The First Soul Ring

Mu Xuanheng's tiny body had caught the attention of a leopard.

There was no way he could escape.

He slowly backed away a few steps, then the leopard suddenly pounced.

He activated his Martial Soul. Its powerful suppressive effect made the leopard freeze for a moment.

The leopard lowered its head in submission, but only until Mu Xuanheng moved.

Without the strength to back it up, the suppressive effect wasn't nearly as powerful as he'd imagined.

Besides, his opponent wasn't a Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

"Second Old Man, if you don't come out soon, I'm really going to die."

As soon as he finished speaking, a chicken bone pierced through the leopard's head.

"This is a Soul Beast, a Wind Leopard. Looks like it's over a thousand years old. You're pretty lucky to have survived this long."

Xuan Zi strolled out from the side.

"Hey, Second Old Man, aren't you being a little inhuman? I'm so young, and I don't even have my First Soul Ring yet. If you'd come out any later, it really would've killed me."

Mu Xuanheng was a little angry.

"Oh, the little guy's mad. I was watching from the side. Nothing was going to happen to you." Xuan Zi sounded very confident.

If it had been anyone else, Mu Xuanheng would've kept his thoughts to himself. But this was Xuan Zi. He really couldn't trust him.

At this point in time, because of Mu Xuanheng's arrival, Xuan Zi hadn't yet had any scandals. But he was already starting to show his true colors.

A purple Soul Ring had formed above the nearby Soul Beast's corpse.

Mu Xuanheng watched. It was his first time seeing a Soul Ring form from a Soul Beast's corpse, and he was quite curious.

"I killed this Soul Beast. You can't absorb its Soul Ring." Xuan Zi calmly explained, "Only a Soul Ring formed from a Soul Beast personally killed by a Soul Master can be absorbed."

"Oh. I thought you'd already found one for me by the time we got here."

"Keep dreaming."

Xuan Zi led him onward. "Be careful. This is the Star Dou Great Forest. It's not as simple as what you can see."

They hadn't gone far when Xuan Zi pointed to a bug in a tree. "That's an Armor-Folding Sap-Eating Cicada. It can even eat through steel. That one's got a thousand years of cultivation. Tsk, tsk. If it were you, one bite would snap your bones."

"That's a Flesh Tree, a Soul Beast that eats meat. Looks like it's been around a thousand years, too."

Only after arriving in person did Mu Xuanheng realize how different it was from what he'd read in books.

There were dangers everywhere. Without Xuan Zi by his side, he couldn't possibly make it out of the Star Dou Great Forest alive.

But Xuan Zi's explanations made him realize something was off. "Wait, why are they all a thousand years old? Second Old Man, did your tests show that I can absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring?"

Without a system or a god-bestowed Soul Ring, he found it hard to believe he could have a thousand-year ring as his first.

Though he was proud of his top-tier Martial Soul, it was still better to play it safe.

Unfortunately, his top-tier Martial Soul was Chaofeng. It had never let him play it safe.

"Mu Xuanheng, do you think that because your Martial Soul is powerful, your body is powerful, too? How old are you? Absorbing a hundred-year ring is what's normal. You may have the ambition to absorb a thousand-year one, but you don't have the ability."

"Then why bring me here? Aren't all the Soul Beasts around us a thousand years old?"

Xuan Zi coughed twice. "We took a wrong turn." Then he showed not the slightest shame. "It's been years since I came to the outer area. You're the only little brat who could get me to come along."

Then he grew serious. "We'll head toward the outer area. Either your Martial Soul will find something suitable, or we'll look for a four-hundred-year-old draconic beast."

Mu Xuanheng knew that, at this point in time, there were only two true dragons in the Star Dou Great Forest. Both ranked among the top ten, and he couldn't absorb either of them.

A draconic beast was the best choice for his Martial Soul.

Then he sensed the presence of a Soul Beast.

Following the guidance of his Martial Soul, he looked into the distance. A bear was hunting a Soul Beast.

He immediately pointed in that direction. "Quick, Old Man! There's a Soul Beast over there that's just right for me."

At once, Xuan Zi flew off with him. If his Martial Soul could sense it, there was no doubt it was the best choice.

An overpowered Martial Soul deserved an overpowered effect.

But when Xuan Zi saw the Soul Beast Mu Xuanheng had pointed out, he wondered if he'd made the wrong choice.

"You're sure that's the one you sensed?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"This Soul Beast is over three hundred years old, sure. But it's a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear."

A thousand-year Soul Beast could hold its own against a ten-thousand-year one, while a hundred-year Soul Beast could hunt thousand-year ones. Compared to other Soul Beasts, this was practically no different from a thousand-year Soul Ring.

Xuan Zi looked very uneasy. He wasn't even sure whether Mu Xuanheng could absorb it.

"Let's pick something else."

"This one."

"I don't think it'll work."

"I think it'll work just fine."

Mu Xuanheng shot back at Xuan Zi from every angle. "Old Man, I remember saying my first Soul Skill would definitely be a dragon claw-type skill. When it comes to claws, who could surpass the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear besides a true dragon?"

Its dark-gold fur and claws nearly a foot long. There was no doubt that, when it came to claws, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was top-tier.

"I was going to have you kill one yourself."

"Are you dreaming?" Mu Xuanheng felt awful hearing Xuan Zi's absurd suggestion. "I don't have a Soul Skill, and I don't even have a weapon. How am I supposed to fight it?"

Xuan Zi closed his eyes, finally making up his mind. "Fine! We'll go with this one. I'll cripple it, and you can finish it off."

Xuan Zi looked at Mu Xuanheng, who was waiting for him to make a move.

There was no hesitation in his eyes, not the slightest struggle. It was as if killing a Soul Beast was only natural.

"Xuan Heng, aren't you afraid? You're going to kill a Soul Beast with your own hands." The six-year-old's reaction was nothing like Xuan Zi had expected.

"Huh? Didn't you and the old man say that only Soul Beasts personally killed by a Soul Master could be absorbed? Were you lying to me?" Though Mu Xuanheng was young, he'd spent several days learning about Soul Masters. Mu En himself had taught him.

And after seeing that thousand-year Soul Ring just now, he already understood the principle clearly.

"Get ready, you little brat. This is a rare chance to practice."

Xuan Zi dropped him to the ground, then struck the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear with a blast of Soul Power, badly wounding it.

"Here's a rare fair fight. Show me what your Martial Soul can do." Xuan Zi hovered in midair, wanting to see Mu Xuanheng's combat instincts at six years old.

But Mu Xuanheng wasn't living his first life. He had his own combat skills, too.

And Chaofeng's suppression didn't just affect dragon-type Martial Souls. It affected everything. It was just more obvious with dragons.

What did being six matter? The moment he activated his Martial Soul, his entire presence changed.

"Second Old Man, you hit it too hard."

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear swung its claws, but Mu Xuanheng dodged with ease. He kicked aside its swinging left paw and tried to push back its right paw with his right hand, but he was too short.

He had no choice but to bend down. His right hand turned into a dragon claw, and one swipe left five bloody gashes.

He swung with all his strength, and his entire right hand sank into the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's body.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear fell to the ground.

He glanced up at Xuan Zi in midair and gave him a thumbs-up with his blood-soaked right hand. "Well? Pretty strong, huh?"

Xuan Zi stared at Mu Xuanheng, one eye wide and the other narrow.

No mercy, no hesitation, and the fight was clean and decisive—more than he'd expected.

"Not bad, kid. I'll find you a stronger one next time. Hurry up and absorb it."

A yellow Soul Ring floated up. This was the first Soul Beast he'd ever hunted.

Suddenly, he looked back toward the depths of the Star Dou Forest. He couldn't sense anyone watching him. "Weird. Was that just my imagination?"

He put it out of his mind and began absorbing the Soul Ring.

He focused, sat cross-legged, and began guiding the Soul Ring.

The yellow Soul Ring slowly settled around him. In an instant, terrifying energy burst forth. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was incredibly powerful, and its energy surged recklessly through his body and meridians.

"Damn it, Chaofeng, you really are like this. You love taking risks."

Xuan Zi watched, anxious.

Blood ran from Mu Xuanheng's eyes, but Xuan Zi couldn't interrupt him. He could only choose to trust him.

"Please don't let anything happen."

He guided the Soul Power, speeding up the absorption. How could he let an adventure fail at the very first step?

Mu Xuanheng said, "I'm no weakling."

A strong heart helped him withstand the Soul Ring's impact. "I'm going to have this Soul Ring!"

The chaotic energy finally settled.

His First Soul Ring came from a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.