Dual Sword Soul Venerable

"Firearm Spirit! Tough, hard-hitting, and supportive! Eleven years of professional Spirit Hunting! Only two Gold Soul Coins! Don't miss out!"

"Healing Spirit Master wanted! Seven Gold Soul Coins! We'll enter the Soul Hunting Forest once the team is full. Our lineup is complete—absolute safety guaranteed."

Tang Jiu was absorbed in his Space Soul Tool when the clamor outside the carriage startled him awake. He immediately lifted the curtain and saw a bustling marketplace.

"This is the last supply stop before the Soul Hunting Forest, a gathering place for Spirit Masters. Some come here to find work and earn money, while others hire people to form teams and hunt Spirit Beasts. Xiao San, Little Jiu, get out. We'll buy some supplies, then prepare to enter the Soul Hunting Forest."

After explaining, Master got out to buy white radishes. Once he had bought over fifty jin of them, Tang Jiu headed straight for a miscellaneous goods stall.

"Boss, give me a big iron pot, plus every kind of spice. Make sure you get me oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar too!" Tang Jiu happily picked through the goods.

"Right away! Please wait a moment." The owner's eyes crinkled with delight. This was a big customer!

"Little Jiu, what are you buying all this for?" Master asked in confusion.

"For a picnic! Teacher, aren't we going to hunt a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast? Won't we have to wait for help anyway? We might as well stay in the Soul Hunting Forest! Once we kill a Spirit Beast, we can stew the meat and eat it right away!" At the thought of those bizarre Spirit Beasts, Tang Jiu practically drooled.

"Hmm, that makes some sense." Master considered it and found it feasible, so he did not stop him.

"Makes sense my ass! You want to have a picnic in the Soul Hunting Forest? The kid doesn't know any better, but are you, his teacher, brain-dead too? No wonder so many people die in the Soul Hunting Forest every year!"

At that moment, a mocking voice rang out. Tang Jiu looked up and saw a two-man team. The speaker was an arrogant man in his thirties.

"What dog is barking here? Doesn't anyone keep it on a leash?" Tang Jiu's good mood was instantly ruined, and he coldly shot back.

"Kid, are you tired of living?" The arrogant man's face darkened. Seeing Tang Jiu dare mock him in return, he immediately strode over.

The stall owner was also a Spirit Master. He hurriedly stepped in to mediate, blocking the arrogant man. "Brother Kai, calm down. He's just a child. He doesn't know any better!"

Then the owner turned back to Master. "These two are Three-Ring Soul Masters, the strongest Spirit Masters around here. They often help people hunt Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts!"

"The eldest is Chen Kai, and the second is Arthur. Their Spirits are both swords! They're known as the Dual Sword Soul Venerables."

Soul Elders!

Master's heart sank, and his expression turned ugly. If there had only been one Soul Elder, perhaps they could have taken him down with Tang Jiu's Spirit. But two of them would be difficult.

The arrogant man was Chen Kai, the eldest. Hearing the stall owner praise him, he proudly raised his head and glanced at Master from the corner of his eye.

"I kindly gave you a warning, yet your ignorant student insulted me!"

"When a student makes a mistake, the teacher should apologize! Kneel down and kowtow to us, then pay me twenty Gold Soul Coins for damage to my reputation. Then I'll let you go!"

The moment the surrounding crowd heard that, they began discussing it.

"What? Twenty Gold Soul Coins? That's outrageous! We risk our lives hunting Spirit Beasts and only make two Gold Soul Coins."

"Exactly! He even wants the teacher to kneel. That's blatant bullying and extortion!"

"What can they do? Those two are Soul Elders!"

"It's also the kid's fault. Why did he have to talk back? Being cursed at a few times won't kill him, but now he's dragged his teacher into trouble."

Master's expression was extremely ugly. If Flender had been here, he would have slapped these two bastards to death long ago!

But he could only suppress the anger in his heart. "You're going too far! You were the ones who insulted us first."

"Too far? Are you stupid? We're teaching you how to behave!" Arthur curled his lip disdainfully, then walked up to Master. Catching him off guard, he slammed his sturdy body into Master and sent him stumbling.

"What a piece of trash!" Arthur laughed smugly.

Tang San's arm lifted slightly, aiming at Arthur's throat, ready to strike at any moment. But he was even less certain than last time. The people Tang Jiu had provoked before had been Two-Ring Great Spirit Masters. This time, they were Three-Ring Soul Masters. He was not sure whether the Sleeve Arrow would still work.

"Enough, old man. Hurry up and kowtow, apologize, and pay up. Otherwise, we don't mind breaking all your legs first!"

Chen Kai impatiently pointed at Master.

"You're the ones who should kneel and apologize. Otherwise, I'll break your legs!" Tang Jiu said coldly.

After Tang Jiu spoke, the entire area fell silent. Everyone looked at him as though he were an idiot.

"You're going to break our legs? Do you know who we are? The Dual Sword Soul Venerables!" Chen Kai was so angry that he laughed. This brat really is an idiot.

"Dual Cheap Soul Venerables. You really are cheap!" Tang Jiu raised an eyebrow.

"You're courting death! Summon your Spirits! It looks like we need to teach him a proper lesson today!"

Chen Kai's face turned cold. Soul Power surged, and a long, narrow sword appeared in his hand. Three Soul Rings rose around him: one white, one yellow, and one purple.

Arthur also shouted as a two-handed greatsword appeared in his hand. Three Soul Rings rose around him as well: one white, one yellow, and one purple.

Though it was not the optimal Soul Ring configuration, the moment that purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring appeared, its pressure made the faces of everyone nearby change. They silently mourned for Tang Jiu's group. Of all people to provoke, they had chosen these two!

The moment Master saw them summon their Spirits, he summoned his own as well.

An adorable little creature appeared. It looked like a dog, but it was as fat as a pig, with huge ears and short little legs. It waddled as it walked, looking especially silly and cute.

"Haha~~~ So it's actually a useless Spirit!" Chen Kai laughed wildly. Beast Spirits all possessed their users, and the fiercer they looked, the stronger they were. This one clearly had no combat power at all!

Although they saw Master's two Yellow Soul Rings, they thought even less of him. Nearly fifty years old and only two Soul Rings—what was he if not trash?

"Little Jiu, you were too impulsive! As a Spirit Master, sometimes when you encounter an opponent you cannot defeat, you have to endure it! Now, I'll cover your escape!" Master did not blame Tang Jiu. He was merely imparting some life experience.

"Run? No, Teacher. I'm going to beat them until even their mothers won't recognize them!"

Tang Jiu shook his head. He had no intention of fleeing.

The surrounding people shook their heads again at Tang Jiu's words, all questioning whether there was something wrong with his brain.

Not just the crowd—even Master frowned and rebuked him. "Little Jiu, you're usually quite clever. What's gotten into you today?"

"Teacher, do you believe that without lifting a single finger, I can make these two cheap bastards submit obediently?"

"Little Jiu!" Master was just about to scold him when he saw Tang Jiu take out a card and say calmly, "I'm hiring every Spirit Master here, regardless of Soul Power level. Two Gold Soul Coins each, as long as you beat these two bastards until even their mothers won't recognize them!"

The once-noisy marketplace fell deathly silent, then erupted into cheers. One voice after another rang out.

"Summon your Spirits!"

"Summon your Spirits!"

Nearly a hundred people summoned their Spirits at once, creating an extraordinarily dazzling sight. The miscellaneous goods stall owner charged to the front, raised his wok Spirit, and roared, "First Spirit Skill, Toss the Pot!"

"Fuck!" The faces of the Dual Sword Soul Venerables turned green.