The Bloodstained Village

The wind howled past his ears as Wu Ling raced across the plains, his destination still the Star Dou Great Forest ahead.

That was right. After a year and a half, Wu Ling, who was just one month away from turning twelve, had reached level forty. A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor—perhaps not unprecedented, but certainly never seen before... if Qian Renxue was excluded.

Over that year and a half, only two things had caught Wu Ling's interest. The first was that, more than half a year ago, Xiao Fen had finally completed her research into Spirit Power Circuits and implemented them on Wu Ling.

As the beneficiary, Wu Ling could only describe the results as "unexpectedly good." Though he had only just reached level forty, the quantity and quality of his Soul Power allowed him to face a Soul King without any fear. With the formidable recovery ability of his cultivation method, he could even wear down and kill weaker Soul Kings.

The second matter concerned Yu Xiaogang. Several months after the cultivation method had been released, Yu Xiaogang published another article: <Cultivation Methods Belong to Spirit Masters; Spirit Hall Should Share Them>

When Wu Ling heard about it, he had nearly gone and beaten Yu Xiaogang up, then pointed at his nose and cursed, "Why don't you tell the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon to share Dragon Transformation, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to share the Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart, and the Clear Sky Sect to share Ring Detonation too?!"

But compared to beating up Yu Xiaogang, Wu Ling was more worried about Bibi Dong.

Maybe one day Yu Xiaogang would go to Bibi Dong for the cultivation method. Or perhaps in the future, he would even ask her for Tang San's Twin Martial Souls cultivation method as well as the cultivation method. And Bibi Dong, as his wonderful teacher, might chase him away while haughtily "bestowing" them upon Yu Xiaogang anyway.

Perhaps Xiao Fen sensed Wu Ling's worries through their connection. That very day, she came out of her room, asked him for a few drops of blood, and told him to leave the matter to her.

She had even promised, "Don't worry, main body. From now on, Yu Xiaogang won't get even a single Copper Soul Coin from Bibi Dong."

However, Xiao Fen protested with her arms folded over her chest afterward, saying, "The main body actually wants to look at the memories of a little girl like me. What a huge pervert!"

As a result, Wu Ling had never merged with Xiao Fen's memories again, so he had no idea what she had done. Still, after everything they had been through, he was very confident in her ability to handle things.

After that, Wu Ling's gloom vanished. Even his cultivation seemed to speed up somewhat, until his Soul Power reached level forty and he finally set out to hunt for his fourth Spirit Ring.

Wu Ling was no longer weak. Not only could he fight a Soul King head-on, but even against a Soul Emperor, he had the power to fight if he went all out. Since he had not gone out for a long time, he chose to travel on foot this time, taking in the scenery and local customs of the cities along the way. Ghost Douluo, meanwhile, remained hidden in the shadows to protect him.

The sun had already reached the horizon, and the green grasslands were bathed in golden light. After running at a steady pace for a while, Wu Ling stopped and took out a bottle of water and a map from his Storage Ring.

Wu Ling had planned his route long ago, but he heard along the way that a major city was holding a food festival, causing him to deviate from his original plans. He decided to roll with it and bought a map, using it to guide himself toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Wu Ling took a sip of water beneath the fading glow of the sunset, then studied the map.

"Half a day's journey remains to the Star Dou Great Forest, but there's a village more than ten kilometers ahead. I can stay there tonight and leave for the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow."

After confirming the direction, Wu Ling put away his water flask and map, then ran toward the village.

Along this stretch of road, Wu Ling consciously slowed his pace. He needed to conserve some Soul Power at all times. A village this close to the Star Dou Great Forest was difficult not to find suspicious.

For instance, some Spirit Masters with unusual Martial Souls or peculiar personalities might refuse to join any faction and establish themselves as local lords near the Star Dou Great Forest. They might not necessarily rob people, but they could still charge passing travelers tolls according to their strength.

The Soul Power Levels of such Spirit Masters would not be too low, since they needed enough strength to collect tolls. But they would not be too high either, because those with higher Soul Power Levels would never be content with merely collecting tolls in a single village. Most such Spirit Masters were generally between level thirty and fifty.

Although Wu Ling was not afraid of a level-fifty Soul King, it was still better to be careful.

As he slowed down, Wu Ling began thinking about other things, such as his target this time.

Among my first three Spirit Rings, I have two Assassin Class and one Caster Class.

Xiao Fen is enough for research at the moment, so no Caster Class. I already have too many Assassin Class, so that's out too. As for Rider Class... forget it. In short, my choices are the upper three Rider Classes and Berserker Class.

After all this training and Xiao Fen's potions, I can absorb a Spirit Ring older than ten thousand years by myself. With Xiao Lan and the other two Clones as well, absorbing one around forty or fifty thousand years old should be manageable.

Let me think. Which Heroic Spirits at four stars or below would suit me?

A dragon-type Spirit Beast should be able to bring out Brother Siegfried, though Dragon Girl is also possible. A boar or feline type could work for Ta-Meow, but Brother Lancer and some other Heroic Spirits related to boars would also be a problem.

Uncle B requires divine bloodline, which is even harder to find. If I force it, I might summon one of those Berserker Class Heroic Spirits instead.

Finding a lotus root Spirit Beast to bring out the Third Prince would work too, but not even Spirit Hall's records mention a ten-thousand-year lotus root Spirit Beast.

Sunflower Gawain? It might be possible if I found a Sunflower Emperor. Otherwise, the chances are slim.

Could it be that I'll have to summon a low-star Heroic Spirit with an overleveled Spirit Beast again, like Sasaki and Medea?

Although star ratings only represent rarity and do not completely represent strength, being able to summon a four-star Heroic Spirit but insisting on summoning a three-star or two-star one still feels rather unsatisfying.

Wu Ling was immersed in thought as the village drew closer and closer.

"Hm? The sun has only just set. Why is the village completely dark?" Wu Ling wondered as he looked at the village not far ahead.

As Wu Ling ran closer, his nose twitched slightly. His expression changed drastically, and he abruptly stopped.

"The smell of blood—and an extremely strong one at that!"

Wu Ling looked grimly at the village ahead. The village shrouded in darkness seemed like a monster hiding in the shadows, waiting for Wu Ling to fall into its bloody maw.

"Grandpa Ghost."

"Yes."

The reply steadied Wu Ling's heart, but he immediately laughed at himself. "Looks like I've become dependent on Grandpa Ghost."

Wu Ling composed himself and continued toward the village. At its edge lay two corpses. Looking out across the settlement, he saw bright red blood everywhere his eyes could reach.