Nuoding City Has a Child

From the moment they entered the Star Dou Forest, Zhang Lingyue began consciously teaching Zhang Yang all sorts of knowledge regarding soul beasts.

Zhang Yang listened with great enthusiasm.

Much of what Zhang Lingyue spoke of had never been covered by his academy teachers; after all, as a first-year student, the curriculum was still very superficial.

During their journey, the family encountered many soul beasts—some gregarious, some solitary, some animal, and some plant-based.

At one point, a soul beast over 500 years old even took the initiative to attack Zhang Lingyue, who was leading the way.

However, a mere 500-year soul beast could not last a single round against Zhang Lingyue, a level 53 Soul King.

With a flash of movement, Zhang Lingyue appeared before the beast, his axe transforming into a blur as the broad blade slammed directly into the creature's face.

"Bang!" The beast's body flew backward, crashing into a tree three people could barely wrap their arms around.

The beast let out a mournful howl as it hit the ground, then scurried away in a panic.

"I could have easily killed it with one strike, but I chose not to. The scent of blood from its death could very well attract even more powerful soul beasts."

Zhang Lingyue instructed.

And so, between the traveling, the lessons, and two short breaks, evening arrived quickly.

With the New Year approaching, the days were already short, and the dense canopy of the forest made it grow dark even earlier. By just past four o'clock, visibility was already beginning to suffer.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

Zhang Lingyue found a clearing, cleared a patch of ground, and set up a simple tent.

Fire was forbidden in the Star Dou Forest, so Zhang Yang had to make do with cold rations, some dried meat, and pickles, washed down with water.

"Go into the tent. Sit and meditate, don't just fall asleep," Zhu Ranqing urged.

"I know, Mom. The teacher said that the Soul Hunting Forest is dangerous, and if you fall asleep, you might be ambushed by soul beasts at close range."

"That's my boy!" Zhu Ranqing happily cupped Zhang Yang's small face, kissed him firmly, and then patted his bottom to shoo him into the tent.

Inside the tent, Zhang Yang sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and opened the system interface.

In the map selection menu, the complete map of the Heaven Dou Empire had replaced the original map of the Silves Kingdom.

In addition to the already unlocked "Heding City Academy" map and the "Gold-Iron Mountain Range" soul-hunting map, two new maps had been unlocked.

"Haagen-Dazs City - Normal: Established by extracting a partial area of Haagen-Dazs City. Suitable for levels 11-21."

"Star Dou Forest - Due North - Normal: Established by extracting a partial area from the due north section of the Star Dou Forest. Suitable for levels 1-21."

Seeing this, Zhang Yang could only sigh, "As expected of one of the three great soul beast habitats on the Douluo Continent; the area is absurdly large. Just the 'due north' section alone was enough to manifest an entire map."

Zhang Yang guessed that besides this "due north" section, there were likely at least three more maps: "due south," "due east," and "due west."

If the system were even less merciful, there would be four more: "southeast," "southwest," "northeast," and "northwest."

If the "Lake of Life" where Daming and Erming resided and its surrounding area were also manifested as a map, then the Star Dou Forest would have nine maps in total.

It was simply insane.

Putting these messy thoughts aside, and figuring he might as well make use of his idle time, Zhang Yang equipped a set of gear and entered the map.

While Zhang Yang was busy slaughtering his way through the soul-hunting map, Zhang Lingyue and Zhu Ranqing, not yet feeling sleepy, chatted near the tent.

"...A level 11 soul master at six and a half years old—that should be worth prioritizing for Martial Soul Hall, right?"

"Naturally. Innate Full Soul Power is incredibly rare. In the last hundred years, Martial Soul Hall has only recorded 19 such cases, and only a handful of those belonged to us."

"Yangyang's cultivation talent, which is no less than Innate Full Soul Power, will naturally receive the attention of Martial Soul Hall."

Zhang Lingyue chuckled at this. "Of course. Come to think of it, we owe that to a certain incident."

"What incident?" Zhu Ranqing asked curiously.

"In Heding City, in the Fasino Province, another child with Innate Full Soul Power awakened this year."

Zhu Ranqing was surprised. "Innate Full Soul Power? Really?"

"Of course it's true." Zhang Lingyue nodded, his smile widening. "And you'd never guess what that child's martial soul is."

"What do you mean I'd never guess? Is it that strange?" Zhu Ranqing asked.

"Indeed." Zhang Lingyue nodded. "Because that child's martial soul is Blue Silver Grass."

"Blue Silver Grass? That trash martial soul? With Innate Full Soul Power?" Zhu Ranqing was completely stunned.

Zhang Lingyue nodded. "Strange, isn't it? A Blue Silver Grass martial soul, yet he had Innate Full Soul Power."

"That is indeed very strange." Zhu Ranqing nodded, then asked, "Did the child join Martial Soul Hall?"

Zhang Lingyue shook his head. "No. The young deacon in charge of the awakening felt that a trash martial soul with Innate Full Soul Power wasn't worth recruiting, so he didn't."

Zhu Ranqing shook her head upon hearing this. "That was poorly handled. A trash martial soul with Innate Full Soul Power could have provided significant insights for martial soul research."

"Exactly. The young ones are still too inexperienced; they don't consider things thoroughly. And now, the situation has escalated." Zhang Lingyue nodded.

"Escalated?" Zhu Ranqing asked. "Because they didn't recruit the child?"

"In a way." Zhang Lingyue nodded. "In September, the child went to the Nuoding City Martial Soul Hall to test his soul power, and they discovered his soul power had already reached level 13."

"Level 13?" Zhu Ranqing's expression turned to one of astonishment. "How could it be so fast?"

"Because that child's first soul ring came from a Datura Snake. A century-old Datura Snake can indeed produce such an effect."

"A Datura Snake?" Zhu Ranqing's expression grew even more puzzled. "That's not right. Can Blue Silver Grass utilize a beast-type soul ring?"

"I don't know, but that is what the child said. Of course, it is none of our business what kind of beast soul ring that child's Blue Silver Grass absorbs, but this incident has actually helped our Yangyang."

"Missing out on such a promising seedling with Innate Full Soul Power is a lesson for Martial Soul Hall."

"Therefore, His Holiness the Pope has issued a direct order that all members of Martial Soul Hall must take this as a warning. In the future, if such a situation is encountered again, they are to be recruited without exception and reported immediately. The core principle is: better to kill the wrong person than to let a talent slip away."

Zhu Ranqing suddenly realized. "So that is why you said this helped Yangyang. With the lesson fresh in their minds, once Yangyang's talent is reported, it will certainly be taken seriously."

Zhang Lingyue nodded. "Exactly."

After chatting for a while, Zhu Ranqing crawled into the tent, leaving Zhang Lingyue alone to keep watch.

In the second half of the night, Zhu Ranqing came out to relieve Zhang Lingyue.

Just like that, two days passed.

Due to the inherent dangers of the Star Dou Forest, and the need to protect Zhang Yang, who was only level 10, Zhang Lingyue did not lead the team deep inside, but instead kept searching the outer perimeter.

However, despite this, because they remained in the perilous Star Dou Forest, and with Zhang Yang still being so weak, both Zhang Lingyue and Zhu Ranqing were in a state of high tension.

It was a feeling of being so concerned that they had lost their composure.

"Rest for a while first." Zhang Lingyue took a porcelain jar from his storage Soul Tool and handed it to Zhu Ranqing.

Zhu Ranqing took the jar and opened the lid; inside was premium wild honey.

Using a spoon to scoop up some honey, Zhu Ranqing brought it to Zhang Yang's mouth. "Baby, time for honey, ah~"

Zhang Yang cooperated and opened his mouth. "Ah~"

As the spoonful of honey entered his mouth, Zhang Yang felt a burst of floral fragrance mixed with sweetness fill his nasal cavity.

At the same time, the sugar in the honey was rapidly absorbed by Zhang Yang, and his physical strength recovered swiftly.

Seeing the sweet expression on Zhang Yang's face, a smile appeared on Zhu Ranqing's face as well.

"Mom, you have some too." Zhang Yang pushed the jar in Zhu Ranqing's hand, signaling for her to eat as well.

The smile on Zhu Ranqing's face deepened, but just as she was about to scoop a second spoonful for Zhang Yang, a feeling of being watched instantly surged into her mind.

Zhu Ranqing snapped her head up, her pupils narrowing into slits, and she glared fiercely into the shadows of the treetops.

The innate, keen sixth sense of a feline-type soul beast allowed her to lock onto the target immediately.

"A sparrow? No, it's a Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow."