Soul Hunting Forest

A few days later.

Inside a carriage.

Yu Xiaogang was chatting with the dean of Nuoding Academy.

The dean of Nuoding Academy was a rather handsome middle-aged man with a mild disposition. A genial smile was always on his face; he wasn't the sort to wear a stern expression at all times.

That was why Jiang Jiu's "door-blocking" invitation had gone fairly smoothly.

The dean had agreed readily enough. He just needed a little time to arrange his upcoming work, which was why Jiang Jiu and the others didn't set out until a few days later.

Meanwhile, inviting the master-and-disciple pair of Yu Xiaogang and Tang San had also gone smoothly.

Tang San had no objections himself, but first needed to ask his teacher.

As for Yu Xiaogang, after giving it some thought, he'd agreed as well.

Later, while chatting with the dean of Nuoding Academy, he learned that a bold little prodigy had come straight to the dean's door to ask for help hunting a Soul Beast—and that his friend, the dean, had agreed. After that, Yu Xiaogang naturally had no objections.

Once all the preparations were complete, the group boarded a carriage bound for the Soul Hunting Forest together.

As for Jiang Jiu and the others, Tang San was telling him and Xiao Wu about his previous trip to the Soul Hunting Forest, with particular emphasis on the essentials of surviving in the wild.

It had been nearly half a year since Tang San had hunted his First Soul Ring. After six months of study, he knew much more about Soul Beasts, and this was a chance to return to the Soul Hunting Forest and put that knowledge into practice.

Yu Xiaogang had agreed with this in mind. Reading books without putting the knowledge into practice was ultimately lacking.

He also wanted to assess Tang San's potential "team members."

In Yu Xiaogang's plans, Tang San was currently being developed as a control-type Soul Master.

The control type was the "brain" of a team. And with a "brain," the team naturally needed strong "arms and legs."

It was rare for a little place like Nuoding Academy to have several such talented students. Since there was no need to look far afield, this trip to hunt Soul Beasts would be a perfect chance to see whether they could work together.

The dean of Nuoding Academy was chatting with Yu Xiaogang, but he was also keeping an eye on Jiang Jiu and the others.

As Tang San spoke about the Soul Hunting Forest, Jiang Jiu listened with serious concentration, not missing a single useful detail. Xiao Wu, meanwhile, clung to Jiang Jiu's arm and seemed somewhat absent-minded.

The dean was very pleased with Jiang Jiu's attitude. He was sure the boy would go far in the future—at the very least, much further than he himself had as the dean of a beginner academy.

People often called him a good-natured gentleman, but that didn't mean he helped just anyone who showed up at his door. After all, he was a forty-first-rank tool-type Soul Ancestor.

In Nuoding City, his Soul Power was already among the very best.

And, it had to be said, Xiao Wu's presence was another point in Jiang Jiu's favor.

A girl with Innate Full Soul Power could do whatever she pleased. Perhaps one day she'd even become a venerable powerhouse.

The key was that she didn't need Nuoding Academy's help to hunt a Soul Beast. In essence, she was just passing through.

As it happened, though, she had that connection with Jiang Jiu.

By doing Jiang Jiu a favor, he'd accomplish two things at once. He already admired the boy, too, so why not? At most, they'd be hunting a Hundred-Year Soul Beast. It was nothing difficult.

A day later, the carriage reached the Soul Hunting Forest.

A sizable market had sprung up outside the forest. Tang San repeated to Jiang Jiu and the others what Yu Xiaogang had told him about the place half a year earlier.

After taking in the sights, they didn't linger. The group headed straight into the forest.

"Xiaogang, having you here really makes things convenient," the dean of Nuoding Academy remarked as they entered through the forest gate, where soldiers stood guard.

It wasn't just the token Yu Xiaogang had provided, which made it easy to enter the Soul Hunting Forest. His Storage Soul Tool was also quite enviable.

A decent Storage Soul Tool could easily cost tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins. Even for him, a Soul Ancestor and the dean of a beginner Soul Master Academy, getting his hands on one would make his heart ache.

Yu Xiaogang had at least two.

Storage Soul Tool.

Jiang Jiu wasn't interested in the token, but a Storage Soul Tool was the real deal. Who wouldn't want a spatial item?

Too bad they were outrageously expensive to acquire normally. At least for the next few years, he could forget about it.

Once they entered the Soul Hunting Forest, Yu Xiaogang summoned Luo Sanpao.

With the dean of Nuoding Academy, a tool-type Soul Ancestor, there, Yu Xiaogang could play the part of a scout. Luo Sanpao's keen sense of smell was more than adequate for the Soul Hunting Forest.

"Jiang Jiu, have you thought about what kind of Soul Beast you want to hunt?" the dean of Nuoding Academy asked him.

Since he'd agreed to help Jiang Jiu hunt a Soul Beast, he naturally wanted to make sure the boy was satisfied. They could prioritize his preferences.

"Bear, lion, tiger, leopard, or wolf. Anything between two and four hundred years old will do," Jiang Jiu replied.

There wasn't much to fuss over when hunting for a Soul Ring. As long as the age and type were suitable, that was more or less enough.

If he wanted to pursue an evolution of his bloodline or an advancement of his Martial Soul, the Soul Hunting Forest wasn't the place to do it.

The Soul Beasts raised in the Soul Hunting Forest were basically nothing special in terms of bloodline quality.

"I thought you had a rabbit Martial Soul. Why not look for a rabbit-type Soul Beast?" the dean asked, a little surprised.

"If we happen to find one, that would be ideal. But our options are limited, so I don't want to hold up either of you."

"You came all this way with me. What's there to worry about? If we're looking, we may as well look for the best one we can find!" The dean waved a hand.

"But rabbit-type Soul Beasts generally aren't very strong. The ones you picked might really be better," he added.

Xiao Wu secretly curled her lip. Your rabbits are weak!

Their ability to run away and save their own skins was incredible, okay?

As for their combat strength... well, once they reached a hundred thousand years, there was no problem.

"By the way, Xiao Wu, right? I remember you have a rabbit Martial Soul too. Could your First Soul Ring offer Jiang Jiu any guidance?" The dean had naturally looked over the records of the academy's most outstanding students.

"Huh? Me? I—I got my First Soul Ring from a four-hundred-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit."

"There really are four-hundred-year-old Soft Bone Rabbits? That's rare."

"You should read more. There are records of thousand-year-old Soft Bone Rabbits, too. But among rabbit-type Soul Beasts of that age, Lightning Rabbits are much more common." Yu Xiaogang joined the discussion as well.

Hearing that Xiao Wu's First Soul Ring came from a four-hundred-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit, Yu Xiaogang had a pretty good idea where Jiang Jiu's expectations for his First Soul Ring's age came from.

So Xiao Wu really had absorbed a Soul Ring from a four-hundred-year-old Soul Beast. No wonder Jiang Jiu had settled on that range.

"When it comes to researching Soul Beasts, how could I compare to you? I just handle the fighting. Identifying the Soul Beasts and their ages is Xiaogang's job," the dean said, shaking his head.

"Little San's doing well now, too." Yu Xiaogang watched his disciple carefully observing the forest and spoke with pride.