Hunting a Soul Ring

"You've reached level thirty as well. It's time to obtain your Third Soul Ring."

A month later, Su Chen's Soul Power finally broke through the level-thirty barrier.

By convention, it was time for him to obtain his Third Soul Ring.

"Given your circumstances, it would be best to obtain a Soul Ring that can help balance your Soul Power."

Shui Qingxuan looked thoughtfully at the map hanging in the office.

"A Soul Ring that helps balance Soul Power? What type is that?"

Su Chen was somewhat confused.

He had never heard of such a Soul Ring before.

"Most Soul Rings like this come from plant-type soul beasts with particularly strong vitality. Compared to ordinary soul beasts, plant-type ones are far more adaptable."

As Shui Qingxuan spoke, her gaze gradually settled on a point on the map.

"However, even if you find a suitable soul beast, you may not necessarily obtain the Soul Skill you want. Most of the time, absorbing such a soul beast results in abilities related to toughness."

As she spoke, Shui Qingxuan turned around.

She stared seriously at Su Chen.

"What Soul Skill this Soul Ring can grant you, I can't say for certain. The final choice is yours."

"If that's the case, then I'll follow your suggestion."

Whether it was his First Soul Ring or his Second Soul Ring, Su Chen had not relied on outside help.

He was not even sure whether his martial soul could absorb Soul Rings, so there was no point in discussing whether a particular type of Soul Ring suited him.

"Then let's head to the Star Dou Great Forest together the day after tomorrow."

The Star Dou Great Forest was one of the three most famous soul beast habitats on the entire Douluo Continent.

It was nearly the size of an entire kingdom. Roughly two-fifths of it lay within the Heaven Dou Empire, while the other three-fifths lay within the Star Luo Empire. It was a forest jointly administered by the two great empires.

It could be said that as long as one was strong enough, anyone could find a suitable Soul Ring here.

Three days later, led by two Soul Kings,

Skywater Academy's Soul Ring acquisition team officially set out.

Besides Su Chen, three students from the same cohort traveled with them.

However, they were all there to obtain their Second Soul Rings.

"Teacher, does this already count as entering the forest?"

Since entering the academy, these students had never traveled far from home before.

The two girls chatted noisily along the way, seemingly unaware of the dangers of this trip.

"Of course. From this area onward, you've already entered the range where soul beasts are active."

The two Soul Kings were experienced and had led teams to hunt Soul Rings many times before.

As for Shui Qingxuan, she had not come along.

Her strength was comparatively great. If she came with them, the nearby soul beasts might flee in fear.

That would be detrimental to their search for soul beasts.

"Meow~"

As if sensing danger, an orange cat-like soul beast darted out from the grass.

It quickly ran deeper into the forest and vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Teacher, aren't we going to chase it?"

One of the girls traveling with the group asked curiously.

"That's a cat soul beast, while your martial soul is a fish. No matter how you look at it, those two wouldn't be very compatible, would they?"

The other Soul King leading the team pointed out the issue.

"Besides, soul beasts cultivate very slowly."

Su Chen walked ahead of the two of them, then seemingly casually glanced back.

"If they're slaughtered indiscriminately without restraint, perhaps after enough years pass, the profession of soul master will cease to exist."

"Forget it. We can't think that far ahead."

But the two girls did not seem to care.

By the day soul beasts went extinct, they would have long since turned to dust.

What would that have to do with them then?

"Alright, stay alert. Keep moving forward."

The requirements for Su Chen's Soul Ring were rather restrictive, so they would prioritize finding the Soul Rings the two girls needed.

"Both of your martial souls are aquatic beast martial souls. We should look for nearby rivers. It'll be easier to find suitable soul beasts there."

Su Chen reminded them.

"That's right. Places like that also have a good chance of containing plant-type soul beasts."

Having chosen a direction, the road ahead became much smoother.

Before long, they found a small stream.

However, there were no powerful soul beasts in the stream, only schools of fish. They appeared to have no more than ten years of cultivation.

"Should we keep going deeper, Teacher?"

As the group ventured farther in, the atmosphere around them grew increasingly tense.

The two girls, who had been chatting merrily all the way, no longer dared to say much. They feared that any noise they made might draw dangerous soul beasts over.

Suddenly, the two Soul Kings noticed a black shadow flash past on the left side of the road ahead.

The next instant, another black shadow streaked past where he had been standing and pounced onto the ground beside him.

"Little Black, Little White."

Su Chen transformed Little Black and Little White into chains formed from Soul Power, wrapping them around the two girls' waists. With a forceful pull of both arms, he yanked them backward at the same time, allowing them to narrowly escape disaster.

As the dust settled, the attacker's appearance finally came into view.

It was a baboon standing about two meters tall. Its brownish-yellow fur had begun to show faint hints of gold.

Its brown eyes glimmered with ferocity.

A pair of protruding fangs further displayed its aggression.

"Be careful! This is a highly cultivated Wind Baboon!"

One of the Soul Kings leading the group shouted.

A single Wind Baboon might not have been much to fear.

But such soul beasts generally lived under the command of even more powerful soul beasts.

The presence of a Wind Baboon with several thousand years of cultivation meant there was likely a large number of other soul beasts nearby, perhaps even ones with ten-thousand-year cultivation.

"You protect the children. I'll deal with these things."

Looking at the red glows constantly emerging around them, the two teachers instantly understood that they had entered the territory of a large soul beast clan.

"Roar!"

With a low roar, the baboon kicked off the ground with its powerful hind legs and turned to pounce on one of the teachers.

"Third Soul Skill: Water Shield!"

A shield formed from water-element Soul Power appeared before him, completely blocking the baboon's attack.

Its force was like a stone sinking into water, accomplishing nothing.

"Second Soul Skill: Ice Spear Throw!"

At the same time, the other Soul King leading the group made his move.

He threw two ice spears with both hands, instantly piercing through both sides of the baboon's body as blood gushed forth.

"Roar~"

After a long howl of pain, the baboon showed no signs of retreat. Instead, it seemed to grow fiercer as it fought.

With a savage expression, it pulled the ice spears from its body and threw them back as weapons.

"Watch out!"

The two Soul Kings hurriedly moved to defend, trying to block the attack for the students.

The two girls, who had no real combat experience, were already so frightened that their legs had gone limp, leaving them unable to move.