The Soul Marriage Contract

Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes showed satisfaction as she took out an exquisite bracelet.

"Your disciple understands." Su Wen respectfully accepted the bracelet.

"Tomorrow, have your Aunt Ye take you to obtain your First Soul Ring. After that, come to Pope Hall. I'll personally teach you!"

With that, Bibi Dong headed for the door. Her gossamer-thin dress brushed past Su Wen's face, trailing a waft of fragrance.

"By the way, Ye Yuan'er, you're about to break through to Level 90, aren't you?"

Bibi Dong suddenly stopped.

Ye Yuan'er froze, then replied, "Your Holiness, six months will be enough!"

Bibi Dong nodded lightly. "Excellent. When the time comes, I'll have Ju Luo and Ghost Douluo help you obtain your Ninth Spirit Ring, then personally hold your Titled Douluo ceremony."

"Thank you, Your Holiness!" Ye Yuan'er bowed again.

Su Wen could tell that his cheap teacher was trying to win Aunt Ye over.

Bibi Dong had only been in power for a year, and her position was unstable. The only people she could probably mobilize from the Elder Hall were Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.

He sighed inwardly. According to the original story, Aunt Ye really did belong to the Pope's faction, only to be killed after recklessly rushing into battle against the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape.

"Once Xiao Wen becomes the Pope's disciple, won't he have a chance to become the Holy Son? Then, just like the current Pope, he could rise from Holy Son to Pope!"

After Bibi Dong left, Ye Yuan'er suddenly crouched down and planted a loud kiss on Su Wen's cheek. Her flame-lit pupils fixed on him, burning bright.

"Who knows!"

Su Wen rolled his eyes in disgust and wiped the moisture from his face.

He summoned his Martial Soul again. He had more or less figured out what it could do.

But he still hadn't the faintest clue about his two companion weapons.

Was he supposed to beat people with a flower and an umbrella?

Bibi Dong hadn't mentioned anything, and probably didn't know either. Su Wen suspected she'd gone off to look through some books.

After spending the day investigating with Ye Yuan'er without figuring anything out, they could only get his First Soul Ring and see what happened.

That night, Su Wen lay in bed, analyzing how to choose his first Soul Ring.

It would be great if he could use Di Tian as a Soul Ring.

Even if Di Tian refused to sacrifice himself, Zi JI would be a decent second choice.

A person had to have dreams. Otherwise, what was the difference between him and a salted fish?

Still, the Ferocious Beasts should all be asleep at this point...

As Su Wen pondered, a pair of arms drew him into a soft embrace.

Ye Yuan'er wore a thin gauzy robe. In the moonlight streaming through the window, it turned translucent, revealing her snow-white skin.

"Aunt Ye, I'm almost grown up!"

Su Wen caught a faint milky scent and let out a helpless sigh.

A year ago, his father had been blasted to pieces by the Clear Sky Hammer, leaving no remains. When his mother's mutilated body was brought back,

Su Wen had lived through the darkest days of his life. Ye Yuan'er had stayed by his side day and night.

As time passed, Ye Yuan'er had gradually gotten used to holding him as she fell asleep.

"No, you're still little!"

Ye Yuan'er tested him with her soft hand and gave a firm answer. She wouldn't let Su Wen refuse, and held him as she gradually drifted off to sleep.

The next morning.

Ye Yuan'er carried Su Wen into the sky, standing atop the Blazing Spirit Kite. They became a streak of light and vanished from Spirit City at top speed.

"Aunt Ye, are we going to Soul Hunting Forest?"

Su Wen wore a black brocade outfit, and his freshly trimmed short hair gave him a sharp, capable look. His strange eyes gazed ahead.

They were several hundred meters above the ground, high enough to make anyone's heart pound.

But Su Wen didn't feel uncomfortable at all. He couldn't even feel the air resistance.

"The Star Dou Forest. There are plenty of Spirit Beasts there, so we'll have lots of choices. If we happen to find one with a rare bloodline, its Spirit Skill will be much stronger than that of an ordinary Spirit Beast with the same Soul Ring age!"

"Why don't we go to Sunset Forest instead?"

"Sunset Forest is farther away, and it doesn't have as many Spirit Beasts as the Star Dou Forest!"

"Then are you going or not?"

"Hehe, of course! If you want to go, Xiao Wen, then that's where we'll go!"

Ye Yuan'er spoke fondly as she changed the Blazing Spirit Kite's course, flying toward Sunset Forest.

Three days later, Ye Yuan'er and Su Wen arrived above Sunset Forest.

As a Soul Douluo, Ye Yuan'er had extensive experience hunting Spirit Beasts.

She took Su Wen straight to the darkest part of the forest, searching for Spirit Beasts with dark attributes.

"Xiao Wen, let me test you. Before you awakened your Martial Soul, you read quite a few books on Martial Soul Theory. What do you think you should absorb now? What kind of Soul Ring should you choose?"

Ye Yuan'er watched Su Wen, her expression serious and a hint of anticipation in her eyes. In an instant, she had gone from a gentle aunt to a stern teacher.

Su Wen thought for a moment before replying. "I'm following a path focused on offense and control. I'll rarely use my First Soul Ring once I get stronger, so I think it would be best to make it an enhancement skill. That way, even when I reach the Titled Douluo level, the skill won't go to waste. As for the Soul Ring's age..."

Su Wen thought of the theory proposed by a certain Grandmaster and found himself disagreeing with it. "A Soul Master's physical constitution and mental strength are both important in determining how many years their Soul Ring can have. A Battle Soul Master is much stronger physically than a support-type Soul Master, so their Soul Ring age can be raised accordingly. I think five hundred years might hurt, but that's definitely not my limit. I want to try a dark-attribute Spirit Beast between six and seven hundred years old..."

A hint of satisfaction appeared in Ye Yuan'er's eyes, but her lips twitched when she heard the end.

She gave him a look of exasperation. "You've got some nerve asking for seven hundred years! Do I look like I'm seven hundred years old? Do you know that even my First Soul Ring is only a little over three hundred years old?"

Chapter 3: The Soul Marriage Contract

"Xiao Wen, I've never seen a Soul Master absorb a First Soul Ring older than six hundred years."

"Even the previous Pope, who had a god-level Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, only had a Soul Ring age close to five hundred years."

Ye Yuan'er felt that Xiao Wen still knew too little. If he went down the path of Soul Master cultivation with too much blind confidence, he would end up throwing his life away.

The two of them headed deeper into the forest. Whenever they encountered a Spirit Beast along the way, Ye Yuan'er explained its characteristics in detail, including how to identify its exact age.

Any Spirit Beast that dared attack them was sent flying by a single punch from Ye Yuan'er.

"It's a Tongyuan Flower! Xiao Wen, look!"

Before long, Ye Yuan'er and Su Wen stopped in front of a large flower. It stood a meter tall, with crystal-white roots and dark-purple petals, and a faint black mist shrouded the area around it.

"This kind of plant-type Spirit Beast is extremely rare. It can create black mist out of thin air and use darkness to devour its target, turning it into one of its own. Any creature it transforms will die within three days."

"Even thousand-year Spirit Beasts don't dare touch it."

"Too bad it's already over six hundred years old. Otherwise, it could have been your First Soul Ring."

Ye Yuan'er had initially shown delight, but when she saw its age, regret crossed her face.

"Aunt Ye... I want to try. My Martial Soul says I can. She's craving it!"

The Ghost Emperor of the Wedding Dress Martial Soul appeared. The ground around them instantly turned dark red. A sinister wind howled past, and the lush vegetation nearby withered by a tenth in that instant.

The thrill coming from his Martial Soul.

Su Wen understood.

This was definitely the Soul Ring he had been looking for.

Ye Yuan'er was about to refuse, but stopped when she heard his last words.

She pressed her thin lips together, hesitating briefly.

This kind of rare Spirit Beast really was hard to find. It would be difficult to come across another even farther in.

And Xiao Wen's Martial Soul was reacting like this.

She wrestled with the decision for a moment, then sighed and nodded. "Give it a try, but don't push yourself. If anything feels wrong, I'll interrupt you. The worst that could happen is that you won't be able to cultivate for a few months!"

With that, Ye Yuan'er charged forward. Intense heat burst from her right hand, which was coated in flames.

She didn't use a single Spirit Skill. She simply grabbed the six-hundred-year-old plant-type Spirit Beast.

The flames burned away its black mist, too.

"Xiao Wen, this is the first step to becoming a Soul Master: killing a Spirit Beast with your own hands."

Su Wen summoned his companion weapon. He still didn't know what the umbrella was for, but it could certainly be used as a weapon for both attack and defense.

To Ye Yuan'er's surprise, Su Wen cut through the air and pierced the Tongyuan Flower's stem.

"Xiao Wen didn't even hesitate. He's so used to killing!"

Ye Yuan'er looked surprised, both pleased and worried. Xiao Wen's Martial Soul was too evil.

Many Soul Masters found that their Martial Souls gradually changed their moods, and even their appearances.

"I'll have to keep a closer eye on Xiao Wen's state of mind from now on!" Ye Yuan'er thought to herself.

The moment the Tongyuan Flower died, lights appeared across its surface and gathered into a yellow ring that floated above it.

"Xiao Wen, remember this from now on: you can only absorb the Soul Ring of a Spirit Beast you killed yourself. And when you absorb a Soul Ring, the first wave of power is the fiercest. If you can withstand it, you can slowly refine the power that follows. Now, use your Soul Power to draw the Soul Ring toward you!"

Su Wen sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began drawing in the Soul Ring.

The power of the six-hundred-year Soul Ring surged into him and immediately began battering his meridians.

Su Wen felt the pain, and sweat quickly appeared on his brow.

Ye Yuan'er watched anxiously.

If Xiao Wen couldn't refine all this power,

he wouldn't be able to stop on his own. The Soul Ring would shatter his meridians, then his body, and it wouldn't stop until he died.

Ye Yuan'er prepared to interrupt him at any moment.

Fortunately, after two hours, Su Wen's expression showed pain, but his body had suffered little damage.