The Self-Strengthening Group

Though Tang San found the noise around him bothersome, he was even more curious. After all, this was his first time encountering the world of Soul Masters.

Su Yun was the same, but her impressive control over her expressions kept her from showing the same boundless curiosity about everything around her as Tang San.

Since he had done his homework, Tang San naturally knew what a Soul Hunting Group was. But some of the words he heard them using still left him baffled. After thinking it over, he turned to Su Yun and asked,

"Yun, what's a pass?"

"A pass?"

Su Yun thought for a moment.

"A pass is a token issued by Spirit Hall. It's required to enter the country's captive Soul Beast Forests.

All you have to do is earn Spirit Hall's approval, prove that you've reached the peak of a certain stage and need a Spirit Ring to advance, then get three nobles to vouch for you.

Generally, nobles are quite willing to vouch for people. All they have to do is nod, and they earn the goodwill of a Soul Master. It's a sure win for them.

These passes are only valid once, though. They're collected after a Soul Hunt."

"I see."

Tang San nodded lightly.

"Then without a pass, we..."

"We can just spend a few Gold Soul Coins."

As she spoke, Su Yun looked around. There were plenty of people in the crowd selling Soul Hunting permits with permanent passes. They were asking ten Gold Soul Coins per person, and she planned to find someone who looked reliable.

Just then, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen walked over.

"Are you two planning to go Soul Hunting?"

"Yeah."

Su Yun had no idea what he was after, but she still nodded. The young man brightened at her answer.

"Excellent! We're going Soul Hunting too. Would you like to join our Self-Strengthening Soul Hunting Group?

"Our group already has five Level 10 Soul Masters. None of us have Spirit Rings yet, but we're very strong, and we have a pass. If you join us, you can come along for free without spending any extra Gold Soul Coins.

"Once we're inside the Soul Beast Forest, we can help each other and hunt Spirit Beasts together to obtain Spirit Rings."

After listening to the young man chatter on, Su Yun was honestly reluctant.

Her original plan was to pay to enter the Soul Beast Forest, find somewhere near the outskirts, then buy a Spirit Ring from the System Mall and set up a script so a Spirit Beast would come attack them on its own.

Safe, simple, and quick.

But Tang San knew nothing about any of that.

As far as he was concerned, simply finding a Spirit Beast would take a long time. On top of that, they had no way of knowing how strong one would be, so he figured it was safer to go with this group.

It wasn't that Tang San thought the Self-Strengthening Group was strong. Among Level 10 Soul Masters, he was confident that he and Su Yun could leave them all in the dust.

The main thing was that, if they ran into real danger, the five of them could serve as meat shields and cover their retreat. Everyone knew that the slowest runners were the ones up front.

With that in mind, Tang San nodded.

"Sure!"

The young man's face lit up, and he beamed at them.

"Great! With you two, we've got a full group. We can set out right away. Oh, by the way, I'm Jiang Min. What should I call you?"

Su Yun pointed to herself first.

"My name is Han Li."

Then she pointed to Tang San.

"His name is Li Feiyu."

They had discussed this in the carriage. When traveling, they would use aliases.

"Okay, then I'll call you Xiao Li and Xiao Li."

Apparently deciding that sounded too much alike, Jiang Min changed his mind.

"...Uh... Xiao Feiyu, then."

Since those weren't their real names, Su Yun and Tang San naturally agreed.

"Sure."

"No problem."

"Great! I'll take you to meet the other members."

Jiang Min waved them over, indicating that they should follow.

"You're still studying at a Soul Master Academy, right? You're so young, yet you've already reached Level 10. You really are geniuses."

"We're doing all right."

"You two seem close. Are you classmates at the same academy?"

"We're siblings."

"I took our father's surname, and he took our mother's."

"Ah... No wonder your surnames are different. Your given names are pretty similar, though."

Jiang Min chatted with Su Yun and Tang San as they walked.

He wasn't particularly surprised that the two of them had come out to hunt Spirit Beasts. He merely thought they were a little young.

After all, primary Soul Master Academies had limited resources and wouldn't personally accompany every student on lengthy Soul Hunts. Instead, they focused on helping students hunt before graduation. If students reached Level 10 along the way, they had to either go Soul Hunting on their own or hire someone to help.

Likewise, those who lacked talent and hadn't reached Level 10 by graduation would be held back. If they were held back for three years and still hadn't met the graduation requirements, they would be expelled.

Jiang Min was one of the latter. After being expelled, he'd trained hard until he finally reached Level 10. He couldn't afford to hire anyone to help him hunt, so he had to form a group himself. Fortunately, there were plenty of people like him.

After a while, sensing that they had grown more comfortable with each other, Jiang Min casually asked,

"What are your Martial Souls?"

Su Yun knew he was sounding them out. Since they would be hunting Spirit Beasts together and helping each other, he wanted to assess their strength. She answered directly,

"My Martial Soul is a Tool-type Martial Soul, the Shadow Scythe."

Jiang Min nodded.

"That sounds like a powerful Martial Soul.

"What about you, Xiao Feiyu?"

"My Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass?"

"Uh..."

At Tang San's answer, Jiang Min stopped in his tracks. He turned to look at Tang San in disbelief.

"Blue Silver Grass?"

"That's right."

Tang San's expression didn't change as he continued calmly,

"You know, the Trash Martial Soul."

When Jiang Min heard Tang San confirm it, he could hardly keep his composure. He stopped completely and stammered,

"Your Martial Soul..."

Before Jiang Min could finish, Tang San suddenly pushed off with both legs and appeared in front of him in an instant. Then he spoke as casually as if nothing had happened,

"Is that enough?"

"I'm here to accompany my younger sister. You don't need to help me hunt for a Spirit Ring. On the contrary, I'll help you."

"That's enough, that's enough!"

Jiang Min nodded repeatedly. Just that move from Tang San had already shown him that the boy was far stronger than he was.

So what if he had Blue Silver Grass? Without Spirit Rings, it came down to physical strength and speed.

Besides, Tang San had said he didn't need help hunting a Spirit Ring and would even help them instead.

Jiang Min had even started wondering whether this boy named Li Feiyu had already obtained a Spirit Ring and become a One-Ring Soul Master. Otherwise, where had he gotten such impressive strength?

It was hard to believe that someone with the Trash Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass could become a One-Ring Soul Master.

Along with his amazement, Jiang Min felt a little schadenfreude. With Tang San's talent, he was undoubtedly a genius. Too bad he had a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

Thinking of this, Jiang Min even felt a little smug. So what if Tang San had talent? After Jiang Min obtained his First Soul Ring, he'd be able to beat him senseless.

As he thought this, Jiang Min started walking again, leading the two of them onward.

They soon arrived at the Self-Strengthening Group's temporary gathering place. There were four people there, all around sixteen or seventeen. With Su Yun, Tang San, and Jiang Min, that made seven in all.

Jiang Min hurried over and said with a smile,

"All right, I found them! Our Self-Strengthening Group is finally complete."