Preparing to Hunt Souls

Lin Beiya had no intention of wasting his own blood, so he hurriedly summoned his martial soul to catch the droplets. He then quickly found a medical kit to bandage his wound and sat down, waiting for his martial soul to show some change.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Lin Beiya's heart slowly sank to the bottom as time ticked by; his blood seemingly possessed none of the divinity of the Athena Cloth.

If it cannot be activated to become the Athena Cloth, then what exactly is the purpose of this martial soul?

After a moment of disappointment, Lin Beiya thought of the unique feature of the Douluo Continent: spirit rings.

It seems I should wait until I can obtain my first spirit ring before pondering how to use my martial soul. With Innate Full Soul Power, it surely can't be a useless martial soul that has no function!

Having figured this out, Lin Beiya stopped fretting and decided to wait until tomorrow to examine the Soul Beast Illustrated Guide.

Although the orphanage had some picture books of soul beasts for the children to read, how could those possibly be more comprehensive than the records in the Library Pavilion of the Martial Soul Hall, the holy land for spirit masters?

Little did he know that a certain shameless individual had earned the title of "Grandmaster" simply by acting as a porter of knowledge.

Young people always sleep well; Lin Beiya, who had slept until dawn, suddenly woke up with a start.

"Oh no, I promised the little blonde girl I'd go to the Library Pavilion! Did I oversleep?"

After a quick wash, Lin Beiya put on the clothes prepared by the servants and hurried toward the Central Garden.

Sure enough, when he approached the garden, Qian Renxue's figure was already in the pavilion. Judging by her expression, this girl had likely been waiting for quite some time.

Before Lin Beiya could even offer a greeting, the little girl's scolding came crashing down on him.

"Hey, what is wrong with you?"

"Didn't we agree to meet this morning so I could take you to the Library Pavilion? It's almost noon!"

Lin Beiya scratched his head, feeling somewhat awkward, but his brain raced to come up with an excuse.

"It's just that it's my first day living here, and I'm not quite used to the environment. I tossed and turned and couldn't sleep, and only managed to drift off at the very end, which made me sleep a bit too soundly!"

Sure enough, upon hearing Lin Beiya's explanation, Qian Renxue's expression softened considerably.

"Hmph, I'll forgive you this time. Follow me. We have to come back for lunch soon, so there isn't much time for you to flip through the classics."

"Right, thank you."

After expressing his thanks, Lin Beiya hurriedly followed in Qian Renxue's footsteps. He didn't know if it was because she had already absorbed a spirit ring, but Qian Renxue, despite being the same age, was already quite a bit taller than him, which made him feel a little wounded.

Walking out of the Douluo Hall, Qian Renxue led him to an ancient-looking building not far from the Pope Hall.

After showing their tokens to the guards for inspection, the two slowly stepped into the library.

"What do you want to look up? The Compendium of Martial Souls, or the history of the continent's development?"

Lin Beiya rolled his eyes. His martial soul could be considered one-of-a-kind; what use would reading the Compendium of Martial Souls be?

As for the history of the continent's development, he was even less interested. How it developed was its own business; it had absolutely nothing to do with him.

"I want to look at the Soul Beast Encyclopedia and see if there are any spirit rings suitable for my martial soul to absorb."

"Mm, then follow me."

Qian Renxue didn't raise any objections; in fact, what spirit masters who have reached a bottleneck crave most is a spirit ring.

Leading Lin Beiya to a desk in a side hall, Qian Renxue left again. When she returned, her delicate palms were cradling two thick books. She placed them on the desk and brushed the dust from her hands.

"That's all there is. It's quite a lot; just read as much as you can today."

"I've really troubled you."

"You're welcome. Didn't we agree that I'd look after you in the Douluo Hall?"

Qian Renxue revealed a sweet smile, seemingly very happy to have gained a friend like Lin Beiya.

After a polite exchange, Lin Beiya didn't hesitate any longer. After flipping through the outlines of a few books, he started with the one suitable for tool martial souls.

After reading for a while, Lin Beiya once again confirmed the "porter" nature of a certain Grandmaster, as the book clearly stated that tool martial souls could indeed absorb plant-type soul beasts as spirit rings.

From another perspective, it followed that plant-type martial souls could also absorb beast-type spirit rings.

The ridiculous part was that in the future, when the Grandmaster took God King Tang to hunt for his first spirit ring, he claimed this was his own deduction.

Giving a pitying look at Qian Renxue, who was resting her chin on her hands in front of him, Lin Beiya shook the thoughts from his mind and began to slowly browse through the content he needed.

"Blade Mantis: suitable for blade-type tool martial souls, grants a projectile-type spirit skill."

"Thick Earth Turtle: suitable for shield-type tool martial souls, grants..."

After flipping through for a while, Lin Beiya still hadn't found a soul beast suitable for himself.

The only one with a martial soul similar to his was someone who had awakened a stone tool martial soul. After absorbing the spirit ring of a Light Tiger, he gained a skill called Holy Light Throw, but this kind of spirit skill was clearly unsuitable for his martial soul. Could he really throw the Athena Cloth like a brick to smash people?

Helpless, Lin Beiya had to keep reading, not even noticing that lunchtime had passed.

"Hey, how much longer are you going to read? It's already been three hours."

"Uh... has it been that long?"

Hearing this, Lin Beiya looked up and rubbed his sore neck, slowly closing the book. Seeing this, Qian Renxue immediately showed a happy expression.

"How is it, Lin Beiya? Did you find a soul beast that suits you?"

Shaking his head, Lin Beiya said helplessly:

"No, my Martial Soul is truly too unique; there are no records in any books of a similar type to use as a reference."

"I see. Then what will you do? With your Innate Full Soul Power, you should be heading out to hunt for a Soul Ring soon, right?"

"Indeed. I suppose I'll just have to see if I can run into a suitable Soul Beast when the time comes."

"Mm, it's alright. I believe you will definitely be able to obtain a suitable Soul Ring. Let's go eat first; I'm starving."

"Alright, I'm truly sorry for keeping you for so long!"

After finishing their late lunch together, Qian Renxue was called away once more to practice her basic swordsmanship. Just as Lin Beiya intended to return to his quarters, he was stopped by Qian Daoliu.

"Greetings, Great High Priest."

"Mm. Have you decided what kind of Soul Beast to hunt for your Soul Ring?"

"No. It seems there are no records of a Martial Soul similar to mine in the books, so I will have to rely on my instincts to absorb a Soul Ring."

Qian Daoliu's brows furrowed slightly, but they smoothed out just as quickly.

"That is the only way, I suppose. After all, the current developmental direction and focus of your Martial Soul are entirely unknown. We can only determine which path to take based on your first Soul Skill."

"Yes, that is what I was thinking as well. If the first Soul Skill provides a support-type ability, I shall follow the path of a Support Soul Master; if it provides an offensive ability, I shall follow the path of a Power Attack Soul Master."

"Good. Since you have already considered it, I will have someone take you to the Star Dou Forest tomorrow to hunt for your first Soul Ring."

"The Star Dou Forest?"

Upon hearing Qian Daoliu's words, Lin Beiya was slightly surprised. Martial Soul City was not far from the Soul Hunting Forest, and most people chose to hunt for their first Soul Ring there. Why would he forgo the nearby option to travel all the way to the Star Dou Forest?

Seeming to read Lin Beiya's thoughts, Qian Daoliu smiled slightly.

"The Soul Beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest are mostly common ones. The possibility of them being compatible with your Martial Soul is lower than in the Star Dou Forest. For the sake of your future development, it is better to go there to hunt for your first Soul Ring."

"Yes, thank you, Great High Priest!"