Encountering Yu Xiaogang, Soul Hunting Forest

Three days flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy's break.

Early in the morning, Xiao Chenyu had already packed his belongings. Sitting on a stool and shaking his leg, he waited for Wang Qi to finish breakfast.

"Wang Qi, I told you before that I wouldn't make you wait for nothing for three months. I asked around—the fee to hire a Soul Elder among the Soul Hunting Forest guards to help hunt a Soul Ring is ten Gold Soul Coins, while selecting a suitable Soul Beast costs thirty Gold Soul Coins. There are thirty Gold Soul Coins in this bag. Consider it compensation for making you wait three months without getting a Soul Ring."

Seeing Xiao Chenyu's awkward expression, Wang Qi accepted the bag with a smile but said nothing.

As early as three months ago, Wang Qi's Soul Power Level had reached the level-ten bottleneck. The reason he had not followed the academy's main group to the Soul Hunting Forest was not, as Xiao Chenyu had said, to wait until Xiao Chenyu broke through so they could obtain Soul Rings together.

Rather, based on the Original Work's plot, Wang Qi had guessed at the relationship between Soul Masters and Soul Ring Age. If it was as described in the Original Work, where physical fitness was directly proportional to Soul Ring Age, then Support System Soul Masters would absolutely be unable to absorb a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring as their fifth Soul Ring.

They might even find it difficult to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring as their third Soul Ring.

After transmigrating and personally cultivating through meditation, Wang Qi had guessed that physical fitness might be related to the age of Soul Rings one could absorb, but the core factor was definitely not physical fitness alone.

Thus, Wang Qi had the idea of experimenting. After reaching the bottleneck in his cultivation, he continued cultivating, and after three months of attempts, he discovered that Soul Power could still increase after reaching a bottleneck.

This increase was not a qualitative change, but a quantitative one. It was like filling a bucket with water: a one-liter bucket could only hold one liter of water, and if one wanted to hold more, the bucket had to be expanded.

The human body was the same. After three months of turtle-slow cultivation, Wang Qi discovered that the bucket carrying the Soul Ring's Soul Power was not the body, but the meridians.

Wang Qi did not know whether the breadth of one's meridians was related to cultivation aptitude, but one thing was certain: for him, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

As for why he did not continue cultivating to build up his foundation and break through to a higher realm later on? First, Wang Qi was not sure whether continuing to cultivate could improve his aptitude. The golden years for cultivation lasted only a few years, and Wang Qi had no intention of wasting time on an experiment that concerned his future.

Second, there was a difference in cultivation speed between a Soul Master and a Soul Grandmaster. If Wang Qi had a test subject, he might not let that person break through, but since this concerned himself, he had to consider it carefully.

After all, having transmigrated into the Douluo World, Wang Qi still wanted to try approaching Dugu Bo. What if he obtained an Immortal Herb and defied fate? Wang Qi had no intention of becoming a salted fish after transmigrating.

"By the way, Wang Qi, did you prepare a weapon? Only a Soul Master who personally kills a Soul Beast can absorb its Soul Ring. If you haven't prepared one, I have daggers here. I can give you one."

Looking at the simple-minded Xiao Chenyu, Wang Qi smiled. "I brought one. How could I possibly forget something like that?"

"What about you? Have you made plans for your first Soul Ring? What Soul Beast do you want to hunt?"

Hearing Wang Qi ask about his Soul Ring plans, Xiao Chenyu answered almost without hesitation, "Of course I'm hunting a Tiger-type Soul Beast. Wang Sheng always says that if my Soul Power Level weren't higher than his, my Wolf Martial Soul definitely wouldn't be a match for his Tiger Martial Soul. This time, I'm getting a Tiger-type Soul Beast's Soul Ring specifically to put him in his place."

Wang Qi could not help frowning at Xiao Chenyu's answer. Wasn't that decision far too hasty? If Xiao Chenyu were not his roommate and someone he got along with reasonably well, Wang Qi would not care what Soul Ring Xiao Chenyu obtained. Tiger or dog, even if Xiao Chenyu's first Soul Ring came from an earthworm, Wang Qi would not interfere.

But they had lived in the same room for nearly three years. Wang Qi did not want Xiao Chenyu to ruin his future on a whim.

"Your Martial Soul is a wolf, one that barely mutated into a Soul Beast-type Martial Soul. You can regard your Martial Soul as a blank sheet of paper with great potential for shaping. If I were you, I would try to find a wolf-type Soul Beast with an attribute for my first Soul Ring."

"Then, for the second or third Soul Ring, I would hunt a superior species of the Soul Beast used for the first Soul Ring. If my guess is correct, Xiao Chenyu, your Martial Soul has a certain chance of evolving in the future."

As Wang Qi helped Xiao Chenyu analyze the pros and cons, the voice of a middle-aged man suddenly sounded from behind them.

"Martial Soul Evolution? Student, do you know what you're saying? What is the theoretical basis for it? And where did you see this—my apologies, I lost my composure. My name is Yu Xiaogang. Others call me Master. You should have heard my name."

Yu Xiaogang, dressed in a dark gray robe with a short flat haircut and rather large lips, stepped out from behind the courtyard gate. His gaze toward Wang Qi held both appreciation and confusion.

Wang Qi had lived at Nuoding Academy for two years, so naturally, he had seen this so-called Master, Yu Xiaogang.

"Ah, you're Master—" Xiao Chenyu was just about to run his mouth when Wang Qi stopped him before he could finish.

Leaving aside whether Yu Xiaogang was the headmaster's friend, his strength as a Soul Grandmaster was already beyond what two rookies who had yet to obtain even one Soul Ring could challenge.

"This student is Wang Qi. Greetings, Master. I was just talking nonsense. There is no theoretical basis, nor have I seen it anywhere."

"Wang Qi? The Wang Qi who awakened a mutated Humanoid Flame Martial Soul and has Innate Soul Power of level three?" Yu Xiaogang suddenly recalled something. The expression on his face changed several times as he continued looking at Wang Qi. "Your line of thinking is not bad. This theory is quite close to one of the points in the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul that I wrote. I never expected that despite your low Innate Soul Power, you would have such talent in Martial Soul theory. Not bad, not bad."

"How about this? I've lived at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy for over a decade, yet I've never done anything for the academy. Recently, my theoretical research has happened to hit a bottleneck, so I'll take you two to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain your Soul Rings. It will also be a good chance to verify the correctness of my theory."

Yu Xiaogang made his words sound lofty. Without even waiting for Wang Qi and Xiao Chenyu to refuse, he dragged them to the horse market, hired a carriage, and set off for the Star Dou Great Forest.

Along the way, Yu Xiaogang's mouth never rested. Adopting the posture of a teacher, he taught Wang Qi and Xiao Chenyu about Soul Beasts, occasionally probing Wang Qi from the side about his theory of Martial Soul Evolution.

Whenever he extracted a key point from Wang Qi, his eyes would light up. He would eagerly pull out a small notebook to record it, then scold Wang Qi for having talent but not knowing how to apply it.

As for taking Wang Qi as a disciple? With mere level-three Innate Soul Power, how could he be worthy of studying under Yu Xiaogang, the Martial Soul Theory Master?

It was perfectly normal for a theory master to teach a student who became another theory master. But for a theory master to teach a student who became a peerless powerhouse—that was what truly counted as impressive.

Therefore, Wang Qi, with his level-three Innate Soul Power, was destined to have no master-disciple fate with Yu Xiaogang.

The carriage traveled quickly, reaching the Soul Hunting Forest within a single morning. Led by Xiao Chenyu, they presented the relevant documents and entered the Soul Hunting Forest with two guards at the Soul Elder level.

The moment they entered the Soul Hunting Forest, Wang Qi instinctively looked toward the grass. What he saw left him frozen in place.

Because two light screens that only he could see had suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Soul Beast: Soft Bone Rabbit.

Age: Eleven years.

Absorption Probability: 100% absorbable.

Compatible Martial Soul 1: 12%.

Compatible Martial Soul 2: 1% (Damaged progress 50%, unable to absorb Soul Ring.)

Innate Soul Power: Level 3.9.

Soul Power: Level 10.

Soul Ring: None.

Soul Bone: None.