Star Dou Great Forest.
As the largest gathering place for Spirit Beasts on the continent, its vast area is almost equal to the land area of the Barrak Kingdom.
Its territory spans the borders of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire.
The immense forest area has given rise to various complex terrains, such as wetlands, swamps, cliffs, and lakes.
Thanks to such complex and diverse terrain, the types of Spirit Beasts inhabiting the Star Dou Great Forest are extremely numerous.
Except for a few ice-attribute Spirit Beasts that live only in the Far North, basically all known Spirit Beasts on the continent can be found in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Therefore, since ancient times, there has been a saying to describe the Star Dou Great Forest.
Any Spirit Master, regardless of their Martial Soul or attribute, as long as they are strong enough and lucky enough, can find the most suitable Spirit Ring for themselves here.
As the saying goes, one lives off the land they inhabit.
The prosperity of the Star Dou Great Forest, along with the development of the Spirit Master system, has led to the emergence of many thriving trading towns near the Star Dou Great Forest.
In one such town.
A convoy of carriages drove down the town's street.
Shortly after, the carriages stopped in front of a courtyard.
Lin Rong stepped down from the carriage, glanced in the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest, and sighed, "In the end, I still have to make the trip myself!"
After that day, Lin Rong waited another month at his residence but still received no news.
There was no other way; time waits for no one, so Lin Rong had to go himself.
He hoped this journey would bring good fortune and allow him to achieve his wishes.
In front of the courtyard.
The captain of the hidden guards, who had been waiting there, bowed and presented a scroll with both hands.
"Duke, this map marks most of the areas where bamboo and gourd vines grow in the Star Dou Great Forest, as well as some suitable growing locations for them."
"The map has Soul Power markings. The more markings on a particular spot, the more times the hidden guards have searched there, and the more thoroughly."
"Therefore, Duke, it would be best for you to search in areas with fewer Soul Power markings on this trip."
"Hmm, thank you for your hard work." Lin Rong nodded slightly, took the map presented by the hidden guard, glanced at it, and put it away. He ordered, "It's getting late. Let everyone rest early, and we'll enter the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow morning."
"Yes, we understand." The hidden guards replied in unison.
...
At the same time.
In another town within the Barrak Kingdom.
Three dust-covered travelers checked into a humble hotel.
The leader of the three was an exceptionally tall and sturdy middle-aged man, while beside him was a thin, scruffy old man.
Behind the old man followed a short man with a dense beard.
Despite his thick beard, upon closer inspection, the man's face was very youthful and handsome.
Especially his peach blossom eyes, which possessed immense destructive power over naive young girls.
A dense beard, a handsome face, and those alluring peach blossom eyes.
With such distinctive features, who else could it be but Oscar?
And the scruffy little old man in front of Oscar was his master, the food-type Soul Saint Shao Xin.
Finally, the sturdy man at the forefront was the famous Immovable Ming King, Zhao Wuji.
Oscar, who was just over nine years old, had broken through to level twenty in Soul Power two days prior.
To help Oscar obtain his second Spirit Ring, Zhao Wuji took him to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for a spirit.
Oscar was not yet ten years old, and Shao Xin, worried about him going to the Star Dou Great Forest alone to hunt for a spirit with Zhao Wuji, decided to accompany them.
This made Zhao Wuji inwardly complain:
"Shao Xin, although you are a Soul Saint, you are merely a food-type Spirit Master with no combat ability."
"Originally, it was more than enough for me to protect Oscar alone, but with you as a burden, do you know how much pressure I'm under?"
During this time, Zhao Wuji also cursed Flender inwardly multiple times. As the dean, he didn't offer any help when the academy's disciples went to hunt for spirits.
Moreover, he was nowhere to be found most of the time, solely focused on finding a talented flying bird Martial Soul possessor to take as his disciple and pass on his legacy.
In the original story, Flender fortunately found Ma Hongjun, a disciple worthy of inheriting his legacy.
But now, Ma Hongjun had been intercepted by people sent by Lin Rong.
Naturally, Flender was still busy searching for a satisfactory successor.
In the hotel.
Perhaps it was because Zhao Wuji's resentful gaze was too intense, but Shao Xin, with his back to him, felt a chill on his neck. He turned around and smiled apologetically, saying:
"Alright, I'll cover the hotel expenses, and I'll pay for tonight's appetizers too."
"So, hurry up and put away that look you're giving me, it's creeping me out!"
"Deal!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Wuji heavily patted Shao Xin's shoulder with his broad palm and said:
"Old Shao, you said it yourself, so I won't hold back tonight!"
"Wait, you can eat more dishes, but don't drink too much wine," Shao Xin said earnestly, rubbing the shoulder that was aching from Zhao Wuji's pat.
"If you get drunk, who will protect little Ao and this old man, who can't even lift a chicken, when we enter the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow."
After saying this, Shao Xin's gaze returned to Oscar, his affectionate eyes filled with endless adoration, as if he were looking at a rare work of art.
"..." Shao Xin's words completely stumped Zhao Wuji. After a while, he retorted:
"Can't even lift a chicken? So you do know you need my protection!"
"Since you know that, why do you still insist on tagging along and causing trouble? Do you think Old Zhao is easy to bully!"
Saying this, Zhao Wuji feigned anger and waved his fist.
Shao Xin and Zhao Wuji had known each other for many years, so he could naturally tell whether Zhao Wuji was truly angry or just pretending. Thus, he was unfazed by Old Zhao's fist-waving, not even turning his head.
Oscar, however, was different.
He had only lived at Shrek Academy for a little over three years, and he didn't interact with Zhao Wuji much on a daily basis.
Therefore, Oscar, seeing the situation, couldn't tell that Zhao Wuji was pretending to be angry and thought he had genuinely lost his temper.
Seeing how bad the situation was, Oscar's eyes darted around, and he immediately came up with an idea.
Thus, Oscar seized the opportune moment to smooth things over for his master, Shao Xin:
"Teacher Zhao, how about this!"
"Tonight, you can order a pot of wine and have a small drink with the appetizers."
"After we return from hunting spirit beasts, you can then have a good, hearty drink. How does that sound?"
"Of course, the money for the wine won't be coming from you, but from my master."
Zhao Wuji was already pretending to be angry, so he naturally took the step down that Oscar offered.
At the same time, he began to envy his old friend Shao Xin.
Although Zhao Wuji appeared to be physically strong and simple-minded, beneath his rough exterior lay a thoughtful mind.
Therefore, Zhao Wuji knew that Oscar had spoken those words to protect his master, Shao Xin.
This made him understand, to some extent, why Flender was so eager to find a disciple.
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