Chapter 4: Breakthrough to the Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast
The next day.
The first rays of dawn cast their gentle glow over the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest. Chen Xiaoming lazily swayed one of his branches, mimicking a stretch.
"Another beautiful day."
Leaves rustled in the morning breeze, and the air was particularly fresh.
"Let me see how much experience I've accumulated."
With a thought, the attribute panel of the Breathing System emerged in his mind.
...
Host: Chen Xiaoming
Age: 26
Soul Beast: Azurewood Tree
Soul Power: 100 Years (+) 39807000/1000000
Items: None
Experience Points: 39807000
...
Glancing at the nearly forty million experience points, Chen Xiaoming's mood brightened further.
"Sigh, just forty million experience points... should I level up or not?"
He let out a deep sigh, only to hear the familiar system prompt.
Ding!
[You took a deep breath, experience +100000.]
Chen Xiaoming glanced at the panel. Another hundred thousand experience points. With a tap on the [+] button next to his soul power, a flash of light flickered, updating the panel.
Soul Power: 101 Years (+) 38857000/1000000
"Huh? The experience required hasn't increased?"
He stared at the unchanged experience requirement in surprise, then smiled with delight.
If leveling up always required just one million experience points, earning forty million daily would translate into forty levels a day—twelve hundred years of soul power a month. Reaching the ten thousand year soul beast rank would only take nine months.
The thought of advancing so quickly filled Chen Xiaoming with glee—until reality hit.
Nine months for ten thousand years... but what about a hundred thousand years? Wouldn't that take at least eight years?
Eight years of standing still as a tree?
His branches trembled violently, thrashing against his own canopy in frustration. Even scratching his head was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Not far away, two verdant bamboo soul beasts—both century-old plants, a husband and wife pair—watched in confusion.
"Husband, what's wrong with that Azurewood Tree?" the female bamboo asked.
The male bamboo, relying on his profound wisdom, pondered the question.
"Wife, I think he's gone mad. Let's keep our distance... I can't bear to see you hurt."
"Alright, dear."
The female bamboo shook her head sympathetically. She'd watched the Azurewood Tree grow for a year—only to see him finally reach the century-old rank and then lose his mind.
As the bamboo couple shuffled away, Chen Xiaoming's branches lashed furiously.
"Hey! You two think I can't hear you? Get back here if you dare!"
After venting, he finally calmed down, resigning himself to his fate.
"Fine... eight years it is. I'm just a tree—I can wait."
He sighed, gazing up at the blue sky.
"I wonder what era of Douluo Continent I'm in?"
Unable to move, he was less free than the affectionate bamboo couple. His thoughts drifted to the familiar names from his past life—Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing—wondering what they might look like.
One year later.
A year passed, a fleeting moment for the soul beasts of Star Dou Forest.
Chen Xiaoming remained a century-old soul beast, rooted in the same spot without increasing his cultivation.
His days were filled with gazing at the sky and teasing passing weak soul beasts with his branches. Occasionally, soul masters targeted him—but they all became part of the forest's fertile soil.
With the frequency of soul master intrusions increasing, Chen Xiaoming decided it was time to move deeper into the forest.
Summoning the attribute panel, he confirmed his progress.
...
Host: Chen Xiaoming
Age: 27
Soul Beast: Azurewood Tree
Soul Power: 101 Years (+) 14180257000/1000000
Items: None
Experience Points: 14180257000
...
He'd amassed over fourteen billion experience points, having held back from upgrading out of caution. But the rising danger in the forest's outer perimeter left him no choice.
"Let's begin."
With a deep breath—
Ding!
[You took a deep breath, experience +100000.]
Tapping the [+] button, Chen Xiaoming's soul power skyrocketed.
102 Years... 200 Years... 300 Years... 1000 Years... 2000 Years... 3000 Years... 8000 Years... 9000 Years... 9999 Years!
In the blink of an eye, Chen Xiaoming's soul power surged like a rollercoaster, breaking through from a hundred-year soul beast to a thousand-year soul beast.
Then, from a thousand-year soul beast, it skyrocketed directly to a nine-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine-year soul beast — just one final step away from ascending to the ten-thousand-year soul beast level.
"Phew, that was close... at least the experience points didn't increase."
Glancing at the experience bar, which still displayed one million points, Chen Xiaoming breathed a sigh of relief.
Despite the breakthrough to the thousand-year soul beast stage, he still couldn't move. Now, his only hope lay in reaching the ten-thousand-year soul beast level.
With a hint of trepidation, he tapped on the soul power attribute. A flash of radiant light streaked across the panel, and the attribute display shifted.
Simultaneously, an incomparably vast wave of soul power surged into Chen Xiaoming's body.
His towering figure, which had already grown to around ten meters after the previous breakthrough, once again stretched upward — in the blink of an eye, reaching a staggering fifteen meters.
His thick branches swelled, doubling in size, while the lush foliage grew even denser, forming a verdant canopy.
Yet, what caught Chen Xiaoming's attention the most was his root system.
As the overwhelming soul power coursed through him, his roots underwent an earth-shaking transformation. The expansive network that had spread outwards now began to retract.
One hundred meters... ninety meters... fifty meters... thirty meters.
Nearly two-thirds of the roots had withdrawn, but in exchange, the previously slender root tendrils had thickened and grown far more robust.
Rows of barbs lined the roots, each tipped with minuscule openings that greedily absorbed the surrounding soul power — their efficiency now countless times faster than before.
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