Douluo Dalu 3: Legend of the White Fox

When Xia Yi woke up, it was already evening. Looking at the tail behind him, he fell into deep thought, even beginning to question whether everything before was a dream.

If it was a dream, then where did this tail come from?

If it wasn't a dream, where had the woman he bit on the neck gone, and why had he suddenly passed out?

These inexplicable events left Xia Yi deeply uneasy. He wasted no time, heading out under the moonlight to the location where he had fought Gu Yue earlier.

Sure enough, the traces of the battle were still there.

"If she was rescued by humans, then they wouldn't let me off so easily," Xia Yi muttered to himself. He remembered an old turtle he once encountered. Using spiritual power, the turtle had told him about an organization of humans called Spirit Transferring Tower that captured soul beasts for experiments.

The old turtle had repeatedly warned him never to let humans discover his anomalies; otherwise, they would surely capture him for research.

Xia Yi had never doubted the turtle's words. He had witnessed the old turtle being taken away by a human wielding nine soul rings and piloting a massive black mecha tens of meters tall.

Xia Yi had also been discovered back then, but due to his low cultivation, the human didn't find him worth catching, allowing him to escape.

"I must figure out what's going on." A strong sense of crisis arose in Xia Yi's heart. He began to check the traps he had set up.

In the Star Dou Forest, the only things that gave him a sense of security were the traps he had carefully prepared.

After thoroughly inspecting all the traps, Xia Yi found that, apart from the wooden stakes he had triggered earlier in the day, none of the other traps had been damaged.

"Was I overthinking things?" Xia Yi muttered, but just as he was about to leave, he noticed fresh holes in the leaves nearby.

"The holes are fresh, marks left by my wooden arrows." Xia Yi's pupils contracted sharply as a possibility crossed his mind: someone had triggered his trap, and the wooden arrows had pierced the leaves.

But to avoid being detected, they had restored the traps afterward.

"That idiot Bear Lord?" Hidden in the shadows, Bi Ji couldn't help but curse inwardly. She hadn't expected that even though Bear Lord had been extremely careful, Xia Yi had still noticed something amiss.

In truth, Bear Lord had done his best, and Xia Yi had spent quite some time inspecting without finding any anomalies. It was only a small oversight, typical for a brute-force type hero like Bear Lord, who wasn't suited for meticulous tasks.

Now certain that Gu Yue had been rescued, Xia Yi couldn't help but wonder, "Why did they only save that human girl and not kill or capture me for research?"

"Could they be observing me secretly?" Xia Yi thought of a possibility. After all, in the vast Star Dou Forest, he was indeed unusual.

Being secretly observed was entirely plausible.

"Humans can't possibly stay in the forest 24/7. If they really wanted to study me, the best approach would be to capture me and take me to their lab. Could it be that the one who saved the human girl wasn't a human but a powerful soul beast?" Xia Yi's thoughts turned. Since he was being monitored anyway, he didn't care anymore. He roasted two rabbits, ate one, and respectfully placed the other on a stone in front of him, wrapped in leaves.

"Is he really just a ten-year soul beast?" Bi Ji felt a headache coming on. She could tell that Xia Yi had realized he was being watched.

The rabbit was clearly left for her.

Bi Ji knew Xia Yi was testing her, but since he had already guessed, there was no point in staying hidden. Open observation was no different from covert surveillance. She stepped out of the shadows, picked up the rabbit Xia Yi had prepared for her, tore off a hind leg, and began eating slowly.

"Jade Swan Bi Ji." Staring at the pair of emerald-green wings exuding life energy behind Bi Ji, Xia Yi's pupils contracted violently. He hadn't expected that, as a mere ten-year soul beast, he would draw the attention of this legendary, nearly 600,000-year-old terrifying being.

Still, being monitored by a high-ranking soul beast was better than being monitored by humans.

After finishing the rabbit Xia Yi had prepared for her, Bi Ji didn't leave. She simply sat on the ground and closed her eyes to meditate, remaining silent the entire time.

Xia Yi also stayed quiet. Although the old turtle had told him that Bi Ji was as kind as an angel and the most benevolent soul beast in the Star Dou Forest, she was still an incredibly powerful being whose mere presence could kill him. He couldn't help feeling afraid, especially since he had just eaten two hundred-year-old Soft Bone Rabbits in front of her.

The old turtle had mentioned that Bi Ji despised killing. If she were truly angry, his life would be in danger. Fortunately, Bi Ji seemed to enjoy the meal and showed no signs of anger.

Seeing that Bi Ji ignored him, Xia Yi didn't get upset. He climbed a hundred-meter-tall ancient tree and silently gazed at the moonlight filtering through the translucent canopy above.

He often climbed to the treetops on moonlit nights to gaze at the sky. The soft moonlight always left him in a deep, quiet reverie, sometimes lasting the entire night.

Xia Yi didn't know how he ended up in the Star Dou Forest. From his earliest memories, he had always been here.

But whenever he looked at the moonlight, he felt as if he had forgotten something important.

Tonight was different. Staring at the canopy above, Xia Yi felt more anger than calm, a surge of sorrow rising from within.

A sudden urge to break free of it all consumed him.

"Boom!" A pillar of light descended from the sky, knocking him off the ancient tree and slamming him into the ground.

"Ah!" Xia Yi howled in pain, struggling to break free, but the pillar's terrifying power pinned him down. He couldn't even move.

Bi Ji reacted quickly, rushing toward the light as soon as it appeared. But the immense power threw her back before she could get close.

This pillar of light was overwhelmingly powerful. Even a beast as strong as Bi Ji, who was equivalent to an Ultimate Douluo, couldn't resist, let alone Xia Yi, a mere ten-year soul beast.

"Roar!" A massive dragon claw tore through space. Its arrival plunged the world into darkness, yet the light pillar remained undiminished. The dark energy emanating from the claw was completely repelled whenever it neared the light.

"What? Even Di Tian is powerless? What is this?" Bi Ji's beautiful eyes filled with shock.

"Is this the Plane Lord?" Gu Yue appeared with several powerful soul beasts in tow.

All of them, including Gu Yue, had expressions full of murderous intent.

"The Plane Lord, aiming at a ten-year soul beast?" Bi Ji's face turned fierce, reluctant to lose such a rare and exceptional soul beast.

"It's not killing—it's suppression." Gu Yue clenched her fists, her expression complicated. She hadn't expected the Plane Lord to act so harshly, leaving no hope for the soul beasts.

"Suppression? Like the Thunder Hell Vine?" All the soul beasts lowered their heads. The Thunder Hell Vine was a wound in their hearts that would never heal.

Its exceptional talent had led to its eternal suppression, never able to surpass the hundred-thousand-year mark.

Gu Yue sighed softly, her gaze falling on Xia Yi, pinned by the light pillar. Her expression was conflicted. "It's our fault. He was just a ten-year soul beast. No matter how special, the Plane Lord wouldn't have noticed him if not for us."

"Master, don't blame yourself. With this little fox's extraordinary nature, he would have been discovered sooner or later," Zi Ji tried to comfort her.

"Will he end up like the Thunder Hell Vine, unable to break through?" Bi Ji looked at Xia Yi with regret.

At just ten years of cultivation, it would be a pity if he were forever unable to progress.

(End of Chapter)