Seeing Tianmeng Ice Silkworm furrow his brow in thought, Xu Tianxi somewhat guessed the reason, but still needed to remind him to snap out of it, so as not to waste too much time.
The Tang God King might be eagerly watching them, and if they took too long, he might discover something.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xu Tianxi's consciousness returned to his body. The Spiritual Power storm Tianmeng Ice Silkworm had created abruptly ceased, and Xiao Hongchen and the other two quickly woke up.
Xu Tianxi, with quick reflexes, put away Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's Exuviae and returned to his original spot. He let Tianmeng Ice Silkworm hit him with a spiritual impact, and his face also turned hazy.
"What happened? I think I just fell asleep? And what's with this huge hole in front of us?" Xiao Hongchen rubbed his eyes in a daze, question marks popping up in his mind.
"I don't know, maybe some Soul Beast passed through here," Xu Tianxi said with a yawn.
Xuan Ziwen's eyebrows furrowed. "This isn't a good place to stay. Let's leave quickly."
The three agreed and quickly departed.
Not long after, Bei Bei and Tang Ya arrived late, unable to find Yuhao lying there as in the original story.
They only saw a fallen Wind Baboon and a massive hole.
"There's nothing to see with a Ten Year Soul Beast. Let's keep going. Maybe if we're lucky, we can find a suitable Soul Ring for you."
Bei Bei patted Tang Ya and followed the footprints of Xu Tianxi and the others. The two used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to speed up.
They finally caught up with Xu Tianxi and the four others—because they had to look after Huo Yuhao, Xu Tianxi and the others weren't moving too fast.
"Hello, everyone. I didn't expect us to meet again."
From among the bushes, Bei Bei smiled gently at them and took the initiative to greet them.
"Brother Bei, hello." Xu Tianxi nodded in acknowledgment. A faint fighting spirit flickered in Xiao Hongchen's eyes, while Xuan Ziwen seemed indifferent, and Huo Yuhao was still a bit...
Xiao Hongchen tilted his head and smiled, joking, "You two, to meet in such a vast Star Dou Great Forest, you're not here for us, are you?"
Facing Xiao Hongchen's subtle suspicion, Bei Bei laughed heartily and said generously,
"Of course we're here for Soul Beasts. But we are indeed very interested in little brother Huo's grilled fish.
We'd love to eat a few more."
Tang Ya nodded repeatedly beside him, her eyes practically glued to Huo Yuhao's hands.
I see, they still want to recruit him into the Tang Sect, Xu Tianxi understood upon hearing this.
After lightening the mood, Bei Bei turned serious. "I need to hunt a suitable Third Soul Ring for Xiao Ya.
You're also looking for Soul Beasts. How about we cooperate?"
Hearing this, Xu Tianxi, Xiao Hongchen, Xuan Ziwen, and the others exchanged glances, then shook their heads.
"The Soul Beasts we're after are beyond your capabilities. However, if it's for this little brother Huo, we can certainly cooperate. His Martial Soul is spirit-based, and spirit-based Soul Beasts are hard to find."
The Star Dou Great Forest was unfamiliar territory, so having someone lead the way would be ideal.
Bei Bei looked at Huo Yuhao in surprise, his smile growing even gentler.
"Alright, it just so happens I brought a small map of the Star Dou Great Forest's outer region. It marks the locations of some Soul Beasts, which might be useful."
"Excellent. Please, Brother Bei."
Xu Tianxi nodded, about to discuss more details, when his expression suddenly turned strange. He pointed behind Bei Bei and said,
"Brother Bei, a snake is coming."
"A snake?" Bei Bei's expression changed. With his exceptional hearing, he sharply raised his right hand and made a grasping motion towards Tang Ya.
Tang Ya and Bei Bei clearly had a lot of practice working together. She lightly tapped her toes on the ground, her body floating up as if weightless, pulled by the suction from Bei Bei's hand.
At the same time, Bei Bei's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul manifested. His scale-covered left arm swept out, creating a flash of lightning that collided with a dark shadow that struck like lightning.
"Get lost!"
Bei Bei, possessing the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, was quite powerful. The crackling lightning caused the shadow to twitch, and with a furious roar from Bei Bei, surging arcs of lightning enveloped him, forcing the shadowy object back.
Bang!
The shadowy object landed in the grass, and everyone could clearly see it: a three-meter-long, peach-colored snake with a small, flower-shaped protrusion on its forehead.
"A Mandala Snake, and a thousand-year one! This is great, Bei Bei, I want this one!" Tang Ya, who had landed safely and spread her Blue Silver Grass in all directions, was not surprised but delighted, calling out sweetly.
"Alright, I'll handle this guy!" Bei Bei exuded an imposing aura, already considering the Mandala Snake his prize.
The next moment, his First Soul Ring lit up, and a dense amount of Soul Power condensed into a blue-purple dragon claw, about a foot in diameter, that struck at the Mandala Snake.
With Bei Bei's cultivation as a Four Ring Soul Ancestor, taking down this thousand-year Mandala Snake wasn't exactly effortless, but it was only a matter of time.
It's just...
Xu Tianxi looked at the Blue Silver Grass in Tang Ya's palm, then at the Mandala Snake, which was emitting poisonous gas all over its body. He secretly thought that it was a miracle the Tang Sect had lasted this long.
For thousands of years, they've stubbornly clung to the useless Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. And the Mysterious Heaven Skill they cultivate is a crippled version, stripped of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and various other effects. It's truly not easy for them to have survived until now. The former number one sect on the continent truly has profound foundations.
Could it be that these people don't know Tang San's Martial Soul back then wasn't Blue Silver Grass, but Blue Silver Emperor?
I won't comment on the Soul Skill combinations. I don't dabble in poisons, nor do I have any related research, so I can't really evaluate how effective cultivating with Blue Silver Grass plus poison is. But the Soul Beast reserves in Star Dou Great Forest are truly abundant. Those few types of Soul Beasts haven't gone extinct even after being hunted for ten thousand years.
"Third Soul Skill, Thunder's Fury!"
Unable to immediately subdue the slippery Mandala Snake, Bei Bei decisively activated his thousand-year Third Soul Ring. This increased the effectiveness of his Soul Power attacks by fifty percent, and his lightning attribute surged several times over.
While it seemed less effective than the White Tiger Martial Soul's White Tiger Vajra Transformation in terms of amplification, Bei Bei's combat power temporarily rose to the Soul King level, quickly gaining an overwhelming advantage.
"Brother Bei, I'll help you too."
Xu Tianxi thought to himself that Bei Bei's strength was considerable. Seizing the opportune moment, he raised his paralyzing soul-guided gun and fired a shot directly at the Mandala Snake's head.
Hearing Xu Tianxi's voice, Bei Bei, who had been entangled with the Mandala Snake, relaxed his offensive. He then saw a soul-guided ray flash past him, piercing through the Mandala Snake's head crest with incredible speed.
The Mandala Snake, already bloody from the lightning blast, couldn't withstand this shot at all. It whimpered and collapsed limply, losing its combat ability. Bei Bei's subsequent punch barely elicited a reaction.
Tang Ya excitedly walked over, plunged a knife into the Mandala Snake's head, ending its life, and then sat down to absorb its Soul Ring.
"A Level 4 soul-guided ray with paralyzing effects? Brother Kong, you have quite the fortune. May I ask which academy such a master comes from?"
Recognizing the source of Xu Tianxi's attack, Bei Bei's attitude towards Xu Tianxi became much more cautious. That attack just now was quite powerful; even he wouldn't have emerged unscathed if he had been hit head-on.
Being able to use a Level 4 Soul Guided Device basically confirmed that the other party had a cultivation of Four Rings or higher, and might even be a Level 4 Soul Engineer.
Level 4 Soul Engineers were considered strategic-level existences anywhere in the Douluo Three Kingdoms, let alone a young genius. Even their Shrek Soul Tool Department didn't have many such individuals.
Of course, there was another possibility: that the other party came from the opposing Sun Moon Empire, but that seemed unlikely.
"Just a small trick, nothing worth mentioning."
Xu Tianxi pulled a Star Crown Token from his Storage Ring and showed it. Bei Bei immediately understood, his expression becoming much more serious.
"So, Brother Kong is from the Star Luo Royal Academy. No wonder you possess such ability. My apologies for my disrespect."
The Star Luo Empire was the nation that valued Soul Guided Technology the most among the Three Great Empires, possessing specialized Soul Guided research institutions. The other party was undoubtedly a Soul Engineer genius heavily cultivated by the Star Luo Empire.
Xu Tianxi exchanged a few more pleasantries and chatted with Bei Bei for a while, not denying the other party's mistaken assumption at all.
He was, of course, not a student of the Star Luo Royal Academy. This token was given to Xiao Changfeng after he graduated from the Star Luo Royal Academy years ago, and he later gave it to Xu Tianxi to use as a cover when he was out and about.
It was a shame that the first time he used it, he ran into someone from the Star Luo Royal Academy, making it impossible to disguise his identity. But this time, it came in handy in front of Bei Bei.
Xiao Hongchen kept a taut expression throughout, but the little man inside him was already roaring with laughter. He tried his best to hide his amusement.
This is too funny, absolutely hilarious—hahaha—Old Xu is such a good actor. These two from Shrek are so naive, hahahaha—
Xuan Ziwen struggled to suppress the upward curve of his lips. Xu Tianxi's acting made him want to burst out laughing, but he absolutely couldn't.
Huo Yuhao watched Xuan Ziwen's occasionally twitching shoulders, then looked at Tang Ya, whose aura was rapidly rising as she absorbed the Soul Ring. A strong yearning appeared in his deep blue eyes.
In the past year, he hadn't slackened in the slightest, meditating and cultivating from dawn till dusk. How many levels of Soul Power would he gain after absorbing his First Soul Ring?
Star Dou Great Forest, a land of great danger.
Beside the Lake of Life, a certain Emperor Auspicious Beast, lazily sprawled and sleeping on the soft ground, stretched out a paw and scratched its fur. It opened its three somewhat bewildered eyes.
"Strange, why did I wake up today without enough sleep?"
A fiery-red, dog-like giant beast with three heads cast a concerned gaze at it and said, "Little Ancestor, that Big Bug seems to have just escaped from here. Don't run around recklessly for a while."
"Oh, oh, Uncle Red King, don't worry. I'm not interested in that Big Bug."
The Emperor Auspicious Beast responded lazily, rolled over, and continued to sleep, simultaneously contemplating what to do after waking up.
"Once I've had enough sleep, I'll go find some snacks to eat. What should I eat this time—"
The Emperor Auspicious Beast's racial talent was too powerful; even Heavenly Tribulation gave it a wide berth. Its beast life had always been simple and unadorned.