Seeking

Inside the Soul Hunting Forest, Xiao Wu felt somewhat idle.

The lineup Jiang Jiu had invited was so solid that there was no room for her to be of any use.

Of course, that was fine by her.

Unless absolutely necessary, she didn't want to be a "rabbit traitor."

However, the process of Jiang Jiu searching for a suitable soul beast was not as smooth as the process of him hiring help.

"These are basically all ten-year soul beasts here; let's continue deeper," the Nuoding Dean decided.

As the one with the highest soul power present, the burden of hunting the soul beast fell primarily on him, so naturally, no one raised any objections.

Moving from the outer perimeter toward the interior, they searched for quite some time before they encountered their first hundred-year soul beast.

"We actually ran into a Variegated Cat again. Teacher, this one seems to be just over a hundred years old," Tang San said, sounding a bit uncertain.

He had been able to steadily identify all the ten-year soul beasts they had encountered earlier, but seeing this creature that appeared to be a hundred-year soul beast, Tang San couldn't help but look toward Yu Xiaogang.

"Not bad." Yu Xiaogang nodded with satisfaction and praised, "Tang San, your knowledge is very solid."

He then continued, "If your martial soul is of the feline family, this hundred-year Variegated Cat would be a quite excellent choice."

At this moment, Xiao Wu leaned over to Jiang Jiu's ear and whispered, "Xiao Jiu, what type of first soul skill do you want?"

"That Waist Bow of yours is pretty good."

Waist Bow was an augmentation-type soul skill targeting waist strength and physical flexibility, which could be considered a decent choice.

For this kind of percentage-based augmentation skill, as long as one's own stats were trained high, the effect when the soul skill was activated would be exceptionally good.

"Then Xiao Jiu, you can pay more attention to other feline soul beasts. After absorbing one, it's very likely to be a Waist Bow. Of course, the age of this Variegated Cat is a bit too low; it's not suitable."

Xiao Wu played a game of shifting the blame, an idea that had only occurred to her upon seeing that Variegated Cat.

The skill Waist Bow was not exclusive to their Soft Bone Rabbit clan; cats and leopards also played with the Waist Bow quite well, and they had all evolved different focuses.

For instance, the Soft Bone Rabbit mostly used the Waist Bow to escape and avoid natural predators, while fierce tigers and leopards used it for hunting.

"Feline, huh?"

That meant bears and wolves could basically be ruled out.

Lions, tigers, leopards, and cats?

Xiao Wu's words did align with his own understanding.

Rabbit-type soul beasts didn't have any high-bloodline beasts that stood out, so choosing a soul ring should prioritize the soul skill.

The birth of a soul skill relied on the combined effect of the martial soul and the soul beast's soul ring; if there was a point of convergence between them, that was a good choice.

It wasn't that bears and wolves couldn't be absorbed at all; in fact, both could potentially yield a Waist Bow, but the correlation would be much smaller.

Since there were decent choices available, there was no need to gamble on greater randomness.

A day passed, and there was still no sign of a soul beast suitable for Jiang Jiu.

Tang San, on the other hand, had been marked by Yu Xiaogang with several plant-type soul beasts suitable for his second soul ring.

Of course, these were all just backups, as their ages were a bit low.

"Let's stop here for today," the Nuoding Dean said after checking the sky.

"Thank you for your hard work, Dean and Master."

"It's nothing. Don't be anxious; it's quite normal for a soul hunt to take a few days," the Nuoding Dean comforted him.

Yu Xiaogang added, "Perhaps a suitable soul beast will appear tonight."

However, his stiff expression changed slightly, "It would be best if that didn't happen."

Although the outcome of what happened half a year ago was good, the process could definitely not be called pleasant; he had nearly lost his life.

"Let's find a place to rest first."

They headed back along the same path toward the outer edge of the Soul Hunting Forest; it would be safer to camp and rest closer to the perimeter.

The time Tang San and the others had encountered a three- or four-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake was an accident among accidents.

Normally, after setting up the appropriate snake and insect repellent preparations, it was a big deal if even a few ten-year soul beasts appeared at night.

"Xiaogang, do you think we can start a fire here?"

"Better not. What if we run into a thousand-year soul beast?"

Yu Xiaogang understood his friend's intent.

A campfire at night would attract powerful soul beasts that liked the light, and among them might be a soul beast suitable for Jiang Jiu.

As long as it wasn't a thousand-year soul beast, the Nuoding Dean could barely handle it, and anything under four hundred years was well within his control.

It was just that Yu Xiaogang had been terrified by that Mandala Snake last time; there was really no need to take the risk.

The night passed without incident, and no soul beasts disturbed them—perhaps due to the "might" of a Soul Sect, or perhaps because the medicinal powder Tang San had prepared was effective.

"You three little ones are all up very early."

The night watch was carried out in turns by the Nuoding Dean and Yu Xiaogang. After all, Yu Xiaogang was a level 29 Great Spirit Master, so keeping watch was no problem for him.

Beside a large tree, Jiang Jiu and Xiao Wu woke up from their leaning positions, their biological clocks remaining precise as ever, while Tang San sat leaning against another tree.

"Dean, thank you for your hard work," Jiang Jiu said softly; politeness costs nothing.

"You're not even seven yet, why are you acting so old-fashioned?" The Nuoding Dean waved his hand, signaling him to stop with such talk.

"And you too, Tang San. Have a bit more youthful energy; in this regard, neither of you compares to Xiao Wu."

"Of course, I'm just saying, don't take it to heart."

"Once Xiaogang wakes up, we'll set off again."

Tang San smiled bitterly. He didn't think being "old-fashioned" was a bad thing, considering he had lived two lifetimes.

As for Jiang Jiu, he was so mature despite being so young.

Tang San never imagined that Jiang Jiu was also a guy with an adult's soul inside.

Moreover, the most childish of the three was actually the one who had lived the longest—a 100,000-year-old little rabbit.

"Little Jiu, did you hear that? You should learn from me!"

"Yes, yes, yes."

Once Yu Xiaogang, who had kept watch for half the night, woke up and they finished their preparations, the group continued to advance into the Soul Hunting Forest.

They traveled until noon.

"Tang San, the destination for your second spirit ring is truly settled. I just hope that when you reach level 20, this Ghost Vine is still here."

"Teacher, this Ghost Vine must be at least five or six hundred years old," Tang San said, having also spotted the Ghost Vine Yu Xiaogang described from a distance.

"This thing isn't easy to deal with; we had better stay away."

The Nuoding Dean remembered that this trip was meant for Jiang Jiu's spirit ring.

It was just that even after stumbling upon such a rare 600-year-old plant-type spirit beast, why hadn't they found a single one suitable for Jiang Jiu?

Carefully noting the location, the group retreated a bit and began to circle around.

Although the distribution of spirit beasts wasn't strictly layered, there were still some general patterns.

Compared to this 600-year-old Ghost Vine, it might be easier to encounter a century-old spirit beast under 400 years by heading further outward.

"Found it, found it!" Xiao Wu tugged on Jiang Jiu's arm.

She had discovered a suitable spirit beast.

When it came to identifying the age of spirit beasts, she was only stronger than Yu Xiaogang, not weaker.