This Is a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo!

Got it!

The two great empires wanted to keep the Soul Hunting Forest under their control, but they weren't strong enough. Unwilling to compromise, they could only put on a show outside.

It seemed that Spirit Hall was even stronger than he'd imagined!

Back then, it had forced the Clear Sky Sect, the foremost of the Upper Three Sects, to close its gates. Now it could even overpower the two great empires.

At the thought of that, Tang San couldn't help recalling someone's name.

Su Yuntao!

Not long ago, when he'd awakened his Martial Soul, Su Yuntao had invited him to join Spirit Hall after learning that he had Innate Full Soul Power.

But for various reasons, he hadn't joined in the end. Instead, he'd enrolled at Notting Junior Soul Master Academy.

As the saying went, it was good to enjoy the shade beneath a big tree. If he'd known the truth sooner, he would have joined Spirit Hall to avenge his mother as soon as possible!

As for now...

"Once a member of the Tang Sect, always a member of the Tang Sect!

I, Tang San, will never betray my sect!

Besides, with my talent and Brother Yun's wisdom, we may yet avenge my mother someday!"

Unlike Tang San, who was lost in a frenzy of thought, Xiao Wu couldn't help raising her hand after hearing Qin Yun's explanation.

"Brother Yun, do we have a pass?"

"Of course!"

As he spoke, Qin Yun took out a token engraved with a sword, a hammer, and a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.

The details of Spirit Hall's tokens had changed many times over the course of the story. But the author of Soul Land had retconned things more than once.

At first, it was said that the designs on the tokens all came from Spirit Hall. As the story progressed, they gradually became the seven most famous Martial Souls on the continent.

The Seven Kill Sword, Clear Sky Hammer, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, Gui Mei, and the rest could all be matched to the designs on the token.

Back to the matter at hand: getting a pass in this era wasn't difficult.

First, you needed Spirit Hall's approval, confirming that your strength had reached a certain level and that you needed a Soul Ring to advance.

Second, you needed at least three nobles to vouch for you. Only then could you obtain a pass.

Spirit Hall's passes were divided into six grades. First- and second-grade passes had to be returned after the Soul Beast hunt. Fortunately, the one Qin Yun had was a third-grade pass.

With his current strength, he obviously couldn't obtain a pass through the official channels. But Qin Yun had once killed a Soul King, after all.

He'd gotten quite a few good things off that person!

As he spoke, Qin Yun led Tang San and the others to the entrance of the Soul Hunting Forest.

Unlike the unreasonable gatekeeper at the academy, the captain of the soldiers checking passes saw the three emblems on the token and immediately looked at them with respect. He hurriedly ordered his men to clear a path and let the four of them in.

He didn't even ask why children like Tang San and Xiao Wu were entering the Soul Hunting Forest.

Once they passed through the iron railings and entered the forest, all the clamor seemed to fade away. At last, the air was as fresh as Tang San had imagined, leaving him feeling refreshed.

The thick forest canopy blotted out the sky. Sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of branches and leaves, scattering in dappled flecks.

The air was heavy with the damp, earthy stench of rotting leaves, mingled with the scent of plants and the faint musk of Soul Beasts. Insects chirped and beasts roared all around. It wasn't especially frightening to hear, but danger lurked everywhere.

Since the Soul Hunting Forest was an enclosed hunting ground, it had no top-tier Soul Beasts that were ten thousand years old or more.

But Soul Beasts hundreds or thousands of years old were everywhere.

Ambushes by pack-dwelling Soul Beasts, poisonous plants lying in wait, and low-level Soul Masters preying on one another were all common.

Venomous snakes and insects lurked among the low shrubs. Green eyes flashed behind thick tree trunks from time to time, and even the soft carpet of leaves underfoot could conceal deadly traps.

The forest seemed peaceful, but every step was fraught with danger.

Drawing on his experience in the area, Qin Yun led the way. He quietly set his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track in motion, his footsteps so light they barely made a sound.

It let him avoid traps in the forest and sense nearby Soul Beasts in advance, keeping danger at least ten meters away.

Tang San followed close behind, his left hand resting on Twenty-Four Bridge Moonlit Night and several Hidden Weapons clutched in his right, always on guard.

Xiao Wu and Wang Sheng were assigned to the rear to watch their backs. Neither dared let their guard down for even a moment.

After the four of them had ventured into the dense forest for about half an hour, the vegetation around them suddenly turned strange.

The tangled growth abruptly stopped at a clearing.

The ground was bare for several yards in every direction. Only one lone green bamboo stood in the very center.

It was a slender, stunted Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. It looked frail, yet had forced every blade of grass around it to wither.

"Bamboo?"

Tang San stared at it in slight surprise. He wasn't particularly interested in the plant; after all, he'd seen plenty of bamboo in Holy Soul Village, where he'd grown up.

But when Qin Yun saw it, he stopped in his tracks, his eyes full of approval.

"Xiao San, this is a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. Its defining trait is toughness, which makes it quite suitable for your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. The only drawback is that it's a little too young!"

"Bamboo is suitable for Blue Silver Grass? Brother Yun, are you sure?"

Qin Yun pointed at the bare clearing and spoke softly.

"Besides being tough, bamboo is an extremely domineering plant. Its roots spread everywhere, greedily competing for water and nutrients, leaving no room for any other plants to survive.

"That trait is a perfect match for the tough, sharp path you want your Blue Silver Grass to take."

Tang San's eyes immediately lit up.

Now that Qin Yun explained it, it really did seem like a good fit.

"As for its age, that's not much of a problem..."

Qin Yun kept moving, leading the three of them around the clearing to search carefully.

Before long, their gazes all converged on the same spot.

In a crack in the cliff behind the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo grew a true Hundred-Year Solitary Bamboo!

It stood more than two zhang tall, its stalk a deep, inky green. Straight as a spear, it had a smooth, jade-like surface covered in fine, dark golden patterns that gave it the hard sheen of metal.

Its branches weren't especially lush, and every long, narrow leaf was as sharp as a willow-leaf knife tempered in iron. A cold gleam traced each leaf's edge.

It had taken root in a crack in the rock, its roots splitting the entire slab of blue stone. Nothing grew within several yards of it, either; its domineering vitality crushed all other plants.

A faint yellow glow swirled around it. Judging by its height and thickness, it was around four hundred years old, right at the upper limit of what a level-ten Soul Scholar could absorb.

Only...

Unlike the frail Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo, this Four-Hundred-Year Solitary Bamboo had already gained intelligence.

Its cultivation was still too shallow for it to take human form and break free of the ground, so it could only stay where it was.

Plant-type Soul Beasts needed to reach at least ten thousand years of cultivation before they could move.

But though it couldn't move, gaining intelligence had made it extremely aggressive.

The moment Qin Yun led the three of them into its range, the Solitary Bamboo erupted!

"Rustle—"

Its branches thrashed wildly, and dozens of sharp bamboo leaves snapped taut like Hidden Weapons poised to fire. The next second, they shot through the air!

The leaves were incredibly fast, their shrill whistles cutting through the air. Each one was as sharp as a blade, aimed straight at the vital points of all four. Their attacks were far more vicious than those of ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Beasts.