Douluo: Traveling Through a Peerless World, Journey in Time and Space

Shi Yu shrugged."See? I wasn't wrong."

"Just lucky," Xu Sanshi grumbled, unwilling to admit Shi Yu's accurate judgment.

Beibei crushed the venomous snake with his foot and tossed its body aside. A white ten-year soul ring floated up from it.

"In the Star Dou Great Forest, it's not just the powerful, high-age soul beasts we need to watch out for," Beibei said seriously. "Even weak soul beasts can be deadly."

"Take that tree snake, for example—it's incredibly hard to detect when it's clinging to a tree. If Shi Yu hadn't warned you just now, you might have been bitten."

"And even though that tree snake is less than a hundred years old, its poison is potent enough to kill a quasi-Soul Sect like you."

"You're only alive now thanks to Shi Yu. And this is your attitude?"Zhang Lexuan frowned, her tone sharp, not giving Xu Sanshi any face.

"I…" Xu Sanshi wanted to retort that even without Shi Yu's warning, he would've been fine.

But when he saw Zhang Lexuan's stern expression, the words stuck in his throat. He turned to glare at Shi Yu instead.

Shi Yu just looked back expectantly, clearly waiting for a "thank you."

"…Thank you very much," Xu Sanshi said reluctantly, forced by Zhang Lexuan's presence.

Shi Yu didn't respond, which made Xu Sanshi grit his teeth.This guy didn't even bother to pretend to be polite?

"Your judgment is quite reliable," Zhang Lexuan said to Shi Yu. "From now on, I'll rely on you to stay alert. If you sense anything strange, say it immediately. Better to be overly cautious than caught off guard."

After her own painful lessons in the Star Dou Forest, Zhang Lexuan had become extremely vigilant. Even as a Soul Saint, she knew full well this forest could swallow you alive—even a Titled Douluo had to tread carefully here.

"Okay." Shi Yu nodded, accepting the task.

Although Zhang Lexuan had stronger spiritual power, her perception wasn't as effective as Shi Yu's—mainly because his unique spatial sense allowed him to detect anomalies the others couldn't.

Unknowingly, half a day had passed since they entered the forest.

They had encountered many soul beasts—some ten-year, some hundred-year, even a few thousand-year ones.

But none had been suitable as soul ring candidates.

Beibei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan all needed soul beasts at the four- to five-thousand-year level, and such soul beasts were rare in this part of the forest.

Shi Yu had seen several soul beasts that could work for him—but none had the right attributes. So far, he hadn't encountered even a soul beast close to having space-related powers.

After a short rest and a bit of dry food, the group continued their search.

Priority was given to finding rings for Beibei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan.Shi Yu's spirit ring would have to wait—finding a space attribute soul beast was simply too difficult.

A few hours later…

"Roar!"A Lightning Wolf leapt out from the shadows, lunging directly at Beibei.

It seemed drawn to him, as if it wanted to compete with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul.

Beibei didn't flinch. His arm transformed into a dragon's claw, lightning flashing as he clashed repeatedly with the wolf.

But Beibei was at a disadvantage.The Lightning Wolf was over 5,000 years old—its strength and agility were formidable. Beibei alone couldn't take it down.

Thankfully, he wasn't alone.

Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan quickly joined the battle.

Shi Yu stood next to Zhang Lexuan, not participating—he only had one soul ring and wasn't suited for this fight.

Zhang Lexuan didn't step in either. Her job was protection, and unless things reached a crisis point, she wouldn't interfere.

Letting them face such a soul beast alone was part of their training.Shrek Academy didn't raise flowers in a greenhouse.

Shi Yu's focus, however, was on Jiang Nannan—someone he already knew and cared about.

"Sister Nannan, look out!"Shi Yu's expression changed when he saw the Lightning Wolf seize an opening and pounce toward her.

Without thinking, his yellow soul ring lit up beneath his feet—he activated his first soul skill: Flight.

Jiang Nannan had sensed the danger.The Lightning Wolf's pressure made her body go numb with lightning, and she had just begun to activate her Teleportation skill—

But suddenly, her body lifted off the ground, shooting upward so fast she panicked.

She rose 20 to 30 meters into the air before gradually slowing down and hovering.

"…What just happened?"She was confused for a moment, then quickly understood—and turned to look at Shi Yu.

He smiled gently at her, silently telling her everything was okay.

Jiang Nannan smiled back instinctively, her heart warming.Even though she could've dodged on her own, Shi Yu's help still touched her.

Zhang Lexuan watched with surprise, her eyes flicking between Jiang Nannan floating in the air and Shi Yu on the ground.

"Can your soul skill keep someone else suspended in the air?" she asked.

"As long as I want to—and as long as I have soul power—it's possible," Shi Yu answered.

"Then you can let your teammates fly?" Zhang Lexuan asked in amazement. "Can you also make enemies float off the ground?"

"…Probably," Shi Yu replied with a nod.

"This skill is incredibly useful if applied well," Zhang Lexuan praised him sincerely, already envisioning various strategic uses.

Being able to force enemies into the air or give allies the ability to fly could be a game-changer.

"I told you not to touch Nannan!"Xu Sanshi finally snapped out of it, roaring as he slammed his Xuanming Turtle Shell Shield straight into the Lightning Wolf.

He was furious—not just at the wolf, but at himself.

Shi Yu had just stolen the spotlight, saving Jiang Nannan right in front of him.

And what had Xu Sanshi done?Nothing.

"Boom!"Fueled by rage, he knocked the Lightning Wolf away.

Beibei and Xu Sanshi then began attacking in unison, their moves flowing together seamlessly.Their teamwork proved deadly.

After more than ten minutes of intense fighting, they finally brought the Lightning Wolf down. A purple soul ring emerged above its corpse.

Following a short break, Beibei sat down and began absorbing the ring.

"Nannan, are you okay?"Xu Sanshi hurried over to show concern.

"Don't call me that," Jiang Nannan replied coldly. "Please use my full name."

She brushed past him and approached Shi Yu instead.

"Thanks for helping me just now," she said with a warm smile.

"No need to be so polite," Shi Yu smiled back. "Honestly, even if I hadn't done anything, you probably could've handled it yourself. You looked pretty calm back there."

Jiang Nannan didn't deny it—she could've escaped—but his effort had moved her.

Xu Sanshi stood off to the side, fuming.Jiang Nannan was cold as ice to him, but turned around and smiled sweetly at Shi Yu?

He couldn't take it anymore.

"Shi Yu, stay away from Nannan!"Xu Sanshi couldn't help but shout, warning through clenched teeth.