As Xu Yang kept staring at the trio approaching in the distance, Dugu Yan glanced at him curiously.
"Xu Yang, what's so special about those three? Aside from that middle-aged man with the hawk-like nose—I can't see through his strength—but those two little kids barely look like they've even stepped into Soul Master territory."
"It's nothing," Xu Yang replied, shaking his head. "They just reminded me of something."
He'd suddenly recalled: Shrek Academy was located right here in Soto City.
Even though he had no real interest in the so-called "protagonists" from the original story, Xu Yang couldn't deny he was mildly curious about the place. Sure, Tang San and the Grandmaster were questionable in terms of morality and worldview, but since he was now part of this world, a glimpse of the original story's people and events did hold some appeal.
"Oh."
Seeing that Xu Yang didn't elaborate, Dugu Yan didn't ask further.
Her feelings toward Xu Yang were complicated. She could say with certainty that she loved him—but at the same time, she didn't want to share him with anyone else. That tension was why their relationship remained stuck in a state of ambiguity.
However, after Xu Yang had risked his life to save her, her heart had softened just a bit.
After all, in this world, three wives and four concubines wasn't uncommon.
Xu Yang, of course, had no idea what was running through her mind. After a brief moment of contemplation, he decided—
Forget it. Not going.
Shrek Academy was nothing but a glorified village. There wasn't much to see. Better to spend that time forging new Soul Tool components.
After finishing their meal, Xu Yang and Dugu Yan returned to the hotel.
Ning Haiyan and Dugu Bo still needed more time to recover. Xu Yang figured he should use the downtime to produce another batch of ammunition—after all, the last battle had consumed a considerable amount.
Two Weeks Later
Xu Yang had fully recovered, and both Ning Haiyan and Dugu Bo had mostly healed—well enough that their combat strength was no longer impacted.
The group set out once again for the Star Dou Forest—this time joined by Gu Rong, a Super Douluo.
They hadn't spent the past month only healing; they'd also hired local Soul Hunting teams in Soto City to help locate a group of Three-Tailed Fire Crow. After weeks of tracking, they finally found a trail.
With a confirmed location, there was no need to blindly search through the forest. They could head straight in.
It took them less than two days to reach a part of the forest near the core region—where the Fire Crows nested.
This section of the forest was vastly different from the rest of Star Dou. The trees here were crowned with fiery red maple leaves, their canopies resembling flames.
The Fire Crows had built their nests high in these red maples, cawing and flapping as they darted through the air.
Perched on a tall tree just outside the maple grove, Xu Yang and the others carefully observed the Three-Tailed Fire Crow group, scanning for their king.
"Gold light?"
A flash of golden light caught Xu Yang's eye—but it disappeared so fast he thought it must have been an illusion. The entire forest was ablaze with red, after all. Gold shouldn't exist in this color range.
But soon he realized—he hadn't been mistaken. His spiritual perception was far too refined for hallucinations.
He reached into his storage pouch and pulled out his custom monocular lens, used for crafting Soul Tools. The lens could magnify his vision several-fold.
Through it, he finally spotted it—a golden Fire Crow, perched on a massive tree in the heart of the maple forest, visibly distinct from the rest of the flock.
This Fire Crow was over three meters long, with three equally long tails, indicating it had cultivated for at least 30,000 years.
"Grandpa Gu, look over there—one thousand meters to the front left. That golden Fire Crow—isn't that a mutated species?" Xu Yang asked excitedly, pointing toward the bird.
Compared to the regular Fire Crow King, this mutated Fire Crow was clearly a better fit for him.
In the soul beast world, mutation often signaled strength—a sign of latent bloodline awakening. This Fire Crow had a much richer Golden Crow bloodline, which was likely the reason for its golden appearance.
Gu Rong followed Xu Yang's gaze and quickly spotted the hidden golden Fire Crow. But instead of excitement, a frown crept across his face.
"Yang'er, I recommend you go for the nearby Three-Tailed Fire Crow King instead. Leave that mutated one alone. The spiritual pressure it's releasing far exceeds that of a 30,000-year beast. Your current spiritual strength isn't enough to handle it."
Mutation usually meant enhanced strength. Judging by its aura and spirit energy density, Gu Rong estimated that golden Fire Crow to be equivalent to a 40,000-year soul beast—well beyond what Xu Yang could safely absorb.
While Xu Yang's body could withstand it, his spiritual strenght couldn't.
As a Titled Douluo, Gu Rong had more experience absorbing Soul Rings than most. After reaching the 10,000-year level, every Soul Ring pushed a Soul Master to the brink of life and death due to the spiritual impact.
That's why most Soul Masters opted to absorb just under their limit, rather than pushing to the extreme.
Even Gu Rong himself had chosen a 90,000-year beast for his ninth ring—not because the clan lacked a 100,000-year option, but because he wasn't confident he could endure the mental strain. Sword Douluo Chen Xin had made the same decision.
The spiritual backlash of a 100,000-year beast was extreme. Without sufficient mental fortitude, even a near-Titled Douluo could be torn apart from within.
That's why most ninth rings in today's world capped out at 90,000 years—and why so few Titled Douluo had absorbed 100,000-year Soul Rings.
"Spiritual Power, huh…"
Xu Yang immediately thought of a rare item he'd stashed in his Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse:
Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew.
Said to grant Fiery Golden Eyes capable of seeing through all illusions, this dew also had another potent effect—massively boosting spiritual power.
In the original story, Tang San used this dew to elevate his Purple Demon Eyes to the Microcosm Realm, bringing his spiritual power up to the Soul Douluo level—a fact later confirmed by Tang Hao.
Xu Yang believed that his own spiritual foundation was at least equal to Tang San's at that time. While he didn't possess a spiritual eye technique to absorb the dew perfectly, reaching Soul Saint should be no problem.
More importantly—he didn't want to miss this chance.
The moment he saw that mutated Fire Crow, he had a strong intuition: this beast could dramatically improve his cultivation speed.
It might even counteract the debuff he'd been suffering since advancing to the Soul Ancestor rank—slowing his progress.
The Three-Tailed Fire Crow was known for absorbing sun power with exceptional efficiency. That was precisely why he had chosen this soul beast line from the start.
Now that his cultivation speed was starting to slow, Xu Yang had long been seeking ways to offset the drag. And to him, the most viable method was to speed up his training through absorption-based enhancements.
If he could shorten the slow phase and accelerate his breakthrough to Soul Saint, then once the debuff lifted, his training speed would skyrocket—maybe even surpass that of elite talents.
After all, Ultimate Soul Masters only began to show their true superiority after reaching Soul saint and beyond. Their cultivation speeds would then completely outpace ordinary Soul Masters—sometimes returning to Soul Ancestor-level growth rates despite being several ranks higher.