Douluo Dalu: Ascension Across the Realms

Outskirts of Star Dou Forest.

Chen Xiaoming leisurely gazed at the clouds. Growing taller made the clouds look different—seemingly larger than before.

Taking a contented breath, he tapped on his soul power status.

Soul Power: 99 years (+) 1,860,000/990,000

Effortlessly reaching the 99-year soul power level, he prepared himself mentally for the impending breakthrough to the century-old soul beast boundary.

"Hoo..."

Ding!

[You've taken a deep breath, gaining +100,000 experience.]

He took another deep breath to calm himself, then tapped the upgrade button next to his 99-year soul power.

Swoosh.

Blazing light enveloped Chen Xiaoming, as countless warm currents surged through his body. The Azurewood Tree's main body grew again, rising from three meters to five meters in the blink of an eye.

Branches once as thick as a wrist now nearly doubled in size.

What shocked him the most was his root system. The intricate network rapidly expanded downward—from five meters to ten, twenty, and finally stopping at thirty meters.

Then the roots split, spreading outward—ten meters, twenty, thirty... all the way to ninety meters, nearly a hundred meters underground. Abundant soul power surged into the Azurewood Tree, nourishing its body.

Meanwhile, flickering lights sparked within Chen Xiaoming's mind.

Drawn by instinct, he focused on the sensation and comprehended a new method of soul power manipulation.

With a thought, a branch shot out from the tree crown, lashing the ground and leaving a deep imprint.

Startled by his newfound ability, Chen Xiaoming's eyes glimmered with delight. A suspicion arose in his mind—if he were to kill a soul master, would he gain a similar soul skill?

Wait... wasn't he a soul beast? Why would he think like that?

Shaking his head, he reminded himself—human in his previous life, soul beast in this life. Old habits of thought hadn't changed.

"Forget it... better take a few more deep breaths and aim for the hundred-thousand-year soul beast stage."

Without reaching that level, survival was never guaranteed. A single powerful soul master could end his life in an instant.

Sweeping his gaze across the surrounding soul beast territory, most were decade-old soul beasts, with a few century-old ones—not currently present.

The environment pleased him.

After a year, no one could understand his words, but he could understand others.

From passing soul masters, he'd learned this place was merely the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest.

A century-old Azurewood Tree soul beast wouldn't attract attention—at least not from powerful soul masters.

As for weaker ones... well, Chen Xiaoming wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson.

"Better stockpile experience for now—no more leveling up."

Branches swayed as Chen Xiaoming shook his head.

With the breathing system in place, reaching the hundred-thousand-year soul beast stage was inevitable.

But he couldn't move. If he hastily advanced to the millennium or ten-thousand-year level and still couldn't move—what a tragedy that would be.

A ten-thousand-year plant-type soul beast appearing in the Star Dou Forest outskirts would surely attract soul kings and soul emperors.

Better to accumulate experience, lay low, and only upgrade at the ten-thousand-year threshold.

He was a soul beast, after all—a long-lived plant-type one.

Slow breaths. Steady progress. Everything would come in time.

With his plan set, Chen Xiaoming gazed at the even higher sky.

"The sky is truly blue... what a wonderful life!"

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

His musings were interrupted by three figures emerging from the dense forest.

"Huh? The light was definitely here earlier, right?"

"Search carefully. Something must be here. Stay alert."

"You two, come closer—search together."

Two men and one woman—soul masters—evidently a small hunting party.

One man wielded a long staff emanating faint soul power—an artifact soul master, though only bearing a single white ten-year soul ring despite being in his twenties.

A weakling.

Chen Xiaoming sized him up, then turned to the others.

One white, one yellow—two soul rings. A wolf martial soul beast master and a compass martial soul artifact master.

Judging by their rings, they were nothing special—just ordinary soul masters.

"Strange... there was definitely light here. How could it disappear?"

Surrounding soul beasts watched from a distance, preventing the wolf soul master from wandering too far.

The woman with the compass frowned. Given the many soul masters hunting on the outskirts, perhaps someone had already taken the treasure.

"Maybe someone beat us to it. Let's go."

She whispered, leading the group away.

"Light? Were they talking about me?"

Chen Xiaoming's mind turned. He had been the only source of light during his breakthrough.

Could they be searching for him?

As the thought crossed his mind, the woman glanced back and froze.

With a smile, she said to the weakest soul master, "Third Brother, your luck isn't bad today. No treasure—but your second soul ring just found its target."

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