As he pondered, he left the dormitory.
After only a few steps, Flender suddenly froze in place as if struck by lightning.
"Wait!"
"Could Xiao Gang and that Tang San also be..."
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed to Flender.
Otherwise, there was no way Xiao Gang and his disciple, along with his own disciple, would all have undergone such a sudden transformation—and even made breakthroughs in strength.
"Heavens! Are there really this many gods in the world?"
"Xiao Gang, you chose them all. Why didn't you choose me?"
"After all, I'm a level 76 Soul Sage."
"Heaven really is blind!"
After completing the trial, Flender hurriedly took his disciple to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain a Soul Ring.
He was afraid the lad would have to undergo another trial while Soul Hunting.
If that happened, the boy might be too hungry to walk, and Flender would have to carry him the whole way.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and Ma Hongjun and Tang San's master-disciple pair completed five trials one after another.
Their tireless efforts had also brought Lu Xian's cultivation to level 40, making him a Quasi-Soul Ancestor.
At the tender age of fourteen, Lu Xian could proudly say that, aside from the Angel Investor, he was the strongest of his generation.
Even Tang San in the original story had only touched the threshold of the Soul Ancestor rank at fifteen.
Of course, the overpowered cheats from the Peerless era didn't count.
As for Soul Skills, the Broom had continued to grow stronger. Its branches could now shoot out like bullets and embed themselves deep in boulders.
The poison gas Soul Skill had also improved considerably. When Lu Xian released the gas, he could truly leave nothing growing within a twenty-meter radius.
The most gratifying improvement, though, was in his Ice Element Soul Skill.
Thanks to Fatty's efforts, his control over the Ice Element had made great strides.
He was still a long way from displaying a technique on the scale of Ice Age, but he could already create twin ice spears or an ice wall.
Both his defensive and offensive abilities had improved significantly.
And he already had a target in mind for his Fourth Soul Ring.
He took a small glass jar from inside the house. Within it, a tiny snake, emerald green from head to tail with red eyes, kept flicking its tongue.
It was a Bamboo Green Snake he had caught in the woods outside the city.
It was only a few dozen centimeters long, a miniature snake by any measure.
It didn't even qualify as a Soul Beast.
Though its venom was limited in potency, it could still serve as a means of self-defense.
This was Lu Xian's first attempt to see if a living creature could be chosen as a Soul Ring, and he was full of anticipation.
He opened the jar and grabbed the Bamboo Green Snake by the head, preventing it from opening its mouth.
Startled, the little snake immediately wrapped its tail around his finger.
Its feeble constriction wasn't enough for Lu Xian to feel even the slightest pain.
He had taken it out of the jar for a reason. If he attached a Soul Ring while it was inside, what if he ended up with a jar Soul Ring?
Having learned his lesson from the second Soul Ring attachment, Lu Xian was extremely careful every time he tried to attach one.
He stared at the Bamboo Green Snake in his hand, slowly releasing his Martial Soul and cautiously pressing it against the snake's body.
When the silvery-white orb touched the Bamboo Green Snake, the little snake's resistance seemed to gradually fade.
The muscles that had been straining all over its body slowly relaxed.
What made Lu Xian even happier was that a white Soul Ring was gradually taking shape around his Martial Soul.
Purple, yellow, yellow, white—no one in the world had a more bizarre Soul Ring Configuration than him.
This also proved one thing: choosing a living creature as a Soul Ring was possible.
After the Soul Ring attachment was complete, the Bamboo Green Snake affectionately rubbed against Lu Xian's finger.
Feeling the spiritual link between them, Lu Xian immediately tried to summon it back.
The next second, the Bamboo Green Snake vanished from his palm.
When he lit up the Fourth Soul Ring again, the Bamboo Green Snake reappeared as a Soul Skill.
"It worked."
"Little guy, I'm counting on you!"
"From now on, I'll call you Xiao Qing!"
Now that his plan to attach a Soul Ring to the Bamboo Green Snake had succeeded, Lu Xian could move on to his next plan.
After putting up a sign at the Broom Shop announcing a temporary closure, Lu Xian bought a carriage and set off for Heaven Dou City.
His target was Dugu Yan, who was studying at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Judging by her age, Dugu Yan should have just started at the academy. If he could find a chance to introduce her to Xiao Qing, Lu Xian would gain himself another Destined Worker.
With Dugu Yan's help, planning for the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well would be much easier.
He might even manage it without approaching Dugu Bo directly.
He could simply have Xiao Qing handle the medicinal herbs.
After forming a spiritual link with Tang San, Lu Xian knew every last detail of the memories concerning Immortal Herbs.
If he wanted, he could even make all kinds of Hidden Weapons.
He just didn't want to waste time and effort on something like that.
He could get stronger by recruiting workers one step at a time. Why bother making Hidden Weapons?
He had only selectively cultivated the Purple Demon Eye.
It was a great help to his spiritual power, so it was still useful to him.
Fasinuo Province, Balak Kingdom, Heaven Dou City.
The closer one got to the center of power, the more prosperous the towns became.
Heaven Dou City's population density was several times higher than Suotuo City's. The streets teemed with people, and prosperity was everywhere.
But Lu Xian knew what undercurrents lay beneath that seemingly flourishing surface.
Still, it had little to do with him. He had no intention of sticking his neck out for trouble.
After finding a hotel near Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Lu Xian began scouting the area.
It took him dozens of days to find an opportunity to approach Dugu Yan.
The lovely young woman with purple hair and jade-green eyes often visited the medicinal herb market and the pet market.
As Dugu Bo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan knew a little about poisons.
Buying all sorts of medicinal herbs to concoct poisons had become routine for her.
And the venomous snakes at the pet market were among Dugu Yan's favorite things.
Every so often, she would drag Ye Lingling of the Nine Heart Begonia along for a visit.
After choosing his moment, Lu Xian spotted Dugu Yan and her close friend leaving the academy together and waiting by the entrance.
He then went ahead to stake out the pet market.
The market sold plenty of pets such as cats and dogs.
Snakes were a more unusual choice, so only a handful of shops sold them.
Lu Xian released Xiao Qing and left it in an unnoticeable corner, then quietly slipped away to wait at a regular pet shop farther ahead.
Sure enough, half an hour later, Dugu Yan entered the pet market hand in hand with Ye Lingling after visiting the medicinal herb market.
Their destination was clear. They headed straight for the shops selling snakes deeper inside the market.
"Yanzi, if you want to buy a snake, just come by yourself. I told you not to drag me along."
Ye Lingling rolled her eyes at Dugu Yan, thoroughly exasperated. Not everyone liked snakes, especially a woman like her.
Dugu Yan stuck out her tongue and patted her close friend on the back to reassure her.
"Relax. I'll just see if they have any rare varieties, then we'll leave."
In the corner, Xiao Qing spotted its target and quickly slithered toward her with its tiny body.
In the end, it even put every last ounce of strength into the effort.
Fortunately, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling stopped outside a shop to look around, so Xiao Qing didn't lose track of them.
When it reached the two women, Xiao Qing crawled straight up Dugu Yan's shoe.
Feeling something against the skin of her lower leg, Dugu Yan looked down in surprise.
"Ah! A snake!"
"Wow, what a cute little thing!"
Human joys and sorrows were not shared. The venomous snake that made Ye Lingling shriek was a creature Dugu Yan couldn't bear to put down.
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