Pure Fire Green Lotus

The Soul Master Lu Lin had mentioned would accompany him on the hunt was naturally his first incarnation, Ji Ming.

Unlike his true body,

three years had passed, and Lu Lin's incarnation had now reached level thirty-four.

That was still the result of deliberately "suppressing his level" at Si Yuan Ye's request. Otherwise, his cultivation would have advanced even faster.

His third Soul Ring came from a Ghost Face Fiend Cat with fourteen thousand years of cultivation.

It was an extremely rare, dark, bloodthirsty Soul Beast that lived in the Star Dou Great Forest. Mo Yin had helped him hunt it.

That was the advantage of having a powerful sect behind you.

This ten-thousand-year Soul Beast had granted him his third Soul Skill, called Dark Demon Nether Transformation.

Its effect was similar to the Soul Skill of that "Magic Tiger" back then: it gave him an astonishing boost to both attack and defense!

The terrifying foundation forged when his Silver Awakening tempered him at the age of six, combined with the amplification granted by his super martial soul, the Dark Demon Dreadclaw Bear, would only truly show its power as time went on.

It put his strength far beyond that of his peers.

Unfortunately, though, reaching level thirty with his incarnation still hadn't met the requirements to unlock a second incarnation.

It looked like his true body would have to reach level thirty as well.

Not long afterward, Lu Lin's true body arrived safely at Sunset Forest.

Night had fallen, and Lu Lin was walking through the outer reaches of Sunset Forest.

To be honest, he felt rather apprehensive.

According to his plan, he would need Si Yuan Ye's help to explore the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes.

He didn't know whether Si Yuan Ye would notice the connection between him and his incarnation.

But if he didn't ask Si Yuan Ye to come, then with his current strength, he wouldn't even be able to enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes. The miasma around its outskirts alone would be more than enough to finish him off.

Even adding Ji Ming to the mix wouldn't help.

Besides, the place was full of super Soul Beasts with ninety thousand years of cultivation!

For now, all he could do was trust his Golden Finger, [Incarnation Game].

Surely Si Yuan Ye wouldn't be able to figure out his connection to Ji Ming...

Lu Lin pondered as he made his way along.

Unlike the Star Dou Great Forest, where you could find a ten-year Soul Beast every fifty steps and a hundred-year Soul Beast every hundred, Sunset Forest had a fairly limited number of Soul Beasts.

It made sense. Take a Titled Douluo, for example.

From the day he awakened his martial soul at six, he would cultivate for decades at most before becoming a Titled Douluo.

During those decades, he would need to hunt at least nine Soul Beasts and turn them into his Soul Rings.

And that was only one person.

Scale that up to the entire Soul Master population, and the numbers became terrifying.

Apart from a handful of special Soul Beasts, most ordinary Soul Beasts' cultivation levels were determined by how long they survived.

In other words, however many years they lived was how many years of cultivation they had.

Even if you completely ignored the varying cultivation talents of Soul Masters, the time it took for a hundred-year Soul Beast to be born was already enough for several Titled Douluo to emerge in succession...

That was why, on the Douluo Plane, Soul Beasts and Soul Masters were natural enemies.

Lu Lin only knew that Huo Yuhao had created the Soul Spirit system with the intention of easing the conflict between Soul Beasts and Soul Masters. He hadn't expected it to hasten the Soul Beasts' extinction instead.

By the time of Dragon King Legend, there were barely any Soul Beasts left—just a couple of big cats and little cats.

Yes, he meant Di Tian. Even their own master had switched sides...

As for whether the Douluo Plane had truly resolved the issue later on, Lu Lin had no idea.

He'd heard that the protagonist of Douluo 4 was Tang Shenwang's grandson.

Lu Lin strolled along absentmindedly when a rustling sound suddenly came from ahead.

Then a cold, stern figure dressed in black slowly emerged from the darkness.

Who else could it be but Lu Lin's incarnation, Ji Ming?

Lu Lin's expression was rather strange.

This was the first time he'd ever met "Ji Ming" in person.

But since Lu Lin's consciousness and soul inhabited both bodies, they were two bodies sharing one soul.

When his true body and incarnation met, all he felt was the instinctive "uncanny" sensation of looking into a mirror.

Nothing else like some ridiculous melodrama happened.

The two of them then built a campfire and took a short rest.

According to Lu Lin's plan, he would first obtain a second Soul Ring for his true body.

In front of the flickering campfire, Lu Lin sat cross-legged off to one side, eyes closed and mind at peace.

As usual, he circulated his cultivation method and entered a meditative state. It was no different from any other day.

His incarnation, dressed in black with a stern expression, sat on a tree branch and silently stood guard over his true body.

The two bodies were in different states, but the same name surfaced in both their minds:

Tang Fozi...

The night passed without incident.

The next morning.

"Ji Ming" was the first to jump down from the tree branch. After stretching his limbs, he looked at his true body, who had also opened his eyes, and asked coldly:

"What kind of Soul Beast are you hunting?"

For a long while, the wind rustled through the trees, but there was no answer.

"Ji Ming" wasn't in a hurry. He simply stared expressionlessly at Lu Lin, as impassive as a statue.

"I'll see what turns up."

After a long pause, Lu Lin awkwardly squeezed out those three words.

Damn it!

Why was it so awkward to talk to himself?

If he spent too much time with his own incarnation, Lu Lin felt he was bound to go crazy sooner or later.

When that happened, he'd surely have a place of his own in Arkham.

If he'd known his Golden Finger in this life would be like this, he should've read more books about mental illness in his last life.

Lu Lin grumbled to himself.

His incarnation, Ji Ming, gave a slight nod and coolly took the lead.

A short while later, Lu Lin's true body let out a silent sigh and followed at an unhurried pace.

Lu Lin really hadn't decided what he wanted for his second Soul Ring.

Ji Ming's martial soul was suited to the assault type.

His true body's Pure Fire Green Lotus martial soul was more of an all-rounder. It seemed suited to any role.

But Lu Lin couldn't be bothered to agonize over it. Just as he'd said—he'd see what turned up!

He'd take any Soul Beast with around a thousand years of cultivation.

The first two Soul Rings were only the starting stage for a Soul Master, after all.

Once you got to the fifth or sixth ring, who the hell would still use their first Soul Skill? Weren't ten-thousand-year Soul Skills much better?

Lu Lin followed his incarnation, lost in thought.

They had reached the edge of a verdant lake when a rustling sound suddenly came from ahead.

Lu Lin took a closer look and saw a strange Soul Beast he'd never encountered in any textbook.

It resembled a mantis, its entire body like translucent white jade, smooth and luminous as a work of art.

It was no more than two feet long. A pair of forelimbs, shaped like exquisitely carved jade-green sickles, curved with elegant perfection. At that moment, they were folded quietly in front of it.

What kind of Soul Beast was this?

Lu Lin frowned slightly. He hadn't seen this kind of Soul Beast in any of his textbooks.

Still, he could make an educated guess. Judging by its size, this mantis had around thirteen hundred years of cultivation, which made it a suitable target.

With that thought in mind, Lu Lin stopped.

His incarnation had already released the Dark Demon Dreadclaw Bear martial soul. Moving like lightning, he charged straight at the strange white jade mantis!

Lu Lin didn't know that this Soul Beast, which looked like a work of art, was called the Jade Mantis.

This Soul Beast was extraordinarily rare and had nearly gone extinct in this era.

The Jade Mantis's energy was perfectly pure, without a trace of impurity. It also lacked the violent wildness characteristic of Soul Beasts.

The instant Ji Ming attacked, the Jade Mantis moved.

Its left forelimb swept sideways, and a concentrated, moon-white arc of light shot from its blade.

"Dark Gold Aegis!"

Lu Lin's expression remained calm. His second Soul Ring lit up as Dark Gold Aegis activated, and a shimmer of dark red and gold flowed over his body.

The Jade Mantis's attack was completely absorbed by the Soul Skill.

The Jade Mantis paused in surprise. Its intelligence was high enough to recognize that its attack had been completely ineffective, but for the moment, it couldn't understand why such a bizarre thing had happened!!