Obtaining the First Soul Ring!

"Teacher, my Sharingan martial soul isn't actually in its final form! I can sense that it still has room to evolve further."

Having chosen his words, Han Yu relied on his own understanding to fool Du Busi.

Du Busi did not find anything amiss. As one's own martial soul, its wielder could clearly sense exactly what abilities it possessed.

It was like certain Soul Beasts with inheritances. Once their strength reached a certain level, they could unlock inherited memories and gain skills.

"Evolve?"

Du Busi looked astonished. He had originally thought that, with its enhanced dynamic vision, it was already no inferior to a top-tier martial soul.

"Yes, Teacher. Look at my eyes—there is currently one black tomoe inside. If it evolves again, another will appear. According to what I can sense, there can be at most three."

Han Yu pointed at his eyes. A black tomoe was slowly rotating within his scarlet pupils.

"Does that mean that every additional tomoe will grant another ability?"

As expected of a Super Douluo, Du Busi immediately thought of the deeper implications.

"Yes, but I don't know what those abilities will be yet. And evolution will probably be rather difficult."

Han Yu frowned. He did not know of any other method right now, so he could only try the original one.

"What do you need? Heavenly treasures, or Soul Rings and Soul Bones? Your teacher will get them for you!"

Upon hearing that, Du Busi abruptly rose to his feet, ready to take action.

"I don't need heavenly treasures, Soul Rings, or Soul Bones. To evolve the martial soul, I need intense mental stimulation—extremely intense stimulation. Then, by generating a great deal of negative emotions, hatred, and the like, the martial soul can evolve. And my conscious mind cannot know about it, or I'll be on guard mentally."

Han Yu pondered for a while before speaking. He did not know whether Du Busi could understand.

Du Busi frowned. This was rather troublesome. Han Yu needed intense mental stimulation, and it had to happen without him knowing.

The key was that he did not even know what counted as intense mental stimulation or where the boundary lay.

"Your teacher understands. Continue cultivating for now. I'll think of a way."

Han Yu nodded and sat down cross-legged, intending to use cultivation in place of rest.

He needed to temper his body during the day, so he could only cultivate at night.

Five months later.

Rumble!

Wave after wave surged and vanished.

At the center of the enormous waves stood a resolute yet somewhat slender figure.

No matter how the merciless tides battered him, the youth's expression did not change. There was even a hint of enjoyment on his face.

"This level of impact can no longer cause me any trouble. It's time to increase the difficulty."

Han Yu stopped cultivating. His current stage could no longer bring him significant improvement.

Over the past five months, Han Yu had tempered his body every day. From the shoreline beside the small island at the beginning, he had now advanced a considerable distance forward.

Correspondingly, the waves' impact had grown even more violent.

Fortunately, he had already completely adapted to this level.

"Han Yu, you've reached Rank Ten now. Have you considered what Soul Ring you want to obtain?"

Du Busi smiled at the bare-chested Han Yu.

Compared to several months ago, Han Yu's physical fitness had improved by a great deal. Even his height had increased considerably.

He had also put some flesh on his bones. He no longer looked so frail, and his whole body had filled out.

"Teacher, I'm not too sure about that. Theoretically speaking, a mental-type one would be better, right?"

Han Yu said somewhat hesitantly. Over the past few months, Du Busi had also taught him about Soul Beasts.

But not much. Du Busi was not an expert in that area, and he had only told Han Yu about the Soul Beasts he knew himself.

"Mm, not bad. It seems you still remember the theoretical knowledge from these past few months."

"Generally, one chooses Soul Beasts whose attributes are compatible with one's martial soul as hunting targets in order to obtain Soul Rings."

"The most suitable ones for you are undoubtedly mental-type Soul Beasts, but such Soul Beasts are relatively rare."

"I plan to take you to the Far North Land. There is a type of Soul Beast there called a Snow Demon."

"It is a mental-type Soul Beast. Its specialty is a soul skill that releases mental force: Mental Tremor."

"It has fairly good control capabilities. Combined with your Sharingan, it should produce quite a good effect."

Du Busi said with a smile. He had already decided where to find a suitable Soul Beast for Han Yu's Soul Ring.

"I'll listen to Teacher. When are we leaving?"

Han Yu put on his clothes, sat down cross-legged, and asked.

"The sooner the better. Rest up, and tomorrow morning I'll take you there. However, after I send you to the outskirts of the Far North Land, you'll need to proceed on your own."

Han Yu's expression changed slightly, but quickly returned to normal.

Over the past few months, aside from tempering his body with the tides every day, he had also sought Du Busi's guidance on matters of physical combat.

He sparred with Du Busi every day. Although he had never won even once, it had still given him considerable practical combat experience.

The One-Tomoe Sharingan did not boost him as much as he had imagined, but it was still enough to raise his strength by quite a bit.

After resting for the night, Du Busi brought Han Yu to the outskirts of the Far North Land.

The Far North Land was very close to where he cultivated and was also near the sea, though it was the Ice Sea.

The Far North Land was enormous, so its entrance was exceedingly vast as well.

As far as the eye could see, everything was blanketed in snow, with not a soul in sight.

"Han Yu, from here on, you're on your own. The Snow Demon is in the Howling Cave on the outskirts. Follow this road straight ahead, and you'll run into it soon enough."

Du Busi pointed out the direction before turning and leaving.

Of course, he had not truly left. He was following from somewhere Han Yu could not sense, and would only act if Han Yu encountered danger.

That suited Han Yu just fine. It was the perfect chance to test his own strength. Sparring with Du Busi every day had nearly beaten all the confidence out of him.

The Far North Land lay along the northern border of the Heaven Dou Empire. The farther forward he went, the colder it became, so Han Yu had bought some thick clothes in a city along the way.

Han Yu moved forward slowly, holding a crudely drawn map in his hand. Du Busi had casually sketched it for him the night before.

It only marked the location of the Howling Cave. Nothing else was shown.

"So cold!" After walking for about fifteen minutes, the temperature grew even colder. The cold wind slipped through the gaps in his clothes and blew against his body, making him shudder.

He could not help tugging at his padded coat, wrapping himself up tightly.

Setting off again, Han Yu quickly headed toward the location marked on the map.

"I hope I don't run into any powerful soul beasts. Fighting in this kind of environment would probably weaken my combat power by quite a bit."

Han Yu exhaled a cloud of white mist, which quickly condensed into tiny ice crystals and fell under the extreme cold.

"Damn, this is practically freezing water into ice the instant it drips."

Han Yu smacked his lips. Though the muscles on his face had stiffened somewhat, he continued onward with firm steps.