The First Soul Ring of the Genesis Book (1)

They passed through the soul guidance device barrier and entered the interior of the Simulated Star Dou Forest.

A sense of tranquility, elegance, and refreshing detachment from the mundane, as if drawing close to nature itself, instantly flooded their bodies.

Li Changsheng walked through it, taking a few deep breaths, feeling completely at ease.

Once inside the simulated forest, the path was initially clear, but as they ventured deeper, the surrounding trees grew denser. The mottled thorns and weeds that grew there were even taller than Li Changsheng and Li Zishuo combined.

At the start, many other examinees were walking together, but gradually, they dispersed into their own teams throughout the simulated forest.

Li Zishuo followed closely behind Li Changsheng.

Up ahead, Li Changsheng drew his Refined Iron Spear, clearing a path as he walked.

"How are we supposed to hunt soul beasts?"

Li Zishuo, trailing right behind him, could not hide the excitement in his heart.

Li Changsheng pondered for a moment.

He stopped in his tracks.

He took out the map given to him by the Seven Absolute Zither Master.

It accurately marked several zones where hundred-year-level soul beasts were active. By the same token, there were areas where thousand-year-level soul beasts roamed; those were absolute forbidden zones that even Li Changsheng did not want to step into rashly, even with the God of Wisdom and the ability to use Parallel Calculation.

"Follow me. But what are your thoughts on your first soul ring?"

He confirmed their direction, put away the map, gazed at the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the dense forest, and continued to clear the path.

"What thoughts?" Li Zishuo scratched his head, a bit confused by the question.

After all, he was still just a child and had never systematically studied martial soul knowledge; he probably only heard a few things from his father on a daily basis.

Li Changsheng did not look back, his gaze fixed on a cluster of thorns in front of him.

This thicket was large, over a meter high, and grayish in color, appearing as if it had withered away.

However, Li Changsheng knew that the thorns blocking their path were a plant-type soul beast.

He did not discern this by sight alone; the prolonged use of the Purple Demon Eye was too taxing.

Instead, upon entering the simulated forest, Li Changsheng had the God of Wisdom activate the Formless Cycle ability.

Formless Cycle could not only block the spiritual detection of others but also release spiritual power to achieve a radar-like effect, though the range was limited, primarily because Li Changsheng was still too weak.

He reached out and thrust his Refined Iron Spear forward fiercely, like a rising dragon. Instantly, a large cluster of thorns was uprooted, crackling and popping, before crashing heavily onto the ground.

In an instant.

A white, misty halo, shimmering with faint traces of feather-white light, rose from the thorns that had fallen to the ground.

"A soul ring!" Li Zishuo stretched out his finger, leaning in to look at the halo before him, and shouted with immense excitement.

Li Changsheng frowned, then made a shushing gesture toward Li Zishuo.

"Shouting and yelling will easily attract soul beasts. Be careful," Li Changsheng said in a low voice.

Nowadays, he did not need to rely on the God of Wisdom to deal with ten-year-level soul beasts as he once did.

Even against ordinary hundred-year soul beasts, he could kill them with a single strike by using his Refined Iron Spear to find their weak points.

However, he still had Li Zishuo with him, and he feared he would struggle to ensure Li Zishuo's safety if a group of soul beasts appeared.

Upon hearing this, Li Zishuo blushed with embarrassment, nodded, and pointed at the emerging soul ring, lowering his voice deliberately: "Big Brother, you're truly amazing! You actually killed a ten-year-level soul beast with just an ordinary iron spear."

Li Changsheng merely shook his head and continued on his way.

"Your martial soul is suited for a control-type path, and my martial soul is also considered control-type, so we just need to find a soul beast of sufficient age with control attributes to kill. But you must stay close to me; do not leave a five-step radius from my side. Later, if we find a suitable soul ring, I will beat it until it's crippled, and then you take this and deliver the final blow to the soul beast."

Li Changsheng took a sword of moderate length from his storage soul guidance device.

Li Zishuo took the sword, swung it a few times, and asked while walking, puzzled: "Big Brother, shouldn't we release our martial souls to guard against sneak attacks?"

Li Changsheng ignored the "Big Brother" title and gripped his Refined Iron Spear.

He swept through the surrounding bushes.

"Does maintaining a martial soul not consume soul power? It won't be too late to release it when we encounter danger. Rest assured, you'll have enough time to react."

"Oh."

Li Zishuo nodded, choosing to trust Li Changsheng unconditionally, and then followed obediently behind him.

The forest was extremely dense; from time to time, they encountered white skeletons and trees snapped in half.

Under the guidance of the God of Wisdom, the two of them could easily choose the best route nearby. At the same time, as they moved forward, they encountered many ten-year-level soul beasts, but these beasts seemed somewhat gentle; they did not attack the pair, but instead watched as Li Changsheng and his companion passed by.

Since the soul beasts did not strike, Li Changsheng was more than happy, as this allowed him to focus on preparing to deal with hundred-year soul beasts.

He had many methods and could kill a hundred-year soul beast with ease, but Li Changsheng felt that without a challenge, there would be no improvement. He prepared to hone his spear technique first, striving to achieve the spear-qi manifestation like the God of Wisdom as soon as possible.

Of course, this was under the condition of absolute safety.

After walking for several hours, they arrived at the zone marked on the map.

The journey had truly not been easy; the forest was dense, the grass was thick, and the entire way had relied on Li Changsheng to clear the path with his spear.

This gave Li Changsheng a sense of déjà vu, reminiscent of his childhood in his past life when he had furiously slashed through ten miles of rapeseed flowers.

Many century-level spirit beasts lived here.

He raised his eyes to check the sky.

A great battle between spirit beasts had once taken place at this very spot.

The large trees within a radius of more than ten meters were snapped in half, though tender new buds had only recently begun to sprout.

The sunset glow stained the horizon red, and the vaguely fragmented clouds looked as if the heavens had slaughtered a giant fish, leaving it bloody and stripped of its scales.

"Let's rest here for the night and start searching for spirit beasts tomorrow."

Although Li Changsheng said this, he was actually thinking that, logically speaking, if he lit a fire in this location, it would definitely attract the attention of spirit beasts; perhaps he could even lure one in like a fish taking the bait.

Of course, the spot Li Changsheng chose was quite clever.

According to the map, their current location was a buffer zone; moving forward led to the habitat of century-level spirit beasts, while moving backward led to the territory of decade-level spirit beasts.

Li Changsheng didn't bother looking for a shelter, choosing instead to rest right where they were. Using a snapped tree trunk as a backrest, he gathered some broken branches and skillfully utilized the first spirit skill of his second martial soul, the Immortal Execution Painting—Three Thousand Sumeru Flames—releasing only a tiny spark to ignite the wood.

"Isn't it dangerous to light a fire here?" Li Zishuo asked, leaning against a nearby stump with some trepidation.

Li Changsheng shook his head and explained his plan to lure the spirit beasts, reassuring Li Zishuo that there would be no issues. With that, Li Zishuo had no choice but to settle down and rest.

"Damn it... I didn't bring any food."

Li Changsheng, who had just slumped onto the ground, suddenly remembered that he hadn't brought anything to eat!

Would he have to hunt spirit beasts for food?

Besides, he didn't know how long it would take to find spirit beasts suitable for both of them.

"Big Brother, I have some here."

Just then, Li Zishuo actually pulled several bundles out of his storage spirit tool.

Opening the bundles, he revealed flatbreads, roasted jerky, some pickled vegetables, and a large water canteen.

Li Changsheng took the food, surprised. "You brought all this when you left home?"

Li Zishuo scratched his head. "My mother was afraid I'd go hungry on the road, so she made me bring some, but I didn't end up using it. It's a good thing I did; at least it won't go to waste now."

It was hard to imagine that a child from the Li Family, the wealthiest in Spirit Soul Village, would bring his own food when traveling.

As Li Changsheng bit into the flatbread, a strange sense of melancholy welled up in his heart.

Li Zishuo sat nearby, rolling the pickled vegetables and jerky into his flatbread before eating.

After a reasonably filling meal, Li Changsheng sat by the campfire and entered a state of meditation, while the God of Wisdom automatically monitored their surroundings, allowing Li Changsheng to react instantly at the slightest sign of trouble.

He wasn't cultivating for any other reason than to break through his spirit power level; he was currently just one step away from reaching level fifteen.

Under Li Changsheng's repeated urging, Li Zishuo also cautiously began to meditate using the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

In the forest, the chirping of insects rose and fell, and cold, eerie winds blew through the trees.

As midnight approached, the campfire gradually died down, leaving only a few final sparks. Moonlight spilled over the earth, coating the ground in a shimmering, silvery glow.

Li Changsheng suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of purple surging within them, vast and imposing.

He glanced around, then focused on a spot a hundred meters away. In the darkness, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

Then, he closed his eyes and continued his cultivation.

Where his gaze had rested, pairs of glowing eyes peeked out from between the leaves, and the scent of a foul, bloody stench could be faintly detected on the wind.

A quarter of an hour later.

The campfire sparks extinguished.

Li Changsheng's aura surged as his spirit power officially broke through to level fifteen. A rich, deep, and vast wave of spirit power erupted from his body. At the same time, he raised his left hand, and a yellow century-level spirit ring circled him, instantly turning the pitch-black space around them into a world of fire.

Li Zishuo, who had been meditating nearby, felt an intense heat. When he opened his eyes, he discovered he was in a world of flames. Most terrifying of all, in the distance, a massive pack of wolves had stepped into this space.

Li Changsheng had already stood up, his gaze fixed on the foolish pack of spirit beasts that had charged into the range of his Three Thousand Sumeru Flames.

A pack of wolves.

Time returned to just a moment ago.

While Li Changsheng was cultivating, he had suddenly received a notification from the God of Wisdom.

A pack of Hard-Bone Wolves was approaching from a hundred meters away, observing the two of them. Leading them was a century-level Hard-Bone Wolf King.

Wolves, especially packs, would follow their king to observe an enemy's movements and weaknesses from areas where they were difficult to detect.

Clearly, this pack of Hard-Bone Wolves had been attracted by the campfire, and they were being extremely cautious as they observed Li Changsheng and Li Zishuo from a hundred meters away.

Li Changsheng didn't care; a hundred meters was enough for him to react, so he had continued his cultivation with peace of mind while the wolves watched.

But the moment the campfire died out, the Hard-Bone Wolf King seemed to have made up its mind and launched an attack.

Li Changsheng received the information instantly. As the pack advanced, he took the opportunity to activate the first spirit skill of his second martial soul, the Immortal Execution Painting—Three Thousand Sumeru Flames—letting the pack walk right into the sea of fire to be controlled.

What?

You say Li Changsheng was supposed to be honing his spear techniques?

Don't be ridiculous. A pack of wolves, led by a four-hundred-year-old Hard-Bone Wolf King and dozens of decade-level Hard-Bone Wolves, charging all at once—Li Changsheng might not die, but Li Zishuo would certainly be doomed!

Who cares about all that.

Having lived for so long, Li Changsheng understood one thing best:

"Pride is useless! Without shame or pretense, one lives freely, easily, and to the fullest!"