River

They hurried along without saying much.

Although the power within him reassured Huo Yuhao, it was impossible for him not to feel nervous at all.

After all, Spirit-type Soul Beasts were as rare as Spirit-type Martial Souls. He was not sure whether he would have the chance to obtain a Soul Ring, but leaving the Duke's Estate had been a decision made jointly by him and Xu Jie.

If they had remained in the Duke's Estate, no matter how poor their talents were, the Duchess would never have allowed them to obtain Soul Rings.

They headed north, and after traveling some distance, they finally left the bounds of Star Luo City.

Although Xu Jie was the same age as Huo Yuhao, only two months older, his actual age was much greater. Thus, he had prepared everything they needed.

Star Luo City lay in the center of the Star Luo Empire, while Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao's destination was the Star Dou Great Forest in the north of the Star Luo Empire, where it bordered the Heaven Dou Empire.

Huo Yuhao only knew that the forest contained a great variety of Soul Beasts, including no shortage of powerful ones.

Only Xu Jie knew that a certain silkworm beneath that forest was crucial to Huo Yuhao's rise. As for Xu Jie, why would someone with a Sun Martial Soul want that thing? Besides, he did not like the idea of anything strange appearing inside his mind.

The two looked after each other. When they were tired, they sat down to rest. When hungry, they ate the dried provisions they had brought; once those were gone, they relied on Huo Yuhao's astonishing eyesight to find wild rabbits or chickens for a filling meal. When thirsty, they searched for a river. One possessed inexhaustible Soul Power, so traveling barely drained him, while the other had astounding stamina. Their pace was extremely fast, and they covered more than three hundred li in a single day.

They had only one Gold Soul Coin, seventeen Silver Soul Coins, and six Copper Soul Coins. It was neither much nor little, but they spent it very frugally, mainly because they had no source of income.

Although Xu Jie had memories from his previous life and even a map, they still took two wrong turns. Fortunately, they realized their mistake shortly afterward and promptly changed direction, returning to the correct road.

Five days later.

"Brother Jie, are we almost there?" Huo Yuhao asked, looking at the map.

"Mm." Xu Jie nodded, picked up the water flask, and took a hearty drink. He took the map from Huo Yuhao and handed the flask to him.

"Let me see. About how much longer?" Xu Jie said as he stared at the map. Beside him, Huo Yuhao took the flask and drank deeply as well.

"Soon. Half a shichen more." Xu Jie put away the map after speaking.

"Then let's hurry." Huo Yuhao put away his water flask as well.

"Okay." Xu Jie nodded, and the two quickened their pace.

"Rush, rush..."

They had only walked for a short while when the sound of flowing water suddenly reached Huo Yuhao's ears.

Huo Yuhao exclaimed in delight, "Brother Jie, there's a river."

Xu Jie was delighted as well. "Let's go. We'll rest by the river first, then see whether there are any fish in it. If not, we'll catch a couple of Soft Bone Rabbits."

Huo Yuhao immediately jumped up happily at those words.

"Alright, alright, stop jumping." Xu Jie helplessly patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder. Neither of them had washed for several days, and they already felt sticky all over.

"Hehe!" Huo Yuhao laughed and carefully sensed the direction from which the sound of the water was coming.

Xu Jie did not step forward to disturb him and quietly waited nearby. No matter how poor Huo Yuhao's talent was, he still possessed a Spirit-type Martial Soul, and his five senses were far sharper than those of ordinary people.

Very soon, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, pointed in one direction, and said, "That way."

"Let's go!" Xu Jie replied.

Their pace became much faster than before. In no time, they had covered two hundred meters and found their target.

It was a small stream about three meters wide. The water was so clear that they could see several Green Fish swimming along the streambed.

"You go first!" Before Huo Yuhao could say anything upon reaching the stream, Xu Jie spoke first.

Huo Yuhao cheered, swiftly removed his clothes, and jumped into the stream, washing himself thoroughly.

Xu Jie looked at Huo Yuhao splashing about in the water, a faint smile on his face.

After Huo Yuhao had washed to his heart's content, he climbed ashore and waited for his body to air-dry. Seeing this, Xu Jie quickly removed his clothes, jumped into the water, and began washing himself carefully.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao cut off a branch and used his dagger to shave away the excess twigs. He was making a fish spear.

Ever since the last time they had bathed together, when their clothes on shore had nearly been stolen because no one was watching them and they had almost ended up running naked in broad daylight, they had made sure that one person stayed ashore to watch their clothes while the other entered the water.

Xu Jie was very quick. By the time he finished washing and came ashore, Huo Yuhao walked up to him bare-bottomed. Xu Jie raised a hand and summoned his Martial Soul, the sun. Warm light instantly shone upon them, and the water on their bodies quickly evaporated. After getting dressed, the two of them—

—prepared to rest where they were. Xu Jie caught two Soft Bone Rabbits, which were rampant in the forest nearby, and gathered some firewood.

Huo Yuhao picked up the fish spear, rolled up his trouser legs, and ran to the water's edge to spear fish.

Xu Jie quickly finished gathering firewood, set it down, then took the rabbits and their dirty clothes to a spot farther away from Huo Yuhao.

Xu Jie used his dagger to dress the two dead rabbits, then began washing the clothes. While gathering firewood earlier, he had already checked the area and found no one nearby.

By the time he finished washing the dirty clothes, Huo Yuhao had caught more than a dozen fish. Xu Jie casually hung the clothes beneath several branches, then sat under a tree, summoned his Martial Soul above his head, picked up Huo Yuhao's dagger, and began cleaning the fish.

After catching a few more fish, Huo Yuhao came ashore. Xu Jie had also finished cleaning the fish Huo Yuhao had caught earlier. He withdrew his Martial Soul, went to the stream to wash his hands, and checked the clothes hanging up. Finding them dry, he folded and put them away.

Huo Yuhao had already arranged the firewood and seemed to be waiting for Xu Jie. Xu Jie stepped forward and summoned his Martial Soul. This time, the sun Martial Soul no longer felt warmly pleasant as before; it had become scorching hot.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao immediately picked up a branch and brought it close to Xu Jie's Martial Soul. The moment one end of the branch touched it, that end immediately caught fire. Huo Yuhao hurriedly tossed the branch into the pile of firewood they had arranged.

Once the firewood caught, Huo Yuhao rubbed salt over the cleaned Green Fish and rabbits, then skewered them beside the fire to roast.

Xu Jie went to clean the Green Fish that had not yet been prepared.

Before long, a distinctive, rich fragrance began to spread through the air. As the flames flickered, the Green Fish gradually turned golden. Combined with that special aroma, they looked especially tempting.