Soul Hunting Forest (2)

Tang San felt as though a hundred thousand whys had been buried in his heart. After listening to Qian Bing's explanation of soul rings, he immediately asked in confusion:

"Doesn't that mean the greater someone's backing, the better the soul rings they can obtain? Those nobles can completely rely on their families' power to hunt stronger soul beasts for themselves."

Qian Bing had expected this question. He smiled faintly and said:

"The fact that you thought of that shows your mind is sharp, but in reality, it isn't so simple. Or rather, the requirements for attaching soul rings are extremely strict.

First, the soul beast must be killed by the person himself for him to absorb its soul ring. Moreover, a soul ring only exists for a very short time. If it isn't attached within an hour, it loses its effect.

Second, soul beasts are exceedingly proud creatures. No soul beast would allow itself to be captured. Nowadays, practically no one even considers severely wounding and then capturing them.

Because when soul beasts lose a battle against humans, they choose to self-destruct with their Soul Power and die. This basically eliminates the situation you mentioned. Even if you hire someone to hunt a soul beast, if the Soul Master doesn't personally kill it in the end, they still can't obtain its soul ring.

Of course, none of this is absolute. How could soul beasts compare to human wisdom? The best way to hunt soul beasts is to form a team and head to where they live, then have the person who needs it deliver the final blow. That way, they can obtain the soul ring.

So, as you said, nobles and those with influence do indeed possess a great advantage when it comes to hunting soul beasts.

However, having an easier time obtaining soul rings doesn't mean they will become stronger than ordinary Soul Masters. No one can be certain that the soul beast they encounter will have an attribute best suited to them.

A soul beast's age is certainly important, but whether its attributes match the Soul Master's own is equally crucial.

No matter how good a soul ring is, if it conflicts with your martial soul, it cannot produce a good effect. Instead, it will harm you.

Most importantly, there are limits to the soul rings a Soul Master can absorb at every stage.

For example, you are only a Tenth-Level Soul Scholar right now. With your current Soul Power, you can at most absorb the soul ring of a hundred-year soul beast.

If you try to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, there will be only one result: your body won't be able to endure it and will be destroyed by the soul ring's power.

When absorbing a soul ring, no external force can offer any assistance. One can only rely on oneself.

Think about it. How could those who need others' help just to hunt the soul beasts they need possess any true toughness themselves?

They might not even have the willpower to withstand the trial of absorbing a soul ring suited to them and within their level range.

So, Xiao San, remember this: the world is fair. If we want to obtain something, we must put in the corresponding effort. Constantly trying to take shortcuts is the way of mediocre people.

People study soul beasts and formulate theories only to make things relatively easier for Soul Masters during this process of effort, allowing them to become stronger under the same level of dedication and hard work.

But we must never slack off on the efforts we ought to make, nor focus only on borrowing external strength."

After hearing Qian Bing's earnest words, Tang San nodded seriously. He had never been someone who liked taking shortcuts. He had always relied on his own efforts, steadily working toward his goals one step at a time.

Yet Qian Bing's views still stirred many feelings within him. He discovered that their values were astonishingly similar.

His sense of recognition toward Qian Bing's identity as the "boss" suddenly rose by a great deal.

Sure enough, every successful person has a reason for being successful.

A distance of four hundred li would normally take four or five days on foot.

But with Pidgeotto's flying speed, even though Qian Bing had ordered it to fly as slowly and steadily as possible, they still reached their destination, the Soul Hunting Forest, by noon the next day.

When Tang San jumped down from Pidgeotto's back, he had an extra bundle on his back. It contained some dry provisions Qian Bing had bought the previous night when they stopped to rest in a small town.

He curiously looked around and discovered that the Soul Hunting Forest was completely different from what he had imagined.

In his impression, a forest should be full of nature's breath—deep, tranquil, with fresh air and few people.

Yet the Soul Hunting Forest before him, at least outside the forest itself, felt more like an enormous marketplace.

A vast number of buildings—or rather, shops—stood before them. Cries of hawkers rose one after another, while simple man-made paths crisscrossed the area. The noisy atmosphere made Tang San frown repeatedly.

"Have a permit! Forming a group to hunt Strength-type soul beasts! Need two more!"

"Hunting Agility-type soul beasts! Seven people waiting for a permit! Ten Gold Soul Coins!"

Similar cries sounded one after another. Most of the numerous shops sold weapons, armor, and all kinds of food and supplies.

Qian Bing pointed at the people busily gathering teammates and shook his head.

"You see, generally speaking, ordinary Soul Masters without any backing come here and randomly form a team to enter and hunt soul beasts. They agree beforehand on the type of soul beasts they want to hunt, then draw lots to determine the order in which they get them. They strictly follow that order, each taking their turn to absorb one, so there won't be any difficulty dividing them up at the last moment.

What do you think the odds are that a soul ring obtained this way will perfectly match one's martial soul?"

Tang San nodded. Indeed, even an outsider like him, who knew almost nothing about Soul Masters, understood that this method of blindly picking whatever they happened to run into was unwise. Yet those people...

A sense of helplessness rose in his heart. Perhaps this was the best way most commoners could obtain soul rings. If they didn't choose this way, they might not even be able to keep their lives if they entered alone to hunt soul beasts.

At that thought, Tang San suddenly felt his head grow hot, and a warm rush of emotion surged through his heart. He said to Qian Bing:

"Boss, thank you. Without you, I probably would have had to wait for the academy to organize something. Otherwise, I would have been like them, casually joining a team and hunting a soul beast that might have been completely incompatible with my martial soul, and then..."

Qian Bing didn't let him finish. He slapped Tang San on the back and laughed.

"Don't talk such nonsense between brothers. If I can help you, then helping you is only right. Besides, if I need your help someday, I won't stand on ceremony with you either."

Tang San nodded, burying his gratitude toward Qian Bing even deeper in his heart as he answered solemnly:

"Definitely!"

Sometimes, the deepening of a man's bond was just that simple. Often, there was no need for many words. When the moment came, a single sentence—just a few words—could accomplish it.

Tang San suppressed his emotions, and his curious nature immediately took over again. He asked:

"Boss, if we form a team in the future, can we then specifically help every member hunt the soul beast best suited to them?"

Qian Bing smiled.

"Of course. Soul beasts aren't so easy to hunt. Some soul beasts are naturally powerful; even if they haven't cultivated for very long, they still possess formidable attack power.

That requires forming a suitable team, with multiple people coordinating to hunt the soul beasts each of them needs and obtain their soul rings.

With other people's help, we only need to strike the soul beast one final blow ourselves to kill it. This is the most common and safest method of hunting soul beasts on the continent. It's just that forming a suitable team is far from easy."