The Intersecting Roads

"Wind Baboon..." Huo Yuhao murmured. He recognized the creature the moment he laid eyes on it.

"Not bad, Yuhao. You actually know what it is."

Bei Bei walked over to the Wind Baboon's corpse, then added:

"A hundred-year Wind Baboon. It has a violent temperament and suits Wind-type Power Attack System Soul Masters."

"But it's a troublesome creature for ordinary Soul Masters, too. A hundred-year Wind Baboon is strong enough to threaten the lives of Soul Masters below the first ring."

As Bei Bei recalled the definition of a Wind Baboon from his textbook, Huo Yuhao's thoughts drifted back to the first time he had entered the Star Dou Forest in his previous life.

The first Soul Beast he had encountered had also been a Wind Baboon, except that one had only been ten years old.

But even a mere Ten-Year Soul Beast had almost cost Huo Yuhao his life.

Star Dou Forest, Wind Baboon... Coincidence was piling upon coincidence once more.

Huo Yuhao shook his head. How could there be so many coincidences in the world? I'd better not dwell on it. I should focus on securing my first Soul Ring, one steady step at a time.

With his connections to Spirit Hall, he would have plenty of chances to return to the Star Dou Forest in the future.

Seeing Huo Yuhao's expression, Bei Bei thought he was feeling sick after seeing a living creature beheaded for the first time. He quickly gestured to Wang Hong to clear away the corpse.

"Are you all right, little Yuhao? Sorry about that."

"Thank you, Brother Bei Bei... I'm fine. I just thought of something." Huo Yuhao put on a smile, but to Bei Bei, it looked like he was simply forcing himself.

Still, Huo Yuhao didn't seem too troubled, so they let the matter drop. After that, though, Bei Bei specifically reminded Wang Hong not to clear away any blocking Soul Beasts in front of Huo Yuhao.

The group continued deeper into the Star Dou Forest, while in a corner beyond their sight, a gaze fixed intently on the three of them.

"Hee-hee-hee! A Spirit-type Soul Master without a Soul Ring. Your big brother's finally found a treasure!"

Though the Star Dou Forest lay outside Spirit Hall's jurisdiction, with Spirit Hall's resources, making a map of the Soul Beasts around its outskirts was no difficult task.

Bei Bei's target this time was a lightning-attribute draconic Soul Beast that lived on the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest. They were rare, but still much easier to find than a Spirit-type Soul Beast for Huo Yuhao.

Draconic Soul Beasts with lightning attributes usually fed on fish, so their goal was to find a river with a strong enough current. Their target Soul Beast was highly likely to appear there.

Without realizing it, Huo Yuhao kept feeling that their route was growing more and more familiar, matching the one in his memories.

Before long, more than an hour had passed.

After pushing aside another clump of bushes, they followed the sound of water and found a river. The current wasn't fast, but they could see plenty of fish swimming through it.

"Let's make camp around here, Lord Bei Bei." Though Wang Hong phrased it as a question, he had already begun taking a tent from his Storage Soul Tool and setting it up.

Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao sat on rocks by the river to rest. Walking through a primeval forest for over an hour was tiring, even with Wang Hong clearing away Soul Beasts and obstacles.

Especially for a six-year-old like Huo Yuhao.

"Want some water?" Bei Bei took a bottle from his Soul Tool and handed it to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao didn't stand on ceremony. He twisted off the cap and took a few small sips.

With his cultivation technique aiding him, he hadn't expended as much energy as Bei Bei had expected. He could probably walk for another hour at least.

As he watched the schools of fish swimming past in the river, an inexplicable impulse rose in his heart.

"Brother Bei Bei, do you want to eat grilled fish?"

Bei Bei was a little bewildered by Huo Yuhao's sudden question, but he still nodded.

"Grilled fish... Xiao Ya took me to eat it a few times at the snack street by the academy. But we don't have anything to catch fish with, and using my Martial Soul directly would ruin the taste."

A few golden sparks of lightning flickered at Bei Bei's fingertips, and Huo Yuhao immediately understood what he meant.

"Haha, there's no need for that."

"Lord Wang Hong, do you have anything long and sharp?" Huo Yuhao called to Wang Hong, who was setting up the tent.

The next moment, a wooden spear came flying over.

At first, Wang Hong had planned to throw him an ordinary spear, but when he remembered that Huo Yuhao was only six, he switched it for one made of wood.

Huo Yuhao caught it steadily and weighed it in his hand a few times. Once he was sure it felt comfortable to use, he walked over to the riverbank.

He never would have expected that the first time he used his Martial Soul after being reborn would be to catch fish.

Come to think of it, when he had met Brother Bei Bei and Sister Xiao Ya in his previous life, they had also been grilling fish by a river. Could that have been some kind of fate, too?

Silver and blue light began to ripple in Huo Yuhao's eyes, the two colors interweaving. In an instant, his eyesight made a qualitative leap.

Even Huo Yuhao hadn't expected there to be such a huge difference between Innate Full Soul Power and cultivating from level one to level ten.

When he had used his Spirit Eye at level ten in his previous life, things had seemed slower and his vision had grown clearer.

But what he could see now, with Innate Full Soul Power, was far more astonishing:

Everything in his field of vision moved much more slowly than he remembered. He could even use his Spirit Eye to observe the minute movements of the fish's muscles underwater.

In his previous life, he hadn't been able to do that until he obtained Brother Sky Dream's Soul Ring.

This is the difference between a genius and an ordinary person... Huo Yuhao marveled inwardly, but the thought didn't last long. After all, he was now the genius he had just mentioned.

With every thrust, Huo Yuhao could pinpoint the fish's exact location beneath the surface. Once he speared them, he could even make sure not to damage their bodies.

At this point in his previous life, he would often ruin some of the best meat on a fish. Now, whenever he tossed one ashore, Bei Bei couldn't even tell at first glance that it was dead.

What precise control... No, it was the credit of those eyes—his Martial Soul.

Bei Bei saw more than fish that were almost entirely unscathed. He saw the potential of Huo Yuhao's eyes.

To perform that kind of maneuver with nothing but Soul Power, even without a Soul Ring—if he had a Soul Ring to support him, the role he could play in battle couldn't be summed up in a couple of sentences.

Suppose Huo Yuhao were holding an ordinary dagger right now and facing a Soul Master using a defensive Spirit Skill. What chance would he have of winning?

Bei Bei was certain that his answer would be at least nine in ten.

Precise control and split-second judgment. These were required lessons in the curriculum laid down by Pope Chen Mo.

They were also abilities Bei Bei's great-grandfather had insisted he master. Unless you had the power to defeat your opponent in a single strike, precise control and split-second judgment could help you seize the initiative in battle.

Imagine this: just as you raised your arms to use a Spirit Skill, a dagger slipped through an imperceptible gap at an impossibly precise angle and reached your eyes, stabbing into them.

You might not even realize your opponent had thrown the dagger until it pierced your eye.

From his observations, Bei Bei was certain that Huo Yuhao could already do this.