Seeing Di Qiu'er looking so eager for praise, Su Chen couldn't help laughing.
He'd almost forgotten: the girl before him was the Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest, a bona fide "little princess."
This wasn't some beginner's gift pack. It was a max-level character starting out with top-tier gear!
"No need to rush for the Spirit Bones and spirit herbs. We can get those anytime."
Su Chen spoke, then his expression turned serious.
"There's something more important I need your help with right now."
Su Chen paused, his gaze burning as he looked at Di Qiu'er.
"With your status in the Star Dou Great Forest, you're the only one who can help me with this."
"What is it? Tell me!"
Di Qiu'er patted her chest, wearing an expression that said, "Leave it to me."
"Help me find a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."
Su Chen added, "Ideally, one whose life is nearly over, or one that's gravely injured and on the verge of death, but clinging to some obsession and unwilling to simply fade away."
That was Su Chen's real goal.
Su Chen wanted to try out an entirely new cultivation system—the Soul Spirit Method!
It was the Soul Spirit Method used by Huo Gua.
Back during his third simulated life, Electrolux—the Holy Necromancer from another world, the Scourge of the Undead—had taught Su Chen this secret art, known as the Soul Spirit Contract.
Unfortunately, in that simulated world, your Martial Soul talent had been so absurdly overpowered that you swept aside every opponent in your path. You had no need for a method that required you to "negotiate" with Soul Beasts, so Su Chen had kept this peerless art tucked away.
But things were different now.
With the Soul Spirit Secret Method, you could absorb a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring beyond your usual limit, as long as your body could withstand it. You could even preserve the Soul Beast's consciousness and make it Su Chen's battle partner!
And to make that work, the ideal test subject was a dying Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that "didn't want to die."
"Well..."
Di Qiu'er scratched her head awkwardly, her eyes darting about.
Two embarrassed red clouds appeared on her cheeks.
"I... I don't think I can decide something like that. Matters of life and death for Soul Beasts are usually handled by Uncle Di Tian."
On the surface, she was the "Emperor Auspicious Beast" of the Star Dou Great Forest, a title that sounded imposing—second only to one, and above all the beasts.
But in reality... she knew perfectly well what her role was in the Star Dou Great Forest.
To put it plainly, she was a super mascot.
Her daily routine was to eat, sleep, wander around, and spread auspicious energy.
All the Ferocious Beasts treated her like their "little ancestor." Who would dare burden her with troublesome matters involving fighting and killing?
Finding a dying Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast wouldn't be hard.
The Star Dou Great Forest was enormous, after all, and Soul Beasts fought over territory in the core area every day. There were plenty of chances to swoop in and pick up the scraps.
But the key problem was that she couldn't order them around!
Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were all overlords in their own right, with their pride to uphold!
If she went up to one and said, "Hey, you there. You look like you're about to die. Why not make yourself useful and offer yourself up to this human?"
She'd probably get beaten up on the spot!
Ordering around ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts that hadn't developed their intelligence was one thing. Getting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast to obey her and go to its death?
That was an international joke!
Only Di Tian, the "Beast God," had that kind of authority. She was just an "Auspicious Beast" in charge of looking cute and handing out buffs. She didn't have nearly enough clout for that.
"Ahem. How about... we go talk to Di Tian?"
Di Qiu'er blinked her big eyes, trying to get out of it by being cute.
Forget going to see Di Tian.
Even if they did go, now wasn't the time!
They'd at least have to wait until his Soul Power Level reached Soul Saint. Sure, he had a Super Divine Artifact.
But right now, the Bell of the Departed was just a blank slate, with no undead and no Bionic Body. How was he supposed to fight Di Tian?
Expecting a Soul Beast to understand all the human twists and turns was asking a lot of Di Qiu'er.
"It's fine. There's always a way forward."
Su Chen didn't lose heart. Instead, he smiled with easy confidence.
Could a living person really be stumped by a little inconvenience? There were always more solutions than problems.
That night, the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest seemed especially strange.
Two powerful humans, a human boy, and two infamous Soul Beasts had somehow spent the night together in peace.
If word of it got out, the entire Soul Master World would be in an uproar.
The next morning, a thin mist hung in the air.
After a brief rest, Su Chen prepared to set off and obtain a Soul Ring.
But before he could leave, Di Qiu'er mysteriously tugged at his sleeve and insisted on taking him somewhere.
One had to admit, as an Auspicious Beast, Di Qiu'er's instinct for finding treasures was absolutely maxed out.
They passed through a stretch of dense forest, and the view suddenly opened up. A vast waterfall plunged down like the Milky Way, its roar deafening.
"It's in there!"
Di Qiu'er pointed behind the waterfall.
Beyond the curtain of water lay another world.
The cave was dry and spacious, but the moment they saw what was inside, it was as if the whole world had stopped.
Light! Light of every color!
The cave was piled high with an assortment of bones and plants that gave off a strange medicinal fragrance!
Spirit Bones! They were all Spirit Bones!
Most were only a hundred or a thousand years old, and there were just a few ten-thousand-year ones. But there were so many of them!
They'd been tossed into a corner like a mountain of garbage.
Su Chen glanced over them, his expression calm.
"That's quite a collection."
But the system had given him such high standards that this kind of "junk" could hardly stir him. Still, Su Chen did spot something interesting.
Behind him, two sharp gasps rang out like the sputtering of a broken fan.
"Gasp—!!!"
Du Busi and Zhang Lexuan's jaws nearly hit the floor.
Du Busi, especially, had eyes as wide as bells, and he was breathing like a bellows.
"Th-this... this, this..."
"I've never seen so many Spirit Bones in my life! This is practically a sect's treasure vault!"
It was a shocking sight! None of the bones were particularly valuable on their own, but there were so many that if word got out, the two great empires might go to war, and the entire Soul Master World would be swept up in a bloody storm!
Watching the two of them gawk, the Scarlet King lay on the ground nearby and let out a bored snort.
It stayed close beside Di Qiu'er, all three heads rolling their eyes at once.
Hmph. Humans made a fuss over everything.
To Soul Beasts, those bones were just a pile of worthless stones—they couldn't eat them or use them.
Still...
The Scarlet King sneaked a glance at Su Chen, its fierce eyes filled with confusion and dismay.
It couldn't understand how its noble Auspicious Beast had ended up giving all the "treasures" she'd been saving for so long to this human boy.
Was this what they called... girls being more attached to outsiders?
"Qiu'er, who's that? Your new little follower?"
Su Chen pointed to the pile of gleaming Spirit Bones in the corner.
His gaze easily passed through the mountain of brilliantly shining Spirit Bones, locking precisely onto the little fellow hiding at the very back, trembling with fear.
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