Douluo; Zhongli Adventures in Mortal World with Paimon

"???"

Paimon's small head, filled with big question marks and eyes were full of confusion.

"Zhongli, do you mean we should wait for Qinghe to leave before we set off?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

Paimon found this approach hard to understand.

"Xue Qinghe" was going to hunt spirit beasts, while they were heading to the Star Dou Forest. There was no conflict in their plans, so why wait for the other party to leave before following them?

Wait, follow them?

Soon enough, Paimon's suspicion was confirmed.

"Zhongli, why are we secretly following Qinghe?"

"Two days ago, we agreed that you'd speak less on this trip."

"Darn it!"

Paimon stomped her foot, crossed her arms, and, with a huff she fell silent.

As Zhongli had guessed, "Xue Qinghe's" actions were even more complicated.

She had actually found a substitute to mislead others, sending "her people" to the Sunset Forest to hunt spirit beasts.

Meanwhile, the real Xue Qinghe mingled with the crowd, entering the Sunset Forest and soon reverting to her true form.

"Oh my, Qinghe is actually a girl!"

"And she's quite good-looking!"

Zhongli's forehead was covered in black lines, but fortunately, he had secretly used his power to form an invisible barrier around them, preventing Paimon's voice from being heard outside.

"Miss, do you need assistance from this subordinate?"

At this moment, an old man who appeared to be in his seventies or eighties emerged from the shadows. He was very strong, but his face was quite filled with scars.

He nearly scared Paimon out of her wits.

The Star Dou Forest was quite a distance from Heaven Dou City, and even an ordinary Title Douluo would take a considerable amount of time to reach it at full speed.

Moreover, Qian Renxue was just a prospective Spirit Emperor.

Although she had the ability to fly, she dared not use her martial spirit openly.

The Spirit Hall had publicly declared that the former pope's daughter had died prematurely.

"Thank you, Uncle Ci xue, but that won't be necessary."

"It's been a long time since I left Heaven Dou City. Let me enjoy a bit of freedom."

Qian Renxue waved her hand, refusing Cixue's offer.

"Understood, miss!"

After saying this, Cixue retreated back into the shadows, only emerging if Qian Renxue faced mortal danger.

This was Qian Renxue's trial.

"Zhongli, did you know Qinghe was a girl all along?"

Paimon glanced sideways, her eyes narrowed, mouth curved upwards, speaking with disdain.

"Yes, I knew her true identity the moment I saw her."

"Darn it, you know everything! Why didn't you tell Paimon?"

"You didn't ask."

Paimon: "..."

This time, Paimon fell silent, her mouth slightly open, words on the tip of her tongue but unsaid.

The substitute for Xue Qinghe would stay in the Sunset Forest for about ten days. If Qian Renxue hadn't returned by then, they would head to the Star Dou Forest.

The Sunset Forest was where Zhongli and Paimon first arrived in Douluo Continent, it was somewhat familiar to them.

The two quietly followed behind Qian Renxue and Cixue. Even though Cixue was a Title Douluo, he didn't notice Zhongli and Paimon.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

The group finally arrived at the entrance of the Star Dou Forest.

The Star Dou Forest was the largest spirit beast forest on Douluo Continent, spanning across two empires.

Naturally, there were countless entrances.

Of course, entrances with stationed troops would be safer.

But Qian Renxue didn't choose such an entrance.

Upon entering the Star Dou Forest, Paimon couldn't help but look around.

Unlike the Sunset Forest, the trees in the Star Dou Forest were taller and denser.

Qian Renxue didn't linger on the outskirts, instead, she took out a map from her storage soul guide.

The map had several marked circles.

These circles indicated the locations of suitable spirit beasts for her sixth spirit ring.

Most spirit beasts had a strong sense of territory and rarely changed their domain.

Especially those over ten thousand years old.

With the help of the Spirit Hall, Qian Renxue didn't need to blindly search for spirit rings.

As she approached level sixty, many people had already scouted out the locations of suitable spirit beasts for her.

She just needed to go and kill them.

Qian Renxue didn't waste any time and ran straight towards the nearest marked location.

This was only the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest, where it was almost impossible to encounter spirit beasts that could threaten her, so she dared to run so recklessly.

Once in the inner area, her speed would naturally slow down considerably.

As for the core area, caution and strength were necessary.

The core area was inhabited by spirit beasts almost exclusively over ten thousand years old. Encountering spirit beasts over fifty thousand years old was very possible.

Even a Spirit Douluo would turn tail and run when faced with spirit beasts over fifty thousand years old!

Zhongli and Paimon followed behind at a steady pace, occasionally encountering some weak ten-year or hundred-year spirit beasts.

"Zhongli, how do you distinguish the age of a spirit beast?"

At this moment, Paimon was examining a striped cat and asked Zhongli beside her.

Hearing this, Zhongli paused, thought for a moment, and said, "The simplest method is to look at the color of its spirit power."

"White represents ten years, yellow represents a hundred years, purple represents a thousand years, black represents ten thousand years, and red represents a hundred thousand years."

"This also corresponds to the age of spirit rings."

"Of course, this only gives a rough estimate. Distinguishing the exact age is more difficult."

"For example, two black spirit rings might both be black, but one could be ten thousand years old, while the other is eighty or ninety thousand years old."

"Ordinary people look at the color, while strong individuals directly sense the energy fluctuations..."

The energy contained within spirit rings of the same color varies, resulting in slight differences in appearance.

The more energy it contains, the deeper the color of the spirit ring, with those nearing the next stage showing hints of the next color.

For example, a black ring tinged with red is close to a hundred thousand years old.

Yellow tinged with purple indicates a ring that's over nine hundred years old, nearing a thousand years.

"This cat's spirit power is white, so it's a ten-year spirit beast?"

"Yes, to be precise, it's close to breaking through to a hundred years."

"Look, there's a hint of yellow in its spirit power, a sign of its impending breakthrough to a hundred years."

"Oh, it's so hard to understand."

"Let's keep following Qinghe; she seems to be in a hurry."

"I never thought tracking someone could be so interesting. Next time, we should pick another target..."

Zhongli: "..."

'I told you to read more books, but you insisted on raising pigs.'

Shaking his head, Zhongli realized Paimon's interest in spirit beasts and spirit rings was fleeting and that she had no intention of delving deeper.

Zhongli wasn't disappointed. If he had lived as happily as Paimon all those years, the erosion in Teyvat might have been delayed for many years.

"Let's go, keep up. She's reached the inner area."