In the early morning, the first ray of dawn lit up the clouds. Zhao Wuji stretched and walked out of his room, knocking on Tang Sui's and the others' doors one by one, waking the Shrek group from their slumber after a good night's sleep.
The sky turned a clearer white, and a new day had truly arrived.
Standing at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, bathed in the rising golden sunlight, the Shrek group, brimming with energy, carefully entered the forest in their previously formed ranks.
Tang Sui and the other two support-type soul masters walked in the center of the formation, well-protected by their companions.
Dense vegetation surrounded them, a sea of green as far as the eye could see. Even Zhu Zhuqing, a speed-type soul master, leaping through the branches above, had her vision heavily obscured by shadows.
The deeper they walked, the weaker the sunlight's warmth became, and the calls of birds gradually faded into the distance.
A chill, mixed with a light mist, coiled around their feet. Zhao Wuji, who had been silently trailing at the back, suddenly spoke, halting their advance: "Everyone stop."
The Shrek group, who had already walked for over a hundred miles, stopped and turned to look at Zhao Wuji.
"Suisui, are you alright?" Xiao Wu asked, panting, as she looked at Tang Sui, who was standing on two masks.
Tang Sui shook her head, dispelled the ethereal state of her third spirit ability, leaped down from the fox and ape masks, and landed on solid ground. She turned her head to look at Tang San, whose forehead was already covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and asked with concern, "Brother, are you alright?"
Even Tang San, who cultivated both spirit power and martial arts, felt tired, let alone the others.
Ma Hongjun, who was already panting like a dog with his tongue hanging out, heard Zhao Wuji's command and immediately sat down. His sturdy body heaved as he began to recover his strength.
"I'm exhausted. Thank goodness we finally stopped."
At this moment, Ma Hongjun couldn't help but envy Tang Sui, who was riding on masks like a wind-propelled wheel.
Even with Oscar's sausages replenishing their stamina, they were still incredibly tired.
This was because the Star Dou Great Forest was one of the three largest spirit beast forests on the entire Douluo Continent, its area even larger than some small countries on the continent.
Zhao Wuji scanned the panting group and said gravely, "The Star Dou Great Forest is different from the small spirit beast forests raised by other countries. The spirit beasts here are true ferocious beasts. One wrong step, and you could encounter powerful thousand-year, or even ten-thousand-year spirit beasts at any moment. Even I cannot be careless."
"Once we enter the forest later, no one is to be more than 20 meters away from me." His gaze fell on Tang Sui, Ning Rongrong, who was bending over and supporting her knees while catching her breath, and Oscar, who was also slumped on the ground without any pretense. His expression was serious. "Especially Tang Sui, Ning Rongrong, and Oscar, you are all support-type soul masters, the weakest points of the entire team. You must stay close to me and within my line of sight at all times."
"As for Tang Sui, although Tang Sui's spirit abilities are special, you all lack combat experience. You absolutely cannot be careless. You must remain vigilant of your surroundings at all times. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
"Understood."
Zhao Wuji nodded, then looked at Dai Mubai and the others, who were busy eating sausages, and added, "And you lot, without my command, none of you are to attack spirit beasts lightly. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
Zhao Wuji finally withdrew his gaze with satisfaction, his expression solemn. "Then let's go. Mubai, Tang San, you two lead the way."
Tang San and Dai Mubai, whose names had been called, stepped forward, followed by Zhao Wuji and the three of them.
Xiao Wu and Ma Hongjun continued to guard their left and right flanks.
Zhu Zhuqing leaped down from a tree branch and took up the rear.
However, it was strange that after walking for several hundred meters, they hadn't encountered a single spirit beast. Even the birdsong in their ears had grown fainter and more distant, yet they couldn't even see a shadow of a beast under ten years old.
"How strange. We've walked for so long, and yet we haven't seen a single bird." Zhao Wuji couldn't help but feel puzzled.
In the past, when he came to the Star Dou Great Forest, he would encounter small spirit beasts scurrying past every few steps.
But this time, he hadn't seen the shadow of a single spirit beast. What was going on?
Xiao Wu, who had transformed from a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast, had a peculiar expression.
Through the unique communication methods of spirit beasts, she had just learned from the air that after they entered deeper into the forest, the spirit beasts within a radius of several miles seemed to be broadcasting signals of fearful escape.
"That God of Slaughter has tracked them here"... What did that mean?
Were there other powerful soul masters in the Star Dou Great Forest?
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Author's Notes:
The main culprit: Confused.jpg.
The character art for the underage Suisui has been uploaded from the backend, with Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai present (the masks are the complete version). However, only the Qidian version can see the full illustration. Little cuties who are interested can go and take a look, and give Suisui a like!
The adult version's other friend is still being worked on, so having two plans is indeed the right approach. Heh heh.