I Traveled to Douluo and Split into Five People

Zhu Zhuyun was still somewhat uneasy.

One was only seven, and the other was barely over three.

Was it really okay to leave them in an unfamiliar place like this?

Zhou Xuefeng was no longer as irritable as before. Though he was patient enough, he could not be bothered to explain too much to her.

He only said one thing.

"If you don't want to travel far, then go to the Soul Hunting Forest. Just pick any soul beast and make do with it. Go quickly and come back quickly."

Zhu Zhuyun felt a breath stuck in her chest, leaving her tight and aching. Would it kill you to offer a little comfort?!

But she absolutely did not dare say that aloud. If she really said it, who knew what even more infuriating words Zhou Xuefeng would have waiting for her.

She could only comfort herself.

This guy had worked hard to raise her third and youngest sisters until now. He probably would not let anything happen to them so easily. Besides, he had used so many things on them.

Aside from Spirit Power Meridian Opening, he had given the Three Sisters some Unfinished Mysterious Water Pills, Whale Rubber, and other things. They simply did not know what those items were called; they only felt very comfortable when using them.

He met Ning Yulin in private and exchanged a few words with him before taking Zhu Zhuyun to the Star Dou Great Forest.

After the two left, Ning Yulin had originally planned to return to the sect and continue with his own work. But after thinking about it, there was not much difference between staying at the sect and staying outside. It was merely a change of location.

He personally stood guard in the courtyard next to where the two sisters lived.

That way, no unpleasant accident would happen.

With the two little girls gone, the pair traveled light and moved quickly.

In just a few days, they reached Suotuo City and rested briefly.

"What are your thoughts?"

Zhou Xuefeng wanted to ask what goals Zhu Zhuyun had and how she planned to develop her Martial Soul.

However, she was suddenly asked this question and felt somewhat lost. Before she had even had time to learn more about her family's Martial Soul, Zhou Xuefeng had taken her away from the Duke's Mansion.

Zhou Xuefeng waited for her answer. After "training" her for so long, he had taught her without reservation about the soul master knowledge he understood, aside from physical training, combat techniques, and the like.

She fell into thought. After a long while, she gave an answer.

"Speed and attack power."

A standard answer.

Nothing surprising.

Still, Zhou Xuefeng asked again.

"That's it? Nothing else?"

Zhu Zhuyun shook her head. For the moment, she could not think of a better choice. Zhou Xuefeng was somewhat disappointed, but he did not say anything more. He recalled the Zhu Family records he had read. The girls of the Zhu Family—every generation of Zhu Family girls—had basically shared three of the same Spirit Skills among their first four Spirit Rings.

Hell Stab, Netherworld Hundred Claws, and Netherworld Slash.

Hell Stab was a single-target attack. It doubled the user's speed while attacking, allowing them to close in on enemies or retreat more quickly. Netherworld Hundred Claws was also a single-target attack: a spinning thrust that continuously attacked one point. Every strike carried a piercing effect, and the more layers accumulated, the higher the damage. As long as it broke through the target's defenses even slightly, it could break through the surface from that single point, sending Soul Power into the target's body to destroy their meridians. However, according to the written records, few had ever stacked it to a hundred layers. Even more than twenty layers was rare.

Netherworld Slash involved bringing both hands together and condensing the scattered claw blades into an energy blade roughly a foot long. Its damage was considerable, making it an explosive-type ability. Some obtained it as their third ring, while others obtained it as their fourth.

Those three abilities looked quite good.

They progressed from shallow to deep, from low to high, step by step.

But...

The Spirit Ring records of the Zhu Family's male members differed quite a bit from those of the female members. Although the overlap in the three Spirit Skills was still substantial, Zhou Xuefeng discovered that among the records belonging to the heirs of the family head, the record of acquiring the first Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring was extremely vague. It only had the character "Nether" as a written notation, making it completely unclear what soul beast it had been.

That interested him greatly. He spent a long time organizing the Zhu Family's information. After careful comparison, he found a hint.

This "Nether" most likely referred to the Hell Spirit Cat.

The Zhu Family likely controlled a place where Hell Spirit Cats appeared. They left no written record and only passed the information down orally between family heads. If so, they might have always harbored ambitions of breaking free from the Dai Family and taking their place.

That was why they chose Hell Spirit Cats for their first Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring, hoping to purify their bloodline and evolve their Martial Souls.

But the results seemed rather poor.

The Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul remained as ordinary as ever, and its relationship with the Dai Family had not changed in the slightest. Only the Hell White Tiger fusion skill seemed to grow stronger with each generation.

At first, Zhou Xuefeng thought the Zhu Family's main line of family heads all had something wrong with their brains. If they wanted to evolve the Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul, they should have chosen higher-tier soul beasts—various tiger-type beasts. It was not like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, which already stood at the peak of ordinary Beast Spirits and had no higher option, leaving it only able to seek out various sub-dragons.

After putting down the records and thinking it over again, he realized that seeking only Hell Spirit Cat soul beasts might have been a necessity. Certainly, finding higher-tier tiger-type soul beasts would make evolution easier, but once the Dai Family noticed, the Zhu Family would meet no good end.

Furthermore, perhaps the family heads who did this did not actually want to completely abandon the trump card that was the Hell White Tiger. They only wanted to raise their own status and stand on equal footing with the Dai Family. The Zhu Family's girls would no longer be the ones unilaterally entering the Dai Family.

He could perhaps try a Hell Spirit Cat soul beast later, when he had time. Even if it could not evolve the Martial Soul, increasing its origin somewhat would still be good. But it definitely could not happen now. Zhou Xuefeng had inferred the rough location of that place—it was somewhere in the southern part of the Star Luo Empire, far too distant.

Traveling as quickly as they could, they reached the Star Dou Great Forest around ten days after leaving Seven Treasure City.

After entering the familiar camp, Zhou Xuefeng wandered around and hired a Spirit Hunting Squad to help search for soul beasts. He wanted to see whether the strange luck he had when mingling with Spirit Hunting Squads was still around—whether a Spirit Bone would drop this time.

As for Zhu Zhuyun's specific soul beast choice...

Agility-attack system assassins generally had two paths of development. Either the speed route: strike once, and if it failed, flee a thousand miles away. Or the berserk route: kill everyone who sees me, and that makes for perfect infiltration.

The Zhu Family's original setup was not bad, but now that the three sisters belonged to Zhou Xuefeng, there was no need to consider their connection to the Hell White Tiger. And even if this was an experiment, Zhou Xuefeng wanted it to be as perfect as possible.

Whether it was the speed route or the berserk route, low-level Spirit Rings were most important for building a foundation. They should still focus on amplification-type abilities, with attack-type abilities as support.

He had already considered several kinds of soul beasts.

Chapter 84: Cats, and Cats

After several days of trekking, they stopped and went through the forest.

Before dawn, the squad prepared to rest. Zhou Xuefeng had set up the tent as well and was calling Zhu Zhuyun over when the Blue Silver Domain suddenly sensed soul beast activity nearby.

He stopped moving and sensed carefully.

For the Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul Evolution, one factor was attributes and the other was bloodline. With both in mind, Zhou Xuefeng had required the squad to operate from dusk until the first half of the night these past few days. Soul beasts with Netherworld attributes were mostly active during this period. It was not as though they could not be found at other times, but this was when the chances of encountering them were highest.

He entered the tent and had Zhu Zhuyun come in. Spreading out his spiritual power, Zhou Xuefeng "saw" the soul beast's appearance.

"A Shadow Cat? Its age is about right."

This soul beast had been among Zhou Xuefeng's expected choices. From a rough observation, it had not yet reached a thousand years and was very suitable. Judging from its route, it would brush past their temporary camp.

Or rather, it was heading here.

Shadow Cats liked to follow humans entering the forest. Whether humans died or soul beasts died during hunts, they could profit from it. They also loved rummaging through things humans left behind.

He gave Zhu Zhuyun a look, and the two walked out of the tent to wait beside the campfire.

The squad leader, Zhang San, came over to greet them. He was level forty-six, with a Strength Ape Beast Spirit. The squad had four people in total, and the lowest-level member was a level-twenty-six Food System soul master.

"It's getting late. We'll stand watch, so you two should get some rest."

His attitude was exceedingly attentive.

When hiring them, Zhou Xuefeng had been straightforward and directly paid the entire reward. Usually, that much would not be paid before setting out; the full payment would only be settled after the soul hunt was over. Zhou Xuefeng simply could not be bothered to haggle. In his previous life, he had always preferred to pay before eating so he would not have to deal with the trouble afterward.

Besides, he was not short on money. He had taken so many treasures from the Duke's Mansion, and Ning Yulin had also provided funds for his activities. Even some small soul master clans were not as wealthy as Zhou Xuefeng.

"Captain Zhang, don't mind us. A soul beast is coming."

Sensing the little cat drawing closer and closer, Zhou Xuefeng gave him a reminder. Captain Zhang San froze for a moment, then turned his head suspiciously, but he found nothing. Looking at his three teammates, none of them seemed to have noticed anything either.

It did not seem appropriate to doubt his employer, but...

With a stiff, fake smile, Zhang San turned back, intending to ask where the soul beast was. Zhou Xuefeng had already controlled the Blue Silver Grass and driven the Shadow Cat out. Zhang San reacted quickly, turning to release his Martial Soul and attack while signaling his three teammates.

The four surrounded and attacked it, yet they failed to take down the Shadow Cat, which was less than a thousand years old, in one wave.

The soul beast reacted even faster. Though it did not know why the surrounding Blue Silver Grass had suddenly driven it away, it sensed the humans' killing intent. Dodging forward, it slipped into the shadow beside the campfire and activated its shadow ability, directly "disappearing" before the four.

"Interesting. So that's where the name Shadow Cat comes from..."

Zhou Xuefeng muttered.

However, there was not much to watch in a battle like this, so he controlled the Blue Silver Grass again. He directly disrupted the state in which it merged with the firelight's shadows. Hidden in the shadow, it appeared to vanish completely against the contrast of the flames. In reality, it merely used its own energy to resonate with the darkness element and erase its presence, creating the effect of disappearing from sight.

Those over a thousand years old possessed a special ability resembling brief Shadow Dodge. Those over fifty thousand years old evolved a true ability to merge into shadows, though such creatures were very rare.

After Zhou Xuefeng helped several times, the four finally managed to capture it and brought it over. From beginning to end, they had not noticed Zhou Xuefeng's interference at all. They only assumed the Shadow Cat's own abilities were inadequate, which was why it had repeatedly exposed itself.

He nodded casually and could not be bothered to pay them any attention. Looking at Zhu Zhuyun, Zhou Xuefeng said indifferently.

"This is the Second Spirit Ring I envisioned for you. You may also continue with the original path. I'll give you ten minutes to consider."

After saying that, he withdrew his gaze and stared at the dying soul beast in thought, wondering whether it would drop a Spirit Bone. Less than a minute later, Zhu Zhuyun moved.

She took a deep breath and walked straight toward the soul beast. Her thinking was very clear: before she possessed decisive strength to resist, it was best to follow everything Zhou Xuefeng said.

It would be good for her and for her two younger sisters.

She killed the soul beast, absorbed the Spirit Ring, and there was nothing more to say about that.

While she was absorbing it, Zhou Xuefeng rummaged through the Shadow Cat's corpse. Seeing his actions, the four members of the Spirit Hunting Squad were both nervous and expectant. They hoped a Spirit Bone would drop, yet they were nervous for the same reason—if one did, there would be no way for the two sides to part peacefully.

Huh?

Why did this Shadow Cat have three eyes?

He found no Spirit Bone, but Zhou Xuefeng discovered that this cat had a third eye on its forehead.

Did Shadow Cats have this kind of mutation? Or was this not a Shadow Cat? A hybrid of a Three-Eyed Spirit Fox?

When they saw that nothing had appeared, the four squad members let out sighs of relief. This was good too.

Could Spirit Bones only drop when the two of us were together, or when we teamed up with others?

The thought surfaced in his mind, but he immediately shook his head. He could experiment with it later.

Half an hour later, Zhu Zhuyun finished absorbing the ring. Before Zhou Xuefeng could ask, she quietly and proactively explained her Second Spirit Skill. Once activated, she would enter a state similar to the Shadow Cat's Shadow Dodge. Her presence would be erased, Soul Power consumption would be reduced by thirty percent, and it would last ten minutes. During that time, she could not be locked onto by control-type or single-target attack abilities.

With their goal achieved, they rested briefly before withdrawing from the forest at dawn.

As they walked out from beneath the tree where they had camped, Zhou Xuefeng suddenly noticed that something seemed off about Zhu Zhuyun. Her eyes appeared somewhat sensitive to light, and she kept squinting unconsciously. With so many people around, it was not convenient to examine her. He could only wait until they left the forest.

They hurried to Spirit Hunting Town.

They found an inn and rented a room. After she took a bath, Zhou Xuefeng called her over. Supporting his face with one hand, he leaned close and examined her carefully. Zhu Zhuyun unconsciously held her breath, her heart pounding like a drum.

Could it be... today?

After scrutinizing her for a long time, Zhou Xuefeng still could not see anything unusual, but he continued to feel that something was wrong. He told her to lie on the bed, intending to conduct a deeper examination of her body.

Clenching her fists, Zhu Zhuyun looked at the "crude" bed, her eyes dimming.

I never thought it would be in a place like this. Heh.

Taking a deep breath, she made up her mind and lay down briskly, spreading her arms and legs slightly like a wooden doll. Zhou Xuefeng raised his hand and placed it on her chest, releasing Blue Silver Fine Threads. Starting from her heart, he carefully examined her.

As his palm settled, his mind suddenly wandered.

It was only one Spirit Ring, yet the improvement was this great?!

One hand could not grasp it.

He closed his eyes and lowered his gaze, gathering his focus and examining her intently. Seeing that movement, Zhu Zhuyun's feelings became too complicated to describe, and her mind went blank.

"This again?"

Could this guy... not be capable?

After several examinations, he found a foreign type of Soul Power near the Upper Dantian, the Yintang Point, and her eye sockets. It seemed somewhat like...

"A Spirit Bone? What the hell?"

A head Spirit Bone?

This location could be a head Spirit Bone. But that Shadow Cat had only been around eight hundred years old. Its age was far too low. If it were on the limbs, Zhou Xuefeng could replace it, but the head and torso were not easy to deal with.

"That's not right. If it were a Spirit Bone, how could it enter her body directly... Wait, could it be an External Soul Bone?"

He withdrew the Blue Silver Fine Threads.

Yet before his mind could react, his hand instinctively gave it a squeeze.