The Unrivaled Tang Sect Volume 16, Chapter 143.3: Entering the Star Dou Forest's Hybrid Region

“Master Mo’s martial soul is the Cloud. He’s using his own martial soul to scout ahead and protect everyone.” Wei Na’s charming voice rang out.
Wang Dong glanced at her, and she flashed a smile back at him. Her tender smile was extremely charming, but it was clear that her beautiful smile didn’t hit the mark. Wang Dong nodded at her before he turned back without a trace of expression on his face.
Mu Xue glimpsed at Wei Na, and amusement flowed from her eyes, while a look of annoyance flashed across Wei Na’s soft eyes.
The mist was pervasive, but didn’t impede Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection. Huo Yuhao could feel from Mo Feiyun’s martial soul that he had seven soul rings—two yellow, three purple and two black. Even though it wasn’t the optimal combination of soul rings, it was considered relatively formidable.
Cloud? This was a seldom seen martial soul, and should be considered a tool soul. Huo Yuhao just wasn’t sure whether he was an assault-type or control-type soul master.
The cloudy mist in front of them gradually expanded and pervaded their surroundings like threads. The cloudy mist didn’t look like it contained any power at all, but expanded incredibly far into the distance while it drifted through the air, and quickly reached out beyond the maximum effective range of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection.
Huo Yuhao faintly understood that this soul skill was similar in functionality to his Spiritual Detection soul skill. Mo Feiyun would have certain judgments about anything that the cloudy mist touched, according to the situation. Even though it wasn’t as accurate as his Spiritual Detection, Mo Feiyun’s cultivation allowed him to scout and cover an area that was far larger than his skill. It was no wonder that he didn’t pay much attention to his comrades’ formation after entering the Great Star Dou Forest by himself, and neither did he really give any further instructions. Huo Yuhao was surprised when he realized that Mo Feiyun’s soul ring didn’t light up after he released the cloudy mist into the sky. This meant that the mist was his martial soul’s innate ability, and not a soul skill. Having its own innate abilities implied that his martial soul was of extremely high quality.
“Let’s go.” The mist gradually dissipated, and Mo Feiyun’s voice could be heard from in front of them. But the mist surrounding his body was still there, and his figure was still obscure and blurry.
They entered the Great Star Dou Forest once again. Huo Yuhao and his friends quickly felt an unprecedented unwinding feeling, as if they didn’t have to do anything much at all, and all they had to do was follow a trail.
Mo Feiyun constantly changed their course as they traveled, and he was a lot faster than the three of them exploring the forest by themselves. They didn’t run into any soul beast ambushes. Not even thirty minutes had passed and they were more than ten kilometers into the Great Star Dou Forest—Mo Feiyun didn’t even look like he intended to slow down.
The Great Star Dou Forest’s shape wasn’t regular. The widest areas were more than two hundred kilometers across, and its surface area was more than a hundred thousand square kilometers. It lived up to its reputation as the Great Star Dou Forest, and it was larger than some countries’ provinces. Furthermore, even Titled Douluo wouldn’t dare to walk right through its center.
The world of soul masters’ perennial adventures enabled them to divide the Great Star Dou Forest into separate regions according to the strength of the soul beasts that appeared in the vicinity. The outermost twenty kilometers were called the Peripheral Region, and only ten year, hundred year, and thousand year soul beasts roamed this area. Ten thousand year soul beasts were occasionally seen, but they were very rare. The next region was called the Hybrid Region, and it occupied forty percent of the largest radius, which was the next one hundred kilometers. The greatest number of soul beast species were found here, and they had the highest cultivation levels. This was the resting place of hundred year, thousand year and ten thousand year soul beasts. Hundred year soul beasts had to move around in herds if they wanted to stay alive in this area.
The innermost forty kilometers, which was about eighty kilometers in diameter, was known as the Great Star Dou Forest’s Core Region. This Region was vast, and the number of soul beasts that lived here was far fewer than inside the Hybrid Region because only incredibly powerful soul beasts ever inhabited this area. Hundred year soul beasts were almost never seen in this region, and even thousand year soul beasts were few and far between. Ten thousand year soul beasts were the zone’s main inhabitants, followed by the occasional frightening hundred thousand year soul beasts. According to the soul masters’ research, soul beasts that could have their own territory inside this area had to be at least thirty thousand years old.
The ten kilometer-wide region in the very center of this eighty-kilometer zone was known as the Slaughtering Grounds, and it was also called the Forbidden Grounds. Undetailed maps of the Great Star Dou Forest always colored this region with blood-red colors. Legend had it that petrifyingly fearsome beasts resided there, and their existences were even more terrifying than the soul beasts in the core regions of the Extreme North—it was a region that even Transcendent Douluos had to be extremely careful in.
Huo Yuhao could tell from Mo Feiyun’s traveling speed that his target wasn’t the twenty outermost kilometers of the Great Star Dou Forest’s Peripheral Region. He was a Soul Sage, and could very well enter the outer regions of the Core Region if he wasn’t taking so many people with him. It wasn’t too difficult for him to ensure everyone’s safety inside the Hybrid Region, while the species, quality and number of soul beasts that lived inside the Hybrid Region was far superior to the Peripheral Region.
Huo Yuhao and his friends didn’t even dare to enter the Peripheral Region, let alone the Hybrid Region. No matter how talented they were, they were still Soul Elders, after all. They could possibly hold their own in one battle, but there were innumerable soul beasts within the Great Star Dou Forest! They wouldn’t have a chance to retreat if someone was severely injured. This was one of the most important reasons why Huo Yuhao refused to venture too deep inside by themselves. Without Mo Feiyun and his group, he would probably continue on with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao for about five to ten kilometers, but he would never take the risk of entering the Hybrid Region.
The company pressed on and went another five kilometers before Mo Feiyun started to slow down, and he stayed a little closer to Huo Yuhao and the others behind him.
“The outer regions of the Great Star Dou Forest’s Hybrid Region are right in front of us, so everyone should be more careful. We have to avoid angering certain sensitive soul beasts, so I will reduce the area covered by my clouds. This will reduce their intimidation as well, but everyone should be ready for battle.”
Huo Yuhao was once again astonished by the discipline of Mo Feiyun’s company. Their formation quickly became more compact after Mo Feiyun’s reminder, but there was at least three meters between each of them so that they wouldn’t hinder each other’s movements.
Wei Na and Mu Xue had been observing Huo Yuhao and his friends along the way, especially when they were hurrying along in the forest and when they were met with threats from soul beasts. Huo Yuhao maintained a steady pace behind Mo Feiyun, and he didn’t display a single trace of exhaustion. His body was nimble and agile, and his movements were crisp and decisive. Huo Yuhao was the vanguard, while Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong were positioned slightly behind him, and the three of them lined up like a horn. They could tell from Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao’s occasional glances at Huo Yuhao that Huo Yuhao was actually their leader.
Mo Feiyun’s reminder swiftly became reality. The company proceeded forward like usual, and not much time passed before Mo Feiyun suddenly retreated as quickly as he could. A series of chirping sounds could be heard, and a chain of shadows appeared in front of them. These shadows moved at breakneck speeds and surged through the trees. They seemed extremely organized as they dangled through the treetops, and surrounded the eleven of them in no time at all.
“Be careful, everyone. They’re Scarletfire Monkeys. They’re extremely territorial.” Mo Feiyun remarked to everyone as he shifted backwards and stood in front of Huo Yuhao and the others.
Scarletfire Monkeys? Huo Yuhao observed the soul beasts in the trees around them while a memory surfaced in his mind—it was a fire-type soul beast that liked to live in groups, it was extremely irritable and short-tempered, hostile, and held grudges. They were agility-type soul beasts that were adept with long-range attacks, and they were incredibly challenging to handle.
The Scarletfire Monkeys all looked similar, except there were differences in their sizes. The biggest one was about two meters tall, taller than most fully grown humans, while the smallest one was no more than two feet tall. Their fiery-red fur was conspicuous inside the forest, and the two lengthy fangs protruding from their lips showed their carnivorous nature. There were about thirty to forty monkeys in this group, and every single one of them started to chirp incessantly once they surrounded everyone, as if they wanted to intimidate the company.
The burliest and most majestic Scarletfire Monkey on a tree crown in the distance hammered its chest, and specks of flame flickered from its fiery-red fur. It leapt into the air like a lightning bolt, and launched an enormous fireball that was at least one meter in diameter at the same time.
Soul beasts weren’t like humans, and the only distinguishment they could tell was between things they could eat and things they couldn’t. This Scarletfire Monkey wasn’t a ten thousand year soul beast yet, as its fur wasn’t completely golden-red, but it had at least five thousand years of cultivation. Their strength as a herd allowed them to inhabit the Hybrid Region’s outer regions.
The other Scarletfire Monkeys leapt from their trees when their monkey king launched its attack. Accompanied by their immense speeds, sphere after sphere of fire descended from the sky like a meteor shower as they fired on the entire company.
Mo Feiyun grunted coldly, and thick misty energies expanded outwards. Uncountable missiles condensed from air shot out in all directions in the next moment, and immediately dispelled almost all of the fireballs raining down from the sky. The sphere of mist in front of him subsequently materialized into the shape of a hand, and he grabbed the Scarletfire Monkey King’s enormous fireball.
The enormous fireball burned violently and swiftly ate away at the mist energy. However, the giant hand formed by the mist energy swiftly closed up, and the fireball was shattered into pieces. Sparks flew in all directions as they dissipated in the air.
Nobody knew if Mo Feiyun did it on purpose, but when he was dispelling most of the Scarletfire Monkeys’ attacks, a single fireball broke through his defenses—and this fireball was going straight for Huo Yuhao and his friends.
A vibrant pair of blue wings extended in midair. The blue hues were as pure as the sky, and their color immediately became the center of attention. Golden light patterns glimmered, and this slim figure flickered faintly while blades of light shimmered from the wings. The descending fireball was slashed in two, and flew off into the distance.