Qin Ming, who was originally scheduled to stay in Soto City for only three days, had to delay his departure.
This was because Ye Lingling's auxiliary spirit master in the team had reached level 30.
Initially, with her spirit power at level 29, she was not eligible to be selected for the Imperial Battle Team.
However, Qin Ming considered two things: the unique nature of the Nine-Hearted Begonia martial soul, and his hope that Ye Lingling would reach level 30 before arriving in the Xing Luo Empire. So he brought her along.
Therefore, when Ye Lingling told him this morning that she had reached level 30,
Qin Ming was overjoyed.
He immediately summoned all the students who were still resting.
After breakfast, they departed at once.
Less than ten days remained until the exchange between the royal academies of the two countries, and time was running out quickly.
The location chosen for Ye Lingling's spirit ring hunt was the Great Star Dou Forest. Departing from Soto City, it would take about two days at their current speed.
Along the way, Qin Ming kept reminding them,
"The Great Star Dou Forest is different from the spirit beast forest at our academy. The beasts there are all wild, naturally fierce, and extremely aggressive."
"Once inside the forest, you must follow me closely."
Unlike the serious-faced students from the Tiandou Royal Academy, Yu Xiaowei sneered at Qin Ming's warnings.
Unlike Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, and the others who had never been to a spirit beast forest, he had been fighting spirit beasts on the outskirts of Sunset Forest since becoming a level one soul master.
From hundred-year-old spirit beasts to those four or five thousand years old.
He knew well that in the dangerous and ever-changing spirit beast forests, overprotective methods like Qin Ming's would only make these students more useless.
Especially after a life-and-death battle with Meng Li, he looked down even more on the Imperial Battle Team, which only engaged in simulated fights.
If he had once defeated the Huangdou team alone, it was because of his personal strength.
Now, all he had to do was step onto the stage, and with his murderous aura alone, those in the imperial battle would become weak and powerless.
A soul master who has never experienced life-and-death combat could never make true progress.
On the second day, the group finally arrived at a small town on the outskirts of the Great Star Dou Forest.
Seeing the darkening sky, Qin Ming said helplessly, "Let's rest here tonight and enter the forest tomorrow morning."
The exhausted Imperial Battle Team members responded weakly and returned to their rooms to rest.
Unlike the other students, the physically strong Yu Xiaowei was still full of energy.
He sat alone downstairs, ordered a pile of dishes, and slowly ate.
As he ate, he kept pondering a troubling matter—his martial spirit body was growing more and more similar to the real form of his martial spirit.
Speaking of which, Yu Xiaowei had once had an unreliable guess about this.
Was it possible that he had been transforming into a dragon since his first spirit ring?
At first, he thought the idea was absurd.
But with the first ring, he grew a tail and gained a nuclear furnace. With the second, he grew a dorsal fin. With the third, he gained Godzilla-like claws.
These were clearly signs of dragonization.
And now, with most of his body transformed into a dragon, when his spirit possessed him, he was almost like a humanoid Godzilla. The more he thought about it, the more he felt his guess might be true.
But everyone in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family transforms into a dragon at level 30, so why was he so special?
Special treatment for a time traveler?
While he was enjoying his meal, a feminine-looking man in white entered with three youths.
The man in white affectionately spoke to the young girl,
"Miss Nana, we'll stay here tonight. Tomorrow we'll enter the Star Forest to find a suitable one for you…"
His voice suddenly stopped.
The girl looked up in confusion and saw him looking excited and fanatical, so she curiously asked, "Brother Yue, what's wrong?"
The man in white seemed not to hear her, his figure flashing as he darted forward.
Yu Xiaowei only saw a flash of white before the man in white appeared in front of him.
He looked up in confusion and met the man's eyes, who looked at him as if admiring a rare treasure.
"Mister, I'm a serious person, what are you doing?"
Yu Xiaowei suddenly jumped back. The expression on the man's face reminded him of something disgusting.
A certain type of… unholy affection between men.
Could this creepy man be falling for him? He couldn't help but shiver.
The smiling face of the man in white froze, turned pale, and then struck with seven palm attacks in a flash.
They hit Yu Xiaowei on the neck, arms, legs, chest, and back.
There was no time to react and no room to resist. This freak was at least at the Contra level.
With his vast knowledge, Yu Xiaowei quickly made a rough judgment about the man's strength.
As seven streams of hot air flowed into his body, a rich golden light suddenly burst out.
Along with a strange floral fragrance, Yu Xiaowei clearly felt an odd force flowing through his limbs and bones. Even without sensing it carefully, he knew his body had been further strengthened.
So, the identity of the creepy man was soon revealed.
Yueguan—Chrysanthemum Douluo from the Spirit Hall, with the Chrysanthemum Qirong Tongtian as his spirit.
Only he could precisely stimulate all the remaining medicinal power in Yu Xiaowei's body.
Like admiring a piece of art, Yue Guan looked at Yu Xiaowei with satisfaction and eagerly asked,
"My friend, would you like to take me as your teacher?"
As he spoke, he extended his right hand, and a large chrysanthemum bloomed in the air.
It was a beautiful purple chrysanthemum. The stamen was half a foot higher than the petals and emitted a golden light.
Yue Guan's voice grew gentler.
"My friend, I'm an elder of the Spirit Hall, my name is Ju, and my spirit power is modest—at level 95."
"You've seen my spirit—it is none other than Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum."
"Since you've absorbed this immortal herb, we are destined to be together. My friend, are you willing to take me as your master? With your talent, you will one day be no weaker than me."
The two men and one woman behind Yue Guan immediately changed expressions upon hearing this.
Ju Douluo was a Super Douluo. Since he openly declared that the young man in front of him would one day match his level, he surely wasn't wrong.
But how could such a genius appear in a small border town?
Still, they thought, it would be impossible for anyone to refuse such an offer. Having a teacher like him not only offered support but also tremendous help in cultivation.
However, to everyone's surprise, Yu Xiaowei chuckled and said,
"Senior, I'm afraid that's not possible. I already have a master."
Yue Guan snorted coldly, his tone turning murderous.
"Who is your master? I'll kill him now, then you can become my disciple."
"Well, I'm afraid you can't do that."
"Who is your master?" Yue Guan frowned, sensing that this matter wasn't simple.
Yu Xiaowei grinned, baring his white teeth.
"My teacher is Yu Yuanzhen, and my father-in-law is Ning Fengzhi. I also have two godfathers—one is Chen Xin, the other is Gu Rong."
"If you want me to be your disciple, why don't you try and see which one of them you can kill?"