The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Ning Rongrong.
From their conversation, Lu Xian quickly confirmed their identities.
At the same time, Chen Xin noticed Lu Xian walking out from deeper in the forest.
Their eyes met. Lu Xian showed no intention of approaching to strike up a conversation. They passed each other, and he continued toward the exit.
After they crossed paths, a hint of approval flashed in Chen Xin's eyes.
In his view, anyone who dared to enter the Star Dou Great Forest alone and come back unscathed must have absolute confidence in himself.
And he also needed the strength to back up that confidence.
Beside him, Ning Rongrong looked back curiously at Lu Xian's retreating figure, then asked:
"Grandpa Sword, did that man really come to the Star Dou Great Forest alone to hunt Soul Beasts?"
"Rongrong, not everyone has the kind of background you do."
"If you don't trust the people hunting Soul Beasts with you, you might as well go alone."
"O-okay!"
Ning Rongrong, who came from a powerful and wealthy family, naturally didn't understand the reason behind it. In her view, the elders of the family were supposed to accompany you on a Soul Beast hunt.
Lu Xian had walked for a long time. Only when the outline of Soul Hunting Town came into view did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Though the faint aura of a powerful expert around Chen Xin hadn't been aimed at him, it had still put him under tremendous pressure.
Fortunately, Chen Xin wasn't some madman who killed everyone he saw. Judging by Ning Rongrong accompanying him, they were probably here to get the little girl her Second Soul Ring.
Ning Rongrong was about half a year younger than Tang San, who was now on the verge of turning ten.
It was reasonable for a nine-and-a-half-year-old to have reached level twenty. It was just unclear why they weren't hunting for her Second Soul Ring in their own Seven Treasure Forest.
As the wealthiest power on the continent, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had its own Soul Hunting Forest.
As Lu Xian pondered this, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Wait, my fifth Soul Ring wasn't supposed to be a tiger-type Soul Beast after all."
"It doesn't have to be Dai Mubai."
"Ning Rongrong's talent might even surpass Dai Mubai's. Looks like she could be a heaven-chosen wage earner too!"
After thinking it over, he decided to give it a try.
After all, even if a beast he'd made into a Soul Ring died out in the outside world, the Silver Light Orb could revive it.
The only catch was that once they were bound to a wage earner, their spirit clones would be frozen forever at the moment of the binding.
In other words, no matter how powerful the main body of Lu Xian's Soul Beast became, it would still appear in its original form beside the person it was bound to.
This applied not only to living creatures like Xiao Qing and the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, but also to the Broom and the ice block.
To the wage earners, these were merely vessels for completing their trials.
The more he thought about it, the more eager Lu Xian became. He immediately summoned the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.
The chubby, adorable little bear looked dazed, unsure where it was.
It looked around until it spotted Lu Xian beside it, then ran over in delight.
It hugged Lu Xian's leg and rubbed against him.
Lu Xian ruffled the little bear's coarse fur. The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear narrowed its eyes in bliss.
Bear Da was only a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, so its fur was still soft. Once it reached a thousand years of cultivation, that pelt would become its toughest armor.
After being soul-bound, beasts grew very close to Lu Xian and were utterly loyal to him.
"I'll call you Xiong Da from now on!"
After a brief exchange, Lu Xian immediately gave Xiong Da a task.
"Xiong Da, go get close to that grandfather and granddaughter. Act honest and adorable."
"Best of all, get that girl to take you home as a pet."
Xiong Da confidently patted its chest, then huffed and puffed as it headed deeper into the woods.
With their vision shared, Lu Xian could keep track of what was happening in real time.
He didn't need to wait around at the forest entrance; that might make Chen Xin suspicious.
Deep in the forest, Ning Rongrong, who was visiting the Star Dou Great Forest for the first time, was just as curious about her surroundings.
This place was much more impressive than their Seven Treasure Forest.
"Grandpa, what kind of Soul Beast should I use for my Second Soul Ring?"
"Why aren't we looking in the Seven Treasure Forest?"
"Rongrong, your Second Soul Ring should ideally come from a Wind Spirit Bird or a Lightning Eagle."
"That would most likely give you a speed-boosting Soul Skill."
"Both are flying Soul Beasts, so they can't be kept in the Seven Treasure Forest."
After hearing Chen Xin's explanation, Ning Rongrong understood at once.
Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was wealthy, flying Soul Beasts were difficult to control. They could easily fly out of their enclosures.
They might even fly into Seven Treasure City and hurt someone, which would be dangerous.
It also wouldn't make sense to spend too much effort raising a few Hundred-Year Soul Beasts.
Most Glazed Pagoda Soul Masters in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect chose one of these two flying Soul Beasts for their Second Soul Ring.
Chen Xin knew the habitats of these two kinds of birds like the back of his hand.
Before long, he had led Ning Rongrong to a relatively open patch of forest.
The trees stood far apart, and birds constantly circled between them. This was one of their targets: the Wind Spirit Bird.
With Chen Xin there, catching one was easy. In no time, he had seized a male bird with nearly seven hundred years of cultivation, broken its wings, and tossed it in front of Ning Rongrong.
The attacked flock panicked. Just as they were about to organize a counterattack under their king's command, Chen Xin released the imposing aura unique to a Titled Douluo.
The enraged Wind Spirit Birds instantly wilted. They retreated to their nests, not daring to attack again.
"Absorb it quickly, Rongrong."
"Okay."
Ning Rongrong took a delicate dagger from her Soul Tool and quickly ended the Wind Spirit Bird's life.
She sat cross-legged and released her Martial Soul, then drew on her Soul Power to begin absorbing the Soul Ring.
This Wind Spirit Bird was well below Ning Rongrong's limit, so absorbing its Soul Ring wasn't difficult.
With Chen Xin guarding her, Ning Rongrong could focus entirely on absorbing the Soul Ring.
A little over an hour later, the girl finished absorbing it.
She had become an illustrious Soul Grandmaster.
"Hehe, Sword Grandpa, I'm level twenty-two now."
"Good. The Soul Skill should be a speed boost, right?"
Though nothing was likely to go wrong, Chen Xin still asked out of habit.
Ning Rongrong nodded.
"That's right. It boosts my speed by thirty percent."
"Mm. Since we've accomplished what we came for, let's head back."
Chen Xin led Ning Rongrong back the way they had come.
But they hadn't walked for even ten minutes when a ball of fur suddenly rolled out of the thicket beside them.
Chen Xin frowned slightly. Looking closer, he saw it was a bear-type Soul Beast curled into a ball, licking honey.
"Rongrong, let's go around. Don't disturb it."
"Mm..."
Ning Rongrong nodded, but she couldn't take her eyes off the adorable little bear.
As Chen Xin led Ning Rongrong several meters around it, the little bear finished the honey in its paws.
It stood up and glanced around. When its gaze fell on Ning Rongrong, its eyes suddenly lit up.
Then it came bounding over and wrapped its arms around Ning Rongrong's leg.
"Hmph, what kind of beast is this? I spared your life, and you come looking for death."
Chen Xin brought two fingers together. A tiny sword aura appeared in his hand, and he was about to finish off the ungrateful bear.
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