Evening. The sun sank below the horizon.
The fiery red sunset painted Heaven Dou City in a beautiful glow.
At the Ye Family Clinic, the three members of the Ye family were having dinner.
Ye Qingzhou wolfed down his food as he asked Ye Shuyuan, "Grandpa, when are we going to get my Soul Ring?"
After finishing his meal, Ye Shuyuan took a sip of light tea and replied, "Tomorrow at noon. But before then, I still need to learn about your Magnolia's talents and abilities."
"Only with those two traits can I choose the Plant-type Martial Soul best suited to you."
"Tomorrow?" Ye Qingzhou poked at the food on the table, then looked at Ye Lingling, who sat silently beside him. "Sis, what about you? Want to come with us?"
Ye Lingling finished her last bite, set down her bowl and chopsticks, and shook her head. "I have to go back to the academy tomorrow."
"Besides, even if I went, I'd only cause you more trouble."
"When you get back, I'll introduce you to my friends at Heaven Dou Royal Academy."
Ye Qingzhou nodded. "Okay."
"Heaven Dou Royal Academy..." Ye Shuyuan fell into thought.
Wasn't Ye Qingzhou a little too young to enter an advanced Soul Master Academy?
But with a Titled Douluo like him around, Ye Qingzhou wouldn't learn anything useful at a junior or intermediate Soul Master Academy.
After dinner,
Ye Lingling returned to her room to meditate and cultivate.
Ye Qingzhou explained his Martial Soul to Ye Shuyuan.
"Jade bones and icy skin, fragrance comes first. Those are the talents of the Magnolia."
Ye Shuyuan murmured the eight words Ye Qingzhou had said. "Jade bones and icy skin, fragrance comes first."
He parsed their meaning: "Self-healing, poison resistance, immunity to all evils, a keen instinct for danger and opportunity, and finally, the ability to calm the mind and focus."
Ye Qingzhou nodded.
"Truly worthy of being one of the Four Gentlemen of Flowers, the Magnolia." Seeing Ye Qingzhou nod, Ye Shuyuan stroked his beard. "It's countless times stronger than our Nine Heart Begonia."
The talents it gave Ye Qingzhou alone were enough to outclass the Nine Heart Begonia.
Truly, the young were surpassing their elders.
"Qingzhou, go back and get some rest. I'll pick out suitable Soul Rings for you."
Hearing Ye Shuyuan say that, Ye Qingzhou didn't linger. "Then I'll head back first, Grandpa."
"Go on, go on." Ye Shuyuan waved him away.
The next morning,
Ye Lingling left early to attend class at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Ye Shuyuan and his grandson Ye Qingzhou set out for Sunset Forest.
Sunset Forest lay a hundred li east of Heaven Dou City. Though it was not as vast as Star Dou Great Forest,
it was still one of the best-known habitats for Soul Beasts.
The Soul Rings Ye Shuyuan had chosen for Ye Qingzhou could be found in Sunset Forest, so there was no need to travel all the way to distant Star Dou Great Forest.
After only a little over half a day, the grandfather and grandson reached the outer region of Sunset Forest.
Unlike Star Dou Great Forest, Sunset Forest had an outer region and a core region, but no mixed region.
Most of its Soul Beasts were between a thousand and ten thousand years old.
Only Soul Masters seeking their first four Soul Rings could barely find suitable ones here.
Once they reached Soul King, however, they had to venture into the dangerous Star Dou Great Forest.
Ye Shuyuan and Ye Qingzhou walked through the vast forest.
Before long, they stopped beneath a large tree to rest.
"Grandpa, can you tell me which two Soul Beasts are right for me now?" Ye Qingzhou had been asking ever since early morning.
No matter how often he asked, Ye Shuyuan had only given him one answer: they'd talk about it once they reached Sunset Forest.
"And you said you'd invite Soul Masters from two Soul Hunting teams to help hunt the Soul Beasts for me. Where are they?"
Seeing how impatient Ye Qingzhou was, Ye Shuyuan remained unhurried. In an even tone, he began:
"Last night, I read a great many books about Plant-type and insect Soul Beasts. I found two that are exceptionally well suited to be your Soul Rings."
Ye Qingzhou looked at him curiously. "Oh? Grandpa, which two?"
Ye Shuyuan answered, "The Sleeping Fragrance Orchid Butterfly and the Thousand-Blade Jade Butterfly."
"We'll look for the Sleeping Fragrance Orchid Butterfly first. It's not particularly rare in Sunset Forest."
"As it flies, it silently releases a fragrance. Any creature younger than it will become paralyzed and drowsy. It makes for a decent control skill."
"Most importantly, you and Lingling will probably fight side by side for a long time in the early stages. Her healing is already enough."
Originally, Ye Shuyuan had planned to get Ye Qingzhou a single-target or group healing skill for his First Soul Ring.
But he quickly abandoned that idea.
Their Nine Heart Begonia already handled healing, so there was no need to duplicate the effect.
A team having two Soul Skills with similar effects would only waste one person's skill slot and hinder their development later on.
Ye Qingzhou agreed with Ye Shuyuan's choice and explanation.
It reminded him of the famous Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang and Oscar.
Oscar had chosen excellent effects for his first three Soul Rings, but after Yu Xiaogang arrived, he picked the Excitement Sausage Soul Skill for Oscar.
Its effect completely overlapped with Ning Rongrong's enhancement, and it only boosted attributes by ten percent.
That so-called Excitement Sausage was only useful for breaking out of a control effect once.
But there were very few control-type Soul Masters in Douluo I who could affect Tang San.
The only one who could stand against him was Hu Liena.
And even she fell far short of the Mirror Sausage Oscar obtained for himself later on.
A complete disaster, really.
After a brief rest, Ye Qingzhou and Ye Shuyuan continued through the outer region of Sunset Forest.
Given Ye Qingzhou's current physique and the relative weakness of insect Soul Beasts, they settled on a Sleeping Fragrance Orchid Butterfly between seven and eight hundred years old.
Ye Shuyuan, walking ahead, stopped and looked up. "Found one."
Following Ye Shuyuan's gaze, Ye Qingzhou looked up and saw a butterfly with wings like withered branches fluttering overhead.
Ye Shuyuan's eyes lit up. He identified its age precisely. "A seven-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Sleeping Fragrance Orchid Butterfly."
Without the slightest hesitation, he struck at once. Soul Power, as mighty as that of a Titled Douluo, burst from his body.
His overwhelming strength pressed down on everything around them like an immovable mountain.
Nine Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—flared into view.
The Sleeping Fragrance Orchid Butterfly, which had been flying through the air, dropped to the ground as if its legs had gone limp.
It struggled fiercely, trying to break free of a Titled Douluo's control.
But it was all in vain.
For a Titled Douluo, even one from the support system, dealing with a hundred-year-old Soul Beast was as easy as drinking water.
Only a situation like this let someone truly feel the thrill of overwhelming a foe across such a vast gap in strength.
Ye Shuyuan said to Ye Qingzhou, "Go on. Give it the final blow."
Ye Qingzhou went over to the struggling Sleeping Fragrance Orchid Butterfly, white Soul Power gathering fiercely in his hand.
With a boom.
Before you continue