"Tang San, don't you have a knife? Lend it to me for a bit." Lin Mo shook his hand and instinctively turned to Tang San.
But when his gaze shifted to Luo Sanpao beside Yu Xiaogang, Luo Sanpao hid behind Yu Xiaogang.
No matter how Lin Mo beckoned, Luo Sanpao refused to come forward.
His face was full of resistance.
Seeing this, Lin Mo shook his head helplessly.
"I do," Tang San said instinctively.
But from his reaction, it was clear that he still hadn't recovered from the shock of what had just happened.
He brushed a hand over the Storage Soul Tool at his waist and took out the short sword Yu Xiaogang had given him earlier.
He handed it to Lin Mo.
Lin Mo reached out to take it and flicked the blade with a finger. The short sword gave a faint quiver.
It was an excellent-quality sword.
Too bad it was just an ordinary weapon, not a Soul Tool.
It was good enough for now, but once their Soul Power Levels rose, it would be no different from a toy.
Gripping the short sword, Lin Mo turned and walked toward the Datura Snake sprawled on the ground.
The snake's body stretched across the grass, its head already deformed and bloody.
Lin Mo crouched beside the Datura Snake's corpse.
He pressed down on the snake's body with his left hand and gripped the short sword in his right, pointing the tip at its belly.
The blade pierced its abdomen with a faint sound as it sliced through flesh.
Lin Mo put more force into his hand and dragged the short sword down along the snake's belly.
Once he had slit the abdomen open, Lin Mo reached inside and began rummaging through the slick entrails.
"Teacher, what is Lin Mo doing?" Tang San asked, his gaze fixed on Lin Mo in the distance.
"He's taking his spoils, I suppose," Yu Xiaogang replied.
Before long, Lin Mo found what he was looking for inside the Datura Snake's belly.
The Datura Snake's gallbladder.
After removing the gallbladder, Lin Mo checked once more to make sure he hadn't overlooked anything valuable, then stood up.
Just as Yu Xiaogang had said, Lin Mo had been claiming his spoils.
He didn't have a Storage Soul Tool, and carrying an entire snake around wasn't practical. He might as well take only something small and valuable, like the gallbladder.
That was also the daily routine of Soul Beast hunters who made their living Soul Hunting.
After finishing, Lin Mo walked over to Tang San and returned the short sword.
While he had the chance, Lin Mo had inspected the Datura Snake's corpse. It hadn't produced a Soul Bone.
Lin Mo didn't look disappointed.
Soul Bones were exceedingly rare, and ordinary Soul Beasts had a very low chance of producing one.
This Datura Snake was only a little over four hundred years old. It would have been strange if it had actually produced a Soul Bone.
Lin Mo pointed at the Datura Snake in the distance and looked at Tang San. "The two of us killed this snake together.
"The gallbladder is mine. You can have the Venom Fangs and Venom Gland from its corpse.
"I saw you collecting quite a few poisonous herbs in the Soul Hunting Forest earlier."
Tang San's eyes immediately lit up at Lin Mo's words.
As a member of the Tang Sect, his greatest skill besides Hidden Weapons was using poison.
This Datura Snake clearly had potent poison.
If he could coat the Silent Sleeve Arrows he'd made with the poison from its Venom Fangs and Venom Gland, the arrows would become even more powerful.
But Tang San felt a little uneasy. Could he really say that he and Lin Mo had killed the snake together?
During the earlier fight, Lin Mo had single-handedly beaten the snake to a pulp.
Tang San's contribution had been negligible.
He hadn't even had time to use his trump card, the Silent Sleeve Arrows, before Lin Mo had already killed the snake.
Tang San unconsciously touched the area around his right wrist, where he kept the Silent Sleeve Arrows he'd spent so much effort making.
They were the real trump card he'd prepared for himself after learning he would be going to the Soul Hunting Forest.
Since entering the Soul Hunting Forest, he hadn't used the arrows even once.
Torn over what to do, Tang San stood there for a moment without moving.
Yu Xiaogang noticed the change in Tang San's expression and understood what his disciple was thinking.
He stepped forward and patted Tang San on the shoulder.
"Since Lin Mo put it that way, you should put the snake's corpse in your Storage Soul Tool, Xiao San.
"Don't worry. Since these spoils belong to Lin Mo, I'll make sure he gets a fair price for them once we're out of here," Yu Xiaogang said with a smile.
"Yes, Teacher." Tang San suppressed his excitement and jogged over to the Datura Snake's corpse.
He crouched in front of it and carefully examined its head.
Though the Datura Snake's head was badly mangled, the two Venom Fangs in its mouth remained intact.
Tang San instinctively activated the Mysterious Jade Hand. His hands turned the color of jade, and he carefully pulled the Datura Snake's Venom Fangs from its mouth.
After putting the fangs away, he set about extracting the Venom Gland inside the snake's head. In just a few quick movements, he removed it intact.
Only then did Tang San put the entire Datura Snake's corpse into his Storage Soul Tool.
While Tang San dealt with the Datura Snake, Yu Xiaogang turned his gaze back to Lin Mo.
"But what about you, Lin Mo? Aren't you going to absorb the snake's Soul Ring?"
"The Soul Ring produced by this Datura Snake is quite good, even by the standards of the Soul Hunting Forest.
"Judging by the snake's length, it must be a little over four hundred years old. That's a perfect fit for your First Soul Ring.
"It's not beyond what you can handle."
Following Yu Xiaogang's gaze, Lin Mo looked toward the Datura Snake's corpse.
A yellow Soul Ring floated in midair.
A Soul Ring more than four hundred years old would be an excellent choice for anyone about to obtain their first Soul Ring.
Many Soul Masters had first Soul Rings that were only a hundred years old. There were even plenty whose first rings were white, ten-year Soul Rings.
"I'd rather not."
Lin Mo glanced at the yellow Soul Ring produced by the Datura Snake and shook his head. "I feel that if I'm going to look for a Soul Ring for my Martial Soul, I should be looking for one produced by a Soul Beast that relies on strength.
"The Soul Ring produced by the Datura Snake is certainly good, but it excels in speed, toughness, and poison. Those things don't suit my Martial Soul."
Yu Xiaogang's expression shifted from thoughtful to pleased as he listened to Lin Mo.
"It's wonderful that you have such an understanding at your age."
Most people, after personally killing a Soul Beast with such a suitable cultivation age, wouldn't even consider whether it matched their Martial Soul. They'd simply start absorbing its Soul Ring.
Yu Xiaogang had seen far too many examples of that.
Many Soul Masters never considered whether a Soul Ring suited their Martial Soul after hunting a Soul Beast. They only wanted to obtain a Soul Ring as quickly as possible and grow stronger.
The result was often that they gained a Soul Skill, but it didn't match their Martial Soul and couldn't display its full power.