Golden-Backed Dragon Lizard—Please Read On

Golden-Backed Dragon Lizard—Please Read On

Ding!

The Servant System host has completed one Black Level Task. The host has received one fragment of a component of the 100,000-Year Soul Bone Set. The reward has been issued to the system space.

Ding!

The Servant System host has completed one Purple Level Task. The host has received one reward that increases the age of a designated Soul Ring by ten years. The reward has been issued to the system space.

Two consecutive system notifications rang out in Xu Changqing's mind. He froze for a moment before coming back to his senses and continuing onward.

"Black Level Tasks, Purple Level Tasks, and the Yellow Level Task that appeared before..."

"Looks like the system tasks issued by the sub-system are categorized according to Soul Ring colors. If so, there should also be White Level Tasks and Red Level Tasks."

"By rights, White Level Tasks should be the easiest, shouldn't they? Why have the harder tasks been completed while no White Level Task has been completed yet?"

Xu Changqing was somewhat puzzled, but he could not be bothered to investigate further. As time passed, he would learn the answer sooner or later.

Then he looked at the two additional items in the system space, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

He had not expected a reward involving a 100,000-Year Soul Bone Set. Although the reward was only one fragment from one component of the Soul Bone Set, and ten fragments were needed to fuse a complete Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Bone, making the full set seem impossibly far away—

In truth, he was only at level 10 Soul Power right now. Once his Soul Power level rose and he sent out more sub-systems, wouldn't his collection efficiency skyrocket?

If there are even rewards as rare as a 100,000-Year Soul Bone Set, there shouldn't be any shortage of treasures that can repair a Martial Soul, right?

Xu Changqing pondered this in secret. At that moment, much of his confusion about the road ahead faded away. At the very least, he had seen a glimmer of hope for repairing his Martial Soul.

The sun gradually shifted westward.

The three of them traveled for over two hours. A few battles broke out along the way, but the Soul Beasts they encountered were not strong. Most were less than a century old and were easily driven away by Su Yuntao.

Si Si also made a move once. Her Soul Master level was actually a little higher than Su Yuntao's. She was a level 28 Great Soul Master, and her Martial Soul was a red Long Spear. When she wielded it, the wind whistled around it, and her bearing was valiant and heroic.

For a time, Xu Changqing silently mourned for Su Yuntao. He was bound to become a textbook example of a henpecked husband in the future.

"We're about to enter the central region of the Soul Hunting Forest. The number of Soul Beasts over a hundred years old will increase sharply, so be careful!" Su Yuntao, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and turned to warn the two behind him.

Xu Changqing glanced ahead. The narrow path trampled out by previous travelers ended here. Unknown wildflowers and weeds grew thickly all around, while ancient trees towered overhead.

Although this Soul Hunting Forest was an artificially enclosed environment created for Soul Beasts to grow in, it had been converted from an old forest rarely visited by people. As such, it still retained a trace of the primeval wilderness.

Xu Changqing and Si Si, who were behind him, both nodded at Su Yuntao's reminder.

Xu Changqing took out the long dagger Si Si Jie had given him and held it in a reverse grip. Si Si directly summoned her Martial Soul, the Red Moon Spear, while two yellow Century Soul Rings circled around her.

Su Yuntao also gave a low shout and unleashed his Lone Wolf Martial Soul. One white and one yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet, while the phantom of a black wolf appeared behind him.

The wolf claws of the Lone Wolf Martial Soul were exceedingly sharp, so Su Yuntao naturally took on the role of pathfinder. As his claws swung continuously, patches of weeds were severed, and a new path gradually opened before them.

The three continued onward, though their pace was much slower than before.

"Tao Shu, do you know where there are metal-element Soul Beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest?" Xu Changqing asked.

Su Yuntao cleared the path as he thought it over, then frowned. "Metal-element Soul Beasts? I haven't encountered any in the Soul Hunting Forest before. This time, we may have to rely on luck."

"How stupid!" Si Si, walking at the rear with her Long Spear held upside down in her right hand, rolled her eyes. "If you haven't seen one, can't you at least think about where metal-element Soul Beasts are most likely to appear?"

Her reminder made Su Yuntao suddenly realize. He gave an embarrassed smile and said, "You're still the best, wife. I think I know where we can find metal-element Soul Beasts."

"Who's your wife?" Although Si Si said that, her fair cheeks flushed slightly.

Xu Changqing: "..."

Is it really okay for you two to flirt like this?

Don't you know there's still a child here?

Feeding a child this much lovey-dovey nonsense every day—do you know how much damage that can do to a young, innocent heart?

He felt it was necessary to interrupt them!

This lovey-dovey nonsense really doesn't taste good!

"Ahem, Tao Shu, where is the place you mentioned?" Xu Changqing asked curiously.

"I have your Si Si Jie to thank for the reminder." Before answering, Su Yuntao did not forget to flatter her. Then he said, "Metal-element Soul Beasts generally live near mineral veins or in places with extremely concentrated sharp metal energy. The Soul Hunting Forest doesn't have any cultivation grounds rich in that kind of sharp energy, but it does have an iron vein. I passed by it when I hunted for my Second Soul Ring. It isn't far from here—we should reach it in about half an hour!"

Xu Changqing was delighted to hear this. Their target had narrowed down considerably, bringing him another step closer to obtaining his first Soul Ring.

After that, Su Yuntao changed direction and led the three of them toward the left. According to him, there was an iron mine in that direction.

After traveling for nearly another half hour, their view suddenly became much more open.

The flowers and grass here were all withered and limp, weakly sprawled across the ground. The trees were much shorter than the ancient trees elsewhere, and their branches and leaves had an unhealthy, withered yellow hue. Soil with a high metal content was not suitable for plant growth.

Xu Changqing knew they had reached their destination. Next, they only needed to search around this mineral vein for a suitable Soul Beast.

Su Yuntao wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and finally let out a breath of relief. He had kept his Martial Soul active while clearing a path for nearly half an hour, consuming quite a bit of Soul Power and exhausting himself badly.

The three rested on the spot for half an hour and casually ate something. By then, evening was approaching, and the sunlight spilling from the horizon carried a faint yellow tint.

Su Yuntao looked up at the sky and said, "It'll be dark in a little over an hour. We'll probably have to spend the night in the Soul Hunting Forest today. While it still won't affect our movements too much, let's go try our luck."

"How much Soul Power have you recovered? If you can't manage, we can wait until tomorrow to look for a Soul Beast." There was a hint of concern in Si Si's eyes.

"How can a man say he can't manage?" Su Yuntao puffed out his chest, wolfed down the dried meat in his hand, stood up, and smiled confidently.

"Just keep forcing yourself."

Si Si rolled her eyes at him and could not be bothered to say more. With their combined strength, as long as they remained somewhat vigilant in this Soul Hunting Forest where thousand-year Soul Beasts were extremely rare, they would basically not encounter much danger.

After tidying up, the three began following the underground mineral vein deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest.

Along the way, Xu Changqing saw quite a few caves leading underground. They were probably nests dug by some Soul Beasts.

After they had traveled a short distance—

Su Yuntao suddenly made a signal to stop, pressing his palm downward. Xu Changqing and Si Si immediately understood. They crouched down and hid behind the nearest ancient trees.

Following the direction of Su Yuntao's finger, Xu Changqing saw a Soul Beast resembling the Komodo Dragon from his previous life on Blue Star.

However, this Soul Beast was far larger. Even lying prone, it stood nearly half a meter tall, and it looked to be five or six meters long. Dense triangular scales covered its body and gleamed black. One look was enough to tell that its defense was not weak.

"That's a Golden-Backed Dragon Lizard. It's a carnivorous Soul Beast, but it also eats metal." Si Si quietly explained Soul Beast knowledge to Xu Changqing, who was poking his head out to look.

"Look at the golden lines on its back. One golden line represents a hundred years of cultivation."

Hearing that, Xu Changqing looked toward the Golden-Backed Dragon Lizard's back. Among its black scales were four golden lines in total. Three complete lines stretched from the back of its neck all the way to the tip of its tail, while the other seemed to have only recently begun growing and was still rather short.

"Si Si Jie, this is a Golden-Backed Dragon Lizard over three hundred years old, right?" Xu Changqing asked quietly.

Si Si nodded with a smile, gave him a thumbs-up, and patted his little head in praise. "Not bad. Very smart."

"This Golden-Backed Dragon Lizard is only around 320 years old. That's a little too low. Otherwise, it would suit little Changqing's requirement for a metal-element Soul Ring. Don't alarm it. We'll go around it and continue deeper. There should be Golden-Backed Dragon Lizards with higher cultivation ages inside."

From behind another large tree, Su Yuntao made a gesture and spoke in a low voice.

Si Si nodded. Taking Xu Changqing with her, the three detoured for about a hundred meters before continuing deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest.

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(End of this chapter)