The First Soul Ring in a Thousand Years

"Enough with the nonsense, you brat. Hurry up and move, we're pressed for time." Xuan Zi's figure flickered as he grabbed Bei Bei by the collar and hoisted him into the air.

An earthy-yellow glow enveloped them, transforming into a streak of light that shot toward the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Shrek City was located very close to the Star Dou Great Forest; one could say it was built right on its edge.

At Xuan Zi's speed, it didn't take long before they arrived at the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Along the way, Bei Bei even saw the warning signs posted by the roadside.

"The distribution and living areas of the soul beasts in the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest have been recorded by the academy for countless years," Xuan Zi explained as they walked. "Mu En said that for your soul rings, you should prioritize light-attribute sub-dragon soul beasts. Even if they are of lower quality, thunder-attribute sub-dragon soul beasts are the next best choice."

Bei Bei didn't dare to stray even half a step away from Xuan Zi, clutching tightly onto his robe even though it was quite greasy.

He didn't want to turn his head only to find that Xuan Zi had vanished, leaving him all alone on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Hearing Xuan Zi's words, Bei Bei nodded repeatedly and said, "That is exactly what I was thinking."

The light attribute of his Radiant Sacred Dragon martial soul was extremely close to the Ultimate Light. If all his soul rings were chosen from light-attribute sub-dragon soul beasts, there would be a high chance of achieving a secondary evolution and reaching the attribute of Ultimate Light.

Although the Star Dou Great Forest was vast, after ten thousand years, its area had clearly shrunk. Soul beasts possessing dragon bloodlines were already rare, let alone light-attribute dragon-type soul beasts of a specific age.

Under Xuan Zi's guidance, they soon arrived at the territory of a light-attribute sub-dragon soul beast.

Xuan Zi reached out and pinched Bei Bei's right arm, even sending his soul power to circulate through his meridians.

He nodded and said, "Your physical constitution is not bad. It seems those two pieces of thousand-year Whale Rubber didn't go to waste. You can handle a soul ring of around nine hundred years."

Xuan Zi pulled his hand away, leaving a dark, grimy handprint on Bei Bei's fair arm.

Bei Bei couldn't quite understand how a person could be so slovenly.

Even if Xuan Zi squatted on the street disguised as a beggar, no one would suspect a thing.

Bei Bei, who had a bit of a clean streak, found it unbearable and couldn't help but wipe it clean.

In his heart, he couldn't help but miss Le Xuan. She was fragrant and soft, and it was so comfortable to hug her.

Xuan Zi didn't notice Bei Bei's small movements, or perhaps he simply didn't care. He scanned the soul beasts ahead.

Finding none of the appropriate age, he grabbed Bei Bei's collar and continued to fly toward the next area known to have light-attribute sub-dragon soul beasts.

After changing locations several times, Xuan Zi finally discovered a light-attribute sub-dragon of a relatively suitable age.

The sub-dragon was lying alone on the ground, its body glowing with an intense radiance. It was curled into a ball, its dragon scales flared outward.

Although Xuan Zi was slightly puzzled as to what it was doing, seeing that its age was appropriate, he didn't care and didn't bother to investigate further.

Earthy-yellow light erupted from Xuan Zi's body, and the ground trembled slightly before splitting open like a giant maw, swallowing the light-attribute sub-dragon into the earth.

The soil in front of Bei Bei churned continuously as the light-attribute sub-dragon was spat out from underground.

"This sub-dragon is only over nine hundred years old, definitely not exceeding a thousand. Go ahead and hunt it to absorb the soul ring!" Xuan Zi took out a chicken leg; he hadn't eaten for a while and was dying of hunger.

Bei Bei walked forward to carefully examine the soul beast before him. This light-attribute sub-dragon wasn't very large, only a little over a meter long. Its two front claws were extremely thick, and its body was covered in fine white dragon scales, emitting a soft white light.

However, it had already fallen into a coma, and Bei Bei noticed that there were lightning-like patterns on its dragon scales.

Could it have mutated? Bei Bei wasn't entirely sure.

He took a gorgeous dagger from his storage soul tool and instantly thrust it into the sub-dragon's tightly closed eyes.

A surge of power slowly drifted out from the sub-dragon's body, condensing into a deep yellow soul ring above its corpse, the color extremely dense with a faint hint of purple.

Seeing that it was a yellow hundred-year soul ring, Bei Bei finally set his mind at ease. He sat cross-legged to the side and summoned his Radiant Sacred Dragon martial soul.

Before officially absorbing the soul ring, Bei Bei still turned his head with concern to look at Xuan Zi, who was busy eating meat and drinking wine, and reminded him, "Xuan Zi, you must not leave halfway while I'm absorbing the soul ring!"

"Just put your heart at ease, you brat! With me here, what soul beast would dare to approach within several miles? Hurry up and absorb your soul ring!" Xuan Zi said with a speechless expression, mumbling while chewing on his chicken leg.

Bei Bei exhaled softly, steadied his mind, and began to use his soul power to guide the soul ring, letting it slowly drift toward the top of his head.

A powerful force surged continuously from the soul ring into Bei Bei's meridians, rampaging through them and causing his body to shudder violently.

Just then, an unexpected change occurred.

The yellow soul ring above Bei Bei's head suddenly surged with a touch of purple light, transforming the entire soul ring into a purple thousand-year soul ring.

Seeing this, Xuan Zi spat out the wine he had just taken a gulp of.

Xuan Zi hurried to Bei Bei's side, looking on in disbelief as the hundred-year soul ring transformed into a thousand-year one.

Xuan Zi quickly realized what had happened. He wondered why that sub-dragon had been acting so strangely earlier; it turned out it was in the middle of evolving into a thousand-year soul beast.

He couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. If he had observed it for a moment longer, he wouldn't have made such a mistake.

Bei Bei, who was in the middle of absorbing the soul ring, suddenly felt the energy within his body become even more violent. If the previous energy had been like a small stream, it had now suddenly turned into a great river, causing his meridians to ache with the impact.

Blood began to seep from the pores of Bei Bei's skin, making him look truly miserable.

A thousand-year soul ring was already beyond the limit of what Bei Bei could absorb. If he couldn't withstand the impact of the soul ring's energy, he would likely explode and die.

Xuan Zi didn't want anything to go wrong with Bei Bei and was just about to intervene to disperse the soul ring Bei Bei was absorbing.

At that moment, the Radiant Sacred Dragon martial soul in Bei Bei's hands suddenly let out a high-pitched dragon roar.

A dragon's might, deep and vast as the sea, radiated from it. The thousand-year soul ring seemed to be suppressed, trembling incessantly as the energy it emitted became much calmer.

Seeing this, Xuan Zi stopped his movements. The Radiant Sacred Dragon was a type of true dragon; dealing with a mere sub-dragon was a simple matter.

In the blink of an eye, several hours passed, and the thousand-year soul ring settled steadily around his body.

Bei Bei's aura became much more stable, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He felt that the soul power within his body had become much more profound, but his limbs felt incredibly swollen and sore, as if he had been beaten up by someone.

"Xuan Zi, I succeeded. My first soul ring... why is it a thousand-year one!" As soon as Bei Bei summoned his Radiant Sacred Dragon martial soul, he saw a purple soul ring rising beneath his feet.