Soul Ancestor, Fourth Soul Ring

He pondered as he left the dormitory.

Flender had not walked more than a few steps when he suddenly froze in place, as if struck by lightning.

"Wait a minute!"

"Xiao Gang and that Tang San, could they also be..."

The more he thought about it, the more Flender felt it was possible.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for Xiao Gang and his disciple, as well as his own student, to all undergo such massive transformations, with even their strength seeing breakthroughs.

"Heavens, are there really so many gods in this world?"

"Xiao Gang, you choose them all, why not choose me?"

"No matter what, this old man is a level 76 Soul Saint."

"The heavens are blind!"

After completing the assessment, Flender seized the time to take his disciple to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain a soul ring.

He was terrified that this fellow would have to undergo another assessment in the middle of hunting for a soul.

If that happened, the boy would be too hungry to even walk, and he would have to carry him the entire way.

Half a year passed quietly, and Ma Hongjun and the master-disciple pair of Tang San completed five assessments in succession.

Their unremitting efforts also successfully brought Lu Xian's cultivation to level 40, making him a quasi-Soul Ancestor powerhouse.

At only 14 years old, Lu Xian could very proudly say that, aside from the angel investor, he was the strongest among his peers.

Even the Tang San from the original work only touched the threshold of the Soul Ancestor at fifteen.

Of course, those cheaters from the Peerless era were not included.

In terms of soul skills, the strength of the broom continued to improve; now, the broom's branches could be fired like bullets and embedded deep into boulders.

The intensity of the poison gas soul skill had also seen a significant increase; by releasing the poison gas, Lu Xian could truly ensure that not a blade of grass would grow within a twenty-meter radius.

The most gratifying, however, was the ice element soul skill.

Thanks to the fatty's efforts, his control over the ice element had made great progress.

A display of technique on the scale of an Ice Age was still far off, but he was already capable of creating things like twin-thorn spears or ice walls.

Both his defensive and offensive capabilities had improved significantly.

As for his fourth soul ring, he already had a target in mind.

He took a small glass jar from the room, inside which a small snake with a completely emerald-green body and red eyes was constantly flicking its tongue.

This was a bamboo viper he had caught in the woods outside the city.

It was no more than a few dozen centimeters long, a pocket-sized snake.

It did not even reach the level of a soul beast.

Although the toxicity of this snake was limited, it could still be considered a means of self-preservation.

This was Lu Xian's first attempt at seeing if a living creature could be chosen as a soul ring, and his heart was filled with anticipation.

Opening the jar, Lu Xian grabbed the bamboo viper by the head so it could not open its mouth.

Startled, the little snake immediately wrapped its tail around his finger.

That bit of constricting force was so weak that Lu Xian could not even feel the slightest pain.

He had his own reasons for taking it out of the jar; if he performed the soul attachment while it was inside, what would happen if he ended up with a jar soul ring?

Having learned his lesson from the second soul ring attachment, Lu Xian was extremely careful with every attachment.

Staring directly at the bamboo viper on his hand, Lu Xian slowly released his martial soul and carefully pressed it against the body of the bamboo viper.

Once the silver-white light touched the bamboo viper, the resistance from the little snake seemed to slowly vanish.

The muscles all over its body gradually relaxed.

What made Lu Xian even happier was that a white soul ring was gradually taking shape above his martial soul.

Purple, yellow, yellow, white—there was no one else in the world with a more bizarre soul ring configuration than his.

This also proved one thing: choosing a living creature as a soul ring was feasible.

After the soul attachment was completed, the bamboo viper rubbed against Lu Xian's finger very affectionately.

Feeling the mental connection with it, Lu Xian tried to recall it directly.

The next second, the bamboo viper vanished from his palm.

Lighting up his fourth soul ring again, the bamboo viper reappeared as a soul skill.

"Success."

"Little guy, please take care of me from now on!"

"I'll call you Xiao Qing from now on!"

With the success of the bamboo viper soul attachment concept, Lu Xian's subsequent plans could finally proceed.

After hanging a "Temporarily Closed" sign on his Broom Shop, Lu Xian bought a carriage and set off toward Heaven Dou City.

His target was none other than Dugu Yan, who was currently enrolled at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Calculating her age, Dugu Yan should have just begun her studies at the academy; if he could find an opportunity for her to interact with Xiao Qing, Lu Xian would be able to harvest another fated worker.

With Dugu Yan on his side, planning for the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well would become much easier.

He might not even need to make direct contact with Dugu Bo to get the job done.

When the time came, he could simply have Xiao Qing step forward to collect the medicinal herbs.

After establishing a mental connection with Tang San, he had a thorough grasp of all the memories regarding the immortal herbs.

He could even manufacture various hidden weapons if he wanted to.

It was just that he didn't want to bother with such time-consuming and laborious tasks.

He could grow stronger just by recruiting workers step by step, so why bother with hidden weapons?

He had only selectively cultivated the Purple Demon Eye.

It provided immense help to his spiritual power and was still useful to him.

Fasinuo Province, Bala Kingdom, Heaven Dou City.

The closer one got to the center of power, the more prosperous the towns appeared.

The population density of Heaven Dou City was several times higher than that of Suotuo City, with bustling crowds visible everywhere—a scene of prosperity and flourishing growth.

But Lu Xian knew what kind of undercurrents were buried beneath this veneer of prosperity.

However, these things had little to do with him, and he had no intention of worrying about such unnecessary matters.

After finding a hotel near the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to stay in, Lu Xian began to scout the area.

Dozens of days later, he finally found an opportunity to make contact with Dugu Yan.

This young girl with purple hair and green eyes, possessing a beautiful appearance, would frequently visit the medicinal herb market and the pet market.

As the granddaughter of Dugu Bo, Dugu Yan also possessed some technical knowledge regarding poisons.

Purchasing various medicinal herbs to concoct toxins had become a routine for her.

Furthermore, the various venomous snakes in the pet market had become Dugu Yan's favorites.

From time to time, she would drag Ye Lingling of the Nine Heart Begonia to take a stroll there.

Calculating the timing, after spotting Dugu Yan walking out of the school gate with her little friend once again, Lu Xian headed to the pet market in advance to lie in wait.

Most of the pets sold in the market were cats and dogs.

Only a few shops sold niche pets like snakes.

Releasing Xiao Qing and placing her in an unobserved corner, Lu Xian quietly left to wait at a regular pet shop further ahead.

Sure enough, half an hour later, Dugu Yan, having finished browsing the medicinal herb market, entered the pet market hand-in-hand with Ye Lingling.

Their goal was clear: they headed straight for the few shops in the depths of the market that sold snakes.

"Yanzi, you could have just come to buy snakes by yourself; I told you not to drag me along."

Ye Lingling rolled her eyes at Dugu Yan, feeling quite speechless. Not everyone liked things like snakes, especially not a woman like her.

Dugu Yan stuck out her tongue and patted her friend on the back to comfort her.

"Relax, I'll just see if there are any rare breeds and then we'll leave."

In the corner, after spotting the target, Xiao Qing quickly wiggled her slender body and crawled toward her.

By the end, she was even using every ounce of her strength.

Fortunately, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling stopped in front of a shop to look around, which kept Xiao Qing from losing them.

Reaching the two girls, Xiao Qing climbed directly up Dugu Yan's shoe.

Feeling the sensation on the skin of her lower leg, Dugu Yan lowered her head in surprise.

"Ah! A snake!"

"Wow, what a cute little thing!"

Human joys and sorrows are not always connected; the venomous snake that made Ye Lingling scream in shock was something Dugu Yan couldn't put down.