Heavenly Soul Empire, Sunset Forest.
The Sunset Forest is located near the ancient Heaven Dou City, its size was not much different from the Great Star Dou Forest. However, not many people would want to go hunting soul beasts in this area.
Due to some unknown reason, there weren't as many soul beasts who had managed to cultivate to ten-thousand years and beyond.
Moreover, the eerie and desolate atmosphere of the forest was enough to discourage many.
"The Sunset Forest. It's been many years since I've seen this place," Jianxin muttered. Before settling down in the Great Star Dou Forest, and crippled by the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, she had been wandering the original Douluo continent for many years.
That was actually the case for almost all of the Great Beasts. In the past, out of sheer boredom, they would travel the land in search of entertainment or opportunity.
Jianxin had visited Sunset Forest in the past, having felt a strange pull from within it. It was some sort of resonance; a similar power to her own was hidden deep within the forest.
She thought about seeking out that strange power, only for some mysterious force to intervene.
It was extremely strange. It was as if the entire world was forcing her to leave! If she didn't...
Obviously, she ran away. That day was one of the most terrifying experiences in her lifetime.
What Jianxin didn't know at the time, the Plane's Will was the one who had secretly intervened to stop her and other Great Beasts from entering the core area of the Sunset Forest. All for the sake of preparing it for its future Child of Destiny.
Unfortunately however, that old fox was ungrateful and is now planning on taking out the Plane Will.
'Strange. The resonance frequency I felt back then has disappeared. Well, that's to be expected. It's more than ten thousand years ago after all.' Jianxin furrowed her brows and tilted her head at Huo Yuhao beside her.
"Yuhao, why are we in this place? After... After that harrowing encounter, I know you want to get stronger. But why are we here? If you wanted a seventh soul ring, I'm sure Di Tian and the others would help you."
"No. I'm not here for a soul ring. I'm here," Huo Yuhao was wearing a straw hat, dressed in all black, his light blue eyes looked crystal clear as ever but the dark circles under his eyes were darker and deeper than before.
"For a fortuitous opportunity."
Both of them stood at the edge of the forest, the chilly wind blew against Huo Yuhao's black robes, giving off a lonely and somber impression. His figure seemed to blur faintly in the twilight, as if he didn't entirely belong to this world anymore.
After he absorbed some of Kong Deming's cultivation, his Spiritual Illusion Core had slightly increased in size. This made Huo Yuhao's presence and aura even more illusory, like a mirage.
After the encounter with the mysterious expert that almost killed Huo Yuhao, he quickly made new arrangements.
The initial plan for staying in the Sun Moon Empire was to find Divine Inheritance Sites and quietly conquer the empire in the meantime. With his shadow clones, undead, and Kong Deming... taking over the empire wouldn't have been difficult.
He thought that since the Sea God or Ice God haven't made a move on him for years, he figured they wouldn't notice him if he kept a low profile.
He was dead wrong.
That mysterious stranger, whoever he was, was definitely an agent sent by the Sea God! Like seriously, "The Sea does not ask for obedience. It demands it?!" That was so obvious!
Looks like the Sea God has more attack dogs than just those two: the Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python. Their strength was above ordinary Limit Douluos and a step away from Godhood. Fortunately, Di Tian and the other Great Beasts are enough to keep them away from Huo Yuhao for the time being.
With no choice, Huo Yuhao decisively left the Sun Moon Empire. Though, not before leaving a few shadow clones to complete his unfinished businesses.
Dealing with Xuan Ziwen, Jing Hongchen, Juzi, and Xu Tianran was simple enough. But Kong Deming was a bit tricky. He only wanted to cooperate with him because he had promised to increase his cultivation and propel him to become a true Class 10 soul engineer.
Welp. That's a problem for future Huo Yuhao. And if his guess was right about this place, then...
"A fortuitous opportunity? What do you mean by that?" Jianxix fixed her gaze on her partner, confused. What kind of fortuitous encounter could there be in such a barren land?
Huo Yuhao fixed his straw hat and started heading into the forest. Thanks to his Spiritual Illusion Core revolving regularly, his existence wouldn't be detected by even some Great Beasts.
"During my time in Shrek Academy, I have read countless books. From the public free to even their most secretive. What I was most interested in, was the legend of the original Shrek Seven Monsters."
"After all, they were regarded as the latest Gods to have ascended to the heavens. I'm quite interested about how they managed to reach such a realm. It can't be because they reached it through sheer patience and diligence?"
"No. Is it simply because of the training they undertook in the lost True Sea God Island? It can't be. Legends had stated that simply getting there was extremely difficult, even Titled Douluos had perished when they headed there! Whether through skill or sheer dumb luck, the original seven should've at least had a phenomenal foundation."
"Foundation?" Jianxin questioned, floating beside Huo Yuhao with a saddened look as she surveyed their surroundings as they headed deeper into the forest.
Huo Yuhao nodded, "Their foundation to become the strongest in the world! Think about it, there had been many people with similar martial souls and innate soul power as the original seven monsters through the years, but they hadn't reached the same level as their predecessors."
"It can't be because in ancient times, things were better? Or was it because they followed Tang San? No."
"Then, I stumbled across a certain myth. About some immortal herbs that Tang San had stumbled upon that not only increased their cultivation tremendously but also improved upon their respective martial souls."
Ten thousand years is a very long time. The story about Tang San and his friends had became unclear, many events in their story are blurred by time, altered by retelling, and buried under layers of myth and blind worship.
Which is why Shrek Academy is one of the rare places in the entire continent to still preserve fragments of the truth.
It's said fragments because there was no way certain people would let the true story be passed down. History is written by the victors after all.
Huo Yuhao wasn't interested in the truth about their personalities and deeds. What he was interested in was their opportunities.
The Douluo Continent is vast, especially after merging with the Sun Moon Continent four thousand years ago, but its original land has mostly been explored by Titled Douluos or transformed soul beasts. Any resources for cultivation have long since been claimed or exhausted.
"There was no mention of how Tang San acquired those immortal herbs. All answers I tried finding were either vague or there was nothing. But, I have a theory." Huo Yuhao continued, his eyes narrowed as he recalled all the information he collected in an instant.
"Tang San gifted his friends and teacher an immortal herb each. Now, one or two wouldn't have been suspicious—but likely more than seven? In just a short time? Immortal herbs don't just grow like weeds."
He paused, brushing his fingers against the bark of a withered tree. "There's only one logical explanation for there to be so many immortal herbs at the same time. That is...a garden!"
"A garden?"
"Hm. Something akin to it, I'm not completely sure. But it's the only possible explanation as to how and why he had so many immortal herbs to give to his friends at the time."
"And after cross-referencing many stories of when he gifted the immortal herbs to them, I finally figured out its most likely location." Huo Yuhao smirked.
"Tang San gifted the herbs before the Continental Elite Young Soul Master Academy Tournament, and according to ancient records they were stationed in Shrek Academy at the time. Now, there are two likely locations in which he had gotten the herbs from."
"The Great Star Dou Forest and Sunset Forest." Jianxin muttered.
Huo Yuhao snapped his fingers. "Precisely! And may the great Yin-Yang Saint Crane please grace me with an answer on whether the Great Star Dou Forest has the secret garden of immortal herbs?"
Jianxin snorted and shook her head.
Although she has been in seclusion/asleep for thousands of years, as one of the Great Beasts, she would've been informed by one of them if there was a garden of immortal herbs. It doesn't just work well for humans but soul beasts as well.
Huo Yuhao chuckled arrogantly. With a sharp and intelligent look in his eyes, he continued. "Which leaves the only likely possibility: The Sunset Forest! The location aligns perfectly with the records, especially when including the existence of one called Dugu Bo."
"Dugu Bo?"
Huo Yuhao sighed, "He was a Titled Douluo from ten thousand years ago. He was called a close friend of Tang San, according to the ancient records. But..."
Dugu Bo was called the Poison Douluo, a powerful poison control system Titled Douluo from ten thousand years ago.
Tang San had befriended him after he had successfully solved the problem of Dugu Bo and his granddaughter's martial soul poison.
Their friendship was so deep that Dugu Bo had tried protecting Tang San to the point of blatantly defying Spirit Hall.
And when Tang San charged into the battlefield of millions of soldiers in Jialing Pass, he unhesitatingly followed beside him.
Such a deep friendship between a wide gap of age was awe-inspiring and admirable. And yet...
There was no mention of him after the great battle in Jialing Pass, nor what happened to his family. There was no prosperous Dugu Family or a clan that possess the Jade Phosphor Serpent as a hereditary martial soul in the last ten thousand years!
Strangely, the records about Dugu Bo was scarce. Huo Yuhao had only managed to find out about him in the inner courtyard.
It was as if Dugu Bo was quietly disappearing from history.
'Hm?'
Huo Yuhao furrowed his brows, a chilling unease crept in his heart.
"Yuhao? What's wrong?" Jianxin noticed his unease and went into high alert.
Huo Yuhao closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His expression turned strange and spat a dark substance on the ground, which started sizzling.
"It's poison."
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(AN: I think I understand why most DD fics have an SI for an mc, but it also bores me.
See, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well is the biggest advantage/hack in the entire DD world. And one of the disadvantages of not having meta knowledge of the soul land series is that the Mc wouldn't have been able to encounter the Ice and Fire Well so easily.
In SL1, Dugu Bo guards it and the place is constantly emitting poison. In SL2, the place was so well hidden deliberately that only Er Ming and Dang Ming knows about its existence. In SL3, Tang Sect is guarding it. In SL4...I don't read that and SL5.)