Ye Feng wished he could charge over right now and smash that revolting face to pieces.
It was infuriating, but he simply wasn't strong enough yet.
Just wait! When I leave Nuoding City someday, I'll find a chance to beat that clown to a pulp!
"Hmph! Let's see how much trouble you can stir up without the academy's help!"
Yu Xiaogang was trembling with rage as he spat out a threat:
"Don't die in the Soul Hunting Forest!"
With that, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
As soon as he was gone, Aolan and the others immediately crowded in.
"That Grandmaster clown! He's infuriating!"
Aolan cursed indignantly:
"Brother Feng, want us to find a chance to beat him up?"
"Don't do anything rash!"
Ye Feng raised a hand to stop them:
"That guy may be useless at anything but theory, but he's still a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster. We can't beat him in a fair fight."
"Oh!"
Wang Sheng's eyes lit up, and he chuckled:
"I get what you mean, Brother Feng!"
"What do you get?"
Ye Feng shot him a sidelong glance.
"Everyone, get back to training!"
Ye Feng's voice suddenly turned cold as he swept his gaze over them.
"Don't let me graduate while you're still wasting your days at this academy!"
At his words, the dorm fell completely silent. The boys, who had been worked up just moments ago, all wilted and lowered their heads without a word.
Seeing them like this, Ye Feng sighed inwardly.
They were still just children, after all.
"Fine, get back to training."
Ye Feng waved a hand, his tone softening slightly:
"The sooner you become Soul Masters, the sooner you can shed your Work-Study Student status. Don't forget why we came here."
"Yes, Brother Feng!"
Everyone answered in unison, then scattered to their beds.
Only after the dormitory had settled back into its training routine did Ye Feng turn and begin packing his meager belongings.
The academy's holiday officially began tomorrow.
At dawn the next morning, before the sun had fully risen,
Ye Feng stood at the entrance to Dorm Seven with a small bundle on his back.
Aolan, Wang Sheng, and the others insisted on seeing him off.
"Brother Feng, you really don't want us to come with you? It's always better to have someone watching your back!"
Aolan said in his deep, rumbling voice, his face full of concern.
The Soul Hunting Forest was no place to fool around.
"Exactly, Brother Feng! We might not be much help, but we can run errands and keep watch!"
Wang Sheng chimed in anxiously.
Ye Feng smiled and patted Aolan's sturdy shoulder.
"Come on, I appreciate the thought, but the Soul Beast I'm looking for is a little unusual. More people would only get in the way."
After a pause, he turned to Wang Sheng.
"You, with your Battle Tiger Martial Soul, have plenty of power but not enough agility. Go back and work on the basics. Stop thinking about slacking off all the time."
"Heh, got it, Brother Feng."
Wang Sheng scratched his head.
After a brief farewell, Ye Feng didn't linger. He turned and headed toward the gates of Nuoding City.
Instead of leaving the city directly, he ducked into a quiet alley. At the far end stood an inconspicuous blacksmith's shop.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The dull, rhythmic sound of hammering came from inside.
Ye Feng pushed the door open, and a wave of heat mixed with coal dust and iron filings washed over him.
A burly man with a bare chest and knotted muscles was swinging a hammer. Sweat soaked his bronze skin.
"Old Wang, is it ready?"
Ye Feng asked.
The man stopped working, wiped his sweat with the towel around his neck, and turned. Seeing Ye Feng, he flashed a row of white teeth.
"You're right on time, kid."
He set down the hammer, walked over to a pile of odds and ends in the corner, and pulled out a heavy bundle, tossing it over.
"It's all in there. Made to your specifications. You get what you pay for."
Ye Feng caught the bundle and opened it to check.
Inside was a close-fitting black leather cuirass, flexible yet sturdy.
There was also a longbow nearly half his height, its body polished smooth as glass.
A quiver held ten arrows of tempered steel, each with a three-sided tip that gleamed with a bloodthirsty chill.
Besides those, there was a sharp dagger and some tools for surviving in the wild.
It had cost him every last coin he'd saved over the past year or so.
As Ye Feng ran his fingers over the cold arrowheads, a thought crossed his mind.
Poison.
Would it be more effective against Soul Beasts if he coated the arrowheads with poison?
A bow and arrows might only inflict a few superficial wounds on a Hundred-Year Soul Beast.
But add poison, and the damage could be entirely different.
Then, on second thought, he immediately put the idea aside.
His target was a Soul Beast with pure light attributes.
Light attributes naturally purified and resisted most negative effects and poisons.
Ordinary poison wouldn't just fail to cause damage. The Soul Beast's light Soul Power would likely purify it as soon as it made contact, rendering it completely useless.
Only an extremely rare poison capable of corroding energy itself could work.
But something like that might not be found even in all of Fasinuo Province, let alone Nuoding City.
It seemed he would have to rely on his own strength after all.
"Thanks, Old Wang."
Ye Feng slung the bundle carefully over his back.
"Be careful on the road."
The blacksmith, Old Wang, picked up his hammer again and called after him without turning around.
"Mm."
Ye Feng replied, then walked out of the smithy.
He pulled a yellowed map from his clothes. He'd gotten it from the academy after wearing them down with endless pleading. It showed the route from Nuoding City to the Star Dou Great Forest in detail.
After checking his bearings, Ye Feng took a deep breath and strode toward the city gates.
Star Dou Great Forest, here I come!
The journey was farther and harder than he'd imagined.
To save time, Ye Feng traveled day and night, pushing on beneath the stars and moon.
He traveled by day, then found a hidden spot at night to meditate and recover his Soul Power. When hungry, he chewed on a few bites of dry rations; when thirsty, he drank from mountain springs and streams.
He walked for more than half a month. By the time he reached the last supply town marked on the map, he was travel-worn and had lost a whole circle of weight, but his eyes had grown all the brighter and sharper.
He found a roadside tea stall, sat down, and let out a long breath.
At last, he'd made it.
The tea stall was small, with just two or three tables. Some Soul Masters and merchants who traveled to and from the forest were sitting there.
Ye Feng had just picked up his teacup when he heard several burly men at the next table talking.
"Tsk, tsk, have you heard? The Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest went berserk yesterday for some reason. A bunch of Soul Masters who went in didn't even make it out before they were killed."
A scar-faced man lowered his voice, lingering fear on his face.
"That's not all! A brother of mine who came back said no one who entered the outer reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest yesterday survived!"
A one-eyed man chimed in, gulping down a big mouthful of cheap ale:
"Take a look around. Which of those teams that hunt Soul Beasts dares to go in today? They're all huddled in town like a bunch of cowards!"
Before you continue