bookbashuk Chapter 168 Revisiting the Stars, Danger in the Swamp
Chapter 168 Revisiting the Stars, Danger in the Swamp
Chapter 168 Revisiting the Stars, Danger in the Swamp
She was also a top student in the inner academy, so of course she knew how ridiculous a combination it was for a level 60 Soul Master to have a Twin Souls combination of Silver Dragon Martial Soul and Body Martial Soul, and she seemed to have heard of this Souls combination somewhere before.
Who was the reserve team captain of the Sun Moon Empire?
Hua Yao and Gu Fan exchanged a glance, their enthusiasm waning slightly. Li Zhuangyun, however, remained expressionless, his gaze lingering on Kong Tianxu the most.
After the introductions were finished, Jin Yehuan began to deploy the formation: "Once we enter the forest, I will lead the way to scout. Kong Tianxu and Gu Fan will be responsible for the left and right flanks. Hua Yao will be stationed in the center forward; she is the team's main control Soul Master. Behind Hua Yao, Teacher Li, please stay at the very core of the team; we entrust everyone's safety to you. Behind Teacher Li, Zhang Lexuan, you will be responsible for covering the rear and providing mobile support, ready to assist all sides at any time."
He added, "Dean Xian will accompany us, but she will not intervene unless absolutely necessary. We are all inner court students; it would be a disgrace for us to need the dean's help to hunt for spirit rings. Hopefully, this will not happen. If there are no objections, let's depart immediately."
No one raised any objections to his arrangements. Undoubtedly, both the central government and the rear were relatively safe. As for the central government, Xian Lin'er was there to protect it.
The arrangement of Kong Tianxu and Gu Fan on the left and right wings respectively also had a deeper meaning. Kong Tianxu's strength goes without saying; in just a few days, he has repeatedly shocked them. As a defensive-type Soul Master, Gu Fan is the most suitable choice to protect one side.
As for Zhang Lexuan's position, she clearly received the same preferential treatment as Li Zhuangyun. After all, both Shrek Academy and Jin Yehuan himself showed some favoritism.
Few people noticed that Li Zhuangyun clenched his fists quietly after hearing Jin Yehuan's words.
The group consisted entirely of elites, moving swiftly and decisively. Upon leaving Shrek City, they deployed in formation and headed straight for the Star Dou Great Forest. Jin Yehuan controlled their speed, maintaining a tight formation at all times.
Just as Xian Lin'er said, none of these inner court students were visiting the Star Dou Great Forest for the first time. They were quite familiar with the place, and they rarely communicated on the way, just silently making their way.
Zhang Lexuan was initially focused on moving forward, but for some reason, Kong Tianxu's cold demeanor from that morning kept replaying in her mind, making her quite uneasy.
So much so that in the latter half of the race, she would frequently glance at Kong Tianxu ahead.
Kong Tianxu appeared unusually quiet, his profile was cold and aloof, and his eyes were distant, as if he were separated from everything around him by an invisible barrier.
He couldn't possibly be unaware of Zhang Lexuan's gaze, yet he never turned around to look at her.
His running style was also quite unique. Without releasing his martial spirit, he relied solely on his physical strength. With each light touch of his toes, his body shot out like an arrow.
Upon closer inspection, a clear dent is always left in the ground where he lands, surrounded by tiny cracks.
This is a manifestation of pure power and control, yet it appears effortless, revealing the profound depth of the Dragon Martial Soul possessor.
Although both are power-type martial souls, Jin Yehuan is significantly different from him. He takes one big step at a time, but under his control of earth element, it is silent and unnoticed.
Shrek City is not far from the Star Dou Great Forest, and the group arrived at the edge of the forest before noon.
"Everyone rest, replenish your energy, and adjust your condition. We will enter the Starry Sky in half an hour." Jin Yehuan's instructions were concise and clear.
We're approaching the outer area of the Star Dou Great Forest. After passing those danger warning signs, we'll be entering the Star Dou Great Forest itself.
Seeing the sign hanging on a tree not far away, Kong Tianxu felt a surge of familiarity. He still clearly remembered the twists and turns of his first time hunting souls here, the Xuanming Sect, the Immortal Spirit Grass, and Ma Xiaotao.
Sigh, that stupid woman. Kong Tianxu kept restraining himself from thinking about her; her choice in the final round had truly angered him.
But after sleeping for so long, she must have suffered enough. He thought to himself, "I'll take her with me when I leave."
The Shrek members worked together seamlessly, each doing their part to prepare food. Seeing that no one was paying attention to Kong Tianxu, Li Zhuangyun was about to stand up when he noticed that Zhang Lexuan had already walked over.
"Hey, did you bring any food? I have some sesame seed cakes made by the inner courtyard canteen." She handed over a package of oil paper, trying to make her tone sound as natural as possible.
"No need," Kong Tianxu replied quickly.
Zhang Lexuan felt a chill in the room. Her initiative to make amends had been so directly rejected, leaving her somewhat annoyed and casting a shadow of displeasure over her impression of Kong Tianxu. However, considering the team's safety, she still tried to persuade him: "The Star Dou Forest is dangerous inside; we shouldn't waste our energy—"
Before she could finish speaking, a faint light flashed in Kong Tianxu's hand, and several exquisite food boxes appeared out of thin air. Even before the lids were opened, the rich aroma of food wafted out, instantly silencing Zhang Lexuan's unfinished words.
"Would you like one?" Kong Tianxu handed her a food box, his expression unchanged.
"————Oh, okay." Zhang Lexuan was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously took it. When she opened it, she found a steaming bowl of food with a good mix of meat and vegetables, and a small bowl of clear soup in the middle.
Isn't this the food from the inner courtyard cafeteria? Zhang Lexuan recognized it at a glance. He actually brought this with him beforehand?
Not only Zhang Lexuan, but when he took these things out of his Black Domain Ring, the other inner court students stared wide-eyed. Who would want to eat dry rations when there's food to eat?
For a moment, everyone seemed eager to make a move, especially Hua Yao, who kept urging Gu Fan to say something, while Jin Yehuan's eyes shone with a strange light.
"Can your storage soul tool maintain its temperature?" Zhang Lexuan was naturally different from the two foodies and immediately noticed the unusual nature of this food.
The distance from Shrek City to the Star Dou Great Forest was quite long, and the time they spent traveling was considerable. Even with the best insulation equipment Zhang Lexuan had seen from Xuanzi, it was impossible to keep the food piping hot, freshly cooked!
"It's a secret. Eat up, I have more. If you're worried, I'll eat first?" Kong Tianxu smiled, not answering Zhang Lexuan's question, but also not wanting to embarrass them, he proactively handed several boxed meals to Zhang Lexuan.
Seeing the gentle smile return to his face, Zhang Lexuan suddenly felt that the coldness she felt that morning might just be her imagination.
She gave him a deep look, then suddenly took a bite of her food as if to prove something. She then glared at Kong Tianxu with a hint of reproach before turning to Hua Yao and the others, saying, "Come on over, don't be shy."
Clearly, she was subtly dissolving the invisible barrier between Kong Tianxu and his team in this way.
Xian Lin'er followed behind them without revealing her figure. While watching the group of students quickly become friendly, she kept her eyes fixed on the food box in Kong Tianxu's hand.
She was also an eighth-level Soul Master and a Super Douluo, so she could confirm that Kong Tianxu had simply taken the food out of his storage Soul Guidance Ring. However, she couldn't figure out how Kong Tianxu had done it. The Soul Guidance Technology of the Sun Moon Empire made her secretly shocked.
Kong Tianxu's group was mostly young people, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up. He certainly felt Xian Lin'er's gaze, but she could never learn this technique.
The Ring of the Dark Domain freezes time and space. Even Kong Deming only managed to create this top-grade soul tool by chance using a special material. Only someone as wealthy as Kong Tianxu would use it to store food. The Ring of the Dark Domain has a storage space of over a thousand cubic meters, enough for him to arbitrarily set aside a corner to store a massive amount of food.
They enjoyed the meal and their relationships improved considerably. Under Xianlin'er's protection, they meditated and recovered to their peak condition before setting off again.
Stepping into the dense vegetation of the Star Dou Great Forest, a sense of isolation from the world immediately washes over you, as if you've stepped into an independent kingdom ruled by soul beasts.
Everyone was a high-level Soul Master. After entering the outer area, they sped inward under Jin Yehuan's leadership, heading deep into the Star Dou Great Forest.
This was different from when Kong Tianxu entered the Star Dou Great Forest last time. This Soul Douluo was leading the team and didn't seem to care about exploring at all; they simply went straight ahead at full speed.
He shone with an earthy yellow light, and wherever he passed, the ground in front of him spontaneously surged to create a path. The powerful aura he released made even low-level soul beasts dare not approach him.
That's power—using power to forcefully advance.
However, while Jin Yehuan's reckless rampage was incredibly fast, it also seemed to have led them to a strange and unusual place.
Having ventured deep into the mixed forest area, the scene before me was strikingly different from that of a typical forest:
The trees were not dense; instead, there was a vast, muddy swamp overgrown with weeds and dotted with puddles. The water in the swamp was murky, bubbling with fine bubbles, and emitting a faint smell of humus. The silence was unsettlingly deathly.
This was the first time Kong Tianxu had ever seen such a landscape. Generally speaking, swamps are usually located in the core area and are extremely rare. They often breed very powerful soul beasts.
"Senior Brother, what should we do? Should we try to go through? Taking a detour would be a waste of time," Gu Fan asked in a low voice.
Jin Yehuan's eyes, which had turned a ghostly green at some point, looked around first, then he actually plunged his head into the pool. After a moment, he raised his head, a layer of nictitating membrane disappeared, and his powerful voice rang out again: "It's a very large swamp. We'll go straight through. Stay close."
Underwater vision? Kong Tianxu pondered. He could achieve a similar effect, but it was essentially based on elements, unlike Jin Yehuan who could observe directly.
The people in the inner courtyard were clearly not cooperating for the first time. After Jin Yehuan finished speaking, he walked straight onto the water. The moment his foot landed, a pink lotus flower quietly appeared under his feet, its petals opening to support his body.
Hua Yao lightly touched the ground with her toes, and her body floated out as if it were weightless, following Jin Yehuan's footsteps onto the lotus flower.
Two yellow, two purple, and two black soul rings pulsed slowly, and more lotus flowers bloomed one after another on the water's surface in front of everyone, forming a winding path of flowers.
Clearly, this is her lotus flower martial spirit.
Interesting. Kong Tianxu immediately followed suit and climbed up the ground.
"Watch out!"
Zhang Lexuan subconsciously reminded him that Hua Yao's lotus flowers were not so easy to stand on; they required extremely precise control of soul power. Although Kong Tianxu was strong, he might not be able to handle everything perfectly.
However, her worries were unnecessary. The moment Kong Tianxu placed his foot on the lotus's heart, the lotus only sank slightly before firmly supporting itself, without even causing a ripple in the water. He even calmly turned around and gave Zhang Lexuan a reassuring smile.
The group walked on lotus flowers, like water spirits, and in no time they had crossed nearly half of the swamp.
Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, a pair of dark, vertical pupils quietly opened beneath the water's surface. The setting sun shone obliquely, and a pale, bluish light flashed and disappeared amidst the mud.