Dragon Blood Scarlet Scale Bamboo

Next, it was time to obtain the First Soul Ring for his body.

It had taken Lu Lin two and a half years to cultivate to Level 10.

Though Lu Lin was not particularly satisfied, he knew full well that this was limited by his talent and entirely beyond his control.

If he had used the academy's basic Meditation Method, it would likely have taken another year and a half or so.

While the Flawless Body Casting Art was indeed not slow at cultivating soul power, that was not its true purpose.

This cultivation technique had been created for soul masters with Body Martial Souls.

Those who cultivated this technique possessed pure, abundant soul power. It could also silently improve a soul master's vitality, nourish their muscles and bones, and transform their physical constitution.

After two and a half years of gradual change, Lu Lin's physique had already far surpassed that of soul masters his age. He had shot up in height and was now roughly one and a half meters tall.

Moreover, for the past two years, Lu Lin had gone to Zhao Shiyan's smithy every day to forge, rain or shine.

This meant that Lu Lin himself could also attempt to absorb a Soul Ring beyond his level.

Of course, it was impossible for him to be as outrageous as his incarnation, Ji Ming, who had made his First Soul Ring a three-thousand-year one—Ji Ming had been able to do that because he possessed both a top-tier Body Martial Soul and a beast Martial Soul. His initial physical constitution had already been stronger than that of ordinary soul masters.

Furthermore, the Body Sect's secret arts had tempered him and triggered a second awakening of his Body Martial Soul. Combined with Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber, that was what had allowed Ji Ming to successfully absorb a three-thousand-year Soul Ring.

It was a miracle that could hardly be replicated.

The theory summarized nine thousand years ago by "Master" Yu Xiaogang had become common knowledge among soul masters in this era.

Namely, the optimal Soul Ring configuration and the age limits of Soul Rings.

But in truth, it still varied from person to person.

It depended specifically on a soul master's physical strength, vitality, willpower, and Mental Power.

It suited most soul masters, but it was not absolute.

Although rare, there had been cases of soul masters attempting to absorb a First Soul Ring of around four hundred years, failing, and exploding to death.

Back to the matter at hand, Lu Lin estimated that with his current physical strength, absorbing a Soul Ring under six hundred years should not be a problem.

Moreover, his Martial Soul was the Pure Fire Green Lotus, which possessed a faint life attribute.

The risks of absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his level should be even lower.

A short while later, Lu Lin arrived at an office in the faculty building.

Just as he had originally planned, he intended to ask Liu Yanchi for help in obtaining his First Soul Ring.

"Oh, Lu Lin. What is it?"

As the academy's only Soul Ancestor, Liu Yanchi had his own private office.

Liu Yanchi, who was seated at his desk preparing teaching materials, saw Lu Lin at the doorway and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Um, Teacher Liu, I've broken through to Level 10."

"Oh, you're already Level 10?"

At his words, a faint smile appeared in Liu Yanchi's eyes.

He knew Lu Lin's Innate Soul Power level.

With Level 4 Innate Soul Power, under normal circumstances, it should have been impossible for him to cultivate to Level 10 in such a short time.

But since it was Lu Lin, Liu Yanchi found it perfectly natural.

Not every soul master cultivated as desperately as Lu Lin during the Soul Scholar stage.

Liu Yanchi looked at Lu Lin and said, "So you came to me because you want me to take you to obtain a Soul Ring?"

Lu Lin nodded heavily. "Yes, Teacher Liu. I'd like to ask you to take me soul hunting!"

As he spoke, Lu Lin took out a small cloth pouch and placed it on the desk before Liu Yanchi.

Inside were five Gold Soul Coins, the payment Lu Lin had prepared to hire Teacher Liu for this soul-hunting trip.

His wages at the smithy were two Silver Soul Coins a month, amounting to exactly two Gold Soul Coins and four Silver Soul Coins a year.

On top of that, because he was an orphan—his family had been wiped out by the poison of Evil Soul Masters—the government gave him a small monthly subsidy.

Aside from his food and living expenses, this was nearly all the savings he had accumulated over the years.

However, Liu Yanchi frowned when he saw it.

"I'm your teacher. Helping you hunt a soul beast is part of my duty. Take this money back. I don't need it."

Lu Lin stubbornly shook his head. "Teacher, please accept this money."

"This..."

Liu Yanchi felt a headache coming on. His student was truly stubborn.

Moreover, based on what he knew of Lu Lin, if he refused to accept the money, the boy might turn around and hire some other soul master outside to take him soul hunting.

Leaving aside whether he could find someone suitable, there was no guarantee of that soul master's character either.

Thinking of this, Liu Yanchi sighed softly and set the matter aside for the moment:

"All right, I'll keep it here for now. Have you decided on the direction for your First Soul Ring?"

Liu Yanchi knew that Lu Lin had always been someone with strong ideas of his own.

Sure enough, the moment he finished speaking, Lu Lin said:

"Teacher Liu, my Martial Soul is a fire-attribute Plant Martial Soul, so any Soul Beast compatible with my Martial Soul's attributes will do..."

"As for the Soul Beast's age, around four hundred years should be enough.

Hmm, if it's a Plant System Soul Beast, one around five hundred years old can be considered."

"You want to absorb a Soul Ring beyond your level?"

Liu Yanchi frowned.

After all, he had once stayed at Shrek Academy, so he was not overly bound by that theory of Soul Ring limits.

After all, there were even monsters in Shrek Academy's Inner Court whose first ring was purple.

But for ordinary Soul Masters, absorbing a Soul Ring beyond one's level was ultimately a highly risky matter.

"Come over here and let me take a look."

Liu Yanchi said.

Lu Lin nodded and stepped forward, stopping before Liu Yanchi.

Then Liu Yanchi raised a hand and placed it on Lu Lin's shoulder, sending out a thread of Mental Power to examine Lu Lin's physical strength.

Very quickly, a look of shock appeared in his eyes.

Although Lu Lin had grown considerably taller over the past two years, he still looked exceedingly thin on the surface.

Yet according to the feedback from his Mental Power, Liu Yanchi discovered that Lu Lin's vitality and blood energy were astonishingly vigorous.

His physical condition now surpassed Soul Masters of the same rank by a great margin—at the very least, when Liu Yanchi had been at level ten, he had not possessed such physical strength as Lu Lin.

How strange!

Two years ago, Lu Lin had still frequently been plagued by that strange illness.

Was it because of that Martial Soul of his?

Or because he had spent the past two years forging at Zhao Yanshi's place?

Liu Yanchi could not make sense of Lu Lin's bizarre condition for the moment, so he simply stopped dwelling on it.

He withdrew his Mental Power and looked at Lu Lin. "You should be able to try a Plant System Soul Beast around five hundred years old, but it's still best not to push yourself beyond your limits."

After a pause, Liu Yanchi continued:

"Lu Lin, I know why you've been training so desperately all this time, but... you must understand that excess is as bad as deficiency."

Only by staying alive could there be hope.

Liu Yanchi did not say those words aloud.

He feared that Lu Lin might become too obsessed with power and stray onto an evil path.

He already wanted to absorb a Soul Ring beyond his level for his first ring, even if he could endure it.

But what about the second ring? The third?

If Lu Lin remained fixated on absorbing Soul Rings beyond his level, fixated on power, then one careless mistake could mean death.

Lu Lin lowered his eyes but said nothing.

Liu Yanchi shook his head.

"Forget it. I'll take you to Sunset Forest. Go back and prepare. We'll set out tomorrow."

The place Liu Yanchi mentioned happened to be where Lu Lin had wanted to go to hunt Soul Beasts.

Although Star Dou Great Forest was home to more Soul Beasts and contained all manner of species, Lu Lin wanted a Plant System Soul Beast, and Sunset Forest was instead better suited to his current circumstances.

"Thank you for the trouble, Teacher."

Lu Lin thanked him, then turned and left Liu Yanchi's office.

Watching Lu Lin's departing figure, Liu Yanchi reached out and opened the small cloth bag Lu Lin had left behind.

When he found that it contained as many as five Gold Soul Coins, he let out another silent sigh.

That afternoon, Lu Lin went to work at the Giant Rock Blacksmith Shop as usual.

By now, Lu Lin could independently forge some ordinary weapons, and both their appearance and quality were quite good.

From the perspective of blacksmithing, Lu Lin was already qualified—he could even be said to have reached the point of completing his apprenticeship.

But limited by his Soul Power, Lu Lin still could not truly achieve Hundred Refinements Purification.

Clang—

Lu Lin set down the Forging Hammer in his hand, ending his daily three-hour forging routine.

Lu Lin then walked over to Zhao Yanshi and asked for a few days off.

Zhao Yanshi, who was taking inventory in the back room, merely gave an acknowledging grunt when he heard this and did not even ask for the reason.

Lu Lin smiled, then turned and left the blacksmith shop.

The next morning.

As promised, Liu Yanchi took Lu Lin to Sunset Forest.

Sunset Forest lay in the southeastern part of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Frostwind City, meanwhile, was located in the southern part of the Star Luo Empire.

Countless fields and forests, mountains and towns lay between them. The journey spanned nearly half the continent and was exceptionally long.

There was no need to dwell on the journey. They traveled in silence.

Several days later.

Sunset Forest. In a valley where warm streams wound across the ground.

Liu Yanchi and Lu Lin stood before a colossal bamboo stalk, crimson as fire, with pale golden patterns along its joints. It towered like an ancient tree, and both of them frowned in silence, unable to make up their minds.

Flame Spirit Bamboo was a relatively rare fire-attributed Plant System Soul Beast.

It could even be considered a "close relative" of the ten-year Solitary Bamboo that had nearly become Tang Shenwang's First Soul Ring.

Bamboo-type Soul Beasts were generally not targets for Soul Masters, for a simple reason: the enhancement they granted as Soul Rings was far too weak.

Bamboo-type martial souls generally sat at the same table as Blue Silver Grass martial souls.

But this Flame Spirit Bamboo was different.

Within this valley, there were no other Soul Beasts besides it—not even any Plant System Soul Beasts.

Without question, the surrounding Soul Beasts had all become nourishment for this massive thing.

On closer inspection, the bamboo's body was covered in vast patches of red scales like those of dragon-type Soul Beasts, while a faint draconic might radiated from it.

This was no longer Flame Spirit Bamboo.

This was Dragon Blood Scarlet Scale Bamboo, mutated after being bathed in dragon blood.