Hunting a Soul Ring

In the deep, silent forest, Golden Crocodile Douluo walked ahead with his hands clasped behind his back, looking relaxed and unhurried. Yet his vast, ocean-deep spiritual power had already spread soundlessly outward; not even the slightest disturbance within dozens of kilometers could escape his grasp.

"Little Yan, have you made any plans for your first soul ring? What kind of soul beast soul ring are you preparing to absorb?"

Noticing the cautious look on his grandson's face, Golden Crocodile felt even more pleased with him and took the opportunity to test him.

It was Jin Yan's first time in the Star Dou Great Forest. He found this largest gathering place of soul beasts on the Douluo Continent, a forest spanning vast stretches of the entire continent, utterly fascinating. Yet he also understood how dangerous this place was. Even knowing that a powerful Rank 98 expert stood beside him, he still felt uneasy, his eyes warily scanning their surroundings.

Hearing Golden Crocodile Douluo's question, Jin Yan composed himself and answered seriously, "My martial soul has mutated, changing from the Golden Crocodile King into the Golden Dragon Crocodile. Whether it is the Golden Dragon or the Golden Crocodile King, both are powerful strength-type soul beasts with golden bloodlines, possessing unparalleled physical might.

"And as my martial soul, the Golden Dragon Crocodile has perfectly inherited their terrifyingly powerful bodies and strength, as well as the Golden Dragon's supreme, formidable bloodline!

"In summary, my soul rings should ideally be taken from soul beasts like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon—ones with powerful dragon bloodlines as well as pure physical strength."

After a pause, knowing that his requirements were rather demanding, he added, "Of course, my soul rings do not have to come from dragon-blooded soul beasts like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's. If there are top-tier strength-type soul beasts like the Titan Giant Ape or the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, those would work too."

Hearing Jin Yan's request, Golden Crocodile burst out laughing and smacked Jin Yan on the head with mild exasperation.

"You brat, top-tier soul beasts like Titan Giant Apes and Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears are even harder to find in the Star Dou Great Forest than dragon-blooded soul beasts. At least for dragon-blooded soul beasts, I can take you to the Blue Lightning Forest, where the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect keeps soul beasts."

"As for Titan Giant Apes, aside from that hundred-thousand-year-old one in the depths, who knows whether there are any others!

"And Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears are even more troublesome than Titan Giant Apes. At twenty or thirty thousand years, they can contend with ordinary Titled Douluo. They usually only roam the innermost regions, and even when they have cubs, those cubs rarely appear in the mixed zone!"

The two gradually made their way toward the inner regions, while Golden Crocodile casually taught Jin Yan the techniques for tracking down soul beasts in the forest.

Jin Yan had plenty of knowledge about soul beasts in his head, but here, knowledge alone was merely knowledge. Without sufficient practical experience, he could not properly apply what he knew.

Soon, three hours had passed. They encountered quite a few thousand-year soul beasts of suitable age, but not a single one met Jin Yan's requirements. His standards were simply too high, making them difficult to find. Moreover, most thousand-year soul beasts had no fixed range of activity, making the search extremely difficult.

Golden Crocodile Douluo could not keep his spiritual power active at all times either. Usually, he only covered an area four or five kilometers around them, expanding it over a wider range only every so often.

By noon, the two found a spot beneath a massive boulder. Golden Crocodile took out two pieces of dry rations from his Soul Tool and handed one to Jin Yan. "Don't rush. This is the norm on the continent. It is common to spend one or two months in a Soul Beast Forest just to find a single soul beast."

Worried that Jin Yan might lose patience, Golden Crocodile spoke patiently.

However, Jin Yan performed far better than Golden Crocodile had expected. Taking a bite of the dry bun in his mouth, he said, "I know. It's fine. We can take our time looking."

As he spoke, Golden Crocodile suddenly froze and turned his gaze southward. Then he looked back at Jin Yan with a smile. "Seems we're lucky. Your soul ring is here!"

Before Jin Yan could react, Golden Crocodile grabbed him and charged toward the inner regions.

Golden Crocodile charged ahead without restraint, unleashing his powerful Soul Power. The overwhelming pressure of a Rank 98 expert forced even the ten-thousand-year soul beast overlords along the way to lie flat, not daring to let out a single roar.

They traveled without inhibition until they were about to enter the depths of the inner regions, whereupon he finally restrained his pressure somewhat. Naturally, it was not because he was afraid. He was simply nearing the soul beast's location and did not want to accidentally scare it away.

Finally, as they drew closer, even Jin Yan, flying through the air, could hear the roars of several soul beasts.

Looking down, he saw a huge Sawtooth Stegosaurus lying below, dead for quite some time.

But what shocked Jin Yan was not the Sawtooth Stegosaurus. It was the three soul beasts—two large and one small—standing beside its body and confronting another group of soul beasts.

"Those are... Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears!!" Jin Yan blurted out in shock.

"That's right. See the smaller one? It has around twelve hundred years of cultivation, perfect for your soul ring." Golden Crocodile Douluo said. By then, the formidable aura of his Rank 98 cultivation had been completely drawn back into his body, and the several ten-thousand-year soul beasts below had not noticed him in the slightest.

"Looks like these soul beasts left their territories and gathered here because of that dead Sawtooth Stegosaurus."

Ten-thousand-year soul beasts generally had their own territories. Unless they lost a territorial dispute or faced a shortage of food, they would not appear beyond their territory's borders.

The death of every ten-thousand-year soul beast would trigger a struggle over territory and food.

At such times, the ten-thousand-year soul beasts around the dead beast would ignore territorial boundaries and rush into its territory, fighting several other ten-thousand-year soul beasts there. The victor would inherit the dead soul beast's territory and corpse.

Soul beasts devouring one another was hardly unusual. Not only could it help them increase their cultivation, but if they devoured the corpse of a species above them, they could even break through the limits of their race and evolve!

It looked like that was exactly what was happening now.

"One of the two larger Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears has just reached ten thousand years, while the other is under twenty thousand years. But given their strength, they are likely the strongest soul beasts in this territory, which is why the other soul beasts here have targeted them!" Jin Yan analyzed.

"That's right. If they had already started fighting, I might have taken you aside to wait. But forget it now. Who knows how long they'll keep confronting each other? I don't have time to wait." Golden Crocodile narrowed his eyes beneath his white brows, revealing a fierce glint.

After confirming that there were no other soul beasts nearby, he placed Jin Yan on a high tree branch.

"Little Yan, I've already checked. The battle between these soul beasts has frightened off all the other soul beasts nearby.

"Wait here. I'll be back shortly."

Golden Crocodile Douluo turned around and looked at the many ten-thousand-year soul beasts below, his expression still calm.

Soul Power surged around him.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red—nine soul rings rose beneath him in sequence.

With a thunderous roar, golden light burst from Golden Crocodile's body. The phantom of a giant crocodile slowly rose behind him, and the black soul ring in the fifth position lit up...