Liu Feng released his White Dragon Spear and moved in a flash. His toes stepped on a vine in front and he leaped out.
Lan Xuanyu let Qian Lei lean against a big tree as he released his silver-patterned Blue Silver Grass to create ice awls all around them, protecting both of them. At the same time, they were subtly feeling the changes in their surroundings.
Qian Lei closed his eyes and was feeling it out, too. He had a very keen sense of danger. “I currently don’t sense any dangerous aura,” he whispered to Lan Xuanyu.
“Alright.”
They were the two people with the highest Spiritual Power in the Elite Junior Class so naturally, they both had the best perception.
Not long had passed when Liu Feng returned and informed them that there weren’t any soul beasts around the area.
“Xuanyu, we don’t have a map and have no idea where we are. How do we know how to go deeper into the Star Dou Forest or how to go outwards?” Liu Feng asked, feeling uncertain.
Lan Xuanyu smiled, “Don’t be anxious, we can do so by looking at the soul beasts’ power. The more outer the region, the weaker the soul beasts. With our current strength, if we were in the Peripheral Region and our luck isn’t exceptionally bad, we would bump into 10-year or 100-year soul beasts at worst — we would still be able to deal with them. We have to be very careful if we’re confronted with a 1,000-year soul beast. Then, if we meet stronger soul beasts, it means that we’re going deeper into the forest and if it’s the other way round, it means that we’re moving farther away from the core.”
Qian Lei gave him a thumbs up, “You’re good. Anyway, we’ll just listen to you, we’ll go wherever you ask us to go.”
Lan Xuanyu narrowed his eyes and said, “Summon a soul beast, and use it to find a path. Let’s start walking in a direction.”
Qian Lei said in surprise, “Summon one right now?” He needed at least 15 to 20 minutes in order to summon again after the first summoning — this was also the greatest drawback of his Martial Soul. An idle period!
Lan Xuanyu said, “You have a second Soul Skill to replicate and can use it as contingency. Since we have to survive here for seven days, then we will definitely have a safe zone like this for our Soul Power to recover and recharge. With the replicated soul beast as a reserve, it should be enough. Summoning one first is to avoid danger; your summoned soul beast can bear the attacks first, and we would be able to face the attacks calmly.”
“Alright, you don’t have to explain, I’ll do whatever you say anyway. It’s awesome to not use my brain.” Qian Lei laughed and tossed his Coin of Summoning out at the sametime. Two yellow Soul Rings rose from his feet. Looking closely, one would realize that these two yellow Soul Rings were much darker than before. After reaching the 500-year realm, the Soul Ring was clearly enhanced.
Golden-patterned Blue Silver Grass entwined on the Gate of Summoning to enhance the summoning.
“Xuanyu, why aren’t you using your silver-patterned Blue Silver Grass to assist me with the summoning anymore? Dong Qianqiu’s power should have quite a huge effect, ah!”
When Qian Lei brought up Dong Qianqiu, Lan Xuanyu froze. He suddenly recalled everything that happened between him and Dong Qianqiu and shook his head, “I offended her so she wouldn’t appear if we summoned her now. Furthermore, she should be participating in Shrek Academy’s qualifiers as well.”
The Shrek Academy qualifier was conducted at the same time across the Federation, and although the universe was far apart, Shrek has its own algorithm to prevent the different planets from knowing the tests in advance. Therefore, at this moment, Dong Qianqiu should also be in the qualifier.
As to whether or not she could get through the qualifiers, Lan Xuanyu had never worried about it before. She was Teacher Nana’s disciple and had been with Teacher Nana for a longer time than he did.
A low roar resounded and a fiery-red figure came out of the Gate of Summoning. When Lan Xuanyu and the rest saw this summoned soul beast, their expression changed.
It was about five-meters long, its entire body was covered in red scales, and there were spikes on its back. It had a massive head and was emitting heat from its body; there was also smoke billowing out of its mouth.
Ground Fire Dragon Lizard! This was clearly an evolved version of the Ground Fire Lizard and wasn’t as strong as the Ground Fire Scarlet Dragon; it was a type of Ground Dragon. Its defense ability was average but had a relatively large attack range and could also spit fireballs.
After fighting with the Ground Fire Lizards and Ground Fire Scarlet Dragons in the previous round, they didn’t expect that they would summon its close relative.
Qian Lei waved in a bored manner and the Ground Fire Dragon Lizard immediately took action. It charged headfirst and used the scales on its body to push the vines and open a path.
Liu Feng walked right in front, Qian Lei was in the middle, while Lan Xuanyu was at the back. His golden-patterned Blue Silver Grass wrapped around Liu Feng’s waist and would be able to enhance him anytime, while Qian Lei was controlling the Ground Fire Dragon Lizard to continue moving forward.
With the upgrade of the realm of Soul Ring, his summoning duration of this Ground Fire Dragon Lizard had increased and could last for about a minute and a half, so they obviously had to use this time to travel a little farther.
They identified a single direction and walked straight. The forest appeared to be very peaceful with the fragrances of a variety of plants wafting in the air, allowing them to be completely relaxed and happy. This feeling of being wrapped in nature was really comfortable.
The Ground Fire Dragon Lizard moved on the ground and was very fast. The scale on its head was the hardest and also had fire properties, so vines that came into contact with it would naturally wither and be destroyed by it.
The trio kept moving forward and after some time, just when the duration of the Ground Fire Dragon Lizard was up, there was a sudden change.
The Ground Fire Dragon Lizard kept going straight, and when it was about to knock a thick vine away, that vine actually sprung up like it was alive and directly wrapped itself around the Ground Fire Dragon Lizard’s head.
Qian Lei and Liu Feng were shocked but could immediately recognize that this should be a plant-type soul beast but a type that was very rarely seen in Soul World.
The Ground Fire Dragon Lizard was a type of dragon, after all, and was much stronger than the Ground Fire Lizards that they dealt with before. The vine had just wrapped around it, and the body of the Ground Fire Dragon Lizard immediately turned into a fiery red metal strip; its scales turned red, and there was a sizzling sound coming from it. The vine that landed on it turned yellow, withered, and exuded a strong plant aura.
That plant-type soul beast suffered and slowly drew its vines in. Fire is able to subdue wood. The Ground Fire Dragon Lizard specialized in restraining this type of soul beast. Furthermore, these soul beasts in the Peripheral Region of the Star Dou Forest weren’t strong anyway.
The surrounding large vines suddenly separated themselves, and the Ground Fire Dragon Lizard quickly rushed forward.
The trio followed closely behind and moved swiftly. The summoning this time could last for only a minute and a half, after all. They had to make use of this short period of time to quickly move deeper into the forest when it was safer.
With their Soul Master speed, they could move about a kilometer inward in a minute and a half — it was much faster than trying to move slowly by themselves. The Ground Fire Dragon Lizard returned to the Gate of Summoning suspended next to Qian Lei and disappeared, while the trio also found higher ground to take a break.
Qian Lei recovered his Soul Power then summoned a new soul beast before they continued moving inward.
After the improvement in his realm of Soul Ring, he took a shorter time to activate the Gate of Summoning and was slightly faster in summoning than before. This was very important for a Soul Master like him who did not have any battle power.
“I really want to go to the Spirit Ascension Platform soon, ah! Quickly increase my first Soul Ring to 1,000-year and see how much improvement it would make. It would be great if I could summon without stopping until I use up all of my Soul Power,” Qian Lei said from the bottom of his heart.
If he could summon soul beasts like the Ground Dragon continuously, then he would definitely be the strongest in the Elite Junior Class.
Liu Feng said in exasperation, “What good would it be to just think about it? If it was so simple, what are we working so hard for?”
Lan Xuanyu said, “It’s actually not impossible. It’s just that you don’t have enough cultivation now. From the past few years, it seems like there are many factors affecting your summoning. For example, your Soul Power rank, Spiritual Power rank, and the strength of the Soul Ring. In other words, if your Soul Power rank is high enough, you should be able to summon continuously. But the strength of the soul beast that you summon cannot be confirmed. Hence, if you want to summon faster, you must work on these areas. For instance, if you increase your Soul Power to the Spirit Sea realm, I suppose this would definitely reduce the time taken to summon. It is clear from your improvement in various aspects that Spiritual Power has a strong relation with summoning.