The Future of Soul Beasts

Tang San and Xiao Wu's battle was on the verge of breaking out.

Unlike his match with Zhou Qing, Tang San relied on Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, darting left and right with strange footwork, easily evading Xiao Wu's punches and kicks.

Rather than a fight, their battle was more like a chase.

Tang San ran.

Xiao Wu chased.

At last, Xiao Wu could not stand it any longer. She stopped and shouted, "Why are you running? Isn't your martial soul Blue Silver Grass? Why are you so good at running?"

"Precisely because it's Blue Silver Grass, I need to know how to run away." Tang San looked entirely justified. Having promised Tang Hao not to reveal the Clear Sky Hammer, his apparent path of development could not be that of a Battle Soul Master.

Wasn't it perfectly normal for him to know how to run?

Xiao Wu had nothing to say. After all, asking a Soul Scholar whose martial soul was Blue Silver Grass to fight her in close combat was indeed asking too much. But seeing that Tang San stood a whole head taller than her, she felt his words had absolutely no persuasive power.

"Fine, fine. Let's call it a draw and settle it another time." Xiao Wu stopped fighting as well, though a trace of unwillingness still showed in her pink-ruby eyes.

Though Xiao Wu, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form, did not know much about humans, she understood some common sense: mere Blue Silver Grass could not possibly provide such a boost in speed.

This Tang San, and that Zhou Qing who had nearly forced her to reveal her Soul Ring and Soul Bone, were both far from simple.

"That couldn't be better." Tang San secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If he defeated Xiao Wu and became the boss of Dormitory Seven, he might have to waste quite a bit of time socializing with others. At present, he did not have that much free time.

"Come to think of it, I'm a little hungry. Do you know where we eat?" Xiao Wu rubbed her stomach. It hurt a little from what Zhou Qing had done. She shot him a vicious glare, determined to beat him so badly in the future that he would not know which way was north.

Wang Sheng immediately said, "Everyone, follow me! To celebrate Dormitory Seven getting three bosses, it's my treat!"

"Yeah!"

The other Work-Study Students all cheered.

On the way to the dining hall, Zhou Qing walked beside Wang Sheng and quietly asked, "Can you afford it? How about we each pay for our own?"

"It's fine."

Wang Sheng patted his chest and said with feigned generosity, "I'll graduate next year, and there's a chance I can reach Rank Ten... Once I get a Soul Ring with the help of the school teachers, I'll join the Nuoding Guild, become an adventurer, take on missions, and earn money."

Tang San also came over and asked, "Could you tell us more about the Nuoding Guild?"

"It's not exactly a secret..."

The Nuoding Guild was jointly run by Nuoding City's Spirit Hall Branch and the City Lord's Mansion. It had originally been operated solely by Spirit Hall, but over the past two hundred years, the number of Soul Beasts in the surrounding forests had declined while villages had increased. As a result, there were fewer missions in the guild involving the clearing of Soul Beasts, so it had no choice but to cooperate with the local City Lord's Mansion to obtain more missions.

Nowadays, its missions generally involved catching bandits and thieves, helping Soul Masters in need of Soul Rings hunt Soul Beasts, or serving as temporary patrolmen and law enforcers for Nuoding City and Spirit Hall.

Those who performed well could officially join Spirit Hall or the City Lord's Mansion.

"I heard people say this is one of the ways Nuoding City's lord and the Spirit Hall Branch recruit talent." After finishing, Wang Sheng took a breath and continued, "Most Soul Masters who join the guild are unable to continue their studies at an intermediate Soul Master Academy. Although Spirit Hall gives out subsidies before one turns thirty, the resources needed for Soul Master cultivation are immense. If you do not want to join some faction and crave freedom, joining the guild, registering as an adventurer, completing missions, and earning rewards is a good choice."

"So that's how it is." Xiao Wu had somehow come over as well. She nodded repeatedly as she listened. "I've decided! I'm going to become an adventurer in the future!"

Zhou Qing asked, "How does one become an adventurer?"

"You need to have registered your Soul Master certification with Spirit Hall."

Wang Sheng took out his martial soul certificate and said to the two of them, "As long as you have this certificate and possess a Soul Ring, becoming an official Soul Master, you can register at the guild as an adventurer."

Tang San nodded slightly. He realized that if he ever ran out of money and Spirit Hall's subsidies were not enough, he might register as an adventurer, take on missions, complete them, and earn rewards—

This arrangement was similar to the system of the Tang Sect in his previous life. Moreover, after joining the guild and becoming an adventurer, one remained free and was not considered a member of any faction.

"The guilds in big cities must be much larger, right?" Xiao Wu asked.

"Probably." Wang Sheng was not entirely sure, but he still nodded.

"The larger the city, the more likely it is to be located near a large Soul Beast Forest. Such cities developed by relying on the resources of the Soul Beast Forests. Guilds also have ongoing missions to explore Soul Beast species and map the extent of Soul Beast Forests. A teacher mentioned in class that many places on the continent still have not been thoroughly explored by Soul Masters, and many unknown Soul Beasts have yet to be discovered and recorded. In some relatively remote and vast Soul Beast gathering areas, the Adventurer's Guild even has missions to hunt and clear out the surrounding Soul Beasts."

"Are Soul Beasts hunted for Soul Rings?" Xiao Wu's mood could not help but sink somewhat.

Zhou Qing noticed this, but did not pay much attention to it.

Tang San, however, was considering whether he might travel to those more remote regions in the future to hunt Soul Beasts and obtain special materials from them for researching hidden weapons and Soul Tools.

"I don't know about that. Probably," Wang Sheng said uncertainly.

"In places like ours, Soul Beasts can no longer be slaughtered indiscriminately, because every one killed means one fewer. But that may not be the case in remote regions." Zhou Qing gave his own explanation. "After all, if humans want to survive, they must inevitably encroach on the space of other living creatures. Those remote Soul Beast gathering areas that humans have not explored have vast lands. If humans want to survive, naturally they have to expand."

"That's far too cruel!"

In those remote regions, adventurers hunted Soul Beasts not even for Soul Rings, but to expand humanity's territory... Xiao Wu could not accept that.

"But that is reality. It is for future generations to have more land and a more stable life! Surely you can't stop people from having children for the sake of Soul Beasts?" Zhou Qing's words left Xiao Wu unable to refute him. He was also using them to confirm Xiao Wu's attitude toward Soul Beasts. "Still, there's no need to think that far ahead for now."

"Hmph!"

Xiao Wu turned her head away, sulking. But when she reached the dining hall and smelled the fragrance of food, she immediately forgot her displeasure—

Why think so much?

Better to fill her stomach first!

Besides, she had come to the human world to find the killer who had murdered her mother!

As for the future of Soul Beasts—

Why should a Soft Bone Rabbit like her think about so much?

Let those super Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest who had seized her home worry about it!

That was what she thought, but the conflict between Soul Beasts and humans was still etched into Xiao Wu's heart...