At that moment, an untimely voice suddenly rang out.
"What are you doing?!"
A middle-aged female teacher emerged from the bushes nearby.
Seeing Li Luo and Xiao Wu in their indecent position, she shrieked in accusation.
"You're so young, and you're already..."
"Get lost!"
Xiao Wu realized they'd been caught, and that her good time had been interrupted. She immediately launched a flying kick, sending the teacher back into the bushes.
Though the meddlesome woman had been knocked unconscious, Xiao Wu's fun was over too.
Li Luo was on guard now, so Xiao Wu wouldn't be able to catch him off guard again.
How can this little rabbit be so bold? I'm only seven! Is she really that impatient to have an old rabbit eat young grass?
Li Luo grumbled inwardly.
It wasn't true that Li Luo had no interest in Xiao Wu. But that would have to wait until she'd grown up into a tall, mature beauty at twenty!
If he dared entertain those thoughts now, he'd surely suffer acute iron poisoning and a full-body, hundred-thousand-volt massage.
Li Luo stayed alert, leaving Xiao Wu no chance to launch another sneak attack. She could only obediently follow him back to Dorm Seven.
Two and a half months later, Tang San reached level twenty. Li Luo took him to see the Notting Dean again.
The Notting Dean was so delighted to see that Li Luo and Tang San had become Soul Grandmasters while still in their third year that he could hardly stop grinning.
When Li Luo told the Notting Dean that Tang San needed a Thousand-Year Soul Beast for his Second Soul Ring, the dean initially refused. He had never heard of a Soul Master obtaining a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as their second.
He didn't want Tang San to take the risk. But after Li Luo persuaded him and Tang San stood firm, the dean suppressed his Soul Power Level to that of a Soul Grandmaster and sparred with Tang San. Only after seeing Tang San hold his own against him did he agree to let him absorb a Thousand-Year Second Ring.
The Soul Hunting Forest closest to Nuoding City had very few Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and Li Luo had planned for Tang San's Second Soul Ring to come from a Thousand-Year Azure Vine. They would have to head to the Star Dou Great Forest.
As a high-tier Plant-type Soul Beast, the Azure Vine could provide a parasitic Soul Skill when its Soul Ring was extracted. It could also greatly strengthen the Blue Silver King's resilience and increase the bloodline concentration of Tang San's Martial Soul, the Blue Silver King.
The three of them traveled by carriage to the Star Dou Great Forest. It was far more dangerous than the artificially stocked Soul Hunting Forest. The Notting Dean was only an ordinary Soul Ancestor, while Soul Ancestors were everywhere and Soul Kings were as common as dogs among the hunting parties heading into the Star Dou Great Forest.
Besides, anything could happen inside the Star Dou Great Forest. Even in its outer reaches, they could encounter a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, or even a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
Xiao Wu had also clamored to come along this time to help Tang San obtain his Soul Ring. But Li Luo feared her presence might attract the Titan Giant Ape and cause unnecessary trouble, so he simply gave her ten Gold Soul Coins and told her to spend them however she liked.
Tempted by the money, Xiao Wu finally relented and stopped insisting on coming. With ten Gold Soul Coins tucked away, she bounced around Nuoding City, eating, drinking, and having fun.
The three reached an inn on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. They rented two rooms, ordered the best dishes, and rested there for the night.
The Notting Dean took one room, while Li Luo and Tang San shared the other.
Early the next morning, the three entered the Star Dou Great Forest to find a Soul Ring for Tang San.
Among the trees, the Notting Dean took the initiative to ask Li Luo what kind of Soul Ring he intended to find for Tang San, seemingly intending to test his knowledge as well.
"Little Luo, what kind of Soul Beast do you want for Xiao San's Second Soul Ring? Have you given it any thought?"
"Dean, I've planned for Xiao San to get a Soul Ring from a Plant-type Soul Beast—the Azure Vine."
The three didn't venture deep into the Star Dou Great Forest, searching only in the outer reaches.
But the forest was full of danger, and they had to explore with the utmost caution. After a busy day, they still hadn't found a suitable Azure Vine.
The Star Dou Great Forest at night was simply too dangerous for a group consisting of a Soul Ancestor, a Soul Grandmaster, and a quasi-Soul Grandmaster.
So, before nightfall, Li Luo and the others returned to the inn, planning to continue their search the next day.
Without powerful Soul Masters to protect them, exploring the Star Dou Great Forest was no easy task. After two whole days, their search for an Azure Vine had made little progress.
Just like the previous day, they could only return to the inn before sunset to rest, then resume their search the following day.
On the afternoon of the third day—two and a half days in—they finally found a Soul Beast suited to Tang San: a thirteen-hundred-year-old Azure Vine.
The Azure Vine had remarkable vitality and great resilience, and it was fairly aggressive. Since the Notting Dean couldn't kill it, it held back much of his strength.
Still, they managed to weaken it without incident, allowing Tang San to kill it and absorb its Soul Ring.
"All right, Xiao San, go cut through its roots. The Azure Vine won't die completely and release its Soul Ring until its roots are severed."
Following the Notting Dean's instructions, Tang San took a sharp dagger and brought it down. The Azure Vine's roots snapped apart.
A purple Soul Ring slowly emerged from the Azure Vine's corpse.
Tang San sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. He circulated Innate Skill to stir the Soul Power within him, drawing the thousand-year purple Soul Ring down over himself.
Tang San had no trouble absorbing the Thousand-Year Soul Ring. This time, he could even do it without Li Luo's help.
Still, the Soul Ring contained a great deal of energy. Tang San spent a full five hours—two Kun hours—absorbing it and drawing it into his body.
Other Soul Beasts did come to disturb them during that time. A two-thousand-year-old Datura Snake tried to ambush Tang San, hoping to swallow him while he was absorbing the Soul Ring.
But Li Luo noticed it with ease, and the Notting Dean struck the Datura Snake, wounding it and driving it away. They didn't kill it outright for fear the smell of blood would attract more Soul Beasts.
A few other scattered Soul Beasts came to bother them as well, but Li Luo and the Notting Dean drove them off.
Once the Thousand-Year Soul Ring entered his body, Tang San slowly opened his eyes and stood up.
His Martial Soul emerged of its own accord. The Blue Silver King on Tang San's right hand had grown sturdier and thicker.
"Xiao San, you absorbed a Thousand-Year Azure Vine. What kind of Soul Skill did you get?"
The Notting Dean was even more curious than Li Luo about Tang San's Soul Ring. He didn't know that Li Luo's First Soul Ring had already evolved into a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. In his fifty years of life, this was the first time he'd seen someone with a Thousand-Year Second Ring.
So he was the first to ask Tang San what Soul Skill he'd obtained.
Hearing the Notting Dean's question, Tang San instinctively looked toward Li Luo, asking with his eyes whether he should demonstrate his newly acquired Soul Skill. As Li Luo's contract beast, Tang San cared deeply about Li Luo's wishes—no, he was one hundred percent loyal to him.