The Second Soul Hunt
The bishop's report caught She Long's attention; Tang Hao was the Spirit Hall's number one wanted criminal.
When the former Pope Qian Xunji was alive, he led four Silver Bishops to besiege a Transformed Soul Beast, but encountered fierce resistance from the beast.
Tang Hao was also present at the time and aided and abetted the evildoer. Afterwards, the Spirit Hall's investigation revealed that this man had actually had an affair with that Soul Beast.
At that time, Tang Hao was only a Soul Douluo, so he was naturally no match for Qian Xunji and was severely injured.
But in the critical moment, the Soul Beast sacrificed itself, actually pushing Tang Hao's cultivation to the Titled Douluo realm.
After his cultivation level skyrocketed, Tang Hao used a secret technique of the Clear Sky Sect to severely injure Qian Xunji, ultimately leading to the latter's death.
This was no secret among the higher-ups of the Spirit Hall. In fact, Tang Hao was undoubtedly at the top of the Spirit Hall's kill list.
When Tang Hao severely Qian Xunji, he was also in a state of extreme weakness. Later, many people in the Spirit Hall judged that the man might not live much longer.
After all, for someone with only a newly acquired title to fight against Qian Xunji and a group of veteran Titled Douluo, the price couldn't be small.
Since then, Tang Hao has disappeared without a trace, which seems to confirm this inference.
But now, someone has actually discovered a location that resembles Tang Hao's, which greatly shocked She Long.
He immediately ordered the local Spirit Hall personnel to search for the man's whereabouts with all their might, and personally wrote a report and sent it to Spirit City.
If that person is indeed "Clear Sky Douluo" himself, he deserves the Spirit Hall to deploy an even more powerful force to surround and kill him.
But with this incident, She Long definitely won't be able to return to Spirit City immediately. He has to stay and take charge of the affairs, and the relocation of the Zhou Family couple will have to be temporarily put on hold.
The news soon reached Zhou You, who was in a relaxed state at the time because he had been exempted from the practical assessment.
"Is the teacher currently unavailable and unable to return?"
Yang Tianxiong nodded. He knew the specifics, but he didn't tell Zhou You in detail. He only said that She Long was busy with something important.
He reassured Zhou You that She Long was currently stationed in Yingyang Village, and the safety of the Zhou Family couple was guaranteed.
Zhou You nodded, slightly relieved.
As long as nothing unexpected happens to my parents, it's fine.
"Senior, since our teacher can't come back for the time being, can I go home to visit him during this holiday?"
"It's best not to. You've been getting ahead of yourself lately. Wait until your cultivation level is higher before you think about it. Level 20 is still too weak."
Zhou You didn't refute, but changed the subject. "In that case, I'll apply for Soul Hunting, that shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Soul Hunting now? Shouldn't we consolidate our cultivation first?"
"I don't think it's necessary," Zhou You insisted.
Although suppressing it can help increase the Soul Power Level during a breakthrough, that little increase in Soul Power is not very meaningful for Zhou You.
His Soul Power was already accumulating quickly, so there was no need for him to be greedy for this slight increase. He should break through to the next realm as soon as possible and continue to maintain this growth rate.
"I see." Yang Tianxiong thought for a moment and nodded. "Although it's a bit risky, it's not impossible."
While keeping a low profile is best at times like this, we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater and slow down our cultivation progress.
For Soul Masters, the earlier they advance in rank, the more likely they are to reach higher realms in the future. Young Soul Masters don't need to worry about exhausting their potential; they can just focus on continuous improvement.
This is the golden period when every bit of effort yields a reward.
However, considering the situation last time, Yang Tianxiong decided to personally take Zhou You to Soul Hunting this time.
Yang Tianxiong was a man of action, and Zhou You was not one to procrastinate either; the decisions they made that day were put into practice the very next day.
Although practical assessments were still underway at the academy, the two brothers had already left the academy by noon the following day.
This time, the destination is still the Soul Hunting Base under the control of the Spirit Hall, but it's a different location, closer to Spirit City.
Fortunately, the Soul Beasts Zhou You chose this time were also distributed in that area and were relatively easy to find.
After entering the Soul Hunting Forest, the two headed straight for their destination.
In the Soul Hunting Zones under the jurisdiction of the Spirit Hall, the distribution of Soul Beasts is usually relatively fixed and remains unchanged year after year.
The two arrived at a wetland with a clear goal in mind. Countless reeds, taller than a person, lived there. The prey that Zhou You had chosen was hidden in these reeds.
The Soul Beast he chose this time is [Sawtooth Silvergrass], which belongs to the Undergraduate Curriculum family and is closely related to Blue Silver Grass.
The term "Soul Beast" usually refers to a type of creature that is born with the ability to accumulate Soul Power and evolves as its Soul Power increases.
These special creatures, in the process of accumulating Soul Power, are influenced by the Soul Power and their own origin, hatching corresponding attributes and thus gaining some special abilities.
Blue Silver Grass, for example, possesses vigorous vitality. Although it is fragile, as long as its roots are not cut, it can grow new leaves again in half a day.
Therefore, Blue Silver Grass usually has life-related characteristics such as "self-healing" and "activity".
According to Zhou You's deduction, the Soul Master with the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul —and I mean the real Blue Silver Grass, not Blue Silver Emperor or Blue Silver King or anything like that—is truly suited to the role of a "Soul Master."
However, the awkward thing is that at the lower levels, these kinds of Soul Masters can only heal themselves and act as tanky tanks.
Perhaps only at the Soul Elder stage can one attempt to extend this "self-healing" ability to others.
According to Zhou You's research, the characteristics of Sawtooth Silvergrass are "sharpness", "growth", and "flexibility", which are very suitable for adding stronger lethality to the Umbrella Sword of the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella, and can also extend the killing range.
Although the [Qi Needle] can be launched over a long distance, its destructive effect is truly remarkable.
Last time, Zhou You even pierced the brain of that ten-year-old Netherworld Wolf with Qi Needles, and the creature still wasn't dead...
Although the Zhou You plans were well-thought-out, the Sawtooth Silvergrass was not easy to find. This plant looks very similar to reeds and hides itself in patches of reeds, rarely showing itself.
Only when the Sawtooth Silvergrass senses that it is truly under attack will it launch a counterattack, at which point Zhou You can determine its true nature.
Of course, this refers to the case where only Zhou You is present. Since Yang Tianxiong is here, there is naturally no need for such trouble.
With Soul Douluo's Mental Power, he could easily scan this reed field and pick out the real Sawtooth Silvergrass among it.
Unfortunately, most of the Sawtooth Silvergrass in this reed bed is ten or even Hundred-Year Rank, not the age Zhou You wanted.
He wanted to hunt Thousand-Year Rank- old Sawtooth Silvergrass, a result he arrived at after careful calculation.
The age of Soul Beast determines the strength of its Soul Skills. All other things being equal, Soul Beast with a higher age will generally provide a more powerful Soul Skill.
Zhou You's physique was strong enough to withstand Thousand-Year Rank Soul Ring, so given the choice, he would naturally choose the best one possible.
The two searched several reed beds but still couldn't find the Sawtooth Silvergrass that met their requirements.
"The year you're looking for isn't here." After scanning the area with his Mental Power, Yang Tianxiong asked Zhou You again, "Shall we continue searching?"
"Of course." Zhou You was unwilling to give up easily.
Yang Tianxiong glanced at the sky. "Let's rest for a bit first, there's no need to rush."