Star-Eating Sheep

The next morning, Lin Beiya, who had been too excited to sleep all night, arrived at the Douluo Hall early to await the arrival of Qian Daoliu.

However, the old man seemed to have no intention of appearing again; instead, the person sent to take Lin Beiya to hunt for a soul ring was the first to enter the hall.

After piously kneeling and bowing before the Angel Statue, the middle-aged man shifted his eagle-like gaze toward Lin Beiya, who stood to the side.

"You must be Lin Beiya, right? I am the one sent by the Great Elder to take you to hunt for your soul ring. You may call me Yu Lin."

"Greetings, Elder Yu."

The other party was wearing the standard uniform of a Platinum Bishop, so calling him an Elder was not inappropriate.

Yu Lin did not dispute this. After looking Lin Beiya up and down, he smiled and said:

"My time is not exactly abundant, so let us set off today!"

"Then I shall trouble you, Elder Yu."

Following Yu Lin outside of Martial Soul City, a carriage had already been prepared in advance. As the two figures, one large and one small, climbed inside, the coachman drove the carriage toward the direction of the Star Dou Forest.

"The Great Elder has informed me that your Martial Soul is somewhat unique. Once we reach the Star Dou Forest, you should rely primarily on your intuition to choose a suitable soul beast, correct?"

"Yes, Elder Yu. My Martial Soul has never appeared in the history of the Douluo Continent, so there are no precedents to use as a reference."

"Understood. I will give you a great deal of freedom when the time comes; feel free to rely on your instincts to find a suitable soul beast."

As the largest gathering place for soul beasts on the Douluo Continent, this place was also a hub for all kinds of people; mercenaries and rogue cultivators all gathered in the Soul Hunting Town outside the forest.

At Lin Beiya's age, coming here alone would certainly be accompanied by endless danger, but fortunately, with Yu Lin, a Platinum Bishop, by his side, no one on the entire continent dared to offend someone from Martial Soul Hall lightly.

"Prepare some food and fresh water, and then we shall set off. We will return as soon as we are done."

"Understood."

Lin Beiya raised no objections; obtaining his soul ring sooner was exactly what he wanted.

Because he did not yet possess a Soul Tool for storage, the food and water were left to Yu Lin to carry. This made Lin Beiya grumble inwardly; logically speaking, it wouldn't be excessive to give a storage Soul Tool to a genius with Innate Full Soul Power, so why didn't he receive such treatment?

While thinking this, the two did not stop their pace. After traveling for half an hour, tall trees appeared before Lin Beiya's eyes.

He couldn't help but compare the primitive forest before him to the modernized cities of his past life; he could only say that the air in the Star Dou Forest was infinitely fresher than the air mixed with various mechanical emissions.

Walking toward the forest, the view suddenly darkened. The giant trees, blocking out the sky and sun, obstructed the sunlight, while countless Blue Silver Grass plants dotted the pitch-black forest with a bit of light, providing a magical visual experience.

"From now on, do not leave my side by more than three steps. Soul beasts could appear here at any moment."

"I understand."

Without Yu Lin needing to say it, the life-cherishing Lin Beiya had no intention of straying too far from him. Having not yet figured out the function of his Martial Soul, he could be considered to have zero combat power; a ten-year soul beast appearing at random would be enough to make him regret his fate in the Star Dou Forest.

Yu Lin nodded in satisfaction. He felt that the Lin Beiya before him was far more mature than other children of the same age; other children in this age group who came to this soul beast gathering place were either paralyzed by fear or overly excited.

The order Qian Daoliu gave was to ensure his safety while hunting for his soul ring, and Lin Beiya's maturity was undoubtedly a good thing for this trip.

After traveling several kilometers, the two did encounter a few ten-year soul beasts, including common ones like the Nether Wolf and the Soft Bone Rabbit, as well as rare flying soul beasts.

But without exception, these soul beasts were intimidated by the aura emanating from Yu Lin the moment they appeared, and they would quickly turn around and flee.

"The limit a Spirit Master can withstand for their first soul ring is about 400 years. I will remind you when we encounter a soul beast of this age. If you feel it is not suitable, you can also bring it up directly."

"Understood, thank you for the trouble, Elder Yu."

Continuing to head deeper into the forest, neither of them spoke.

But as a tiger-type soul beast appeared before them, Yu Lin's reminder sounded in Lin Beiya's ears for the first time.

"A Crimson Flame Tiger of about 350 years. See if it is suitable to be your first soul ring."

Lin Beiya did not give an immediate answer, but instead summoned the Athena Statue to sense it.

Seeing such a peculiar Martial Soul for the first time made Yu Lin feel a bit surprised, but he had no intention of urging Lin Beiya, waiting patiently instead.

For some reason, from the moment the Athena Statue appeared, Lin Beiya felt an aura pulling him in the dark, but this aura did not come from the Crimson Flame Tiger a hundred meters away; it came from much further to the west of the forest.

"Elder Yu, this soul beast is not suitable, but my Martial Soul is guiding me to go over there!"

Shaking his head to reject the Crimson Flame Tiger as his first soul ring, Lin Beiya pointed directly to the west of the forest.

This made Yu Lin feel even more astonished; it was his first time hearing that a Martial Soul could guide someone to find a suitable soul beast.

"Oh? Your Martial Soul has such power? No matter, let's listen to you and go take a look."

Using his aura to scare off the baring-fanged Crimson Flame Tiger, the two figures, one large and one small, slowly walked toward the west.

Arriving near a lake, many types of herbivorous soul beasts were gathered here, and of course, many carnivorous soul beasts were not far away, selecting their desired prey.

Because of the proximity to the lake, the Blue Silver Grass here grew even more densely, and the fluorescence emitted by the clusters was even more dazzling, almost lighting up the entire forest.

Watching those soul beasts constantly gnawing on the Blue Silver Grass, Lin Beiya grumbled inwardly about these "children with a path to death" while searching for his target; the direction the statue pointed was exactly here.

Seeing that Lin Beiya was searching back and forth for a target, Yu Lin had no intention of interrupting him. They were just a group of soul beasts at most a hundred years old; they were not a threat to him.

A few minutes later, Lin Beiya's gaze fell upon a sheep in the distance that was entirely azure blue. The sheep had giant, swirling horns on its head that pointed toward its own skull, and the color of the horns was different from the azure blue of its body, instead emitting a golden fluorescence like the stars.

"Elder Yu, do you recognize that soul beast?"

"Hmm?"

Yu Lin looked in the direction Lin Beiya was pointing, and the sheep immediately came into view.

After resting his chin on his hand to ponder for a moment, Yu Lin replied:

"It should be a Star-Eating Sheep. Its horns have the ability to absorb and store starlight; it is an extremely rare soul beast."

Upon hearing Yu Lin's assessment, Lin Beiya immediately felt as though he had struck gold, encountering a rare soul beast on his very first soul-hunting trip.

"Rare?"

"It has no combat power and its meat is delicious—would you say that makes it rare or not?"

"..."

Fine, Lin Beiya realized he had misunderstood; it was a species that had been eaten into rarity, yet deep down, he felt that this soul beast was perfectly suited for his martial soul.

After confirming it time and again, Lin Beiya looked at Yu Lin with a resolute gaze.

"This is the one. I'll have to trouble you, Elder Yu!"

"You..."