Soul Hunting Forest (III)

As Qian Bing said this, he looked at the Soul Masters shouting out around them, a trace of disdain in his eyes.

"A truly outstanding soul-hunting party must consist of at least five roles. Support System Soul Masters are responsible for food supplies, healing injuries, replenishing Soul Power, and so on. Agility-Attack Type Soul Masters handle scouting and finishing off wounded enemies. Defense System Soul Masters are responsible for holding the line—the so-called meat shields. Assault System Soul Masters handle eliminating enemies and dealing damage, while Control System Soul Masters are responsible for restrictions and overall coordination.

Only a team made up of these five roles can be considered complete. Moreover, coordination between teammates cannot be developed in a day or two. The process of building such tacit understanding alone requires at least several years of working together.

More importantly, members of the same group must trust one another completely and dare to entrust their backs to each other.

Otherwise, when danger strikes, they can easily collapse in an instant."

As they spoke, the two had already reached the depths of the market and continued toward the entrance of the Soul Hunting Forest.

Qian Bing pointed at the prices displayed by the shops on both sides of the road and complained, "Now you know why I bought supplies ahead of time, right? These profiteers have turned this place into a tourist attraction. The price of everything is at least doubled.

You were wondering why the area outside a forest could be so lively. It's because there's money to be made here.

That is especially true for forests like these, where the state raises Soul Beasts. Soul Masters are a wealthy group, and far too many people want to make money off them."

Though the market was noisy and chaotic, when they left it and saw the vast forest before them, they could not help but feel awed.

The towering trees revealed their great age. Around the outer perimeter of the forest stood an enormous steel fence, its side facing the forest lined with countless sharp spikes.

The fence stood over ten meters tall and looked exceedingly sturdy. That was not all—outside the fence, a hundred-man squad of soldiers patrolled the area. Every soldier wore full suits of refined iron armor and carried a long spear. Their ranks were disciplined, giving off an air of grim martial severity.

Qian Bing lowered his voice. "Not just anyone can enter a Soul Hunting Forest where the state raises Soul Beasts. Only those holding a warrant issued by Spirit Hall may enter the Soul Hunting Forest to hunt Soul Beasts.

Although there are people who sneak in, they rarely meet a good end. These soldiers are only the outer defensive force. Inside the Soul Hunting Forest, Spirit Hall also has a special enforcement unit that checks warrants at all times.

Those people show no mercy. So if you ever want to hunt Soul Beasts in the future, you must obtain a warrant first. You must never enter on your own."

Tang San asked, "Boss, then how do you obtain a warrant?"

Qian Bing smiled. "Getting a warrant isn't difficult. First, you need Spirit Hall's approval, confirming that your strength has truly reached the peak of a certain stage and that you need a Soul Ring to advance. Second, you need guarantees from at least three nobles."

As he spoke, Qian Bing took out the warrant he had obtained from Mashuno.

The pitch-black token was made of some unknown material. Its emblem consisted of two combined symbols. At the center was a sharp sword pointing downward, while to the left of the sword was a hammer.

Qian Bing noticed the curiosity in Tang San's eyes. In particular, when Tang San saw the hammer symbol, his gaze flickered several times. Qian Bing handed the token to him.

"This is a unique mark of Spirit Hall. Within Spirit Hall, warrants like this come in six grades. The way to distinguish the grades is simple: look at the symbols on them. The more symbols there are, the higher the grade.

The lowest-grade token bears only a sword, symbolizing the Martial Soul of a former chief archon of a Spirit Hall temple. A token one grade higher has an additional hammer beside the sword, symbolizing a former elder of Spirit Hall who was once extremely powerful."

Tang San was quite good at drawing inferences from one example and immediately understood. "Boss, the person with the hammer Martial Soul must have held an extremely high position in Spirit Hall. The other four symbols should also represent the Martial Souls of four exceptionally powerful Soul Masters from Spirit Hall, right?"

Qian Bing naturally saw what Tang San truly wanted to know and smiled. "The six Martial Soul symbols on the token represent six powerful Soul Masters, as well as six powerful forces and families. Three of them are in our Heaven Dou Empire, while the other three are in the Star Luo Empire.

This hammer Martial Soul is called the Clear Sky Hammer. It is a Martial Soul possessed only by direct descendants of the once-powerful Clear Sky Sect. It was hailed as the number one Tool Spirit on the Douluo Continent. Unfortunately..."

At this point, Qian Bing shook his head and did not continue. Tang San was curious and had just been about to ask, but the two had already arrived at the entrance to the Soul Hunting Forest.

When the captain of the soldiers responsible for inspecting warrants saw the token in Tang San's hand, a faint smile immediately appeared on his face. He hurriedly ordered the soldiers to clear a path and allowed the two inside.

He did not even ask why two children dared to enter the Soul Hunting Forest alone.

Once they passed through the steel fence and entered the forest, all the clamor vanished in an instant. The air finally became as fresh as Tang San had imagined, making his mind and body feel at ease. For the moment, he forgot the question he had wanted to ask.

Qian Bing did not hurry onward. Instead, he silently observed their surroundings.

"Xiao San, from now on, we need to devote most of our attention to keeping watch. Although Soul Beasts with very high cultivation are unlikely to appear in the outer regions, we still can't let our guard down."

As he spoke, Qian Bing pulled a Short Sword from his clothes and handed it to Tang San.

"I bought this from the Blacksmith Shop outside the academy. Take it. You'll need to deliver the final blow yourself when we kill a Soul Beast."

The sheath and hilt of the Short Sword were both simple in design, appearing plain and unadorned. But when Tang San drew the blade, he found that its edge reflected a sharp golden gleam under the sunlight, radiating a chilling killing intent. He could not help but praise it. "Sharp enough!"

Seeing that he was satisfied, Qian Bing laughed heartily. "Of course it is. I spent all of this month's Soul Master allowance on this thing. How could it possibly be bad?"

After handing the Short Sword to Tang San, Qian Bing waved his hand and summoned Pidgeotto. Only after having it patrol above their heads did the two truly feel at ease as they headed deeper into the forest.

"Pidgeot, pidgeot~"

The two had not gone far before Pidgeotto let out a warning cry.

Qian Bing looked toward the trees ahead. An animal that looked somewhat like a cat was crouched on a branch, watching them warily.

At that moment, Qian Bing's left palm grew warm, and detailed information about the cat-like Soul Beast entered his mind.

A moment later, he smiled faintly. "It's a ten-year Mottled Cat. It's not dangerous. Let's keep moving."

Unwilling to miss this chance to show off his "vast knowledge" in front of Tang San, he explained as they walked, "That Mottled Cat belonged to the feline type of Soul Beasts. It is naturally quite aggressive, but as long as you do not attack it first, it will not easily attack you either.

If a Soul Master has a feline Martial Soul, using one as their first Soul Ring would be a decent choice. Don't be fooled by how small that Mottled Cat was just now. If it were a Mottled Cat over a thousand years old, even ten of us would not be enough for it to kill."