T/N:atleast give a review please, it's won't take much time. There is not even a single review on this fic.
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In the end, Li Chang'an still ate the meat-filled Roujiamo. Just from the look in Mu Xi's eyes, he knew that if he didn't eat it, she wouldn't let it go.
After finishing their Roujiamo, the two of them leisurely sipped on some fruit juice. Mu Xi then sat cross-legged and began to cultivate, while Li Chang'an gazed thoughtfully toward the distant Star Dou Forest.
The Star Dou Forest held countless secrets and was home to many powerful beings—some of the strongest in the entire Douluo Continent. Unfortunately, most of them were in deep slumber.
But Li Chang'an wasn't all that interested in those powerhouses. What occupied his thoughts right now was a certain girl—Xiao Wu.
By his estimation, he was four years younger than Hu Liena, who was about five years older than Tang San. That meant he should be roughly one year older than Tang San and his group.
And that one-year age gap was crucial—because at this moment, Xiao Wu hadn't yet left the Star Dou Forest. She should still be living happily within it.
So, if the opportunity arose, Li Chang'an wouldn't mind pursuing Xiao Wu. After all, grown-up Xiao Wu was simply too beautiful. He couldn't bear to see someone like her become a sacrifice in the future.
But wanting to be with Xiao Wu came with a massive contradiction—her mother was killed by his teacher. That was a deadlock that couldn't be untied...
Just as he was getting lost in his thoughts, Director Song began calling the team together.
"I'll take the lead. The Vice Dean will follow behind us. Once we enter the Star Dou Forest, stay alert at all times. If you spot a soul beast suited for you, speak up. Now line up! We're moving out!"
With Director Song's command, the group quickly formed a line. Li Chang'an stood in front of Mu Xi, but his hand still reached back to hold hers.
Mu Xi had long since stopped resisting this kind of behavior. She let him pull her along, though her head remained lowered in embarrassment, and her palm began to sweat slightly.
As they drew closer to the forest, Li Chang'an could feel waves of cool, refreshing air wafting toward him, carrying the faint fragrance of plants. It was an invigorating scent that seemed to open every one of his 36,000 pores. The feeling was almost indescribable—just a step below physical pleasure...
He sent out a weak pulse of spiritual energy to probe ahead and saw a vast sea of green. The endless stretch of forest ahead was breathtaking, and it was from there that the refreshing breeze was coming.
Finally, they stepped into the Star Dou Forest. Towering trees over twenty meters tall and lush green undergrowth filled their view—and this was just the outer perimeter. Even so, the dense forest offered no clear path forward.
The overlapping shadows of the trees made it impossible to see what lay ahead. Inside the forest, the air became even more refreshing, the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, and the moist, earthy aroma constantly stimulated their senses.
This—was the Star Dou Forest.
This—was the soul beasts' paradise in the Douluo Continent.
Once inside, their pace noticeably slowed. Everyone became more alert. Even Mu Xi's grip on Li Chang'an's hand tightened slightly.
"Don't worry, I've got you," Li Chang'an whispered softly in Mu Xi's ear.
Strangely enough, his words calmed her down quite a bit. She looked up and gave him a small smile.
Looking into her smiling peach blossom eyes, Li Chang'an thought to himself: if the timing weren't so bad, he might have teased her a little more. She was simply too adorable.
At that moment, the team ahead suddenly came to a halt, and Director Song's voice rang out clearly to everyone:
"There's a pack of Gale Wolves up ahead. They're all hundred-year soul beasts and very fast. You'll need to handle them yourselves."
The Spirit Hall Academy didn't raise pampered flowers. In situations like this, Director Song and the others wouldn't step in—they wanted the students to grow through real combat.
Besides, in the Star Dou Forest, emitting one's soul power indiscriminately was practically a provocation!
Li Chang'an noticed that even the quasi-Soul King, Song Rentou, had closed his eyes, acting like all of this had nothing to do with him. Clearly, he had no intention of getting involved.
There were seven students in total, including Li Chang'an. Excluding Song Rentou, and Mu Xi—who was an auxiliary-type soul master and unsuitable for direct combat—that left five actual combatants.
Among them, two were on the verge of advancing from two rings to three, and two others were nearing the breakthrough from three rings to four. All were battle-type soul masters, so dealing with a pack of Gale Wolves shouldn't be too difficult.
Just as Li Chang'an's thoughts wandered, a rustling noise reached his ears. Then, one by one, a group of wolves with sleek grey fur and bodies about two meters long appeared, emerging from behind the trees in a circular formation to surround them.
"We each take a direction. Junior Li Chang'an, you just focus on protecting the junior sister beside you!"
One of the soon-to-be Soul Elders called out to Li Chang'an. As he spoke, two yellow and one purple soul ring appeared around his body, and black scales began to spread across his skin.
A black dragon-type martial soul!
Li Chang'an remembered that this guy had been quite respected when they were riding the carriage earlier. His name was Jiang Yi, a senior student with a solid reputation.
Now, Li Chang'an understood why people looked at Jiang Yi differently during introductions—it was because he had a dragon-type martial soul!
With a sharp dragon's roar, Jiang Yi's left hand transformed into a black dragon claw, and he charged directly into the pack of wolves.
With Jiang Yi taking the lead, the other students sprang into action. One quasi-four-ring spirit master took the left flank, which had the largest number of wolves, while the two near-three-ring students handled the remaining two directions.
Soul rings began to flash all around, soul skills were unleashed one after another, and the howling of wolves echoed throughout the forest.
However, Gale Wolves were known for their speed. Aside from Jiang Yi, the others quickly found themselves overwhelmed by three to four wolves each, forcing them into a stalemate.
Just then, one of the Gale Wolves managed to break through the defensive line and dart straight into the inner circle.
"Awooo!"
A grey-furred wolf, nearly two meters long, leaped toward Li Chang'an and Mu Xi. It licked its paw once before launching a strike at Li Chang'an.
"Hmph! Overestimating yourself!"
Li Chang'an pushed Mu Xi behind him and summoned the Pangu Axe into his hand. Without even activating a soul skill, he swung the axe directly at the wolf's claw with terrifying force.
"AWOOOOO—!"
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T/N:
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