Golden Hawksbill

Lu Ran's second soul beast was naturally going to be water-attributed; this had been decided a long time ago.

The ocean is far more vast than the continent, nurturing a greater variety of more powerful soul beasts, such as the million-year-old Deep Sea Demon Whale, the hundreds-of-thousands-year-old Sea Princess, and the Demon Soul Great White Shark King. Slightly inferior, yet still powerful and rare, are soul beasts like the Sea Viper.

However, Lu Ran chose a different kind of soul beast—

The Golden Hawksbill.

The emperor among turtle-type soul beasts.

Also a water-type soul beast, compared to those with high offensive power, the Golden Hawksbill possesses top-tier defensive and auxiliary capabilities.

It is even known as a beast of auspiciousness, providing immense benefits to a small world.

Sea God Pavilion, Mu En sat in his wheelchair, observing Lu Ran with a kind smile: "You've broken through?"

Rising ten levels of soul power in a year could be called lightning fast.

Lu Ran nodded: "I just broke through, and I would like to go obtain my second soul ring tomorrow."

"Very well," Mu En nodded: "However, the Golden Hawksbill is extremely rare. The academy spent half a year searching in advance and only found a few suspected traces."

"You will have to search for the specifics yourselves."

This was to be expected; Lu Ran was not surprised at all.

After a day of careful preparation, the next morning, Lu Ran and Yan Shaozhe set off on time.

As a water-attributed soul beast, the Golden Hawksbill would not stray too far from the water. The two headed toward the nearest location to begin their search. Yan Shaozhe, as a Super Douluo, did not let a single hidden trace escape his notice.

After searching with full effort for an entire day, Sure enough...

There was no harvest.

The two had to increase their speed.

The second day... the third day... the fifth day... until the seventh day.

Yan Shaozhe, having expended too much, was starting to struggle. Even a Super Douluo could not endure seven consecutive days of extended spiritual detection. His face grew weary, and he had to take out a spiritual-amplification-type Soul Tool for assistance, while warning Lu Ran not to tell Xian Lin'er.

If Xian Lin'er discovered that the Dean Yan who opposed Soul Tools was secretly using a high-grade Soul Tool, she would be overjoyed, as she would finally have a reason to oppose his opposition to the development of the Soul Tool Department.

On the afternoon of the ninth day, The two followed a waterway through the forest. The waterway was winding and tortuous, with lush vegetation on both sides. Along the way, they even saw a waterfall with a drop of over a hundred meters, with ten thousand tons of water pouring down, roaring like thunder. The water mist kicked up reflected the sunlight, forming streaks of rainbows.

After traveling for an unknown amount of time, the towering giant trees within their field of vision gradually disappeared, replaced by a vast wetland.

Shallows were layered upon one another, and winding waterways connected small lakes scattered like stars. Occasionally, the figures of soul beasts could be seen, Wandering or foraging.

Yan Shaozhe, who was in the air, suddenly had his eyes light up. He looked toward a spot in the south and accelerated as he flew over.

Seeing this, Lu Ran became expectant: "Dean Yan, did you find it?"

"I cannot be certain yet, but it is very likely."

But judging by his expression, it was already nine times out of ten.

The two soon arrived in a dense forest deep within the wetland, where the water was quiet and serene.

Yan Shaozhe found a hidden cave, the entrance obscured by vines, withered branches, and grass. If one did not observe carefully, it would be impossible to discover.

Walking into the cave, A warm and dry breath rushed toward them.

The interior of the cave was very clean.

After passing several turns, they reached the end of the cave, where a broken golden giant egg lay quietly, Its length nearly the size of Lu Ran's forearm.

"Is this the egg of a Golden Hawksbill?"

He picked up a piece of the shell and examined it closely against the light of his illumination Soul Tool.

Yan Shaozhe did not have much opposition to this kind of ordinary Soul Tool; after all, this thing wouldn't fight him for the right to develop the Martial Soul Department.

The reason he reacted so strongly when he saw Lu Ran using Soul Tools before was because he was afraid he would be lured away by the Soul Tool Department.

Yan Shaozhe was very certain, signaling Lu Ran to look at the corner:

"Of course, look over there."

Lu Ran looked over, but it was empty; there was nothing there. He turned his head in confusion to look at Yan Shaozhe again, who still wore a confident expression.

His heart skipped a beat.

He deliberately slowed his breathing and stepped forward slowly, Still, there was nothing there.

However, the elemental perception granted by the Small World allowed him to detect a slight anomaly within the soil.

It seemed as though something was hiding there.

He summoned his soul rings and used Earth Vein Rock Spikes to churn the soil, dragging the hidden object out.

It was curled into a ball, the patterns on its carapace still indistinct, its color not even fully developed—

A milky-yellow little fellow.

It was adorable.

This was a juvenile Golden Hawksbill.

Lu Ran understood instantly: it had hatched recently, perhaps even just moments ago, and had hidden itself upon sensing someone entering the cave.

When the Golden Hawksbill was pulled out and realized there was no further movement, it cracked open its clear, round little eyes to peek at the situation.

Seeing Lu Ran was still there, it immediately curled back up.

As for why it didn't resist, it was simply because it had no ability to do so.

The Golden Hawksbill was one of the rare soul beasts with no natural predators, and even rarer, it possessed no means of attack.

As for how it survived without offensive capabilities, its innate aura of auspiciousness made nearby soul beasts subconsciously perceive it as "harmless," preventing them from attacking, coupled with its exceptional talent for concealment.

A soft light radiated from Lu Ran's palm.

It enveloped the milky-yellow little Golden Hawksbill, which gradually turned transparent before vanishing, merging into the Small World.

Lu Ran's soul power began to rise, breaking through the level 20 bottleneck.

The Small World also underwent earth-shaking changes:

Pure water elements were born, condensing into crisscrossing water veins that began to flow along the terrain, eventually evolving into wetlands; vibrant green spread along the streams and riverbeds, and the desolate world finally showed signs of life.

At the junction of the water and the wasteland, the gravel gradually faded, transforming into fertile black soil that emitted the fragrance of earth, where lush green plants began to grow.

In the end, the Small World, which had expanded to a diameter of one kilometer, divided into three parts: wetlands, plains, and deserts.

It was now suitable for farming.

The Rock Crystal Dragon, which had been happily gnawing on ore, poked its head out of its burrow and looked around in confusion: What happened? Was there an earthquake?

Meanwhile, the Golden Hawksbill was already leisurely soaking in the riverbed.

Lu Ran had gained four brand-new soul skills:

A group defense soul skill—Gilded Barrier, which condensed a thick, golden phantom turtle shell barrier, increasing defense by fifty percent.

A group support soul skill—Gentle Water Domain, which accelerated the recovery speed of soul power within its range and provided additional enhancement effects to water-attribute soul skills and soul beasts.

A passive soul skill—Imperial Majesty, which, as an emperor among turtles, exerted a natural suppression effect on all turtle-type martial soul masters and turtle-type soul beasts.

A passive soul skill—Soul Beast Affinity, which, as the name implied, allowed for greater closeness with soul beasts.

Beyond this, he felt he could manipulate far more than just soul skills; there seemed to be energy derived from the earth and water attributes, though this was only a faint sensation.

"Hoo~"

He exhaled. His soul power had only increased by half a level, currently at level 20.5, which was acceptable; after all, the Golden Hawksbill had only just hatched, so gaining half a level was already quite impressive.

"Done."

The exhaustion on Yan Shaozhe's face vanished; it was finally over, and he wouldn't have to keep scanning anymore.

As for the mental amplification Soul Tool, it had been put away long ago.

Lu Ran sent the eggshells and the nest into the Small World as well, as these were important for a little baby.

The two walked toward the exit, and just as they reached the cave entrance, they heard "woo-woo" and "ka-ka" sounds.

Stepping outside to look:

There was a massive swarm of turtles—black, white, large, and small—at least several dozen of them, their mouths emitting "woo-woo" and "ka-ka" sounds. Even without facial expressions, one could tell they were furious.

They were preparing to tear Lu Ran and Yan Shaozhe to shreds.