Douluo: Martial Soul White Tiger, I am the White Emperor of Heaven

Qian Renxue took out the fingernail-sized tracking soul tool and placed it in her palm. A thin silver thread slowly moved within its transparent casing, pointing southeast of the basin. "She is indeed in these mountains," Qian Renxue stared at the silver thread for a while, "at least thirty miles away, but the direction is clear. Tomorrow we'll follow this direction, adjusting as we go."

Su Chen reached out and took the soul tool, bringing it close to his eyes for close examination. The silver threads moved rhythmically, like a tiny magnetic needle slowly pointing in a fixed direction, occasionally trembling slightly as if sensing some disturbance. "Could it be affected by other soul power sources?" he asked.

“No,” Qian Renxue said, “this wisp of soul power comes from the original soul power of that test subject, making it highly unique. Even if other soul power sources are nearby, they cannot confuse its direction. Unless her soul power is completely drained or covered and sealed by some means, this soul tool will continue to follow her.”

Su Chen returned the soul tool to her, nodding thoughtfully. Chen Hao, sitting opposite her, yawned, his eyes slightly red, clearly not fully recovered from his physical exhaustion. Zhang Wan added a pine branch to the campfire, causing the flames to leap higher and illuminating a faint scar on her cheek—a cut from flying pebbles during the battle of Qingfeng Valley, now covered with a pale pink scab.

“We’ll take turns keeping watch tonight,” Qian Renxue said. “Chen Hao, you’ll keep watch for the first half of the night, then Zhang Wan will take over at midnight. Su Chen has an arm injury, so you won’t be on the shift. You should get some sleep.” Su Chen was about to say he was fine when Qian Renxue interrupted him: “Your mental exertion is greater than any of ours, don’t push yourself. Tomorrow, once we’re in the deeper zone, you’ll have plenty of time to be sober.”

Su Chen looked at her profile, illuminated by the firelight. The contours of her face appeared softer in the flickering light than during the day, but the determination in her eyes remained unwavering. He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and nodded.

Chen Hao went into his tent to sleep first, while Zhang Wan leaned against a pine tree root, closing her eyes to rest and wait for her shift to start the second half of the night. Su Chen sat by the campfire without moving, resting his right arm on his knee and feeling the splint through his sleeve. The itching at the broken bone was more pronounced than during the day, a sign that the bone was healing faster and that the bone-setting ointment was working.

Qian Renxue took out the map from her bundle and looked at it again, mentally reviewing the route she would take tomorrow. Then she put the map away and stood up. She walked to Su Chen's side and stood there, her gaze fixed on the mountain shadows swallowed by the night in the southeast of the basin. Her voice was soft: "Do you think we can find them—those living experimental subjects?"

Su Chen was silent for a moment. The firelight illuminated his face, reflecting two small, flickering orange-red flames in his pupils. "I don't know," he said, his tone almost cruelly honest, "but I know that if we don't go, they certainly won't survive. As long as we go, there's still a fifty percent chance."

Qian Renxue's lips twitched slightly, an expression that wasn't exactly a smile, but compared to her usual icy demeanor, it was a sign of warmth. "A 50% chance," she repeated, raising her head slightly to look at the Milky Way above. "Before, I only acted when I was absolutely certain. Now I realize that there's no such thing as absolute certainty in this world."

"Nine-tenths is enough," Su Chen said. "The remaining ten percent can be made up by improvisation."

Qian Renxue didn't reply, but stood there quietly gazing at the night sky for a while before turning and walking towards her tent. Before going in, she tossed out a sentence without turning back: "You too, go to sleep early. You'll be busy tomorrow." Su Chen watched the tent flap fall, then sat alone by the campfire for about fifteen minutes, listening to the sounds around him—the wind, the soft crackling of burning pine branches, the distant low cry of an unknown night bird—the silence holding the breath of the entire night. He stirred the fire, keeping the embers warm enough, and then went into his tent.

The tent was lined with a thick layer of moisture-proof felt, which smelled of fresh hay. Su Chen lay on his side, carefully placing his right arm on a soft mat, and closed his eyes. The fatigue of the day washed over him like a tide, and he quickly fell asleep without even a dream.

At midnight, during the shift change, he vaguely heard people talking outside the tent. It was Zhang Wan and Chen Hao switching places. Then everything fell silent again, sinking back into the unique, resinous stillness of the deep mountains.

As dawn broke, Su Chen was awakened by a clear birdsong. When he crawled out of his tent, he saw Qian Renxue already standing on the clearing she had gazed at the night before. The morning light streamed in from behind the eastern ridge, bathing the entire basin in a soft, pale gold. A thin mist rose in the valley, floating like a veil above the treetops, and the distant mountain shadows appeared and disappeared in the mist, as if slowly flowing.

"Awake?" Qian Renxue turned to look at him upon hearing the noise, her expression calm. "I'll eat something and then we'll set off. I just checked the tracking soul tool again; the target is about thirty miles southeast of us, but that location—" Her brow furrowed slightly, and she pointed southeast, "is on the boundary between the transitional zone and the deeper region of the mountains. Less than ten miles further in, we'll enter the densely populated area of ​​ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts."

Su Chen stretched his slightly stiff right arm. The splint was digging into his forearm, but the pain was much less than it had been two days ago. He took a dry biscuit from his bundle and chewed it as he walked. Together with Zhang Wan, they packed up the tent and restored the campsite to a spotless state—traces of the animal repellent powder were covered with soil, and the ashes from the campfire were thoroughly soaked with water and scattered. All traces that might reveal their presence were carefully erased.

The four set off southeast. The basin was a mix of shrubs and coniferous forests, the ground covered with a thick layer of pine needles and fallen leaves, soft and silent underfoot. Sunlight dappled through the trees, filtering through the layers of canopy into tiny golden fragments that sprinkled on the moss and lichen. The air was moist and cool, carrying a strong scent of plants.

After walking for about an hour, the terrain began to steepen. The ground gradually rose from a gentle basin, revealing more and more exposed rocks and steep slopes. The density of the coniferous forest decreased, and the spacing between trees widened, exposing large areas of wild grass and low shrubs. Su Chen noticed that some rocks had some kind of dark brown stains on their surfaces, like liquid that had dried up for a long time, but he didn't make a fuss, just glanced at them a few more times before continuing on his way.

As noon approached, Qian Renxue suddenly stopped. She raised her right hand in a gesture to stop, and the four people immediately crouched down on the spot. (End of Chapter)