Chapter -16 Master! Ye Chen in in danger.

Chapter 16:

The match's outcome was clear, and Tang San stood there feeling a bit down as he looked at Ye Chen, feeling a mix of helplessness and confusion. 

"How can this be? I thought my talent was way stronger than his!" 

He had been born with full soul power, while Ye Chen only had a level 1 innate soul power. By all logic, he should have been progressing much faster than Ye Chen, but reality had thrown him a curveball. 

Reflecting on the six years since they last met, Tang San had imagined that when they reunited, he would be considerate of Ye Chen's feelings and take it easy on him, ensuring he didn't lose too badly. But now, everything had turned out completely different from what he had envisioned. 

"Are you okay, brother Tang san?" Xiao Wu came over to comfort him. "A little setback doesn't mean you won't succeed in the future. Just keep pushing yourself, and you'll definitely surpass Ye Chen one day!" 

"When did you become the one to cheer me up?" Tang San chuckled, giving Xiao Wu a playful pat on the head. "I'm not upset, just a bit frustrated. I believe in myself!" 

He turned his left hand slightly, revealing his second martial soul, the Haotian Hammer. His confidence wasn't misplaced; he had come this far relying solely on his Blue Silver Grass martial soul. If he could one day absorb the soul ring of the Haotian Hammer, Ye Chen wouldn't stand a chance against him. 

If only Tang San knew that Ye Chen's cultivation was about to skyrocket, he would be in for a surprise. Ye Chen had just signed in for two goddesses, boosting his cultivation speed by 200%. If he kept completing sign-in tasks, he could ramp it up to 300%, 500%, or even 700%—the thought of reaching a whopping 1000% was mind-blowing! 

"Well, you better work twice as hard, Xiao San! I'm looking forward to an even more thrilling match next time!" Ye Chen said with a friendly smile, giving Tang San a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 

His gaze then landed on Dai Mubai, who was busy training nearby. Ye Chen thought to himself, "His soul power is almost overflowing; he really needs to break through soon." 

He had already obtained his first and second soul rings from a beginner's gift pack—a 1000-year soul ring and a 2000-year soul ring. Now, he needed to prepare to absorb a third soul ring. 

Even though Ye Chen wasn't really into gambling, he definitely didn't like the feeling of losing. 

"It's time to head to the Star Dou Forest; I hope I can find a suitable soul ring for myself." With determination, Ye Chen found Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing to let them know he was stepping out for a bit. 

"How long will you be gone? Can we come with you?" Ning Rongrong asked, her eyes filled with concern. 

Ye Chen playfully tapped her forehead and replied, "Why? Do you want to tag along? It's more important for you to focus on your training. Uncle Ning told me to take good care of you, and if you don't improve your soul power by the time I get back, don't blame me for giving you a little smack!" 

Hearing this, Ning Rongrong playfully wiggled her hips in front of him, as if to say, "Go ahead, I dare you!" with a cheeky grin. 

"Just be careful out there. Rongrong and I will be waiting for you back at the academy," Zhu Zhuqing said, her gaze on Ye Chen filled with a rare softness, wanting to say so much but finding it hard to express. 

"You take care too, and don't worry about me too much," Ye Chen replied with a gentle smile before waving goodbye and heading off towards the Star Dou Forest. He told them he was going to the Star Dou Forest to ease their worries; after all, he couldn't just absorb his third soul ring without a plan. 

Three days later, Flender returned to Shrek Academy with a middle-aged man. 

Tang San recognized him immediately and respectfully greeted, "Teacher!" 

Xiao Wu, seeing a familiar face, smiled sweetly and said, "Master!" 

"Mm!" 

Yu Xiaogang simply nodded, scanning the area as if looking for someone. 

At that moment, Flender called out to Zhao Wujie, "Where's Ye Chen? That kid hasn't gone off to nap again, has he? Bring him out so my old friend can see him." 

"Dean, he left the academy after finishing the match with Little San. I think he went to the Star Dou Forest to get his third soul ring," Zhao Wujie replied honestly. "But there's no need to worry; with his strength, hunting a soul beast over a thousand years old should be a piece of cake." 

"That's not right!" Master interjected. "Old Flender mentioned that Ye Chen's first and second soul rings are both a thousand years; do you really think the third one he's after would still be in that range?" 

Even though it was the first time Yu Xiaogang heard about Ye Chen's thousand-year soul rings, he found it hard to believe. But given the situation, he couldn't afford to take any chances. 

"Brother, you need to gather some people and head to the nearest Star Dou Forest right away; we have to find Ye Chen before it's too late!" 

Upon hearing this, Flender immediately realized the urgency and quickly took off with Zhao Wujie towards the nearest Star Dou Forest from the academy. 

Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing rushed over to find out more about the situation. 

In the end, Yu Xiaogang decided to take Rongrong, Zhuqing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu to the Star Dou Forest together. 

The Star Dou Forest is one of the most famous habitats for soul beasts in the Douluo Continent, stretching across the borders of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, and is a vast, untamed forest. 

Unlike the Star Dou Forest, which only has soul beasts under ten, a hundred, or a thousand years, the Star Dou Forest is home to many soul beasts over ten thousand years old, and even some legendary beings at the hundred thousand-year level. 

At that moment, Ye Chen had easily made his way through the outskirts and was venturing deeper into the forest. The closer he got to the center, the stronger the soul beasts he encountered became. 

In the outskirts, the strongest soul beast he had seen was only about a thousand years old, but as he entered the inner part of the forest, a three-thousand-year-old Fire Scale Winged Snake, equivalent to a Soul Master, blocked his path. 

This Fire Scale Winged Snake coiled around a tree trunk ahead, measuring about a hundred meters long, with a massive body and a pair of short wings that emitted purple flames, looking almost comical like a dinosaur. But its slight flapping sent waves of heat through the air. 

Its bright red tongue flicked out occasionally, and its vertical pupils were fixed intently on Ye Chen, as if sizing him up for lunch. 

Even though it was noon, the forest was shrouded in darkness; the dense, towering trees blocked out the sunlight, leaving only some peculiar glowing plants to light the way. 

Ye Chen stood on a branch of a giant tree, casually summoning the Seven Star Magic Abyss Sword, thinking that this soul beast had shown up just in time since he was feeling a bit peckish. 

Before the Winged Snake could make a move, Ye Chen took the initiative and launched an attack. He stepped down, vanishing into thin air and reappearing atop the snake's head, then struck forward with a powerful 'Heavy Sword Without Edge' move. 

The sword light, formed by six sword energies shaped like the character for 'kill', shot forward at high speed and struck the Fire Scale Winged Snake's head in an instant, causing it to howl in pain and roar towards the sky. This winged serpent was quite tough; after Ye Chen's attack, it only had a blood hole on its head, which wasn't fatal. 

Flapping its short purple flame wings, the fire-scaled winged serpent's abdomen suddenly swelled, and it spewed out a massive wave of purple flames from its mouth, creating a stunning spectacle. 

Seeing this, Ye Chen didn't back down; instead, he advanced, adopting a sword-drawing stance, and a whirlwind swept across the Demon Abyss as he fully drew his long sword. 

As soon as he activated his first martial soul skill, Wind-Cutting Slash, the massive purple flames rushing toward him were instantly sliced in half, flying harmlessly above his head and beneath his feet. 

In an instant, the semi-circular black wind blade generated by the Wind-Cutting Slash sliced through the fire-scaled winged serpent's neck, decapitating it. 

After landing back on the ground, Ye Chen intended to cut some meat to roast, but before he could approach the serpent's corpse, a gigantic claw suddenly descended from the sky, grabbing the fire-scaled winged serpent. 

"An ancient soul beast over ten thousand years old?"

Note : Guys, some power stones will be really helpful.

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