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Chapter 81: Star Dou Forest
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 12:17:23 +0000 UTCJust like that, the two of them took a carriage to the Sunset Forest.
This was already their fourth time visiting the Sunset Forest, so they were quite familiar with the place.
However, it seemed their luck was particularly bad this time. They had spent seven or eight days in the forest but couldn't find a suitable soul beast. Either the soul beast's age was too low, or its quality was too poor.
According to Yang Podi's own estimation, he could absorb soul rings within 10,000 years. His third soul ring had already reached 4,000 years, and this time, he had consumed a piece of top-grade whale glue to enhance his physique. According to the original story, even a millennium whale glue could increase a person's ability to bear a soul ring by 500 years.
But the one he absorbed was a 50,000-year-old whale glue, a supreme treasure.
After some discussion, the two decided to go to the Star Dou Forest instead.
The Star Dou Forest was farther away, so it took them six or seven days of travel by carriage to reach it.
When they entered the Star Dou Forest, Yang Podi immediately felt the difference. The aura of the Star Dou Forest was completely distinct from the Sunset Forest. The vitality here was far stronger. Whether it was the towering trees or the variety of plants and soul beasts, they were far more abundant.
Even the simplest trees were often hundreds of meters tall, with trunks several meters in diameter, or even larger—much more impressive than the popular scenic spots of his previous life.
Yang Zhentian, his father, emphasized:
"Son, in terms of the number of soul beasts and their variety, the Star Dou Forest far surpasses other soul beast forests. But it's also far more dangerous. The Star Dou Forest spans across both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, and no force in the world can conquer it."
"Especially the core area of the Star Dou Forest, which is called the Forbidden Zone of Life. Even Titled Douluo dare not venture too deep. So we must be extra careful."
After entering the Star Dou Forest, Yang Zhentian took out a map of the forest from somewhere. The map roughly divided the forest into several zones, including a 200-kilometer perimeter, a 500-kilometer mixed zone, and a 200-kilometer core zone. The central 50 kilometers of the core zone were referred to as the Forbidden Zone of Life.
The perimeter mainly housed soul beasts under 10,000 years old. In the mixed zone, one could find century, millennium, and ten-thousand-year soul beasts. However, beasts of excessively high age were rare. The core zone predominantly contained soul beasts over 30,000 years old, and as for the Forbidden Zone of Life, no one had ever explored it. It was speculated to be the location of the Lake of Life.
"Podi, this time, we're heading to the mixed zone of the Star Dou Forest. The soul beasts there are incredibly diverse, with century, millennium, and ten-thousand-year soul beasts all present in abundance. Occasionally, you might even encounter exceptionally high-age soul beasts. So you must stay by my side at all times and never wander off."
Looking at the map, Yang Podi couldn't help but ask, "Dad, why does the Star Dou Forest have one-third of its area in the Heaven Dou Empire and two-thirds in the Star Luo Empire?"
"That's because neither the Heaven Dou Empire nor the Star Luo Empire can fully conquer the Star Dou Forest. Even the strongest experts can easily lose their lives in the forest. From what I know, in the past hundred years, six or seven Titled Douluo have perished in the Star Dou Forest. Even a senior elder of the Clear Sky Clan met their end here."
"As for other forces, they've likely suffered even greater losses, both openly and in secret."
As Yang Zhentian said, the Star Dou Forest was indeed filled with endless dangers. It took them nearly three days to traverse the 200-kilometer perimeter zone, during which they were attacked by soul beasts multiple times. Some of the beasts were extremely rare, even considered top-grade, but their ages were too low to be useful.
After entering the mixed zone, the two became even more cautious. This was a place where they could encounter ten-thousand-year soul beasts at any time.
That night, Yang Zhentian found an open area and scattered some dung from powerful soul beasts around them before the two settled down to rest.
"Dad, why aren't we setting up a tent?"
"Podi, remember, in the Star Dou Forest, tents block your vision and can create significant danger. Especially at night, many powerful soul beasts become active."
The two sat and rested but did not sleep. No one dared to sleep in the Star Dou Forest.
Around midnight, Yang Podi began to sense something was wrong. The usual insect calls and beast roars had diminished significantly, which felt unusual.
"Dad, don't you think it's gotten much quieter? It's a lot quieter than before."
"Podi, you're right. It's too quiet. Something might have its eyes on us."
The two remained still, waiting in place.
Suddenly, Yang Podi's vision changed drastically. He was no longer in the Star Dou Forest but back on Earth in his previous life. Scenes from his past unfolded before him, including how he arrived in the Douluo Continent. He even relived the night he spent with Ye Lingling...
As the vision deepened, more and more memories surfaced, leaving him in a trance-like state, caught between reality and illusion.
Then, the scene shifted rapidly to a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Corpses were strewn everywhere, and the location was none other than Qingyuan Mountain, the base of the Breaking Clan.
His father and two grandfathers were fighting desperately, but they were surrounded by countless enemies. Among the foes were several Titled Douluo, two of whom were particularly familiar—they were the Snake Spear Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo, who had destroyed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
It seemed the Spirit Hall had sent an army to annihilate the Breaking Clan. Yang Podi saw countless familiar faces lying in pools of blood, including his sister and mother.
Suddenly, a powerful Breaking Soul Spear pierced through his consciousness, shattering the vision into fragments and plunging everything into darkness.
Yang Podi spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted on the spot.
Yang Zhentian quickly grabbed his son and fled the area. In his other hand, he seemed to be holding something.
When Yang Podi woke up again, it was already noon the next day. The sunlight shining on him felt blinding.
His whole body ached as though he had endured some kind of torment. His mental state was in shambles, as if he had just survived a life-or-death battle.
