Soul Hunting

The Star Dou Great Forest was the largest gathering place for soul beasts on the Douluo Continent, and from it, multiple surrounding industry chains had sprung up.

Under the elders' lead, Xu Mingxi arrived in the northern part of the Star Luo Empire and entered one of the entrances to the Star Dou Great Forest.

It was called an entrance, but in truth, this place was still quite some distance from the Star Dou Great Forest.

Soul Hunting Groups, merchant caravans, and others from all over had established a small town here, specifically to serve those who intended to enter the Star Dou Great Forest.

The town was filled with hawking cries and peddlers' shouts, and even the occasional fight broke out.

This was a chaotic place without law.

All four of Xu Mingxi's group wore black robes. The old hands in town could tell at a glance from their heights that these four were definitely elders bringing juniors to obtain soul rings.

And this junior was definitely not old—he was even a genius.

On the Douluo Continent, Martial Souls were mostly inherited through bloodlines. The elders of a genius were usually no pushovers, and none of the old hands in town wanted to be the first fool to stick their neck out.

Xu Chunyi walked at the front, leading the group into a tavern, planning to rest here for a while and set out again tomorrow.

"Honored guests, are you here for lodging? Our Wind Baboon meat is quite the delicacy, you know?"

"Two rooms, one night. No food needed."

The First Elder tossed out several Gold Soul Coins and brought the three of them upstairs.

When away from home, caution came first. Outside the Star Dou Great Forest, all sorts of people mixed together; food from a Storage Soul Tool was the only thing one could eat with peace of mind.

Before the two Xu Mingxi brothers left the sect, the Sect Master had specially given each of them a Storage Soul Tool.

Both were ring-shaped. The space inside was not large, only three cubic meters, but it was more than enough.

One elder stayed with one little brat. These two concerned the sect's future fortune, so not the slightest carelessness was allowed.

Nothing happened overnight. Early the next morning, the First Elder woke Xu Mingxi up.

"Mingxi, get up. The view in the Star Dou Great Forest is broader in the morning, and we'll be safer too."

"I'm coming, Grandpa. Wait for me a moment."

As usual, the elders led the two little brats forward.

But once they officially entered the Star Dou Great Forest, the two elders put them down.

"You'll have to walk on your own from here on. If you want to become a powerful soul master, blindly cultivating alone won't be enough."

The two elders positioned themselves in front and behind, protecting the two children in the middle. Xu Mingxi walked while looking around in every direction.

Before they set out, the Sect Master had already told Xu Mingxi about the past of Star Ancestor.

Back then, after Star Ancestor absorbed the Star Calling Soul Skill, he only treated it as a soul skill that boosted cultivation.

His later soul ring choices still followed the sect's control route.

As a result, when he reached his Seventh Soul Ring, he accidentally absorbed a fifty-thousand-year Star Spider.

Star Douluo discovered that his cultivation speed was more than just a little faster than before, and he even no longer encountered any bottlenecks before level eighty.

For the next two soul rings, Star Douluo subconsciously searched for soul beasts with a greater connection to starlight.

With every soul ring he absorbed, he felt his cultivation speed become a little faster.

In the end, he was only stuck at the bottleneck from level ninety-seven to ninety-eight for a few years.

But his breakthroughs ended there. Star Douluo was stuck before the threshold of level ninety-nine for his entire life.

In his later years, he had always regretted his choices for his second through Sixth Soul Skill.

If he had chosen soul beasts more deeply connected to starlight, would he have been able to glimpse the scenery of a Limit Douluo?

After the Sect Master spent a long time consulting ancient records, he discovered that there were only three kinds of soul beasts most suitable to become Xu Mingxi's second soul ring.

The first was called Star Light Grass, a special existence among the Gathering Star Grass species. It was extremely rare; the Star Crown Sect had cultivated Gathering Star Grass for so many years and had never seen one.

The second soul beast was called the Starry Tiger. Its tiger pelt had mysterious patterns on its surface, and it was nocturnal.

It possessed one extremely special ability: it could attract star power to swirl around its body, greatly increasing its speed.

The third was the Star Energy Turtle that Xu Mingxi had seen before. The Star Crown Sect had a map leading to the Star Energy Turtle population, But the Star Energy Turtle was only the last choice if there was no other option. If they truly could not find the first two, it could barely do.

As for Xu Mingguang, things were simple. The Falling Rock Bear soul beast that could produce the Starfall Art soul skill was the best choice for him.

Suitable soul beasts could only be found by chance, not by seeking. The group had already searched the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest for half a month.

They had unexpectedly encountered one Falling Rock Bear that Xu Mingguang needed.

Judging from its size and fur color, it should have been over seven hundred years old, so the two elders directly took action and captured it.

Xu Mingguang took out a dagger and directly turned that Falling Rock Bear into his second soul ring.

But there was not the slightest trace of the soul beast Xu Mingxi needed.

That day, after walking for half the day, Xu Mingxi suddenly had a novel idea.

"Grandpa, Second Elder, since we can't find them, why don't we make them come find us?"

The soul beasts Xu Mingxi needed all had a great connection to starlight. Then could a place where starlight was dense attract them?

His idea won the two elders' approval. In any case, this was only the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Forget Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts—even soul beasts over five thousand years old were rare here. They had nothing to fear at all.

Night fell. Stars glittered across the sky as Xu Mingxi sat on the ground, gazing up at the heavens.

The Star Crown emerged, and his first soul ring lit up. Starlight was drawn down from the distant horizon, draping Xu Mingxi in a layer of starry gauze.

The surroundings were illuminated by starlight as well. Where Xu Mingxi sat, he was practically a bright lamp in the darkness.

Naturally, the nearby soul beasts saw it clearly too. In the distance, the head of a tiger-type soul beast that had been feeding lifted.

It glanced in Xu Mingxi's direction, as though it had sensed some kind of attraction.

With little intelligence to speak of, it charged wildly toward the thing drawing it in.

The Second Elder standing beside Xu Mingxi had long since been ready for battle. Beside her, who knew how many soul beasts had already been pinned in place by her Star Guiding Art.

"It's here."

A tiger covered in deep, mysterious markings suddenly sprang out of the grass in front of Xu Mingxi. Looking closely, it seemed that some starlight had gathered on its body.

The Second Elder knocked it unconscious with one Starfall Art, then followed up with a Star Guiding Art to immobilize it.

"Mingxi, it's your turn. Kill it."

But Xu Mingxi, who was still using his First Soul Skill, seemed to sense something. He shook his head at the Second Elder.

"Grandpa, bring this Starry Tiger with us. We're going somewhere."

The three of them were instantly puzzled. Hadn't they already settled on the Starry Tiger? What was Mingxi doing?

Still, the three of them trusted Mingxi and felt he definitely would not act without reason.

The First Elder carried the Starry Tiger on his shoulder and walked at the very front, while the Second Elder protected them from behind, occasionally throwing a Star Guiding Art onto the Starry Tiger to keep it from moving.

Before long, under Xu Mingxi's directions, everyone arrived at a valley. The valley was filled with the Gathering Star Grass they all knew well.

Could it be...

While the three of them were still shocked and uncertain, Xu Mingxi moved. As if guided by starlight, he walked toward the depths of the valley.

Sure enough, Xu Mingxi looked at the Gathering Star Grass before him with yellow markings and was delighted inside.

This Gathering Star Grass with yellow markings was the Star Light Grass recorded in the sect's ancient texts. Those yellow markings had formed from its long-term absorption of starlight.

"Grandpa, I'll choose it."

"Mingxi, why don't you think it over a little more?

"The soul skill this Star Light Grass provides may very well be useless again."

Although he might once again obtain a soul skill with no offense, no defense, no control, no support—nothing at all—

Xu Mingxi still wanted to choose the Star Light Grass, simply because Star Light Grass was a mutation formed after Gathering Star Grass absorbed starlight over a long period of time.

Its connection to starlight was not something the Starry Tiger could compare to at all.

Xu Mingxi wanted to become a god.

Even if there was no divine position called Star God, he still had the ambition to create the Star God divine position himself.

Though the two elders did not know what Xu Mingxi was thinking, fortunately, the Star Light Grass was also within the Sect Master's plan.

Besides, it was only a second soul skill. As long as it was not a divine amplification skill, it was basically useless to a Soul Douluo or Titled Douluo.

Judging by the Starry Tiger, the only amplification soul skill it might possibly produce was likely a speed boost.

For soul masters with the Star Crown Martial Soul, they had the Star's Protection soul skill; standing still and dishing out damage was their norm. The thing they needed least was a speed boost.

The Star Light Grass had no real offensive ability. Xu Mingxi raised his blade and brought it down, ending it directly.

A yellow soul ring rose from the spot. Judging by color alone, it did not even seem as deep as the soul ring from the previous Falling Rock Bear.

Only then did Xu Mingxi sit down in relief. Under the pull of his Soul Power, the soul ring continuously moved toward the top of his head.