Pfft—
In the Divine Realm, the God of Asura suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. His aura weakened drastically, and his once-all-encompassing gaze was now clouded with solemnity.
If one looked closely, a trace of bewilderment and fear could be seen deep within his eyes.
What were that golden lotus and flame within that youth's spiritual sea? How could they so easily obliterate his divine sense and even cause backlash?
After a moment of silence, the God of Asura ultimately abandoned his attempt to delve deeper into the boy's secrets. He gave Qi Lin one final glance before turning and returning to his divine temple.
And at the very instant he gave up on probing further, both his body and soul felt a strange relief, as though a heavy burden had been lifted.
—
At the same time…
Deep beneath the Lake of Life, hidden in the core of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Within an ancient barrier lay a colossal silver dragon coiled atop a massive crystalline throne. Her body stretched a full kilometer in length, vast like a mountain range.
Her scales shimmered with a silver-white brilliance, like solidified moonlight, each radiating overwhelming spiritual energy. Surrounding her body was a halo of seven-colored light—holy, radiant, and beautiful beyond imagination.
Her mighty head was bowed slightly, two majestic horns curling upward. Between her brows, a faint crack glowed, bleeding a crimson aura of bloodlust and slaughter.
Suddenly, as though awakening from an endless slumber, the silver dragon's eyes snapped open—two beams of light akin to moonlight blazing into the dark chamber.
A formless pressure rippled outward, causing the Lake of Life above to tremble with waves of spiritual resonance.
Outside the barrier, Di Tian and the other beasts guarding the lake instantly felt a soul-level suppression. Without hesitation, they knelt.
Di Tian's expression lit with joy.
"My lord, you're awake!"
A soft, distant voice responded.
"I was merely disturbed by the Asura God's divine sense. My injuries have not yet fully healed."
"What?!"
At the mention of the Asura God, Di Tian's proud and calm demeanor changed dramatically.
"My lord… Could it be that the Asura God has discovered your presence?"
"No," the ethereal voice replied calmly. "His target was not me. In fact… he seemed to have suffered a setback."
Shock rippled across the faces of the other Great Beasts.
On the continent of Douluo, who else—besides his lord—could possibly make the Asura God suffer?
But the Silver Dragon offered no further explanation. Perhaps even she did not fully understand what had happened.
She simply gave an order:
"Di Tian, from now on, I need you to monitor the situation on the continent closely."
Di Tian bowed deeply.
"As you command!"
—
Elsewhere, Qi Lin, having completed his leave request, rented a luxurious soul-powered carriage and set off from Nuoding Academy with Xiao Wu.
Inside the carriage, Qi Lin pulled out a crude, oversized soul device resembling an early-generation mobile phone. He poured soul power into it, and a few seconds later, his father's voice rang out.
"Son! What made you suddenly call your old man?"
Soul tools had indeed changed life. Qi Lin fully embraced this idea.
Although this prototype device could only make calls, it was still incredibly practical—albeit limited to a two-hundred-mile range.
Qi Lin quickly reported their plan to hunt for soul rings in the Star Dou Forest.
Though Qi Lin and Xiao Wu were barely ten and a half years old, Qi Tian showed little concern for their safety. He only gave a perfunctory reminder:
"All right then. Just be careful on the road. And remember—you're a little man now. Protect Xiao Wu well."
Bzz… The call ended with a static tone.
Qi Lin shrugged, slipped the device into his storage bracelet, and turned to Xiao Wu with a grin.
"Alright, let's go."
Xiao Wu grinned and waved excitedly.
"Let's go!"
—
Half a month later, their carriage brought them to a small town located about a 50 kilometers from the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The driver refused to go any farther. Beasts occasionally emerged from the forest, and safety was more valuable than money.
Qi Lin didn't make things difficult for the man. He paid the fare cheerfully. The forest could wait—first, they'd explore the town and experience the local culture.
The town was small, perhaps the size of three or four Radish Villages. There wasn't even a wall surrounding it. Yet, it was bustling with shops and activity, no less lively than Nuoding City.
Most of the people here were soul masters. Some sold weapons, others armor, antidotes—anything one might need for a soul beast expedition.
On their first day, Qi Lin and Xiao Wu strolled through the town, buying whatever they found useful. Qi Lin's purchases were mostly rare materials and precious metals.
Even though he now had the Liuding Creation, which let him manifest items using soul power and materials, the soul power cost was considerable—unless he was deeply familiar with the item's design.
Because of this, Qi Lin never slacked off in his studies of soul tool construction. He was especially knowledgeable about rare metals and components.
For anything he didn't understand, he consulted Tang San.
Tang San, being a master craftsman, gladly taught him—so long as it didn't involve Tang Sect secrets. After all, Tang Hao had ordered his son to do whatever it took to befriend Qi Lin.
Despite being a support-type soul master, Qi Lin's talent was terrifying. He might well become the only Support-Type Titled Douluo of his generation.
Of course, Qi Lin reciprocated Tang San's kindness with a few soul tools of his own making.
—
However, their shopping spree didn't go unnoticed.
In a place like this, laws meant little. Kill someone and flee—no one would bat an eye. Even the empire would only bother issuing a few symbolic warrants.
On the way back to the inn, Qi Lin's ear twitched. He smiled faintly.
"Xiao Wu, looks like someone's got their eye on us."
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up with excitement.
She had always been a little violent—loved to fight since she was a child. She used Tang San as a training dummy more times than anyone could count.
(Of course, Tang San usually challenged her first.)
So instead of being nervous, she felt a thrill.
"Brother Qi Lin, lead them toward that alley—less crowded and nice and wide."
She clenched her fists with glee.
"Trying to rob us? I'll beat them into the ground!"
Qi Lin chuckled and nodded, casually leading her toward the empty street.
Behind them, at a corner thirty meters back, a group of five stalked them: four men and one woman, all with vicious expressions. Their eyes burned with greed and murderous intent.
"Those kids—so young, and they already have storage soul tools. They've got to be from some noble family."
"Heh… one clean job and we'll be set for years."
A fat man with short hair and a scruffy beard licked his lips with a lecherous look.
"Shame we're not in the forest yet. Would've had some real fun… Pretty little boy like that doesn't come around often."
His companions gave him looks of pure disgust.
The leader—a burly man with a scar across his face—spoke coldly,
"We're still in town. Make it quick. Kill them, take the loot, then run to the Star Luo Empire. Lay low for a while."
The others nodded.
But just as they prepared to move, one of them squinted at the others' foreheads and muttered,
"Am I seeing things… or do all four of your foreheads look… kind of black?"