Suotuo City

When he saw the Soul Ring light up, Su Ming walked over, collected the corpse, and put it in his Soul Tool. Then he took out a strange stick and began keeping watch.

The other members of the Soul Hunting team saw Su Ming put away the Crimson Flame Tiger's corpse and were about to suggest splitting it evenly. After all, Crimson Flame Tiger pelts could ward off dampness, so they had always been popular with nobles and were worth quite a lot.

However, when they saw the strange stick appear in Su Ming's hand, they sensed danger and abandoned the idea of splitting the spoils.

Of course, Su Ming hadn't taken the corpse because it might contain a Soul Bone. He wanted to use the Creation Furnace to refine the essence of the Crimson Flame Tiger's corpse, then have Wang Sheng consume it. With the combined power of the Soul Ring and the corpse essence, Wang Sheng's Martial Soul could undergo its first minor evolution.

Su Ming held his gun and guarded Wang Sheng.

Time passed slowly. Wang Sheng absorbed the Soul Ring, which was over three hundred years old, with relative ease. After all, during his time as the Work-Study Students' leader, he'd fought back whenever he was bullied, gotten hurt, recovered, and then fought again. In a way, that had trained his body.

After absorbing the Soul Ring, Wang Sheng woke up. Just as Su Ming had told him in advance, he didn't show off his Martial Soul or Soul Ring, but went straight over to Su Ming.

Su Ming put away his gun, checked the sky, and saw it wasn't completely dark yet. Then he looked at the others and said, "It's not completely dark, and we're not far from Soul Splitting Town. We should hurry out."

The others headed back. After traveling for a while, they could see the exit of the Soul Hunting Forest.

"We'll be going ahead. We've already paid."

Without waiting for the others to answer, they summoned their Martial Souls, each one a cloud. Su Ming took Wang Sheng and flew ahead toward Soul Hunting Town, with the others following close behind.

The two flew straight back to the hotel and entered their room. Wang Sheng couldn't wait to show off his Martial Soul.

"Brother Su, just like you thought, my War Tiger Martial Soul has gained the Fire Attribute."

Su Ming watched as Wang Sheng possessed his Martial Soul. The tiger, already imposing, now had red in its fur and looked even more fearsome.

"Not bad, not bad. Just as I thought, absorbing a Soul Ring really is a form of evolution."

"The weaker the Martial Soul, the easier it is to evolve when it absorbs a powerful Soul Ring. There should be several possible directions for evolution." If he could add a visualization method for Martial Soul Evolution to the mix, it would be even more perfect.

"All right, put it away. What's your first Soul Skill?"

Wang Sheng put away his Martial Soul and grinned.

"Brother Su, I gave my newly evolved Martial Soul a name: Flame Tiger. My first Soul Skill is Flame Tiger Claw. It increases my strength by 50%, and my attacks come with a burning sensation. Heh heh."

Su Ming took out a pill made from the essence he'd refined from the Crimson Flame Tiger's corpse in the Creation Furnace.

A smooth, rounded pill appeared in Su Ming's hand. He handed it to Wang Sheng and said,

"Good. Eat this, then go to sleep. You'll be able to absorb the medicine completely overnight."

Wang Sheng took the pill and popped it into his mouth without a second thought. Su Ming looked at him in surprise.

"All right. Since you trust me this much, I won't let you down. Go to sleep. You'll know the results tomorrow."

With that, Su Ming lay down on the bed to rest as well.

The night passed quickly.

Su Ming opened his eyes and turned to look at the bed beside him. Wang Sheng was sitting cross-legged on it, cultivating, so Su Ming didn't disturb him. He got up to wash.

Wang Sheng, still on the bed, sensed that Su Ming was awake and ended his cultivation.

When Su Ming came out after washing, he saw Wang Sheng sitting on the bed, gazing at him with blazing excitement. Su Ming felt a little awkward under that stare.

"Brother Su, that pill of yours is incredible. My Martial Soul evolved again, and my cultivation speed has improved too."

"Good. My experiment worked. I've also helped you hunt for your Soul Ring. Where are you planning to go next? I'm going to start at an academy soon, too."

At the thought of parting, Wang Sheng's smile remained, but only faintly. The corners of his mouth slowly stiffened, the light in his eyes gradually dimmed, and in the end, all that remained was a hollow calm. Even his smile looked forced.

"I'm planning to find an intermediate academy to attend. Brother Su, do you have any advice about the Soul Rings I'll hunt for later?"

Hearing Wang Sheng's answer, Su Ming said,

"For your second and third Soul Rings, just hunt Fire Attribute beasts. Lions or tigers with the Fire Attribute would be best."

"As for the fourth Soul Ring, you'll probably have graduated from intermediate academy by then. After graduation, I might head to Heaven Dou City."

"If you get the chance, join Blue Tyrant Academy then. The dean of the academy I'm going to has some connection with the dean of Blue Tyrant Academy, so I'll be able to visit you."

"All right. Let's go downstairs, check out, and have breakfast before we part ways."

Balak Kingdom, Suotuo City.

Early one morning, a boy riding a cloud looked over the shops lining the main road, as if searching for something.

This was Su Ming, the protagonist of this story. He was looking for Flake's shop. There were plenty of good things inside; just that piece of metal that had been nurtured for a hundred thousand years should be worth a good amount of Creation Qi after being refined in the Creation Furnace.

After searching for a while, Su Ming finally found the shop. The display on the counter was just like in the original story: a Spirit Hall token.

He pushed the door open and went inside. There was only one person in the shop. Apart from a small table, there was no counter to be seen. Various objects hung on three of the walls, and they all looked old. None seemed valuable at all.

However, the Golden Finger's sensing told him that quite a few of them contained high levels of energy.

The only person in the shop was seated in a wooden reclining chair, eyes closed as he swayed along with it.

He looked to be about fifty years old. Though no longer young, he was still powerfully built. The fairly sturdy-looking chair creaked as it swayed beneath his weight.

The man had a distinctive face. His chin jutted out a little, his cheekbones were broad, his face was flat, and he had a slight hawk nose.

Su Ming glanced at him. He could only say that Liu Erlong had some taste. She hadn't fallen for Flender, purely because he had a face like the sole of a shoe. Even with his eyes closed, he looked a bit crafty, like a greedy miser.

He wore black-framed crystal glasses. The frames were stiff and square, giving him a strange look.

Su Ming walked in without paying him any attention and browsed on his own. Besides the piece of metal, he soon picked out two more things.

One was a damaged belt. It had originally held three gems, but only two remained. The other was a red crystal.

Carrying the three items, he walked to the small table and took a hundred Gold Soul Coins from his Soul Tool, tossing them onto the table beside the reclining chair.

The middle-aged man in the chair opened his eyes but didn't get up. "A hundred Gold Soul Coins isn't enough."

Su Ming ignored him and put the three items into his Soul Tool on his own. Then he took out a letter and handed it to the middle-aged man in the chair.

Seeing Su Ming ignore him and put the items away, the middle-aged man was about to get up and teach the boy a lesson.

But then he saw Su Ming hold out a letter. Though puzzled, the middle-aged man reached out, took it, and opened it to read.