By the time they arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest, the relationship between Bai Chen and Ning Tian had already become quite friendly.
However, when Ning Tian stepped out of the carriage and saw the vast forest stretching endlessly before them, her expression inevitably tightened.
Whether by instinct or something else, she subconsciously felt that the forest before her was extremely dangerous.
Bai Chen, on the other hand, felt a bit nostalgic.
The version of him from Douluo I hadn't even left the Star Dou Great Forest yet, and now the version from Douluo II had arrived here as well.
Last time he had been carried into the forest by the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
This time, at least he had a Titled Douluo bodyguard.
With Hua Tianyu's protection and Ning Jingchen's support abilities, even if they encountered a ferocious beast, they might still have a chance of escaping.
Besides, their goal this time was only to hunt a thousand-year soul beast.
To find such prey, they only needed to search the outer or mixed regions of the Star Dou Great Forest.
After a short rest, the four of them entered the forest together.
Not long after walking inside, they encountered their first group of soul beasts.
It was a pack of Wind Wolves, numbering several dozen. They emerged from behind the trees, their eyes filled with greed as they stared at the four humans.
Since Bai Chen and the others had not yet gone very deep into the forest, the wolves were clearly low-level.
Most were ten-year soul beasts, with only three reaching the hundred-year level.
Against enemies of this level, even without Hua Tianyu and Ning Jingchen's protection, Bai Chen himself could handle them.
"Hmph."
Seeing this, Hua Tianyu snorted coldly.
He stepped forward and said sternly:
"Get lost."
The aura of a Titled Douluo erupted instantly.
The wolves immediately whimpered in fear and fled in panic.
For ordinary soul masters, this actually wasn't the best choice.
The Star Dou Great Forest followed the law of survival of the fittest. Soul beasts would never feel grateful for mercy.
Letting them go could sometimes lead to trouble.
In the original story, when Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao entered the forest to hunt soul rings, they spared a thousand-year soul beast out of kindness.
Soon afterward, they were attacked by a ten-thousand-year soul beast.
Fortunately for them, they were the protagonists.
If it had been weaker soul masters, they might have already died.
However, such concerns didn't matter much for Bai Chen's group.
If scaring away a few ten-year soul beasts somehow attracted a ferocious beast, then they could only consider themselves unlucky.
As long as their safety was guaranteed, killing fewer soul beasts was still preferable.
They continued deeper into the forest.
Soon, they encountered something unexpected.
"Th-this is…"
Looking at the massive black bear before them, Ning Jingchen turned excitedly to Hua Tianyu.
"Elder Hua… is that a Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear?"
"Yes!"
Hua Tianyu was clearly excited as well.
"And its cultivation is around two thousand years. Bai Chen can absorb it perfectly!"
"…"
Hearing their conversation, a sudden thought flashed through Bai Chen's mind.
A two-thousand-year Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear…
There had been one exactly like that in the Douluo II original story.
That very beast had produced the incredibly valuable Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear Right Palm Bone.
If this really was that same soul beast…
Then Bai Chen's luck was simply unbelievable.
Clearly, Hua Tianyu and Ning Jingchen were thinking the same thing.
Hua Tianyu handed Bai Chen a small knife.
"Child, get ready. Be prepared to deliver the finishing blow."
"There may not be a soul beast more suitable for you than this one."
Without waiting for Bai Chen's reply, Hua Tianyu rushed forward.
His nine soul rings appeared instantly—two yellow, two purple, and five black.
The Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear, which had been strolling arrogantly moments before, suddenly hesitated.
It roared threateningly.
Seeing Hua Tianyu continue advancing without pause, it raised its massive claws as dark golden energy surged from its body.
The Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear was indeed terrifying.
Even though it only had a thousand years of cultivation, its combat strength could rival many ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
Unfortunately for it, its opponent was a Level 94 Titled Douluo.
Even a ten-thousand-year Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear would not be able to defeat Hua Tianyu—let alone this thousand-year one.
Two lights appeared beside Hua Tianyu.
One blue, one green.
The blue light landed on the bear and instantly transformed into a blue crystal prison, immobilizing it completely.
The green light turned into several emerald blades, piercing through multiple parts of the bear's body and pinning it firmly to the ground.
"Bai Chen, come!"
Hearing Hua Tianyu's call, Bai Chen did not hesitate.
He rushed forward, raised the knife in his hand, and stabbed directly into the bear's throat.
Even for Bai Chen, piercing the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear's hide required significant effort.
Finally—
the beast stopped breathing.
A purple soul ring slowly rose from its body, glowing with a brilliant light.
"Child, begin absorbing it," Hua Tianyu said.
"Remember to activate your domain while absorbing."
Although the soul ring was only two thousand years old, absorbing it would be almost as difficult as absorbing a three-thousand-year soul ring.
Fortunately, Bai Chen's endurance—especially after activating his domain—was already comparable to that of a four-ring Soul Ancestor.
Absorbing this ring should not be a problem.
Bai Chen sat down cross-legged.
A black-gold aura spread out around him as the Dominion Domain unfolded.
He began absorbing the soul ring.
The energy from the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear was fierce and violent.
The moment it entered his body, it rampaged wildly, as if trying to tear him apart from within.
But something unexpected happened.
Faced with the provocation of the bear's bloodline aura, the Dominion Domain reacted on its own.
Golden rings of energy flowed inward.
A powerful force surged through Bai Chen's body and instantly suppressed the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear's bloodline aura.
The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was a being that could ignore even the bloodline suppression of the Golden Dragon King.
Compared to that, the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear's bloodline was insignificant.
Trying to challenge it was almost laughable.
As a result, the pressure on Bai Chen suddenly disappeared.
The rest of the absorption process proceeded with almost no pain at all.
Clearly, this was not only due to his powerful body.
The Dominion Domain's suppression of soul beast bloodlines had also played a crucial role.
Bai Chen silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Originally, he had been worried that he might fail to absorb the external soul bone of the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear.
He had even considered waiting until he was stronger before attempting it.
But now it seemed he had worried unnecessarily.
The Dominion Domain did far more than enhance physical strength.
Its suppression over soul beast bloodlines was equally terrifying.