The Star Dou Great Forest was one of the largest—and most dangerous—gathering grounds for Spirit Beasts on the Douluo Continent.
Ancient trees towered sky-high, blotting out the sun. Thick vines coiled around trunks like massive pythons, and the air carried a pure, untouched freshness.
"So this is the legendary Star Dou Great Forest… not bad at all."
Bai Mu stretched lazily. The moment he stepped inside, his mind felt noticeably clearer.
"Wuu~"
Zygarde, currently in its Core Form, jumped off Bai Mu's shoulder and transformed back into its Dragon Hound shape. Its eyes gleamed as it scanned the surroundings.
Here, every cell in its body seemed to come alive.
"Little Soft, lead the way."
"Woof~"
Activating Extreme Speed, Zygarde smashed through weeds and branches, carving out a shaded path ahead.
"Let's see just how deep the waters of the Star Dou Great Forest really are."
With a confident smile, Bai Mu strode forward.
Not long after entering, he could sense several greedy gazes locking onto him from the shadows.
He ignored them and continued walking at an unhurried pace.
Suddenly, dozens of green points of light appeared deep within the jungle.
A moment later, a pack of iron-gray wolves—each nearly 1.6 meters long—emerged silently.
Those eerie green lights were their eyes.
"A pack of several-hundred-year-old Nether Wolves?"
Bai Mu smiled, his pace never slowing, as though they didn't exist at all.
"Awoo—!"
With a sharp howl, the wolves surged forward like a rolling wave of shadows!
"Little Soft, Heavy Stomp!"
"Awoo!"
Zygarde instantly returned to Bai Mu's side. Slamming its foot down, it unleashed a terrifying shockwave in all directions.
Boom!
Pain shot through the wolves' limbs as their bodies went numb. Their speed plummeted, and a crushing pressure descended upon them.
"Awoo?!"
In their eyes, the Dragon Hound before them no longer looked ordinary—it had become a fearsome, towering dragon.
"Awoo—wa—!"
In an instant, the Nether Wolf pack scattered in panic, fleeing in all directions.
"Well done—"
Whoosh!
Before Bai Mu could finish praising it, a thousand-year Shadow Leopard suddenly lunged out from the darkness.
Its speed was astonishing. Shadow-wreathed claws slashed straight toward Bai Mu's throat.
Bai Mu merely glanced at it, his expression unchanged.
"Extreme Speed."
Flash!
A green-and-white streak shot past. Before the Shadow Leopard could strike, it was smashed away midair.
Thud!
The beast crashed through a massive tree before collapsing to the ground, twitching and coughing up blood.
"Tsk. I haven't even gone deep yet, and a thousand-year Spirit Beast is already here to greet me. I really am popular."
Bai Mu gave it a brief glance, then lost interest.
"Too bad its age is too low. Otherwise, I might've considered using it to resonate with a Ghost-type move."
According to his current plan, Bai Mu intended for his third spirit ring to be a ten-thousand-year one.
After all, his second spirit ring was already five thousand years old. Unless he encountered a Spirit Beast capable of resonating with a special move—or one that could provide an external Spirit Bone—he had no intention of settling.
As for which Spirit Beast, and which move…
He decided to let fate choose.
The only concern was—
"I wonder if I can withstand the soul shock from a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast."
Physically, he was confident. But mental force was another matter.
"Whatever. I'll just practice controlling Substitute more. My mental strength will grow with use."
Making up his mind, Bai Mu summoned a Substitute and continued deeper into the forest while training.
He didn't actively hunt specific Spirit Beasts. Whatever he encountered became a sparring partner.
If the rank was high, Zygarde took charge.
If it was low, the human and hound Substitutes swarmed together.
By day, they hunted Spirit Beasts to sharpen combat instincts. By night, Bai Mu practiced Calm Mind, consolidating his spirit power.
Without realizing it, both man and hound grew rapidly stronger through real combat. Their control over Spirit Abilities and moves became increasingly refined.
Time passed quietly.
Bai Mu's rank remained steady at Rank 30, his spirit power dense and stable. Zygarde, meanwhile, finished absorbing the demonic power of the Immortal Herb and condensed another Z-Cell.
One afternoon, while resting beside a stream and preparing to continue the search, Zygarde suddenly issued a warning:
I sense an abnormal fluctuation two kilometers ahead.
"Abnormal? Let's take a look."
Bai Mu immediately concealed his presence and advanced cautiously with Zygarde.
After passing through a vine-choked area, both of them froze.
Before them lay the massive corpse of a bear-type Spirit Beast.
Its thick fur shimmered with a silvery sheen, and a basin-sized puncture wound gaped in its chest. Judging by its remains, the beast had stood at least eight meters tall in life.
"A ten-thousand-year Iron-Backed Pale Bear?"
Bai Mu stepped closer, barely recognizing the formidable Spirit Beast known for its balanced offense and defense.
Even in death, it radiated oppression.
Yet the corpse itself was disturbing.
Its body was shriveled like dead wood, fur dull and dry—like something that had been air-dried for decades.
But the ground around it was stained with blood. The surrounding trees were broken, and the tracks were chaotic, clearly indicating a fierce battle had taken place not long ago.
More importantly—
"The forest is humid. Even if it didn't rot, why hasn't the corpse been eaten by other Spirit Beasts?"
Bai Mu crouched down to inspect it.
The bones crumbled at the slightest touch. The teeth were aged and brittle, many already fallen out. The entire body exuded an aura of decay.
This was absolutely not a normal death.
"It's like the corpse aged decades in an instant…"
A rumor Water Cloud Heart had once mentioned in Tianshui City surfaced in his mind.
Legend spoke of a Spirit Beast with massive tusks that fed on the time of other Spirit Beasts.
It wielded the power of time itself, strengthening by plundering the remaining lifespan of heavily wounded prey. Any Spirit Beast it killed would rapidly shrivel, as though air-dried over decades.
That Spirit Beast was known as the Tusk Hunter.
"Hunting time… the power of time."
Bai Mu's eyes lit up.
"Spirit Beasts with time attributes are incredibly rare. Could it grant a special Spirit Ability—or resonate with an extraordinary move?"
Excited, he grabbed Zygarde's head and rubbed it hard.
"Little Soft, see if you can track its aura."
The aura is faint and elusive. It's hard to trace, Zygarde replied.
But it wasn't discouraged.
If it uses that ability again, I should be able to sense it from much farther away.
"That's enough. Use this spot as the center—send the Substitutes to search in all directions."
With a clear objective, Bai Mu was full of energy.
I can release my cells for regional monitoring, Zygarde added.
"Perfect. Let's do it."
One day later, Bai Mu discovered a second mummified corpse five kilometers away—a six-thousand-year Storm Devil Wolf.
Three days later, a third—an almost nine-thousand-year Steel-Armored Rhino.
All of them bore puncture wounds and were scattered across different regions.
Finally, on the evening of the seventh day, as the sunset's afterglow filtered through the forest canopy—
Bai Mu found his target.