Five Years, Awakening His Martial Soul

Time flew by, and five years passed in the blink of an eye.

In Nine Spirit Forest, a soul beast forest in the northwestern region of the former Douluo Continent, a black tiger was fighting a dark blue turtle.

The black tiger stood over a meter tall. It was powerful and robust, its muscular body brimming with strength. Black qi swirled around it, and its blood-red eyes made its aura exceptionally ferocious.

In terms of killing intent, it completely overwhelmed the Azure Nether Turtle, which had withdrawn its head into its shell. One was excessively fierce, while the other was overly timid.

"Yiyi! (It's useless even if you hide in there.)" Yi Yi, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, gave up on using its claws and began trying to insert its tail hook.

Not far away, a six-year-old boy dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and trousers watched the scene calmly.

Over the past five years, Jing Chen had often come to the soul beast forest with Yi Yi to hunt soul beasts. He had long grown accustomed to such scenes.

Now six years old, he had grown to one meter and thirty centimeters tall. He was moderately built, and his clean, neat clothes made him look very spirited.

Because he had long consumed soul beast meat rich in energy, he had developed quickly. Whether in height or strength, he far surpassed children his age.

Combined with his calm, sharp gaze that was wholly at odds with his age, he looked like a miniature adult.

"An Azure Nether Turtle—a high-level defensive soul beast. Its cultivation should be between roughly four thousand five hundred and five thousand years."

Jing Chen murmured to himself. Through observation, he not only identified the soul beast but also estimated its approximate cultivation based on its physical characteristics.

Over the past five years, he had read the soul beast illustrated guide several times. Though he could not say he remembered every last detail, he had retained at least eighty or ninety percent of it.

He could now be considered a walking soul beast encyclopedia. He could recognize nearly every soul beast he encountered and estimate its cultivation.

Jing Chen's judgment was essentially correct. This Azure Nether Turtle's cultivation was indeed between four thousand five hundred and five thousand years.

Among soul beasts, such cultivation was not weak. Unfortunately for it, it had encountered a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger that was nearly two thousand years old.

A Super Soul Beast like the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger could contend with many Thousand-Year Soul Beasts after only a hundred years of cultivation, and might even have a chance against weaker Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

Now that its cultivation had reached two thousand years, it was practically invincible among Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

Even some Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts might take a detour upon encountering it, unwilling to confront it head-on.

The racial gap between the Azure Nether Turtle and the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger meant that even with more than two thousand additional years of cultivation, it was still useless. It remained utterly outmatched.

There had never been any suspense in this battle. In the end, the Azure Nether Turtle was killed by Yi Yi.

After the Azure Nether Turtle died, Jing Chen approached it. The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, which had been over a meter tall, shrank to the size of a puppy and naturally leaped onto Jing Chen's head to lie down.

Jing Chen had long become used to Yi Yi's bad habit of resting on his head, and he did not resist it.

Ordinary Dark Demon Evil God Tigers did not possess the ability to shrink their bodies. Yi Yi could shrink because it was one of the abilities it possessed as a Reincarnation Sacred Beast.

Arriving beside the Azure Nether Turtle's corpse, Jing Chen touched its shell with the Storage Ring on his right middle finger.

The Storage Ring activated, and the Azure Nether Turtle's corpse turned into a beam of light that shot into the ring.

This Storage Ring had been given to him as a bonus when the Artifact Spirit distributed rewards. It had a storage space of a full thousand cubic meters, enough to hold a large soul beast like the Azure Nether Turtle.

"It's time to go back." After skillfully storing away the soul beast's corpse, Jing Chen headed out of the forest.

This Nine Spirit Forest was the forest where he had arrived upon reincarnating. Over the past five years, he had often been active here.

There were two reasons for that. First, he allowed Yi Yi to hunt the soul beasts within it and improve its cultivation through devouring them.

The second reason was that he needed a source of income to survive, and selling soul beast meat was the best way to make money.

Of course, he had never expected to become rich by selling soul beast meat. Each time, he only sold a few jin of it, enough to exchange for basic living expenses.

He kept the rest of the soul beast meat to eat, using it to fill both his and Yi Yi's stomachs.

After leaving the forest, Jing Chen began to run. He was not especially fast, but his strides were steady as he ran toward the house he had built more than six thousand meters away.

He did not live in the city dozens of li away. Instead, he had built a wooden house himself in an uninhabited area.

More than an hour later, Jing Chen arrived home. His house was a rather simple one-story wooden structure, with a triangular metal roof that ensured it would not leak when it rained.

He took out his key, unlocked the door, pushed it open, and entered. The previously dark cabin brightened as the door opened.

The house was very simple. It contained only a bed, a table, stools, a bookcase and books, cooking utensils, and some metal components.

Jing Chen's only requirement for the house was that it be livable. He had not put much effort into furnishing or decorating it.

After returning, Jing Chen rested for more than ten minutes before leaving the house and taking out the Azure Nether Turtle's corpse in an open area.

At the same time, he took out a simple cutting device he had made himself—simply put, a chainsaw.

However, since this world did not yet have electricity, he had modified it, using Soul Power energy in place of electricity.

The metal block containing Soul Power energy had been dismantled from a Soul Guiding Lamp, not provided by Jing Chen himself.

"Bzzzzz..." The cutting device started up. Its toothed metal wheel spun at high speed, so fast that it seemed motionless.

Jing Chen held the cutter and began cutting at the connection between the Azure Nether Turtle's belly and shell. That was a relatively weaker part of a turtle, making it easier to cut through.

Over the years, he had processed quite a few soul beast corpses and had long gained experience. Handling the Azure Nether Turtle's body was second nature to him.

After spending over an hour processing the Azure Nether Turtle, Jing Chen began cooking. To save trouble, he simply boiled it in water and ate it with dipping sauce.

Yi Yi had always been an expert eater. Most of the cooked food was devoured by it.

Jing Chen ate about as much as an adult. Naturally, that was also quite a large appetite for his six-year-old body.

It's about time to awaken my Martial Soul. After eating his fill, Jing Chen lay on the grass in front of the wooden house and thought this to himself.

Over the past five years, he had laid out plans for everything, from his own cultivation to how he would unify the continent.

But because he had not yet awakened his Martial Soul and could not possess Soul Power, he had been unable to take the first step of his plan.

The next day, Jing Chen woke up at seven as usual. While he placed soul beast meat in a pot to cook, he went to train his body. Yi Yi was still sleeping in.

More than an hour later, Jing Chen set off for Ye City, which was more than fifty li away.

I need to start making transportation as soon as possible, Jing Chen thought as he ran.

Over the past few years, he had also learned through inquiries that he was in Douluo Continent II, during Huo Yuhao's era.

The main basis for this judgment was the legend from over a hundred years ago concerning the Black-White Sacred Dragon. Wasn't that White Sacred Dragon referring to Mu En, the Bright Holy Dragon?

Combined with deductions from several other matters, he became certain that he was indeed living during Huo Yuhao's era.

Moreover, he might not be much younger than Huo Yuhao, at most two or three years apart.

During the era of Douluo II, the continent's Soul Tool Technology was still in its developmental stage. There was still a considerable gap before it reached the level of technological advancement seen in Douluo III, with Soul Tool Automobiles and ferries.

There were currently no Soul Tool Automobiles, communication devices, or ferries on the continent. Even aircraft were rather rudimentary.

Yet in his eyes, all of these were business opportunities for getting rich. As long as he made proper use of them, he could amass the world's wealth through them.

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