In terms of sheer value for money, Beast Martial Souls offered far greater gains than weapon-type Martial Souls in the early stages.
It was only later that weapon-type Martial Souls gradually caught up. Even then, those of the same rank could at most reach equal combat strength.
Besides, because dragon-type Soul Beasts were so valuable, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had long since collected a great deal of information about them.
Unlike the extreme attack- or life-attribute Soul Beasts Jade Dragon-Slayer needed, which could be brought out and used right away.
Brrr—
The Chainsword in her hand let out an ear-splitting noise.
Gritting her teeth, Ning Tian cut down a ten-year Wind Baboon.
Looking at the Wind Baboon's mangled corpse below, Ning Tian didn't feel afraid at all. Instead, she felt an excitement she could hardly describe.
"Grandpa Cao, did you see that?" Blood spattered across her pretty face as Ning Tian waved vigorously at Cao Xin and Lin Yuan in the distance.
"I did it!"
The reason Ning Tian had come to the Star Dou Great Forest with Lin Yuan was that she had also broken through to level ten.
Thanks to the Mystic Water Pill, she had easily reached level ten Soul Power over the past three days.
In truth, the effects of the Mystic Water Pill diminished as a person's Innate Soul Power increased. Ning Tian's Innate Soul Power was now at most 9.9, but she was indeed not far off from Innate Full Soul Power.
Cao Xin gave Ning Tian a helpless, wry smile and nodded. Did this girl have the makings of a berserker?
Lin Yuan, meanwhile, sat cross-legged on a boulder beside Cao Xin, continuously compressing the aura within his body.
A few days earlier, he had used the swordsmanship he'd learned to defeat a Hundred-Year Soul Beast. But against a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, he'd been out of his depth.
Whenever he tried to summon the Destruction Demon Dragon Martial Soul to fight, many Thousand-Year Soul Beasts seemed ready to flee as soon as they sensed the aura of destruction emanating from him.
He couldn't hone his skills that way, so Lin Yuan's first priority was to learn to control his aura of destruction.
For a long time to come, Lin Yuan would have to rely primarily on the Destruction Demon Dragon in battle, with the Affectionate Sword techniques as support.
If he let his aura run wild without restraint, there was a good chance he'd attract the attention of someone with ulterior motives.
Of course, Lin Yuan hadn't struck the Hundred-Year Soul Beast with lethal force, either.
He understood the principle of draining the pond to catch all the fish. There was no need to add to the slaughter for no reason.
"Not bad. Your aura is much more concentrated now." Cao Xin nodded in approval at Lin Yuan, who had just opened his eyes.
He hadn't yet reached the point of completely concealing it, but this was already enough.
"I'm still not quite there," Lin Yuan said helplessly, looking at his palm.
"I praise you a couple of times and you get carried away?" Cao Xin teased with a laugh.
"To rein in your aura this much in such a short time already puts you ahead of many geniuses. Don't be so greedy. Our main goal this trip is Soul Hunting. You'll have plenty of time to keep practicing once we're back."
"Got it, Master. How much farther is it to our destination?" Lin Yuan asked helplessly.
Cao Xin pointed ahead. "Not far. Another three li or so."
As it happened, the information the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had received mentioned a pair of draconic beasts living together.
Lin Yuan's target was a nine-hundred-year Tyrant Dragon, while Ning Tian could absorb the Soul Ring of the other Tyrant Dragon, which was four hundred years old.
It was a little hellish, but Lin Yuan still wanted to ask: did even Soul Rings have to come from couples?
After calling Ning Tian back, the three continued in the direction Cao Xin had pointed.
In a stretch of rocky ground, they found the Tyrant Dragons' nest.
These Ferocious Beasts were clearly beyond the two youngsters' ability to handle. Even if a Tyrant Dragon hadn't lived a thousand years, it was still stronger than many Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
Cao Xin vanished from their side in a flash.
While the two stood there, bewildered, two enormous crashes rang out beside them, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Cough, cough, cough—" They waved their hands to clear the air, choking as they coughed.
Once the dust had settled, Lin Yuan finally saw the two colossal beasts lying unconscious on the ground.
"All right, hurry up and hunt your Soul Beasts and absorb the Rings." Cao Xin stood atop the larger Tyrant Dragon and tossed Ning Tian a short knife in its sheath.
At that moment, Lin Yuan suddenly thought of something. "Master, didn't they say that the more you torture a Soul Beast, the greater the chance it'll produce a Soul Bone?"
Lin Yuan summoned Jade Dragon-Slayer and prepared to absorb the Soul Ring.
"That's true. By the conventions of the Soul Master World, it's indeed better to torture a Soul Beast before absorbing its Soul Ring." Cao Xin jumped down from the Tyrant Dragon and came over to Lin Yuan.
"But, Xiao Yuan, not everything in this world should be measured by profit. If you get a Soul Bone, that's your good fortune. If you don't, then that's your fate. Why torture a living creature for something you may never have been destined to obtain? That's part of the Affectionate Sword's path of cultivation, too. If you want a Soul Bone, the sect treasury has plenty."
Lin Yuan nodded in understanding, though he reasonably suspected that the last sentence was the real point.
Indeed, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had inherited many Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, all left behind by previous Sect-Protecting Douluo.
He had no need to ruin his sword cultivation over a Hundred-Year Soul Bone.
Then Lin Yuan aimed his sword at the back of the Tyrant Dragon's head and ended its life in a single strike, sparing it all pain.
A Soul Ring, yellow with a hint of purple, rose from the Tyrant Dragon's head and began to drift slowly in the air.
"Hm?" Cao Xin exclaimed in surprise.
"What's wrong, Master?" Lin Yuan asked him.
"The intelligence was a little off. I thought it was only nine hundred years old, but this Soul Ring is already close to a thousand years." Cao Xin frowned.
"A thousand years?" Lin Yuan's expression turned troubled, too.
Before they'd set out, Cao Xin had tested the maximum age of Soul Ring Lin Yuan could absorb.
It had come out to just over a thousand years. Even absorbing one right at the limit seemed risky.
Although most Soul Masters on the continent still absorbed Soul Rings according to the Grandmaster's book, Ten Great Competition Theories, the major factions had secretly discovered that Soul Ring absorption was largely correlated with a Soul Master's physical and mental strength.
That was why Mu En and a few others had managed to obtain Thousand-Year Soul Rings as their Second Soul Rings.
Dragon-type Soul Beasts, even draconic ones, were a little harder to absorb Soul Rings from than other Soul Beasts.
This Tyrant Dragon's Soul Ring, so close to a thousand years, was basically beyond Lin Yuan's limit.
"Does that mean Lin Yuan has to give up?" Ning Tian asked anxiously.
"No, Xiao Yuan. Do you want to take a chance?" Cao Xin said with a smile, looking at Lin Yuan.
"Master, what are you planning?" Lin Yuan immediately realized that Cao Xin had come up with some devious idea.
"Take out the Millennium Whale Glue I gave you that day. Try to see whether you can absorb this Soul Ring, which is close to a thousand years old, with the Whale Glue's help."
Lin Yuan was instantly dumbfounded. Was Master planning to use him as a guinea pig?
"If you succeed, you'll have a First Soul Ring with a foundation close to a thousand years. It'll be an excellent start."
"And if you fail, it'll be all right. With my cultivation, the only loss you'll suffer this time is dropping one level of Soul Power. The medicinal effects of the Whale Glue will cushion the impact, so your talent won't be harmed."
As Lin Yuan pondered, the God of Destruction within him awoke and spoke. "Accept. I have a way to truly make your First Soul Ring a thousand years old."