990,000 years of cultivation. But… the Ice Silkworm had no combat ability. Its body was brimming with energy and spiritual power, but it didn't know how to wield it."
The Titan Giant Ape sighed."Da Ming and I were on rotation—basically standing guard outside the Lake of Life, waiting for the others to finish so we could have a turn."
"You guys were hogging it all for yourselves?" Xiao Wu was furious.Her little brother, whom she had raised herself, was hiding all of this from her?
"We didn't dare tell you," the Titan Giant Ape said guiltily."If we even mentioned Di Tian or the marrow, we wouldn't be allowed near it ever again."
"Forget it," Xiao Wu said with a deep breath. "Just find me a safe place. I won't go to the Lake of Life anymore. Let them have it—for now. When I'm stronger, I'll take it back. You can help me guard it later."
She had come to understand: as a transformed soul beast, she wasn't one of them anymore.If she entered the core region now, Di Tian would never welcome her.
But just then, a rustling sound echoed nearby.
A large-headed python slithered over through the underbrush and called out:
"Sister Xiao Wu! Er Ming…"