Chu Qing, still inside the hotel, knew nothing about the conversation between the two. At that moment, he was answering the girl's questions.
"Which sect are you from? How come I've never seen you before? How are you so powerful?"
The girl gazed at him with sparkling eyes, firing off questions one after another like a string of pearls. Chu Qing could only look at her helplessly.
"Before I answer your questions, could you tell me your name first?"
The girl blushed. She'd been so busy asking him questions that she hadn't introduced herself!
"My name is Ning Rongrong. I'm from the Heaven Dou Empire!" the girl replied sweetly.
Chu Qing's expression turned serious, and a strange glint flashed across his face. He hadn't expected the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to dare come alone to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Then those two...
He warily scanned his surroundings but noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
"Hey! What are you looking at? You still haven't answered my question!" Ning Rongrong pouted and glared at Chu Qing, though she looked rather adorable.
Chu Qing was taken aback, then replied, "My name is Chu Qing. I don't belong to any sect. I'm just an ordinary Soul Master who recently graduated from a junior academy."
Ning Rongrong didn't believe him. How could a Soul Master without a sect reach level twenty before turning ten? A top-tier genius like that might not appear even once in several hundred years!
Seeing that she didn't believe him, Chu Qing didn't bother explaining further. Instead, he asked, "What's a little girl like you doing in the Star Dou Great Forest all by yourself?"
"I came here to find my First Soul Ring! Dad and the others don't believe I can get my first Soul Ring on my own, so I'm going to prove them wrong! You seem pretty strong. How about it? Would you be interested in accompanying me?"
Looking at the innocent girl, Chu Qing couldn't help smiling. "I'm here looking for a Soul Ring too. Then let's go together. I'm bored anyway, and could use someone to keep me company."
"Hmph, don't underestimate me. I'm no pretty vase! I'm very useful," the little girl said hurriedly. Then she activated her Martial Soul, and a Seven-Colored Pagoda appeared before them.
"Do you know what this is?"
Meanwhile, the two men in the distance watched the scene with speechless expressions.
It seemed their young mistress was still too naive! How could she reveal her Martial Soul to someone she'd only just met? And their Martial Soul was so distinctive that practically everyone in the Soul Master World recognized it. If some villain took notice of her...
The two men shuddered at the thought, then felt relieved that they had followed her. Nothing could go wrong with them there.
Chu Qing quickly urged her to put it away. "All right, all right, I'll take you with me. Just don't show off your Martial Soul so carelessly."
With that, he took a few Gold Soul Coins from his Storage Ring, ready to settle the bill.
The hotel owner, who had been hiding for who knew how long, hurried out and said, "We owe this young hero a great deal for ridding us of a menace! We can't thank you enough. How could we possibly take your money?"
"But I heard you two are planning to go to the Star Dou Great Forest to get Soul Rings. Have you heard about the strange occurrence there recently?"
"Oh? What happened?" Chu Qing asked, looking bewildered. Ning Rongrong also pricked up her ears curiously.
"From what the Lord Soul Masters who've recently come to town have said, there's an extremely rare fire-type Soul Beast out there, supposedly several thousand years old. Normally, a Soul Beast like that wouldn't come out so easily, but lately it's been roaming the outskirts of the forest and has injured quite a few people. If you're going, be sure to take extra care!"
"Oh? What's the Soul Beast called?" Chu Qing grew interested. He happened to need a fire-type Soul Beast for his Second Soul Ring.
The most troublesome thing about the Douluo World was that you needed Soul Rings to keep growing stronger. Otherwise, you'd be stuck at one level, unable to make further progress.
Otherwise, with the power of his Nihility Devouring Flame, his cultivation speed would reach another level.
"Young hero, I don't know its name. I've only heard that it's entirely crimson, has two wings growing from its sides, and looks like a tiger."
Chu Qing's thoughts stirred. It seemed to match a Soul Beast he'd seen in the Soul Beast Illustrated Handbook, so he quietly committed it to memory.
"Very well. Thank you for your hospitality, shopkeeper. I'll be sure to take care," Chu Qing replied. Then he gathered his things and headed toward his room.
"Hey! Don't forget—you're coming with me tomorrow!" a petulant voice called from behind him.
"Okay, I know. See you tomorrow." Chu Qing nodded helplessly.
Soon, the two of them returned to their rooms to rest. The night passed without incident.
"Do you really think the Martial Soul I want is here?" Ning Rongrong pouted.
"Let's keep looking." Chu Qing pushed aside the vines in front of him and continued deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.
They had packed up and left the hotel before dawn. Along the way, they'd come across quite a few Soul Beasts, including several Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, but none were what either of them needed. Chu Qing simply killed them without absorbing their Soul Rings.
After they passed through the vine-choked area, the view suddenly opened up. A vast lake lay before them.
The vegetation around it was lush and green, but in the lake's southeastern corner was a blackened patch about ten meters across. Chu Qing looked closely and saw that most of the surrounding plants had been reduced to charcoal.
It was the mark of a fire's scorching.
Chu Qing quickly entered the area and examined it carefully. He sensed a powerful surge of Soul Power. By his estimate, the Soul Beast had been around three thousand years old.
"Strange. A Soul Beast of this level shouldn't normally appear here," Chu Qing mused. Could it be the fire-type Soul Beast the hotel owner had mentioned?
"Chu Qing, look! Look over there! That's the Soul Ring I want!" A clear, bright voice broke into his thoughts.
Chu Qing looked over. A giant serpent lay coiled on a boulder by the lake. Its body was a full five meters long, and the most remarkable thing about it was its blue scales, which shimmered faintly.
"An Azure Flowing Light Snake?! How did one end up here?" Chu Qing exclaimed.
It was an exceedingly rare Soul Beast, highly useful for support-type Martial Souls. If absorbed as a First Soul Ring, it could increase the effectiveness of healing by thirty percent. It was a Soul Ring many support-type Soul Masters dreamed of obtaining.
But this serpent was elusive and rarely appeared. Even when one did, it was usually a juvenile just a few dozen years old. Adult specimens like this were rare. Judging by its length, it had to be at least two hundred years old!
"Good, that's the one, then." Chu Qing circulated his Soul Power and was about to strike, but just then, a crimson beast suddenly burst from the woods beside the giant serpent and charged toward it.
Though the serpent was enormous, it didn't dare fight the beast. Instead, it turned and fled to the side.
Chu Qing looked closely. The crimson beast had to be the fire-type Soul Beast the shopkeeper had mentioned earlier.