Thinking back to the situation at that time, Ye Die Die still had lingering fear. Although the effect of that grass on her was significant after she returned.
After returning, Ye Die Die began her cultivation. In three days, she absorbed all the essence of the grass, and her cultivation age increased by about five years.
Since the last incident, she dared not use her "golden finger" again, afraid of attracting other powerful spirit beasts. She could only attribute her escape that time to good luck.
"The allure of this 'golden finger' to other spirit beasts is too strong."
Without absolute strength, she believed that life was more important than cultivation. All cultivation was built upon the foundation of staying alive.
Ye Die Die started absorbing the spiritual energy from the air for cultivation. She could feel that she had reached a bottleneck, and today she could break through it.
Accumulating bit by bit of spiritual energy within her body, during this crucial moment of cultivation, she dared not stop, fearing that any interruption might lead to failure.
As the sky grew darker, Ye Die Die could feel that the spiritual energy in the air was increasing. Soon, it reached the critical point.
She absorbed the spiritual energy from the air with all her might, attempting to break through the bottleneck. Soon, she successfully broke through.
"Phew, I finally broke through!"
The current Ye Die Die felt an unprecedented sense of well-being. She could clearly sense that she had become much stronger.
After the breakthrough, she did not relax but continued to cultivate to stabilize her cultivation level.
"Haha, now if I encounter that tiger again, not only can I defeat it, but as long as I use my soul technique, I definitely won't be discovered."
It had to be said that after the breakthrough, she was confident that she could encounter the flaming tiger again without being detected.
After a night of cultivation, in the early morning, Ye Die Die ate a little food and rested. She had an important task to accomplish now.
Now that she had become a hundred-year spirit beast, she needed to advance further into the depths of the Starry Forest.
This was the result of her careful consideration. By cultivating here, she would undoubtedly become the most powerful spirit beast. She wouldn't have to worry about being discovered when using her soul technique, allowing her to cultivate peacefully.
However, there were also disadvantages to cultivating here. Insufficient spiritual power made her vulnerable to disturbances from human soul masters.
The closer a spirit beast was to the center of the Starry Forest, the stronger the absorption of spiritual power became. There was more spiritual energy inside, and cultivating on the outskirts was becoming less suitable for her.
Furthermore, the closer she got to the center, the fewer human soul masters ventured into those areas. Practically no soul masters dared to enter the central region, allowing her to cultivate wholeheartedly.
With these thoughts in mind, Ye Die Die packed her belongings and flew towards the depths.
First, she went to the place where that patch of grass had grown. There, she collected some grass suitable for cultivation and carried it with her.
She flew towards the depths of the Starry Forest.
She flew for a whole month, uninterrupted, using her soul technique constantly. When she ran out of spiritual power, she would stop cultivating. When she was hungry, she would eat the nectar she brought with her, and when thirsty, she would drink dew.
"The Starry Forest is truly vast."
During this month, she encountered many different types of spirit beasts and various types of martial souls.
The place where Ye Die Die had stayed before was indeed quite remote, on the outermost fringes of the Starry Forest. There weren't many spirit beasts or soul masters in that area.
Every time Ye Die Die stopped at a location, she would observe for any unknown dangers, remaining vigilant and surveying her surroundings.
Within this month, she gained a general understanding of the outermost and outer regions of the Starry Forest, as well as the boundary between them.
In the outermost region, the cultivation levels were generally at the ten-year level for spirit beasts, while the outer region housed spirit beasts with hundred-year cultivation levels, as well as a small number of thousand-year spirit beasts, which she could sense from their aura.
Whenever she encountered spirit beasts stronger than herself, Ye Die Die would take a detour. As for those weaker than her, she would simply fly past them without causing any disturbance.
She had not flown into the inner region, only observing it from afar. She could sense that there were many beings stronger than herself within that area.
Ye Die Die chose her new home on the outskirts of the outer region, where ten-year and hundred-year spirit beasts coexisted. With her cultivation level, she could move freely in this area.
After settling down in her new home and organizing her belongings, she activated her soul technique and flew outwards.
At that time, Ye Die Die was only interested in getting a general understanding of the terrain and areas of the Starry Forest. She did not carefully observe her surroundings.
Now that she had finished her tasks, Ye Die Die could explore the surroundings.
In her mind, Ye Die Die thought, "I came from the east, so let's go and explore the west now."
The eastern side, where she had flown from, didn't have much to offer. There was only an eighty-year-old spirit beast, which served as a passage from the outermost region to the outer region.
She decided to fly towards the west to see what was there. Before heading in that direction, she used her soul technique to camouflage herself.
To her surprise, there were no spirit beasts in the west, only some large trees and no other creatures.
"Why is it so quiet here?"
Ye Die Die felt a sense of curiosity because usually, in a forest, one would hear the chirping of birds. But this area was unusually silent.
This indicated the presence of danger in the vicinity.
However, she didn't notice any immediate threats. Nonetheless, she didn't dare to take any chances and quietly retraced her steps.
Afterwards, Ye Die Die flew to different locations to take a look.
To her astonishment, she discovered that the southern area was the habitat of a tiger surrounded by flames. She flew past the tiger, but it showed no reaction whatsoever.
"It seems I can come and go freely in the presence of a four-hundred-year spirit beast."
After flying away from the south, she arrived in the north. There, she saw vines growing, which appeared harmless to humans and animals.
But as Ye Die Die stood nearby, she witnessed how one of those vines suddenly revealed its fangs.
A small bird flew down from the sky, with a cultivation level of around fifty years, and perched on the green vine.
Suddenly, the vine rapidly extended, revealing a large mouth that swiftly swallowed the bird.
Ye Die Die could clearly see the sharp teeth on the seemingly harmless vine. She believed that even hard stones would turn into rubble beneath its grasp.
"In the future, I won't venture into these three other areas unless absolutely necessary."
After exploring the surrounding areas, she had designated the other three directions as restricted zones. She wouldn't enter them unless there was a compelling reason to do so. Although her soul technique camouflage was powerful, she didn't want to take unnecessary risks.
Returning to her home once again, only there did Ye Die Die feel a sense of security.
Next, she picked up a certain type of grass and went to a spot far away from her home.
"This should be far enough from my home. It shouldn't be discovered that I have any connection to it," she thought.
With that, Ye Die Die used her special ability, her "golden finger," and exerted its power on the grass.
Soon, the grass emitted a unique fragrance, slowly spreading around. Before any spirit beasts arrived, she quickly swallowed the grass and ran, using her soul technique to the fullest.
The same fragrance, the delightful scent of the grass filled her mouth, making it irresistible. Then, she hurried back to her home and began cultivation, not wasting a single opportunity.
A group of spirit beasts, attracted by the scent, arrived at the location. However, they discovered that the scent had vanished.
Looking around, they suspected that other spirit beasts had beaten them to it. This led to a fierce battle, but it had nothing to do with Ye Die Die, as she had already left the area.
(End of this chapter)