Tang San said, "Xiao Wu, don't worry. I'll go at full speed — it should take just over a day. After all, Da Ming and Er Ming are the overlords of Star Dou Forest. They have the home-ground advantage, and with their high intelligence, they'll try every tactic to stall the enemy when they realize they can't win head-on. Bibi Dong's forces may be powerful, but hunting down Da Ming and Er Ming won't be easy in the short term. Once we enter the forest, we'll rendezvous with them as quickly as possible, pool our strength, and escape first. Star Dou Forest, this kind of large primeval forest, is the perfect place for my Blue Silver Domain. Combined with the concealment ability of the Clear Sea Body Shield, rescuing them shouldn't be difficult."
Xiao Wu's eyes reddened slightly, and she nodded. "Brother, I grew up with Da Ming and Er Ming since I was little. They're like my brothers. I have to go save them. But the Spirit Empire is so powerful, and I don't want you to be in danger. I…"
Tang San kissed her forehead. "Don't say such foolish things. Your brothers are my brothers too. If Da Ming and Er Ming hadn't arrived in time back then, I'd be long dead. I'm counting on them to help me fully resurrect you. Don't worry about anything else — we'll definitely rescue them."
Xiao Wu nodded obediently and nestled into Tang San's embrace, but her heart was already filled with worry. For reasons she couldn't explain, she had a persistent bad feeling, as though something was about to happen.
A day later, without even resting during the frantic journey, after a full twelve hours of high-speed flight, they finally arrived at the outskirts of Star Dou Forest. Tang San's body truly was extraordinary — even without deliberately resting, his natural healing ability had already nearly repaired the injuries from his collision with Tang Chen. His Soul Power had returned to its peak state, and his vast spiritual power meant he never felt fatigued.
Tang San brought Xiao Wu down to land at the forest's edge. It wasn't that they couldn't keep flying, but Star Dou Forest harbored countless powerful Soul Beasts, and flying through the air would make them easy targets. Using the Clear Sea Body Shield, meanwhile, would drain a significant amount of his spiritual power. The opponents they were about to face were extremely powerful, and Tang San needed to be in peak condition if he hoped to rescue Da Ming and Er Ming.
Stepping into Star Dou Forest, Tang San paused. Xiao Wu's soul returned to her physical body.
"Guard me — I'll search for their traces first." Tang San signaled to Xiao Wu and sat down cross-legged. Star Dou Forest was vast beyond measure, and searching blindly would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. In moments like these, his Blue Silver Domain could prove invaluable.
The Soul Beasts around the forest's perimeter weren't particularly strong, and with Xiao Wu standing guard plus the Blue Silver Domain's own defensive capabilities, protecting Tang San was more than sufficient.
Sitting cross-legged, Tang San laid the Sea God's Trident across his knees. Both of his eyes lit up simultaneously, glowing like twin sapphires. The eight Soul Rings of the Blue Silver Emperor appeared around him, and a ring of blue ripples expanded outward from his body, spreading through the forest in a fan shape at a speed barely perceptible to the naked eye.
Every single plant could serve as a relay node for the Blue Silver Domain. Long before Tang San had reached rank seventy, before his domain had evolved, he could already scan enormous areas. Now, with the vastly enhanced power of his evolved domain and his boundless spiritual energy, even he couldn't estimate how far it could reach. But he was certain that a place like Star Dou Forest was the ideal environment for deploying the Blue Silver Domain.
Joyful, vibrant life energy began linking to Tang San one by one, and massive surges of vital force poured into him, erasing the slight fatigue from his journey in an instant. Though his eyes were closed, his perception spread outward nearly without limit. Every plant in the forest had become his eyes.
He saw Soul Beasts of varying cultivation levels and all manner of forms, witnessed the brutal law of the jungle, and above all, perceived the countless plants that had endured since time immemorial. The forest's exuberant vitality resonated with Tang San, deepening his understanding of his Blue Silver Domain's evolved skill, Myriad Manifestations.
However, he had no time to savor those insights now. All his energy was devoted to the search. As his perception continued spreading, more and more plants joined the Blue Silver Domain. Each one released a thread of life force into the domain. Although the domain's range kept expanding, the number of plants within it grew as well, so his spiritual power wasn't being drained heavily — in fact, it seemed to be surging. And his vast, ocean-grade spiritual power analyzed the flood of information from all those plants at extraordinary speed, no longer being overwhelmed by too much data as he once had been, no longer needing to restrict the domain to a limited area.
But even the greatest power had its limits. When Tang San's perception had spread across more than half of Star Dou Forest, the sheer volume of information became too much even for him to fully process. Yet it was at this point that his search bore fruit. Among the information channeled through the plants, he quickly spotted traces of what he was looking for. He focused his spiritual power and narrowed the scan area, which allowed his Blue Silver Domain to reach even farther.
Although Xiao Wu simply stood beside Tang San, she could feel the exuberant life force radiating from his Blue Silver Domain. Stimulated by this vitality, she was surprised to discover that her soul's consumption rate within her physical body had slowed considerably, and her soul had become more stable as well. This meant she could remain in her physical body for a much longer period.
A full half-hour passed before Tang San opened his eyes again, but he did not withdraw his Blue Silver Domain. His expression was grave as he looked at Xiao Wu and spoke in a low voice, "We need to move. Now. Da Ming and Er Ming are in serious trouble." He snatched up the trident with one hand and scooped Xiao Wu into his arms with the other. Behind him, the golden Eight Spider Lances unfurled, his body crouched low, and under the propulsion of the eight gleaming lances, he rocketed deep into Star Dou Forest at blistering speed.
Xiao Wu quickly asked, "Brother, you found them? How are they?"
Tang San replied, "My spiritual scan picked up their approximate position. It's still very far from here — even at full speed, we need at least six hours to reach them. From what I can tell, Da Ming and Er Ming are probably not in mortal danger yet, but they're fleeing. Those pursuing them are likely Bibi Dong and her people. Da Ming and Er Ming's auras are extremely unstable, fluctuating between strong and weak — they've been injured, and badly at that. We need to hurry. I've already made contact with them through spiritual perception. The distance is too great for true communication, but I can guide them to run in our direction, which will shorten the time until we meet. Don't worry, Xiao Wu — fortune favors the brave. They'll be fine."
Though his words were reassuring, Tang San's heart was heavy. If Da Ming and Er Ming, these two Forest Kings, already had such unstable auras in his scan, the severity of their injuries was clear. The two Forest Kings had only escaped by using their Gravity Control Domain and Sluggishness Domain. But the powerful auras behind them hadn't been shaken off. Maintaining their domains required energy, and the Forest Kings had clearly been fighting and fleeing these pursuers for days already. How much longer could they hold on?
The trees in Star Dou Forest were extremely dense, with numerous low-lying plants making flight impossible. Using the Eight Spider Lances' all-terrain traversal ability, Tang San pushed his speed to its absolute limit, weaving through the gaps between vegetation like a streak of golden light.
To conserve her soul power for combat assistance, Xiao Wu returned her soul to Tang San's body once again, letting him store her physical body inside his Hundred Treasure Pouch. This way, Tang San, completely unencumbered, could reach maximum speed.
Time ticked away second by second. Through his Blue Silver Domain's connection, Tang San could clearly feel himself closing in on the two Forest Kings. But their auras were growing weaker by the moment. They had already come into contact with the powerful pursuers behind them several times, and each time, their auras dimmed noticeably.
On the other side of Star Dou Forest, the colossal Titantic Giant Ape charged madly through the trees, the Sky Blue Bull Python's enormous body coiled around him, its bovine head facing rearward, continuously releasing rings of cyan-colored light.
Both of them were drenched in their own blood. The Sky Blue Bull Python had suffered especially grievous wounds — its body, originally over thirty meters long, had lost its rear seven or eight meters, and foul-smelling black blood dripped ceaselessly from the wound. Its massive eyes had lost their former luster, and with each emission of the cyan halo, its gaze grew dimmer still. Even other parts of its body were riddled with injuries, with most of the torn flesh festering black. Wisps of smoke occasionally rose from its body, and wherever the smoke touched, plants withered rapidly — a testament to the horrifying potency of the poison afflicting it.
The Titantic Giant Ape was in slightly better condition, but it too bore numerous wounds. Most notable was a massive gash across its chest, deep enough to expose bone, through which the vigorous heartbeat of the organ within could just be glimpsed. Had that wound penetrated even a little deeper, its heart would surely have burst.
Though desperately weakened, both divine beasts' eyes burned with venom and defiance. This battle had gone on far too long — more than half a month had passed, and they had been fighting and fleeing the entire time.
The humans pursuing them were simply too powerful. Those two who had used their Martial Soul Fusion Technique to immobilize them — if it hadn't been for that technique temporarily freezing the divine beasts' bodies and allowing them to suffer devastating injuries, these people wouldn't have been able to chase them so relentlessly. The severed rear of Da Ming and the chest wound of Er Ming were both sustained at that moment.
Beyond those two, there was also a female human of exceptional power, whose frontal attacks were something even the robust physiques of Da Ming and Er Ming could not withstand.
Fighting and retreating — if not for the fact that their domains happened to slow the enemy's pursuit, and if not for their intimate knowledge of Star Dou Forest, they would have been killed long ago.
Da Ming and Er Ming possessed intelligence no less than humans'. They knew exactly why these humans were hunting them. They refused to submit — they would never allow these humans to seize their Soul Rings and Soul Bones. Even in death, they wouldn't let them have their way. So despite growing weaker with every passing moment, both divine beasts continued to flee with everything they had, without a trace of surrender.
"Brother, I can't hold on much longer. Don't worry about me — run on your own. As long as the mountains exist, there'll be no shortage of firewood. Didn't we receive a rescue signal? Go and meet up with them quickly. I'll hold off these despicable humans. They want my Soul Rings and Soul Bones? In their dreams. I'd rather destroy them myself than let them have even one." The venom in Da Ming's eyes had reached its peak.
In terms of strength, Da Ming surpassed Er Ming, and over the course of more than ten days of battle, he had absorbed the brunt of the enemy's attacks. His injuries were grievous, and the powerful poison afflicting him had been corroding his body relentlessly. His life force was draining at an alarming rate.
"No, Big Brother. As long as I draw one more breath, I will never abandon you." Er Ming roared, slamming both feet into the ground. An intense wave of yellow light spread behind them, once again slowing the approaching enemies. The tremendous gravitational force ground every plant in the affected area to dust.
"Er Ming, let me go. At this rate, neither of us will survive. You have to go." The Sky Blue Bull Python struggled violently on Er Ming's back, but Er Ming gripped him firmly with both hands and refused to let go.
"Big Brother, do you think I can still survive? The poison has already reached my heart."
"What?!" Da Ming was horrified. He craned his bovine neck down over Er Ming's shoulder and saw it — inside the wound on Er Ming's chest, the flesh had turned black as well.
Er Ming smiled bitterly. "Big Brother, you're right. Under no circumstances can we fall into those bastards' hands. But since they dared to come, they must have a way to prevent us from destroying our own Soul Rings and Soul Bones. We need to create enough distance and buy enough time to do it."
"Those bastards!" Da Ming roared, spun his head around, and unleashed a devastating blast of cyan light. The violent collision of energy shrouded everything behind them in a thick haze of mist, but Da Ming's eyes grew even dimmer as a result.
Bibi Dong pursued at a leisurely pace. Had Tang San seen her, he would have been shocked to discover that her legs had disappeared. From the waist down, her body had become a massive spherical abdomen from which eight thick, elongated legs extended, propelling her forward with startling speed. Those eight legs bore a striking resemblance to Tang San's Eight Spider Lances, except they were covered in clumps of green bristles and coated in a viscous, nauseating fluid that dripped to the ground with sizzling, corrosive pops. Bibi Dong had always been reluctant to reveal her Martial Soul in front of others, because her transformed appearance was too hideous. The transformation wasn't limited to her lower body — the skin of her upper torso was covered in a layer of purple-black chitin armor, and even her face was shielded by a carapace. Below her eyes, four additional small eyes had sprouted. By any measure, she resembled a colossal venomous spider. This was Bibi Dong's first Martial Soul — the Death Spider Emperor.
Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black, red — nine Soul Rings arranged neatly around her. A supreme Soul Ring configuration, befitting a Titled Douluo of immense power.
Bibi Dong showed no urgency whatsoever. Behind her followed five elders, including Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo. For this operation, she had brought a total of six Titled Douluo-level powerhouses. In truth, she knew perfectly well that her own strength alone would have been enough to slay both divine beasts. But for the sake of certainty, she had committed every elite she had.