Soul Hunting Forest (I)

A spar between classmates was no blood feud, so Qian Bing naturally would not let Pidgeotto strike to kill.

He had never intended for Pidgeotto to hurl the highly destructive Gust directly at this group of little chicks who basically did not even have a single soul ring. Even if Xiao Chenyu had not spoken up just now, the enormous wind blades would only have grazed past their scalps and landed in the small woods behind them.

Still, seeing Xiao Chenyu surrender in terror gave Qian Bing a small thrill, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Since you've already admitted defeat, then do as you and Xiao Wu agreed before."

Xiao Chenyu stared blankly at Qian Bing and said, "Then should I acknowledge you as my boss, or her?"

For a six-year-old Soul Master to possess strength like Qian Bing's was already completely beyond his understanding.

No matter what, he could not believe that Xiao Wu was stronger than Qian Bing.

Qian Bing smiled faintly and said, "Of course Xiao Wu is your boss. The head of Seven Dorm isn't me—it's her."

"Huh?"

Xiao Chenyu's mouth fell open into an O. You're already this fierce. Could she possibly be even stronger than you? Are you really only six years old?

Qian Bing felt that he had already shown off enough, so he had no interest in wasting more words on him. Turning around, he said with a smile, "Xiao Wu, I need to take Tang San out to handle something over the next couple of days, so I'll borrow him for a while. Please have one of your underlings cover his Work-Study Student duties."

As he spoke, he jerked his chin toward Xiao Chenyu's group.

"You can handle that bunch yourself. From now on, you'll be the academy's big sister."

Xiao Wu happily walked forward, punched Qian Bing lightly on the shoulder, and said generously, "Haha, fine. Now that I have so many underlings, I don't need Xiao San anymore. Take him with you. I'll go play with Xiao Yuzi."

With that, she turned her gaze toward Xiao Chenyu and asked somewhat arrogantly, "Are you convinced now? Let me introduce myself. My name is Xiao Wu, a first-year Work-Study Student. My martial soul is a rabbit. I'm a level-twelve, one-ring Agility-Attack Type Soul Master."

This time, not only Xiao Chenyu but everyone present besides Qian Bing was stunned. Even Tang San was surprised; only now did he learn that Xiao Wu was also a Soul Master.

But she was about the same age as him. Could it be that she, too, had Innate Full Spirit Power?

Red light soon shone from Xiao Wu's body. Beneath its faint glow, her eyes began to turn red, while her ears slowly lengthened and rose from the sides of her head, covered in soft white fur.

Her figure seemed to grow a little taller, and a gentle aura of soul power fluctuated around her body. The soul ring rising beneath her feet was actually the same as Qian Bing's—a yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring.

After using Spirit Avatar, Xiao Wu extended a finger and beckoned forward as she said, "Xiao Yuzi, come. Let's have a fight too."

Xiao Chenyu had already been scared out of his wits by Qian Bing, and his legs were still weak. How could he dare accept the challenge? He smacked his forehead hard and begged for mercy.

"Sister Xiao Wu, I'm convinced. From now on, you're the big sister of Notting Academy. All of you, come over and greet Sister Xiao Wu."

Seeing this, Qian Bing knew that the matter had been completely settled, so he beckoned to Tang San.

Tang San hurried over to Qian Bing's side and asked in a low voice, "Boss, where are we going?"

At that moment, Pidgeotto happened to land beside them. Qian Bing slapped Tang San on the back and said with a smile, "I'll tell you on the way. Get on first."

Seeing Qian Bing point toward the bird's back, Tang San stopped asking questions. He lightly circulated the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, drew in a breath, and drifted onto Pidgeotto's back.

His movements were calm and composed, indeed several degrees more graceful than Qian Bing's.

Watching him pull off such a flashy move, Qian Bing could not help feeling a little jealous, and he grew even more covetous of the Xuan Tian Treasure Record Tang San possessed.

"Ahem, Xiao San, give me a hand."

Hearing that, Tang San quickly reached out and pulled Qian Bing onto the bird's back. Then Pidgeotto soared into the sky, carrying the two of them toward the Soul Hunting Forest.

Once Pidgeotto was flying steadily, Qian Bing wrapped one arm around Tang San's waist and pulled a map from his clothes with the other, guiding Pidgeotto according to the markings on it.

"Boss Qian, are you looking at a map? Where exactly are we going?"

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Tang San asked again.

Qian Bing looked at the map and answered casually, "Didn't you say before that you couldn't wait to obtain a soul ring? Today, I went to Spirit Hall for a Soul Master advancement assessment and received a permit to enter the Soul Hunting Forest from Master Mashuno, who conducted my assessment.

"And the next two days happen to be the weekend, so I decided to make the most of the time and take you to hunt a soul beast for a soul ring."

"To hunt a soul beast for a soul ring?"

Joy appeared on Tang San's face. This answer was completely beyond his expectations and truly counted as a surprise. He immediately asked repeatedly, "Boss, what kind of place is the Soul Hunting Forest? Is it far from the academy?"

"The Soul Hunting Forest is four hundred li northeast of Notting City. It's a place where the empire raises soul beasts, so we'll definitely be able to find a soul ring suitable for you."

"Raises them? Soul beasts can be raised too? Boss, tell me about soul beasts."

Qian Bing did not even bother checking whether Tang San could see him. Still focused on the map, he nodded.

"High-level Soul Beasts naturally cannot be kept in captivity, but lower-level ones can. Soul Beasts are creatures that are essentially wild animals possessing Soul Power. The longer they have existed, the stronger they become.

Generally speaking, Soul Beasts are divided into five levels according to their age: Ten-Year Soul Beasts, Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, Ten-Thousand Year Soul Beasts, and Hundred-Thousand Year Soul Beasts.

As the name suggests, a Soul Beast that has cultivated for over ten years is a Ten-Year Soul Beast, and so on. Soul Rings are classified the same way as Soul Beasts. Soul Rings of different ages are easy to distinguish by their colors.

Among them, a Ten-Year Soul Beast's Soul Ring is white, a Hundred-Year Soul Beast's is yellow, a Thousand-Year Soul Beast's is purple, a Ten-Thousand Year Soul Beast's is black, and a Hundred-Thousand Year Soul Beast's is red.

The Soul Beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest are all raised by the Empire for Soul Masters to hunt. Most are Ten-Year and Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, while Thousand-Year Soul Beasts rarely appear."

Tang San was eager to learn and immediately continued asking, "Boss, when I saw Xiao Chenyu and the others looking at your Hundred-Year Soul Ring just now, they seemed very surprised. I'm curious too—exactly how is a Hundred-Year Soul Ring stronger than a Ten-Year Soul Ring?"

After Tang San's barrage of questions, Qian Bing finally pulled some of his attention back. He pressed down the map in his hand, thought for a moment, and said, "I've read about Soul Rings in books before. The main difference between Soul Rings produced by Soul Beasts of different levels lies in the attribute enhancements they grant to the Soul Master and the power of their skills.

For example, if we look at it quantitatively, say your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul gained a Ten-Year Soul Ring that enhanced toughness. Then the toughness of your Blue Silver Grass would increase by ten.

But if it were a Hundred-Year Soul Ring, then the toughness of your Blue Silver Grass would increase by one hundred, and so on.

Therefore, whenever possible, all Soul Masters strive to obtain more powerful Martial Souls."