The next day, Chen Yu used his soul power to shield Chen Xiao-Jun and then soared into the sky on his sword.
Flying a thousand meters above the ground, they moved faster than most Titled Douluo could with their flight techniques.
Unlike the short trip a few nights ago which only covered a few li, this time Chen Xiao-Jun felt everything around him blur rapidly. The sound of the wind howled in his ears—clearly, they were flying at extremely high speed.
Yet, he didn't feel the typical resistance of high-speed movement on his body. Naturally, Chen Yu's soul power was protecting him. The sensation was just like sitting in the passenger seat of a fast car in his previous life—roaring wind outside, but inside the cabin, a quiet and separate space.
"Grandfather, in several books I've read, it says the Star Dou Forest, Sunset Forest, and the Extreme North are the three great soul beast habitats on the continent. Is that true?"
Chen Xiao-Jun had grown skeptical of the information in books lately—some parts seemed dubious—so the question naturally surfaced as they headed out to hunt soul beasts.
Chen Yu smiled at the corners of his mouth. "Haha, you've come across that statement too."
"Is there something more to it?"
"Well," Chen Yu said, "there are many soul-beasts gathering areas on the continent. For example: our Xieluo Mountain Range, the Southern Ten-Thousand Mountains, the Eastern Great Rift, the Dark Forest, the Southwestern Blue Silver Forest, the Southern Volcanic Island, Flame Prison Valley, the Laghanma Desert, Divine Wind Valley, Thunder Canyon, the Death Grand Canyon, the Dark Abyss, Tiandou Mountain Range, Tianshan Snowfield, Tianling Mountain Range, the Wasteland Desert, and so on.
To be fair, the Star Dou Forest is indeed the number one soul beast habitat. But the other two? Not necessarily.
So why are those three considered the 'three great habitats'? Can you spot their common trait?"
"Please enlighten me, Grandfather."
"The so-called 'Extreme North' mostly refers to the periphery—the Frozen Forest, also called the Ice Forest. Soul masters typically operate there. Few dare venture into the heart of the Extreme North."
"So… all three are forests?"
"Correct. They're considered the three major habitats for several reasons.
First, compared to other regions, forests are less dangerous. Take the Xieluo Mountains where we are, for instance. They span thousands of li and are full of soul beasts. But unlike forests, mountains have more complex terrain—cliffs, steep ridges, treacherous paths. It's hard to enter, and even harder to leave. Soul masters must climb over multiple peaks just to pass through—time-consuming, exhausting, and risky.
If you kill a young soul beast and provoke an elder one, you might not be able to escape. The mountains have far more flying-type soul beasts than forests, and even flying-type soul masters don't fare much better.
In terms of size, the three great mountain ranges of the continent are about equal to the Star Dou Forest. In terms of soul-beast quantity, they even surpass the Sunset and Frozen Forests. That's why many major sects, academies, and inheritance families like ours tend to settle near mountains.
For example, the Clear Sky Sect is based in the snowy branch ranges of the Tianshan Mountains. The southern territories of the Star Luo Empire face the Ten-Thousand Mountains. The Spirit Hall has stationed forces in the Death Grand Canyon. Our own Chen Clan is anchored at the Xieluo Mountains. The Gui Clan of Fuyue is located at the foot of Tianling Mountain.
There are also single-attribute soul beast zones. The Thunder Canyon where the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon resides; the Divine Wind Valley near the famous Godwind Academy; the Mars City by the Flame Prison Valley, where Fire-type academies like Blazing Fire Academy cluster. These are varied and plentiful.
Second, where there are forests, there must be rivers.
The Star Dou Forest is nourished by the continent's greatest water system—the Star Dou Da Ling River. The Sunset River, which originates from the southern slopes of the Tianshan Snowfield, flows through the Sunset Forest. The Ice River, which begins on the northern slope, passes through the Frozen Forest. This access to water allows for rich vegetation and forest growth.
These forests feature streams, wetlands, marshes, lakes, grasslands—even some mountains, basins, and hills. A wide variety of terrain means an equally rich variety of soul beasts, suitable for soul masters of all kinds. It's even easier to dodge pursuit in such varied environments.
In truth, the continent's major rivers—the Star Dou Da Ling River and its tributaries (Left and Right Ling Rivers, Star Dou River, Bolan River), the Tianling River, Tiandou Yangtze, Sunset River, Ice River, Shajin River—and its freshwater lakes are all home to numerous aquatic soul beasts. How to defend or hunt on those waterways is another issue entirely.
Third, this classification comes from the perspective of the Tiandou people. After all, both the Sunset Forest and the Ice Forest lie within Tiandou territory. Of course, the Star Luo Empire wouldn't be happy with that.
For example, their Blue Silver Forest outside the Ten-Thousand Mountains, and the Afterglow Forest on the edge of the Eastern Great Rift, are not weaker than the Sunset or Ice Forests."
"So… it's biased self-promotion?"
"Exactly. It's not completely wrong, but not entirely right either. More accurately, it refers to the three largest and safest soul beast habitats for soul masters within the Tiandou Empire.
From that perspective, the 'three great' claim makes sense—for them."
"Mhm." Chen Xiao-Jun murmured inwardly:
'No matter which world you live in, humans are the same kind of creature…'
———
"Xiao-Jun, how much do you know about wind-type soul beast innate abilities?"
Chen Xiao-Jun organized his thoughts and replied:
"Wind-type abilities, in my humble opinion, can be categorized according to our soul master traditions into six types: Support, Power, Attack, Defense, Recovery, and Hybrid.
Support-type skills include:
Speed buffs like Wind Stride, Flight, and the Gale Shuttling we saw yesterday from Hurricane Wolf.
Utility skills like Wind Bind, Wind Erosion, Wind Control, Sandstorm, and Tempest.
Power-type refers to wind-strengthening techniques such as:
The murderous Black Gale,
The brutal Raging Gale,
The corrosive Infernal Wind, and
Poisonous types like Miasma.
Attack-type abilities include:
Cutting skills like Wind Blade, Wind Slash, Gale Strike;
Piercing skills like Wind Arrow, Wind Pillar, Wind Drill;
Pressure-based like Wind Vortex, Thermal Pressure;
And advanced tornado skills such as Bladestorm, Lightning Gale, etc.
Defense-type skills:
Wind Wall, Wind Barrier, Gale Rebound.
Recovery-type skills:
Wind Source, Spring Breeze.
Hybrid or Attribute-Combined include:
Fire-wind combos like Flame Tempest, and Scorching Sandstorm;
Water: Water Cyclone;
Wood: Falling Blossoms;
Lightning: Thunderstorm Gale;
Light: Flickering Mirage.
When wind speed reaches a certain threshold, it may also touch on space-type techniques, such as Dimensional Breakthrough.
Wind-type innate abilities vary widely. Mastery depends on one's heart and mind.
As for the Pegasus' innate abilities, known ones include:
Trampling Wind Vortex,
Feathered Wind Slash,
Heavenly Gale Shield,
Fierce Wind Rebound,
Flickering Mirage,
Rapid Space Break,
Light Splitting Shadow,
Divine Thorn Charge,
and others—depending on how many awaken in each individual."
Chen Yu nodded approvingly.
"Looks like you've done your homework. The Pegasus is a higher form of the White-Feathered Horse and the White-Light Horse. As one of the top-tier equine-type soul beasts, it is a Grade Nine soul beast—exceptionally powerful, and renowned for its physique.
It is one of the few spirit beasts born of heaven and earth.
What we now call the 'Pegasus' is a devolved descendant of the true 'Heavenly Divine Horse'—a divine beast.
Your martial soul is the Divine Sword. Only a soul beast this powerful is worthy of pairing with your Sword God Pearl.
'Heavy is the head that wears the crown'—and that's exactly why I support your choice."
Next chapter: the battle begins!
If you enjoy the story, I eagerly await your votes and bookmarks—hehe!