After testing the Evil God Hook and the Evil God Wings, Xiao Se and his group headed straight for the core region of the Star Dou Forest.
Before them lay a crystal-clear small lake. The water was emerald green, shimmering brilliantly under the sunlight. The reflections of towering ancient trees rippled gently across the surface, making everything seem transparent and pristine, as if the entire world had been washed clean.
What surprised everyone was that the concentration of soul power in the air around the lake was more than twice that of the outside world. In other words, if a Soul Master cultivated here for one day, the effect would be equivalent to two days of cultivation elsewhere.
Beside the lake, a massive, towering figure immediately drew Xiao Se's attention.
It was a being like a small mountain, crouching there in absolute stillness. Its eyes were tightly shut, all four limbs pressed against the ground. Even at a glance, its height clearly exceeded ten meters. If it stood upright, it would likely reach close to twenty meters tall.
Its entire body was pitch black, crisscrossed with thin, fiery-red patterns. Under the sunlight, those lines faintly glimmered. Every inch of its body was packed with terrifyingly dense muscles, hard and solid like granite, making it look like a living hill. From the outside, it looked exactly like a King Kong that had just been beaten senseless by Godzilla in one of Xiao Se's past-life Blue Star movies.
"Xiao Se, that one is the Titan Giant Ape. The Azure Bull Python is beneath the lake," Bibi Dong said with a smile from the sky as she looked at him. "With your physique, you're more than capable of enduring their soul rings."
As she spoke, Bibi Dong casually waved her jade-like hand. A streak of black light shot toward the Titan Giant Ape. The instant the black glow touched it, the beast instinctively sensed danger. But just as it opened its eyes, it discovered that its entire body was completely immobilized.
"Er—"
From beneath the lake, the Azure Bull Python sensed that the Titan Giant Ape was in danger and immediately surged out of the water. Yet before it could even finish uttering the word "Second—," it followed the same fate as the Titan Giant Ape.
"Xiao Se, go. Absorb them now. I'll guard you here," Bibi Dong said calmly.
"Dou Zong-level experts are truly terrifying," Xiao Se muttered, giving a thumbs-up as he watched two mighty hundred-thousand-year soul beasts get restrained without the slightest ability to resist.
Time passed quietly. In the blink of an eye, more than half a month went by.
After absorbing the soul rings of the Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, Xiao Se went on to absorb the soul rings of the Thousand Jun Ant Emperor brothers. Because he absorbed all three simultaneously—just like Tang San had in the original story—their soul rings, originally over ninety thousand years in age, underwent a qualitative transformation and directly evolved into hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
At present, Xiao Se's soul ring configuration had become: black, red, red, red, red, red.
As for the remaining three soul rings, Xiao Se had already set his sights on his targets—the Three Great Kings of the Extreme North: Snow Empress, Ice Empress, and the Titan Snow Demon King.
Of course, Xiao Se had no intention of harming the Snow Empress. When his strength was sufficient, he planned to negotiate instead—using the refinement of an exceptionally powerful body as leverage to persuade them to offer sacrifices willingly.
Perhaps because the quality of his battle qi far surpassed that of soul power, after absorbing the soul rings of these five formidable soul beasts, Xiao Se's cultivation stopped at the peak of Dou Wang, failing to break through to Dou Huang.
"Xiao Se… you're leaving already?"
Inside a teahouse in Tian Dou City, Bibi Dong leaned into Xiao Se's embrace, her tone full of reluctance.
Xiao Se gently rubbed her head and said softly, "A short separation is for a better reunion in the future. I still have unfinished business over there. I'll come see you often. When I do, I'll head straight to Spirit Hall City first."
"Dad, don't forget about me either," Qian Renxue said, puffing out her cheeks as she came closer. "You can't forget your precious daughter."
"I've told you countless times—I'm not your dad," Xiao Se said, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"You're Mom's man, right?" Qian Renxue asked, a crafty glint flashing through her beautiful eyes.
"Yes," Xiao Se replied frankly.
"Then that settles it." Qian Renxue pouted, then broke into a bright smile. "I'm Mom's daughter, and you're Mom's man. If you're not my dad, what else could you be? Aunt Longkui, Mom—am I wrong?" She turned to look at Bibi Dong and Longkui.
"That's right. Xue'er isn't wrong at all," Bibi Dong and Longkui said in unison, smiling.
"…Fine. Call me whatever you want."
Xiao Se shrugged helplessly, then suddenly wore a mischievous grin. He gently stroked Qian Renxue's head and leaned close to her ear, lowering his voice. "Then, my precious daughter, Daddy will come see you again next time."
His warm breath brushed against Qian Renxue's sensitive earlobe, instantly making her cheeks flush red. That spot was her weakest point.
She nodded lightly and replied in a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, shy and sweet, "Mm."
"Xian'er, Zhuqing, Longkui—let's go back," Xiao Se said as he looked toward Little Doctor Fairy, Zhu Zhuqing, and Longkui.
The three of them nodded gently. One after another, they entered Xiao Se's two treasure pouches capable of storing living beings, as well as the space within the Demon Sword's pattern.
"System, return to the Dou Qi Continent," Xiao Se called out in his mind.
[Ding. System teleportation in progress.]
As the system notification echoed in his consciousness, Xiao Se vanished from the spot under the watchful gazes of Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue.
—
Dou Qi Continent.
Jia Nan Academy, Inner Courtyard.
"Xiao Se, you're finally back!"
The moment Xiao Se returned to his residence, the little loli Zi Yan leapt straight into his arms. "Xiao Se… where did you go for over half a month… I missed you so much!"
"I think you didn't miss me—you missed the pills," Xiao Se said, curling his lips.
"Both… both, okay?" Zi Yan laughed foolishly, then pulled out a huge pile of rare high-grade medicinal ingredients from her storage ring.
Xiao Se rolled his eyes at her. Pink flames rose from his right hand. Under Zi Yan's worshipful and expectant gaze, he tossed all the medicinal ingredients into the flames. As he refined them, he casually asked, "Did anything happen in the Inner Courtyard while I was gone?"
"Nope! Same as always—eat, drink, cultivate." Zi Yan shook her head, then complained bitterly, "If you really want to say something happened, it's me. The pills you gave me were gone in less than a week. Do you know how I survived the remaining ten-plus days? I had to eat those bitter-as-hell medicinal ingredients every day!"
"Over a thousand pills with violent energy, gone in less than a week?" Xiao Se stared at her. "Even if you ate them as meals, it wouldn't be that fast."
"I ate them as snacks," Zi Yan said, sticking out her tongue.
Hearing that, Xiao Se rolled his eyes at her again and didn't bother saying anything else.
Half an hour later, Zi Yan left happily, clutching several thousand freshly refined pills.
Xiao Se rubbed the two treasure pouches at his waist and released Little Doctor Fairy and Zhu Zhuqing.
He took down one of the hundred-treasure pouches, retrieved a stalk of Snow-Color Swan Kiss from the system warehouse, placed it inside, and handed it to Little Doctor Fairy.
"Xian'er, now that you have the divine-grade Eight Spider Lance soul bone, you can store toxins freely up until Dou Zun. During this period, use the Snow-Color Swan Kiss to break through to Dou Zong. After that, when we move to obtain Heavenly Flames, I may need your help."
Xiao Se possessed a total of four Snow-Color Swan Kisses. He planned to give her the remaining three only after she condensed her Poison Pill. If he handed them over all at once, given Little Doctor Fairy's personality—especially after hearing that Xiao Se needed her help—she would likely use them all immediately. If that happened, regret would come far too late.
(End of Chapter)
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