From the moment they entered Star Dou Forest, Zhang Lingyue had consciously begun teaching Zhang Yang all kinds of knowledge about Soul Beasts.
Zhang Yang listened with great interest.
Only a small portion of what Zhang Lingyue taught was something the academy teachers had already covered. After all, he was a first-year student, and the material was still very basic.
Along the way, the family encountered many Soul Beasts, some living in groups and others alone, some animals and others plants.
One Soul Beast, over five hundred years old, even attacked Zhang Lingyue, who was leading the way.
But a mere five-hundred-year Soul Beast could hardly last a round against Zhang Lingyue, a level-53 Soul King.
Zhang Lingyue's figure flashed, and he appeared in front of the Soul Beast. The axe in his hand turned into a blur, and its broad face smacked squarely into the creature's face.
"Bang!" The Soul Beast's body hurtled backward and crashed into a tree so wide that three people could barely wrap their arms around it.
The Soul Beast hit the ground with a wail, then slunk away.
"I could've killed it with one swing just now, but I didn't. The stench of blood from killing it might attract even stronger Soul Beasts."
Zhang Lingyue instructed him.
They traveled and learned, taking two breaks along the way, and soon evening arrived.
With the New Year approaching, the days were already short. The forest's dense canopy made it get dark even earlier. It was only a little past four, but visibility was already beginning to suffer.
"All right, that's enough for today."
Zhang Lingyue found a clearing, cleared a space, and put up a simple tent.
They couldn't light a fire in Star Dou Forest, so Zhang Yang had to make do with cold provisions, dried meat, and pickles, washing it all down with water.
"Go into the tent and cultivate while sitting. Don't fall asleep," Zhu Ranqing reminded him.
"I know, Mom. The teacher said Soul Hunting Forest is dangerous, and Soul Beasts might sneak up close and attack us if we sleep."
"Good boy!" Zhu Ranqing said with satisfaction. She cupped Zhang Yang's little face and gave him a firm kiss, then patted his bottom and sent him into the tent.
Inside, Zhang Yang sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and opened the system interface.
On the map selection screen, the full map of the Heaven Dou Empire had replaced the old map of the Silves Kingdom.
Besides the already-unlocked "Heding City Academy" map and "Gold-Iron Mountain Range" Soul Hunting map, two new maps had unlocked.
"Haagen-Dazs City—Normal: A map created from selected areas of Haagen-Dazs City. Suitable levels: 11–21."
"Star Dou Forest—Far North—Normal: A map created from selected areas in the northern part of Star Dou Forest. Suitable levels: 1–21."
Seeing this, Zhang Yang could only marvel. "No wonder it's one of the three great Soul Beast habitats in Douluo Continent. It's ridiculously huge. Just the far north has enough to make a whole map."
Zhang Yang guessed that besides this "Far North," there had to be at least three more maps: the "Far South," "Far East," and "Far West."
If the system decided to be even less humane, there would also be four more: the "Southeast," "Southwest," "Northeast," and "Northwest."
If the area around the "Lake of Life," where Daming and Erming lived, also became its own map, then Star Dou Forest would have nine maps.
Utterly insane.
Putting those wild thoughts aside, Zhang Yang figured he might as well gear up and enter the map, since he had nothing else to do.
While Zhang Yang was slaughtering his way through the Soul Hunting map, Zhang Lingyue and Zhu Ranqing, not yet sleepy, chatted near the tent.
"...An eleven-level Soul Master at six and a half should be worth special attention from Spirit Hall, right?"
"Of course. Innate Full Soul Power is incredibly rare. In the past hundred years, Spirit Hall has records of only nineteen people with Innate Full Soul Power, and only a handful of those belonged to Spirit Hall."
"Yangyang's cultivation talent is no worse than someone with Innate Full Soul Power, so naturally Spirit Hall will pay attention to him."
Zhang Lingyue grinned. "Of course. Come to think of it, we have that incident to thank."
"What incident?" Zhu Ranqing asked curiously.
"Someone in Heding City, Fasino Province, also awakened with Innate Full Soul Power this year."
Zhu Ranqing was surprised. "Innate Full Soul Power? Really?"
"Absolutely." Zhang Lingyue nodded, his smile growing wider. "And you'd never guess what Martial Soul that child has."
"What do you mean I'd never guess? Is it that strange?" Zhu Ranqing asked curiously.
"Very." Zhang Lingyue nodded. "Because that child's Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass."
"Blue Silver Grass? That Trash Martial Soul? And Innate Full Soul Power?" Zhu Ranqing stared at him in astonishment.
Zhang Lingyue nodded. "Strange, isn't it? A Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, yet the child has Innate Full Soul Power."
"It really is strange." Zhu Ranqing nodded, then asked, "Did the child join Spirit Hall?"
Zhang Lingyue shook his head. "No. The young deacon in charge of the awakening ceremony thought that a Trash Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power wasn't worth recruiting, so he didn't recruit him."
Zhu Ranqing shook her head. "That was a terrible decision. A Trash Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power could still be a great help to Martial Soul research."
"Exactly. The young man was young, after all, and hadn't thought things through. And now it's blown up into a big deal." Zhang Lingyue nodded.
"Blown up into a big deal?" Zhu Ranqing asked curiously. "Because they didn't recruit the child?"
"More or less." Zhang Lingyue nodded. "In September, the child went to the Nuoding City Martial Soul Branch to have his Soul Power tested. It turned out he'd reached level thirteen."
"Level thirteen?" Zhu Ranqing looked astonished. "How could he have advanced so quickly?"
"Because his First Soul Ring came from a Datura Snake. A hundred-year Datura Snake could indeed have that effect."
"A Datura Snake?" Zhu Ranqing looked even more confused. "Wait, can Blue Silver Grass use a Soul Ring from an animal?"
"I don't know, but that's what the child said. Of course, what kind of animal Soul Ring his Blue Silver Grass absorbs has nothing to do with us. It just so happens that this incident ended up helping our Yangyang."
"Missing out on such a promising child with Innate Full Soul Power taught Spirit Hall a lesson, too."
"So His Holiness the Pope gave a direct order: everyone in Spirit Hall must learn from this. If they encounter a case like this again, they must recruit the child and report it. The core principle is better to kill the wrong one than let one slip by."
Zhu Ranqing suddenly understood. "So that's why you said it helped Yangyang. The lesson is still fresh in their minds. Once Yangyang's talent is reported, he'll definitely get their attention."
Zhang Lingyue nodded. "Exactly."
After chatting for a while, Zhu Ranqing went into the tent, leaving Zhang Lingyue to keep watch alone.
In the second half of the night, Zhu Ranqing came out to take Zhang Lingyue's place.
And so, two days passed.
Because Star Dou Forest was dangerous, and Zhang Yang was only level ten, Zhang Lingyue didn't lead the group deep into the forest. Instead, they continued searching around the outskirts.
Even so, with the family staying in the perilous Star Dou Forest and Zhang Yang still so weak, Zhang Lingyue and Zhu Ranqing were on edge.
They were a little too anxious because they cared so much.
"Let's take a break." Zhang Lingyue took a porcelain jar from his Storage Soul Tool and handed it to Zhu Ranqing.
Zhu Ranqing took the jar and opened it. Inside was a jar of fine wild honey.
She scooped up a spoonful and held it to Zhang Yang's lips. "Sweetheart, have some honey. Say ah~"
Zhang Yang obediently opened his mouth. "Ah~"
The spoonful of honey went into his mouth, and he felt the fragrance of flowers mingle with sweetness and fill his nose.
At the same time, his body quickly absorbed the sugar in the honey, and his strength recovered just as fast.
Seeing Zhang Yang's blissful expression, Zhu Ranqing smiled, too.
"Mom, you have some too." Zhang Yang pushed the jar in Zhu Ranqing's hand, urging her to eat some as well.
Zhu Ranqing's smile grew wider. She was about to scoop Zhang Yang a second spoonful when a feeling of being watched suddenly welled up in her mind.
Zhu Ranqing jerked her head up. Her pupils narrowed to slits, and she stared sharply into the shadow among the treetops.
The natural sixth sense of a cat-type Soul Beast let her quickly pinpoint the target.
"A sparrow? No, it's a Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow."
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