Hope to Master "Roar of the Sun!"

Evil Demon Forest, outer perimeter.

As the second-largest soul beast forest on the Douluo Continent, the distribution of soul beasts in the Evil Demon Forest is much like that of the Star Dou Great Forest.

The weaker ones stay in the outer perimeter, while the strong reside in the core area; of course, there are times when powerful soul beasts wander into the outer perimeter and disrupt the local ecosystem.

Guided by Kong Deming, Xu Tianming traveled from Ming Capital and reached their destination in less than half an hour.

Unlike the relatively temperate atmosphere of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Evil Demon Forest is dominated by black-gray coniferous trees, creating a cold and oppressive environment year-round. The soul beasts that inhabit this place are, for the most part, quite short-tempered.

Xu Tianming and Kong Deming had barely appeared in the forest when a hundred-year soul beast, having caught their scent, recklessly charged toward them to meet its end.

After casually swatting it into a pulp with one hand, Kong Deming retrieved a soul tool from his storage device capable of masking their presence.

Although the soul beasts in the outer perimeter posed no threat to him, it was always better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

After careful deliberation, Xu Tianming ultimately decided to focus on his Sun Martial Soul first.

While the strength of his Silver Moon Martial Soul might be on par with the Sun Martial Soul, that was merely a possibility. For the sake of safety, it was more reliable to prioritize the Sun Martial Soul, which possessed the power of Mavuika, during the early stages.

Therefore, their first hunting target was a fire-type soul beast between one hundred and one thousand years old.

After all, according to the ancestral theories of the soul master world, a hundred-year soul ring was the limit for a soul master's first ring, and only the second ring offered the possibility of challenging a thousand-year beast.

Xu Tianming had only recently awakened his memories, and before truly coming into contact with a soul ring, he chose to follow Kong Deming's guidance for the time being. After all, this was his own uncle; as the saying goes, a mother's brother is like a father, and without any special circumstances, there was no reason for the man to harm him.

"Tianming, I will leave the soul beast with its final breath. You only need to deliver the finishing blow, and the soul ring will appear."

Seeing Xu Tianming nod, Kong Deming took several weapons suitable for his current stage out of his storage soul tool and told him to pick one.

Looking at the daggers, short swords, and firelocks in his uncle's hands, Xu Tianming pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

"Uncle, I don't think these weapons suit me... Do you happen to have a larger sword?"

"You want to use a greatsword?" Kong Deming was slightly surprised by this, but he still produced a Level 4 soul-guided greatsword.

Although Xu Tianming's soul power was not yet enough to wield this sword perfectly, there was no other choice; this greatsword was already the lowest-level one in Kong Deming's storage bag.

"This sword is called Judgment, a recent work by my student, Xuan Ziwen. Try to see if you can handle it."

Kong Deming smiled and handed Judgment to Xu Tianming.

The moment he took the greatsword, a heavy weight surged through it. If Xu Tianming hadn't been prepared, he might have lost his balance from the sheer mass of the blade.

"Ho, this sword isn't bad. I just wonder if it can withstand my flames."

Hearing Mavuika's voice, Xu Tianming was somewhat surprised.

"You can sense this greatsword?"

"Yes, I just tried to merge my spiritual power with your palm, and then I felt the sword."

Hearing Mavuika say this, Xu Tianming suddenly had a peculiar thought.

"In that case, if I let go of my body's control, you could control my body to a certain extent?"

"Theoretically, that should be possible, but why do you ask?"

Mavuika's reply made Xu Tianming hesitate for only a second before he continued.

"I will release control of my left hand right now. You try to see if you can control it. If it's truly feasible, then you can teach me hand-in-hand how to execute that move!"

"Good, that sounds quite interesting. In that case, let's try!"

Both of them were the type to take action quickly. Once Mavuika agreed, Xu Tianming decisively focused on himself, attempting to temporarily relinquish control of his left hand.

A moment later, a scorching power suddenly surged into his left hand, and then he discovered that his left hand had actually begun to move on its own without his command.

"It really can be done!"

To be honest, he had been craving Mavuika's ultimate move, Sun-Shattering Strike, for a long time. Now that he knew he would have the chance to use it against enemies in actual combat, it would be a lie to say Xu Tianming wasn't excited!

"It's a pity that my power hasn't recovered much. Even if you don't resist, the time I can control your body won't be long. A rough estimate suggests that if I were to fully control your body, my current power wouldn't be enough to support you in executing a complete Sun-Shattering Strike against an enemy."

Although Mavuika poured a bucket of cold water on him at the right time, it did not extinguish Xu Tianming's burning heart.

"It's fine, we will be able to get stronger soon!"

Because just as Xu Tianming said these words, a Blazing Fire Pig with flame patterns covering its body and scarlet eyes appeared in the field of vision of both him and Kong Deming.

"The cultivation of this Blazing Fire Pig is around 700 years. Although it theoretically exceeds the limit of the first soul ring a normal soul master can absorb, you, Tianming, have innate level 20 soul power, which is rare in a thousand years. Perhaps you can break the limits of ordinary people."

Hearing Kong Deming's words, Xu Tianming nodded.

"Alright, I'll trouble you to make a move, Uncle. I'll give it a try."

Upon hearing this, Kong Deming flicked his finger, and a concentrated blast of soul power shot out. The Blazing Fire Pig, which had been jumping around a second ago, let out a painful howl in an instant and then fell flat on its back. If not for its limbs still twitching slightly, it would have looked no different from a dead creature.

Seeing this, Xu Tianming immediately stepped forward with his sword and cleanly delivered the final blow, causing the Blazing Fire Pig to lose all ability to struggle.

A moment later, a deep yellow soul ring spiraled out from the remains of the Blazing Fire Pig. At the same time, Mavuika and Columbina in Xu Tianming's spiritual sea expressed their own thoughts.

"Is this the soul ring of this world?"

"What a peculiar power system."

According to what Xu Tianming understood, as long as it wasn't a ten-thousand-year soul ring, the age of the ring a soul master could absorb depended entirely on the strength of their own martial soul and physique.

Because soul rings of ten thousand years or more caused soul tremors during absorption, if one's spiritual power was not strong enough, the soul master would be shaken to death instantly.

Spirit rings under ten thousand years of age would not produce such a backlash.

Therefore, in theory, as long as a spirit master's physical body and martial spirit were strong enough, they could even choose to absorb a nine-thousand-year spirit ring as their first...

Of course, this was merely a theory.

After sensing the seven-hundred-year spirit ring from a close distance, Xu Tianming turned to Kong Deming and shook his head:

"Uncle, this spirit ring is a bit too weak. My intuition tells me that it seems my first spirit ring could challenge a thousand-year one."