72: Searching for the Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast

Frank looked at the unyielding toughness and persistence in his beloved disciple's eyes, a resilience that surpassed his age. His heart was filled with both relief and tenderness as he patted Mo Yuhan's shoulder.

"Canaan Academy is indeed a good place. With your talent, you will certainly shine there. As for the Revival Purple Pill... your master will also use the guild's power to try my best to help you keep an eye out for relevant information and medicinal ingredients."

"Xiao Han, the road ahead is difficult, but with a goal in your heart, you will fear no obstacles, no matter how long the journey."

Mo Yuhan nodded solemnly, "This disciple will remember."

In the days that followed, Mo Yuhan became even more diligent.

He continued to study deeply under Frank, learning about Grade Three and even touching upon the threshold of Grade Four pills, frantically absorbing alchemy knowledge. At the same time, he was also preparing to break through to the Dou Zhe realm.

The bottleneck of a nine-star Dou Zhe peak was like a tenacious thin membrane, already on the verge of collapsing under the continuous impact of the Xuan Huang Purple Flame and the residual energy of the Purple Crystal Source.

He needed an opportunity, a sufficiently powerful and pure point of impact from heaven and earth energy, to completely break through this barrier.

And the Star Dou Great Forest of the Douluo Continent, that primitive land abundant with Soul Power, especially the mysterious Star Dou Broken Cliff, was undoubtedly the best choice.

As long as he obtained his fourth spirit ring, he could officially break through to Dou Zhe!

More importantly, there was also someone he had been thinking about for half a year, someone with whom he had a half-year agreement—Ah Yin.

Three months flew by in Black Rock City amidst intense and fulfilling cultivation, and Lin Fei's increasingly "fiery" "harassment."

The Dou Qi within Mo Yuhan's body had surged to its extreme, like a dam filled with floodwaters, ready to break through its restraints at any moment.

The time had come.

That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Mo Yuhan bid farewell to Frank, only saying that he was temporarily going out for training to seek an opportunity for breakthrough.

When Lin Fei heard the news, her eyes turned red. She pestered him with questions, gave him a large pile of pastries she had made and various healing pills, and finally, when he wasn't paying attention,

she stood on her tiptoes and quickly pecked him on the cheek, leaving a soft touch and a tearful, "Little Han Han, you must come back safely, I'll wait for you!"

Mo Yuhan touched the lingering warmth on his face and watched Lin Fei's retreating figure, his emotions complex.

Xue Mei stood far away in the shadow of a corridor pillar, her silver hair flowing with clear light under the moonlight. Her cold eyes quietly watched him. She said nothing, but when his gaze fell upon her, she nodded slightly, everything unsaid.

Frank and Otto, who were also seeing him off, smiled helplessly.

This brat, his luck is truly not small.

Avoiding potential eyes, Mo Yuhan found a secluded spot.

With a thought, he communicated with the mark deep within his sea of consciousness. Space subtly twisted, and his figure instantly vanished from where he stood.

Douluo Continent, Star Dou Great Forest, on the edge of the core zone, Star Dou Broken Cliff.

The Broken Cliff remained, as if a giant axe had split heaven and earth, with a bottomless, cloud-shrouded abyss below.

The night wind was biting, making Mo Yuhan's robes flap loudly.

He sat cross-legged on a protruding boulder at the edge of the cliff, closing his eyes to focus and adjust his state.

The Xuan Huang Purple Flame slowly flowed within his body, refining his Dou Qi to be even purer, making the final preparations for impacting the Dou Zhe realm.

At the same time, his Mental Energy, like an invisible tide, quietly spread out, carrying a unique, gentle calling frequency, merging into this vast and ancient forest.

After waiting for a moment, he shook his head.

There was still some time until the half-year agreement; Ah Yin hadn't arrived yet.

In the transitional zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, most of this area was already the territory of millennium Spirit Beasts, with some territories even belonging to ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts.

The air was thick and hot, and the branches and leaves of towering ancient trees intertwined overhead, forming a dark green canopy that blocked out most of the daylight.

Underfoot was a thick layer of humus, accumulated over who knows how many years, soft and silent to walk on, emitting a strange scent that mingled decay and vitality.

Occasionally, large insects would fly by, their wings beating, bringing a whiff of腥風 (bloody wind).

Mo Yuhan converged his aura, like a leopard merging into the shadows, silently moving through the thick tree trunks.

The profoundness of Phoenix Flight Step was utilized to its extreme; each landing was as light as a feather, touching unnoticed branches or vines, and his figure would dart several zhang like a wisp of smoke.

The Dou Qi of a nine-star Dou Zhe surged through his meridians, providing him with powerful momentum, while the pair of deep purple Purple Cloud Wings on his back acted like the most sensitive radar, constantly capturing subtle energy fluctuations in the air, helping him avoid hidden dangers.

His goal was clear: the fourth spirit ring had to be over seven thousand years old, or even ten thousand years.

After all, he possessed a unique flame, and his Dou Qi also allowed his meridians to withstand a stronger spirit ring.

The spirit ring he needed must further strengthen the power of fire, preferably providing powerful long-range attacks or area-of-effect damage capabilities, making up for his current weakness of being primarily close-combat focused.

The search process was fraught with danger.

He had been patrolling the outer and middle areas of the forest for several days, avoiding several fierce-aura but incompatible ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts.

Many ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts here had extremely strong territorial awareness and exceptionally keen senses.

He had once glimpsed from afar a giant python covered in dark golden scales with a single horn on its head, churning in a muddy swamp. Wherever it passed, even tough ironwood was corroded with sizzling white smoke, its toxicity so potent it made one's heart palpitate.

He had also encountered a terrifyingly large swarm of "Soul-Devouring Flying Ants," each the size of a fist, their mouthparts glinting with metallic cold light, sweeping in like a black cloud.

Wherever they passed, even third-tier Spirit Beasts were instantly gnawed to bone.

Mo Yuhan, relying on the extreme speed of his Purple Cloud Wings and the flexibility of Phoenix Flight Step, narrowly avoided these deadly threats.

After several days of searching and sneaking, Mo Yuhan's Mental Energy was highly strained.

At this moment, he was following an increasingly clear and hot aura.

The air was filled with a faint smell of sulfur, and the temperature of the ground beneath his feet was gradually rising. He could even see faint dark red light emanating from some exposed rock crevices.

It wasn't until noon on the third day that the sulfur smell in the air suddenly intensified, and the surrounding temperature noticeably increased.

"Such pure fire-attribute energy..."

Mo Yuhan mused inwardly, the Xuan Huang Purple Flame subtly stirring within him, seemingly attracted by the presence ahead.

The essence of Xuan Huang Flame was the fire of the earth, and after fusing with the violent Purple Flame of the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King, it possessed both the heaviness of earth and the ferocity of fire.

He could vaguely sense that the Spirit Beast ahead seemed to possess both of these characteristics.

He became even more cautious, pushing Phoenix Flight Step to its limit, his figure almost transforming into a blurry cyan afterimage.

Passing through a dense belt of flame-red ferns that emitted a strange luminescence, the scene before him suddenly opened up, and at the same time, Mo Yuhan's pupils contracted sharply.

This was the entrance to a massive lava cave.

The entrance was wide, tens of zhang high, and deep within, it emitted suffocating high temperatures.

The ground near the entrance was a strange dark red, covered with cracked patterns, and wisps of white steam rose from the fissures, distorting the air.

On both sides of the entrance, countless charred bones were piled up, some human, some from various powerful magic beasts, silently testifying to the ferocity of the cave's master.

And that terrifying aura, which even made the Xuan Huang Purple Flame stir, was continuously emanating from deep within the cave, like a sleeping volcano.

Mo Yuhan took a deep breath of the scorching air, his eyes becoming incredibly solemn.

This was the place.