Real Control Spirit Master

Spirit Tool Masters could bring the power of soul tools to its utmost limit, even using soul power to unleash might beyond their performance limits. Real Control Spirit Masters, meanwhile, used soul tools to bring their own martial souls and soul skills to their utmost limit, displaying combat power beyond their personal limits.

Most Real Control Spirit Masters only used a few soul tools, unlike ordinary Spirit Tool Masters, who carried no fewer than eight or ten soul tools on them. Some extreme cases even carried hundreds of soul tools of every kind.

Put plainly, Real Control Spirit Masters were traditional soul masters wielding weapons, much like Deities drawing their Divine Artifacts.

Both added external assistance atop their own combat strength.

Generally speaking, Real Control Spirit Masters possessed greater combat power than pure Spirit Tool Masters, and could even surpass some traditional soul masters. This was one of the Sun Moon Empire's attempts to counter traditional soul masters. Nothing was apparent in the short term, but once the earliest batch of Real Control Spirit Masters grew up, they would certainly bring those traditional soul masters quite a surprise.

Of course, it was quite simple for traditional soul masters to switch over and become Real Control Spirit Masters. They only needed someone to custom-make several dedicated soul tools for them, then become proficient in using them, and they would be qualified Real Control Spirit Masters.

Even support-type soul masters with no combat ability could, if they became proficient in using soul tools, stack several amplification soul skills on themselves, then wield two soul-tool broadswords and chop their way all the way from Star Luo to Sun Moon without any problem.

Wasn't that how the former protagonist had fought in the first part of Douluo Continent that Liu Xing had read? Soul masters equipped with Hidden Weapons fought opponents above their level all the way, while soul tools were upgraded versions of Hidden Weapons. That was also one of the reasons the once-famous Tang Sect had declined.

Of course, in Liu Xing's view, the Tang Sect's decline was not solely due to soul tools. They had plenty of problems of their own as well.

"Have you chosen the soul beasts you want? If not, I'll choose for you."

Luan Yu set down her book and looked at Liu Xing. The two sisters were still fairly confident when it came to nurturing soul masters. Although both were Spirit Tool Masters, and neither their Fire Phoenix Sword nor Ice Phoenix Sword had displayed its proper potential, they had some experience in training soul masters. After all, they were Titled Douluo. Standing at such heights, they had naturally gained some insights.

From the disciples of major sects Luan Yu had observed while traveling the continent, their soul skills were generally inherited along a single line. Those with the same martial soul absorbed more or less the same soul skills. This was the accumulated experience of those sects over thousands of years. They knew which soul beasts' soul rings could grant soul skills suitable for them. Of course, this only applied to the first few soul rings. After that, everything depended on opportunity. High-level soul beasts were far too unpredictable; as long as one was suitable, that was enough. There was no room to be picky.

Based on the observations of Fire Phoenix Douluo and Luan Yu, they believed that Liu Xing and Firefly's first few soul rings would be best obtained from soul beasts capable of granting amplification-type soul skills. Once one reached the Titled Douluo level, the soul skills provided by those earlier, lower-year soul rings could no longer keep up with the intensity of Titled Douluo battles and became as useless as chicken ribs. But if the skills granted by those first few soul rings were amplification skills, they could still play an important role even at the Titled Douluo level.

On Douluo Continent, fire-attribute soul beasts were easy enough to find, but destruction-attribute ones were much harder to locate. The number and variety of soul beasts within the Sun Moon Empire itself were already inferior to those in the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms, let alone soul beasts with the exceedingly rare Destruction Attribute.

They could only rely on luck when it came to destruction-attribute soul beasts. Fire-attribute soul beasts, however, could be found in both the Demon Forest and Mingdou Great Forest within the Sun Moon Empire. As for the Star Dou Great Forest, renowned across the continent, it was too far away and lay at the border of the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms. It was inconvenient for people from the Sun Moon Empire to go there and hunt soul beasts.

At least, Liu Xing and Firefly were not suited to going there yet. They did not need to search the Star Dou Great Forest for low-year soul beasts in the early stages. If necessary later on, they could make a trip there. After all, the Star Dou Great Forest had the greatest number of high-bloodline soul beasts, and the soul rings produced by high-bloodline soul beasts were the best.

The same applied to the Mingdou Great Forest. It lay at the border between the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire, with both sides stationing troops in the Mingdou Mountain Range. Minor clashes occasionally broke out, and running into the Star Luo Empire's army would be troublesome as well.

Therefore, the Demon Forest nearest to Mingdu was the best choice. The Demon Forest was the place within the Sun Moon Empire with the largest number of soul beasts, and there would certainly be soul beasts suitable to become Liu Xing and Firefly's First Soul Ring. Although the Demon Forest was dangerous, and home to the Sun Moon Empire's strongest soul beast, the Evil Emperor, ranked second among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, who had once challenged Beast God Di Tian and escaped unscathed—

The soul beasts Liu Xing and the others needed would be at most a thousand years old. Soul beasts of that age generally lived along the outer edges of the Demon Forest. With Luan Yu, a Rank 9 Spirit Tool Master, accompanying them, they would only hunt soul beasts on the outskirts. Unless they had the luck of an E-rank lancer, they would not be unlucky enough to encounter a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Their safety could still be guaranteed.

Having a Titled Douluo help hunt one's First Soul Ring was treatment that even the heirs of some major sects likely did not receive. Even princes and princesses of the Four Great Empires rarely received such treatment.

Liu Xing and Firefly could be said to be extremely fortunate. They had encountered kind-hearted Luan Yu and leaped from a commoner start to a wealthy family start.

Fire Phoenix Douluo needed to oversee the Fire Phoenix Spirit Tool Master Legion. Without an imperial order, she could not leave Mingdu freely. That was the restriction that came with joining the empire. After all, she received the empire's patronage; it would not do if she happened to be away whenever she was needed.

This lack of freedom was also why Fire Phoenix Douluo was unwilling to join the empire, because she enjoyed exploring everywhere and seeing more of the world.

She held no official post and could leave Mingdu whenever she wished, so she would lead Liu Xing and Firefly to obtain their First Soul Rings.

The Demon Forest lay in the south of the Sun Moon Empire, not far from Mingdu. They only needed to pass through Rising Sun City to enter the Demon Forest's territory.

After bidding farewell to Fire Phoenix Douluo, Luan Yu led Liu Xing and Firefly southward, intending to leave Mingdu through the Southern District.

When the three arrived at the Southern District checkpoint, Shangguan Wei'er and Ye Guyi were waiting beside the main road outside it. At the same time, Crown Prince Xu Tianran had brought Xu Tianzhen along and was chatting merrily with Shangguan Wei'er.

Liu Xing was not surprised to see them. After he and Firefly underwent Martial Soul Awakening, Xu Tianran and Shangguan Wei'er, who had deliberately kept an eye on them, learned that the two possessed Innate Full Soul Power. One was the eldest son of a prince with real authority, while the other was a Rank 9 Spirit Tool Master who controlled all of Mingdu's entertainment industry and most of its dining industry. They had the means to access such records.

By coincidence, Xu Tianzhen and Ye Guyi also possessed Innate Full Soul Power. Since they had awakened their martial souls in the same batch as Liu Xing and the others, they too were preparing to hunt soul rings over the next few days. Thus, Shangguan Wei'er sought out her old classmate Luan Yu and asked her to take Ye Guyi along while she was at it.