"As expected, I didn't take the wrong path. Up ahead is the Star Dou Forest."
Seeing the wooden warning sign by the roadside that read Beware of soul beasts ahead, Huo Yuhao felt not only excitement but also a trace of nervousness. Reaching back to touch the White Tiger Dagger at his waist, he pressed down the unease in his heart and strode forward with determination.
Becoming a soul master was his only path forward. This was the obsession rooted in Huo Yuhao's heart—one he would never regret.
After all, he was still young. Following his brief moment of tension and surprise, excitement quickly overtook his emotions.
As the saying went, ignorance knows no fear.
After so many days of travel, the destination was finally before him. Just thinking of the possibility of obtaining a soul ring and truly becoming a soul master filled him with blood-boiling enthusiasm.
He never once considered that within the Star Dou Forest, even the lowest ten-year soul beast could easily deal him a fatal blow.
This was the result of his lifelong lack of knowledge about soul beasts.
Carried by his excitement, Huo Yuhao drew the dagger strapped to his back and quickened his pace. It was as if holding it in his hand gave him some sense of safety.
The blade left its sheath without a sound. Roughly seven inches long, it gleamed like autumn water, the shallow blade nearly transparent, exuding a chilling cold that made even the accustomed Huo Yuhao shiver involuntarily.
This White Tiger Dagger was his mother's keepsake.
Gazing at it, sorrow welled within him.
But he quickly buried that grief deep inside and let his eyes harden with resolve.
"Mother, I will never let you down. I will become a noble soul master."
Step by step, he approached the Star Dou Forest. Though fifty kilometers still separated him from the forest's outer edge, days of constant travel had already attuned his body to such strain.
It took him less than two hours to cover that fifty-kilometer stretch.
And fortunately, he had not run into any soul beasts wandering from the forest.
Just as he prepared to continue onward, a dense stench of blood drifted from ahead, halting him in alarm.
With his spiritual-attribute Spirit Eyes martial soul, his senses were keener than most.
Huo Yuhao quickly channeled his soul power into his Spirit Eyes. Faint air currents swirled around them, and he soon pinpointed the source of the smell.
It was a headless soul beast corpse sunken into a pit. Its head had been shattered, blood and brain matter splattered everywhere in a grisly scene.
Huo Yuhao swallowed hard, nausea churning in his stomach as bile rose to his throat.
Having grown up in the White Tiger Duke's mansion, inexperienced as he was, he had never witnessed such gore.
"So this is a soul beast?" he whispered, taking a deep breath. Circulating his soul power, a cooling sensation spread through his mind, gradually steadying his emotions.
Mustering his courage, he forced himself to examine the corpse.
What remained was only the brown-furred torso and mangled limbs.
Huo Yuhao barely knew a handful of soul beasts, and after studying it for a while, he still couldn't identify its species.
Now he vaguely realized that hunting a soul beast for its soul ring might not be so easy.
Collecting his thoughts, he tensed and pressed on in the same direction toward the forest.
Soon he came across more remains ahead—several blackened soul beast carcasses.
The unknown was often the most frightening.
Even with a will far stronger than his peers, Huo Yuhao felt his nerves tighten.
Rustle, rustle, rustle—
A series of leaf-scraping sounds made his muscles seize and his body tremble.
Before he could react, a cloyingly sweet scent enveloped him.
His mind spun, his consciousness blurred. Just before he fainted completely, the last thing he saw was a peach-colored serpent rapidly enlarging in his vision.
At that moment, two figures—a boy and a girl of about fifteen or sixteen—arrived right after. Seeing Huo Yuhao collapse from the poisonous mist, the girl abruptly stopped mid-movement.
"Beibei! Forget the Man-Faced Demon Spider, save him first!"
Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail that swung behind her. Clad in a light-blue outfit that highlighted her budding figure, she radiated youthful vitality.
Her phoenix eyes were large and lively, her straight nose sat upon a nearly perfect oval face, and her beautiful features were full of worry.
The boy she called Beibei was slightly taller, with short deep-blue hair that shone like gemstones. Though young, his bearing carried a touch of elegance.
Quickly kneeling beside Huo Yuhao, he pressed soul power into his back and probed carefully. The tension on his handsome face slowly faded as he turned to the girl with a reassuring nod.
"Don't worry, Xiao Ya. He only inhaled the poison mist of that thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider. He'll be fine."
"It seems we'll have to leave the Star Dou Forest for now." Beibei gave a wry smile, but his gaze toward Xiao Ya softened even more.
It was exactly her deep-rooted kindness that made him like her so much.
"After all, it was because we chased that spider that he got caught up in this. We can't just leave him here," Tang Ya said with a huff.
"There's still over a month before term starts anyway."
These two were none other than Beibei and Tang Ya, whose meeting with Huo Yuhao in the original story had shifted once again due to Xu Zihuang's earlier appearance.
Beibei lifted Huo Yuhao onto his back. Alert to their surroundings, he and Tang Ya began making their way out of the Star Dou Forest.
"Beibei, don't you think this little brother came here alone to get a soul ring?" Tang Ya asked thoughtfully, studying Huo Yuhao's young face.
Beibei nodded. "Most likely. I can sense he has soul power, but it's weak, and he's here by himself. Judging by his clothes, his family background probably isn't great—otherwise, he wouldn't be without a teacher's guidance."
From the moment he had first laid eyes on Huo Yuhao, his keen mind had noticed many such details.
Tang Ya stuck out her tongue playfully. "Since he has soul power, why don't we recruit him into our Tang Sect?"
Beibei gave her a helpless look. "Let's see first. We should learn about his background and character before making that decision."