Not long after, the waiter brought the food and drinks to the table.
Zhao Wujie, who had something on his mind, remained silent throughout the meal, focusing solely on eating.
Shao Xin, on the other hand, directed all his attention to Oscar and didn't notice Zhao Wujie's odd behavior.
Oscar, though, sensed the strange atmosphere at the table but, due to his age and limited experience, couldn't quite understand the reason behind it.
The three of them hurriedly finished their dinner and then returned to their hotel rooms to rest for the night.
The next day.
Lin Rong's group entered the Star Dou Forest from the side of the Heaven Dou Empire, while Oscar's group entered the forest from the side of the Barak Kingdom.
The Star Dou Forest is located to the south of the Heaven Dou Empire, while the Barak Kingdom lies to the southeast. The two nations' territories are connected, so the areas Lin Rong and Oscar were in were roughly within the same region of the Star Dou Forest.
Even so, due to the vastness of the Star Dou Forest, the two groups were still separated by a distance of at least 700 to 800 kilometers.
Under normal circumstances, it would be unlikely for the two groups to meet. However, the area where Oscar's group was located happened to be one that the Dark Guards had searched less frequently.
By sheer coincidence, the search route Lin Rong had planned, based on the map, led them directly to the same area where Oscar and his group were located.
Inside the Star Dou Forest.
The fresh air greeted them, the scent of grass and earth filling the atmosphere, making it easy to forget that they were in a forest filled with soul beasts, and lowering their guard unconsciously.
Even at the outskirts, the towering trees stood over 20 meters tall.
The dense forest was overrun with weeds, leaving no clear path for walking. The ancient trees formed a canopy overhead, casting shifting shadows on the ground, creating an atmosphere of deep and mysterious darkness.
The guards in the group split into two, one ahead clearing the path, and the other following behind as backup.
Lin Rong walked in the middle of the group.
The old butler was also right by Lin Rong's side.
As for the Dark Guards, they had gone ahead to scout the path and gather intelligence.
As they walked, Lin Rong frequently checked the map, pondering how long it would take before they made any progress on this journey.
Indeed, it wasn't a matter of whether they would make progress, but when they would.
Lin Rong had no intention of leaving the Star Dou Forest until he had obtained his second soul ring.
The group was not large, consisting of only fourteen people, including Lin Rong and the old butler.
Among them, aside from Lin Rong himself, everyone else was at least a Four-ring Soul Zong.
Although Lin Rong's soul power was only at level 20, with the old butler (a Soul Douluo) accompanying him, he was not a burden to the group.
However, the guards were slowing them down.
Thus, after traveling for half a day, Lin Rong decided to split the group into two.
The twelve guards would search the first half of the planned route, while Lin Rong and the old butler would head straight for the second half.
Without the guards slowing them down, Lin Rong and the old butler traveled at full speed.
After several hours, they arrived in the area where Oscar's group was located.
"Little Oscar, your first soul skill is the Soul Power Recovery Sausage," Shao Xin said, his hand resting on Oscar's shoulder.
"But in battle, what we face isn't just the issue of soul power consumption. We also have to deal with various devious and malicious techniques from our opponents, the most common of which is poison!"
"Therefore, your second soul skill should ideally have both detoxifying and healing effects."
"In nature, there is a herb called Wild Artemisia, which has the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, and reducing swelling."
"When Wild Artemisia becomes a plant-type soul beast, its effect becomes even stronger. It would be an excellent choice for your second soul ring."
At this point, Shao Xin turned to Zhao Wujie.
"Also, Old Zhao, Wild Artemisia prefers warm and humid environments. Please pay extra attention to find such places. There's a good chance you'll find soul beasts like this."
Zhao Wujie, walking ahead, clearing the path, replied without turning his head, "Got it, got it! You're asking for a lot, old man."
Following this method, the three of them indeed found plenty of Wild Artemisia, but they were all low-level, mostly under a hundred years old, with only a few slightly older ones.
Shao Xin hoped that Oscar's second soul ring would be around 500 years old, so they bypassed the few that were just over 100 years old and continued searching.
Lin Rong was looking for mutated bamboo and gourd vines with spatial attributes, while Oscar was looking for 500-year-old Wild Artemisia.
These three types of plants all preferred warm, humid environments, so they found themselves in the same area.
As time passed, the distance between the two groups steadily decreased.
Two or three hours later.
Somewhere in the Star Dou Forest, near a sizable lake, a large patch of Wild Artemisia grew along the shore.
These Wild Artemisia plants were tall and thick, resembling trees.
Oscar's group entered the patch of Wild Artemisia, and soon they were out of sight.
The Wild Artemisia plants around the edge of the patch were all over 100 years old, but as they ventured deeper, the age of the plants increased.
100 years, 200 years, 300 years...
When they reached the center of the patch, they saw three Wild Artemisia plants, each about 500 years old, entwining around a sky-blue bamboo.
The bamboo itself wasn't very tall, only about one meter in height, while the surrounding Wild Artemisia plants were at least three or four meters tall.
The dense Wild Artemisia completely obscured the view of the area.
Had one not entered this patch, they wouldn't have even noticed the bamboo growing here.
Shao Xin, having lived for a long time, was accustomed to the strange wonders of the world and paid no mind to why the bamboo had grown there.
What concerned him more was Oscar's second soul ring. He turned to Zhao Wujie and said:
"Old Zhao, do us a favor and pull one of the Wild Artemisia plants away from that bamboo."
"Be gentle, don't kill it."
"Little Oscar, once Zhao pulls one out, quickly deal the final blow while it's still struggling to stay alive, got it?"
Once Shao Xin finished speaking, Zhao Wujie immediately made his way toward the bamboo.
Five meters, four meters, three meters...
As Zhao Wujie stepped within a meter of the bamboo, a dazzling silver light suddenly flashed.
The bright silver light made Zhao Wujie instinctively close his eyes.
When he opened them again, the bamboo that had been surrounded by the three Wild Artemisia plants had disappeared.
"Space Soul Beast! Space Soul Skill!"
Zhao Wujie, who had vast experience, quickly realized what had just happened.
"Such high spiritual intelligence, it knows how to use this patch of Wild Artemisia to hide its presence."
"However, the soul power fluctuation from the bamboo earlier was very weak, barely in the range of a thousand-year-old soul beast."
"I've never heard of such a soul beast before. Could it be a mutated new species?"