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"I'll just sneak away for a bit—just a little while. It should be fine…" Xuanzi muttered softly to himself.
He waved a hand in front of Su Wen's face and called his name twice. Once he was sure Su Wen remained deep in meditation, he relaxed. Then, quietly and cautiously, he placed a fan beside him.
This fan was a soul tool passed down for thousands of years from the Sea God Pavilion. It carried Xuanzi's aura as a Super Douluo. Even if he left, the fan would continue to emit his presence—and would activate defensive mechanisms if danger approached.
As long as no 100,000-year soul beast appeared, this was more than enough to ensure safety.
"This is the edge of the Star Dou Forest's core zone. Soul beasts with twenty or thirty thousand years of cultivation are everywhere, but there are only a handful of 100,000-year beasts in the whole forest. Besides, if something does happen, the fan's defense will trigger, and I'll rush back in time."
Xuanzi nodded, satisfied. His figure then vanished.
"Ha~"
Su Wen slowly awoke.
There was no sign of Xuanzi—only the fan lying nearby. His heart skipped a beat.
"Not good!"
Hurricane had already returned to the spirit ball, so it likely didn't know where Xuanzi had gone either. Su Wen picked up the fan and examined it for a moment.
A defensive-type soul tool—seriously?
His mouth twitched. Clearly, the old man had run off for food and wine while he was in deep meditation.
Xuanzi's martial soul was the Gluttonous Divine Bull, which required a constant intake of food to maintain his soul power. But this was the core region of the Star Dou Forest! And he just… left?
Su Wen's expression darkened. He had now truly experienced how unreliable Xuanzi could be.
"Phew…"
Narrowing his eyes, Su Wen scanned the surroundings.
Perhaps because of the fan's aura, even in Xuanzi's absence, no soul beasts dared to approach.
He exhaled slowly. Alright, at least the old man hadn't completely lost his mind—he'd left a safety net behind.
"Well, what's done is done. Might as well eat first."
Su Wen sighed.
The sun was dipping low as twilight approached. In the distance below, the Shrek Academy team had already lit their campfires.
Like an agile ape, Su Wen leaped down from the thousand-meter-tall ancient tree, bounding across thick roots and branches with ease. A smile touched his lips—this was the Douluo world, where even a mere soul master could perform feats far beyond the capabilities of ordinary people from his past life. Of course, part of that was likely thanks to the attribute feedback from Hurricane.
"Eh? Su Wen? What are you doing here?" Zhang Yi looked surprised as he greeted him.
"Elder Xuan… he was gone when I woke up. I got hungry and couldn't wait for him, so I came down for some food," Su Wen replied, rubbing his stomach.
Cultivation burned a lot of energy, which needed to be replenished with large amounts of meat or other foods rich in soul power. After meditating for hours, he was indeed starving.
"Ahahaha, I see! Perfect timing. I just butchered a Blood-Red Baboon—it's over half a ton. There's plenty of meat, so help yourself."
Zhang Yi chuckled. As an inner court disciple, he wasn't too surprised by Elder Xuan's unreliable antics. Perhaps it was their typical Shrek confidence, but he didn't seem concerned and simply waved Su Wen over to eat.
"Eat slowly. Don't choke."
Ma Xiaotao was the most excited to see him. She handed over the roasted meat that had been her portion. "Don't worry. That baboon is so big, it would take us two days to finish it. What we can't carry will be left for other soul beasts anyway."
"But I'm the one who roasted it…" Zhang Yi muttered.
Ma Xiaotao tilted her head, her eyes sparkling as she smiled foolishly at Su Wen, completely ignoring Zhang Yi.
"Mm…"
Su Wen swallowed a piece of baboon meat. He was getting the feeling this silly girl truly saw him as her little brother. Was it because she was the one who found him? Still… it was kind of heartwarming.
As if drawn by the scent of roasted meat, Hurricane darted out from its spirit ball, looking at Su Wen with wide, longing eyes.
"Here."
Zhang Yi, knowing this was Su Wen's external martial soul, sliced off a chunk of raw, bloody leg meat from the dead baboon and offered it to Hurricane, skewered on a knife.
With Su Wen's nod of approval, Hurricane snatched the meat and began devouring it eagerly.
"Tasty?" Su Wen chuckled—then froze. "Wait a second, Hurricane… aren't you a baboon too?"
"Rooaaar~" (Bro, you're delicious.)
Su Wen: "…"
"Heh, it's common for different baboon clans to fight and even eat each other. Honestly, ordinary groups like the Wind Baboon clan are usually prey for other, stronger baboon tribes," Zhang Yi explained as he sat cross-legged nearby, smiling.
"I see."
Su Wen swallowed another bite and wiped his mouth. Then his expression changed.
A prompt had flashed across his panel—his stats had updated again.
[Wind Baboon]
Level: 13
Strength: 0.22 (+0.01)
Speed: 0.30 (+0.01)
Stamina: 0.22 (+0.01)
Defense: 0.15 (+0.01)
[…]
Eating meat raises its level?
Su Wen was stunned for a moment. Of course!
It wasn't just spiritual fruits. The meat of powerful creatures could also advance one's cultivation! Many soul beasts that reached hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation did so by consuming others—aside from incredibly lucky cases like the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm falling into a treasure trove. Beings like the Bear Lord and the Ten Thousand Demon King, aside from their own immense talent, didn't much of their power come from devouring their own kind?
This was the true meaning of "Bro, you smell delicious."
It was like how Tianmeng was essentially a living power bank for others—not much different from being eaten. No wonder he always held a grudge about it.
Before long, Hurricane was lying on the ground, holding its round belly. A single chunk of meat had stuffed it. The flesh of this high-level baboon contained immense energy that its body would have to digest slowly.
Too bad Hurricane isn't a Gluttonous Beast… Su Wen thought with some regret. If he had a gluttonous-type pet, he could just feed it endlessly, and leveling up would be as easy as drinking water.
"Should I just try to raise Elder Xuan instead…"
Kidding aside, Su Wen looked at his stat panel, which had fluctuated several times in a single day, and couldn't suppress a grin. His pet's growth directly translated into his own improvement. At this rate, his overall training speed could increase by at least a third!
Around the bonfire, the Shrek Academy group was visibly relaxed.
Even with Su Wen bringing news of Elder Xuan's absence, their smooth journey so far had lowered their guard. They chatted casually about their recent gains.
Even Zhang Lexuan was seated quietly on a stone, head down, deep in thought. The firelight cast shifting shadows across her face.
"Wait—something's wrong…"
Su Wen's expression froze.
The handle of the fan in his hand suddenly began to glow red.
This high-grade soul tool, which combined defense, detection, and aura simulation, was warning him of a powerful enemy nearby.
A sense of tension seemed to pulse from within the tool itself, setting his nerves on edge.
Su Wen's expression darkened.
Though the Shrek inner court disciples still appeared carefree and at peace, only he knew—this advanced soul tool wouldn't give a false alarm.
And for it to trigger a red alert…
The enemy could only be a 100,000-year soul beast.
(End of Chapter)