As soon as they entered the core zone, Zhu Ziyang immediately sensed the difference.
The life force here was incredibly rich — even richer than on Sea God Island. Only the area near the Golden Tree could compare. In such a dense life force environment, hundred, thousand, and even ten-thousand-year-old trees were everywhere. Under this nourishment, even the most ordinary trees brimmed with spiritual energy. Many ancient trees had even evolved to the level of ordinary spiritual herbs.
"Wow~ So this is the core zone? The air feels so fresh!" Ma Xiaotao exclaimed in awe. It was her first time entering the core zone of the Star Dou Forest.
She wasn't alone. Except for Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo, everyone in the group was stepping into the core zone for the first time. Their eyes were full of curiosity as they examined the surroundings, completely unaware of how dangerous this place was.
"Everyone, stay alert!" Zhang Lexuan shouted sharply. "This is the Star Dou Forest's core zone, not a tourist site! It's full of unknown dangers — we cannot let our guard down for a second!"
Her stern voice snapped everyone back to their senses. They quickly adopted serious expressions, ashamed of their earlier carelessness.
"Let's go. We'll search this area first," Zhang Lexuan nodded with satisfaction when she saw their renewed focus and gave the order.
The group quickly formed into their standard formation and began the search.
Zhu Ziyang walked in the middle of the group, silently observing the environment around them. At the same time, he was subtly channeling the power of death to erode the thick life force in the air.
His cultivation of the death attribute had reached a high level. If judged by elemental affinity theory, his death attribute would be rated at 80 points. Of course, death wasn't truly an element, so the comparison wasn't exact. As Electrolux had said, Zhu Ziyang's progress was astonishing — his control over the power of death now rivaled what Electrolux had achieved after five years of cultivation.
At his current level, while absorbing life force directly from living creatures was still difficult, absorbing ambient life force from the air — especially when it was this dense — was quite easy. Although he couldn't refine it completely, refining ten to twenty percent posed no problem.
Just as Zhu Ziyang was preparing to refine the life force with the power of death, Electrolux's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"Ziyang, if you're thinking of absorbing the life force in this forest, I suggest you don't act recklessly."
"Huh?" Zhu Ziyang froze, then split his focus to speak with Electrolux. "Why?"
"Because this life force contains a mysterious spiritual presence. That means it's not ownerless," Electrolux explained. "The sheer quantity of life force, combined with such powerful spiritual energy — its owner must be an immensely strong being, perhaps even stronger than Mu En! If you use death power to refine this life force, you'll inevitably strip away the embedded spirit, which will alert the being it belongs to. And I'm afraid even that Elder Xuan of yours might not be able to handle such a creature!"
"No way!" Zhu Ziyang was stunned. He glanced warily at the surrounding forest, a chilling sense of being watched creeping over him.
"Haha, no need to panic," Electrolux chuckled, sensing Zhu Ziyang's anxiety. "Judging from the scattered state of the life force, that being must be gravely wounded and currently unable to manage it — otherwise, they would never let their life force spill out like this. Also, the spiritual presence within the life force is dormant, indicating that the being is asleep and won't wake easily. Based on the flow of life energy, I suspect this being is deep at the heart of the forest."
"I see… that's a relief!" Zhu Ziyang exhaled in relief, then couldn't help but grow curious. "Teacher, what do you think this being's strength is? The core zone is even bigger than Shrek City!"
"If I had to guess… stronger than I was at my peak!" Electrolux mused. "Perhaps a divine existence of your world!"
"A god!" Zhu Ziyang's body tensed with shock.
"Haha, just speculation," Electrolux said with a smile. "After all, we can't judge strength purely based on life force. Remember, among all races, humans have the weakest life force."
"I understand." Zhu Ziyang nodded, calming himself. As he looked at his teammates quietly moving forward, a smug thought bloomed in his heart. 'Truly, an elder at home is like a treasure. Even secrets like this can be deduced from tiny clues. I wonder… do the academy's higher-ups know about this secret buried within the Star Dou Forest?'
—
The group searched the core zone for two days without finding a suitable soul beast for Zhang Lexuan.
By evening, they gathered together to rest and eat. As always, Zhu Lie was in charge of food. As the inner courtyard's biggest foodie, his reputation was well-deserved. His soul tool contained all sorts of cooking utensils and seasonings. As for ingredients, there was no shortage in the Star Dou Forest. Just the soul beasts they'd hunted in the past few days provided enough meat for thirteen people.
Fresh beast meat was transformed by Zhu Lie's skilled hands into aromatic, flavorful dishes. Everyone drooled with anticipation and dug in heartily.
"Huh?" Wu Ming suddenly frowned. "Where's Elder Xuan tonight?"
"That's right!" prompted by Wu Ming's words, the others realized it too. Ma Xiaotao said, "Now that I think about it, I didn't see him at lunch either."
"That's not like him!" Zhu Lie laughed. "Isn't Elder Xuan the one who loves food the most?"
"Elder Xuan! Elder Xuan!" Zhu Lie called out a few times, his deep voice echoing clearly through the darkening forest. The echo stirred distant birdcalls.
No response.
Zhang Lexuan, Han Ruoruo, and Zhang Weiwei immediately stood up, their expressions turning grave.
They'd lost contact with Elder Xuan!
"Retreat immediately!" Zhang Lexuan reacted quickly and gave the order without hesitation. "Hurry!"
"Huh? Why?" Su Meng was happily munching on a skewer of roasted meat. When she heard Zhang Lexuan's order, she looked up in confusion.
The others were similarly puzzled — they hadn't realized the danger yet.
"We… we've lost Elder Xuan!" Han Ruoruo said slowly and clearly.
Her voice wasn't loud, but to the others, it sounded like thunder. A chill ran down everyone's spine. Without a Title Douluo escort, if they encountered a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in the core zone, they'd be completely doomed!
This wasn't paranoia — it was fact. There weren't many hundred-thousand-year soul beasts in the core zone, but there were enough. The core zone itself wasn't large, and these powerful beasts each had their own territories. They could very well be standing in one right now!
"Let's go — now!" That became everyone's unanimous thought.
"Form up! Head for the mixed zone immediately!" Zhang Lexuan ordered. "Ruoruo, mark the path as we go."
"Understood!" Han Ruoruo answered seriously.
"Move out!" With the direction confirmed, Zhang Lexuan gave the signal, and everyone began a rapid retreat.
Everyone was tense and anxious, silently praying for safety. This was a matter of life and death — no one dared to treat it lightly.
"Humans!"
It was as if fate had arranged this disaster. Just as they were about to exit the core zone, a massive silver-white python appeared ahead, blocking their path.
Its head bore twin horns, and its shimmering silver scales glowed ominously in the dark forest. Its long, coiled body stretched dozens of meters. Its enormous head was the size of a small house, and its eyes glowed like twin full moons, filled with icy killing intent as it stared at them.
Everyone instinctively felt their scalp go numb. The terrifying pressure turned their faces pale. A crushing sense of despair weighed on them.
It spoke — a clear sign of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast!
"The Hundred-Thousand-Year Ghost Moon Forest Python King!" Zhang Lexuan's lips were dry, her expression grave as she cried out.
"Sister Lexuan, what do we do?" Ma Xiaotao's voice trembled.
"You all deserve death!" the Ghost Moon Forest Python King hissed, its blood-red tongue flicking as it spoke coldly. "You've come again to slaughter my soul beast kin!"
"Everyone — fight for your lives!" Zhang Lexuan ignored its words and shouted loudly. "It won't let us leave. Fight together! Even if we can't kill it, we have to hold on until Elder Xuan arrives! He must be nearby!"
"Right! Sister Lexuan is right!"
"Kill this beast!"
"There's thirteen of us — are we scared of one snake?"
"A hundred-thousand-year soul bone… hehe, I want it!"
"Hey, did you all notice? This soul beast would be perfect for Sister Lexuan's soul ring!"
They were Shrek's inner courtyard disciples after all. Before a crisis, they all wished to avoid danger, but once it struck — not one of them backed down.
(End of Chapter)
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