An Encounter in the Forest

Star Dou Great Forest, one of humanity's forbidden zones.

As one of the three major wild Soul Beast habitats, this was naturally the place Spirit Masters most hoped to visit. Every visit here meant they were about to advance.

Within the dense forest, one tall and one short figure slowly made their way forward.

The taller one was not very old either, appearing to be around thirty. His looks were ordinary. He had plain black hair and simple, unadorned clothes, while a trace of profound light shone from his bright black eyes.

The shorter one was not that young, either.

Judging by his skin, he was about twelve years old. He was quite tall, standing at 1.7 meters. He was handsome, and his eyes held a wise, profound gaze.

"Lin Hao, don't be impatient. Finding a Spirit Ring requires patience!"

"Teacher Qin Ming, I can wait!"

After returning from Battle Through the Heavens to Douluo, Lin Hao first took Old Jack to the junior Soul Master Academy in Nuoding City.

He asked the headmaster to take him and Old Jack to the Soul Hunting Forest to help Old Jack hunt a Soul Beast.

Out of consideration for Lin Hao, the headmaster accepted his request.

By now, Old Jack had also become a one-ring Battle Spirit Master.

After helping Old Jack obtain his Spirit Ring, Lin Hao completed his graduation procedures.

Since the school term had already begun, the headmaster personally wrote a letter of recommendation to resolve Lin Hao's enrollment problem.

Calling it a letter of recommendation was not quite accurate. It was actually proof that Lin Hao was an outstanding student, along with a brief explanation of why he had delayed graduation. It bore the seals of both the headmaster and the academy.

Afterward, Lin Hao went to Heaven Dou City to enroll at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

He was twelve years old and already a level-thirty, two-ring Soul Grandmaster.

For such an outstanding student, Heaven Dou Royal Academy accepted Lin Hao as a transfer student without hesitation.

When they heard that Lin Hao wanted the academy to send an exceptional teacher to help him hunt a Soul Beast and obtain his third Spirit Ring, the academy attached great importance to the matter and dispatched Heaven Dou-level Qin Ming to assist him.

In his previous life, Qin Ming had been criticized as an ungrateful wretch.

When Shrek Academy had wanted to use Heaven Dou Royal Academy as a springboard, Prince Xue Xing made things difficult for them. Yet Qin Ming had actually left with Flender and the others, forgetting that Heaven Dou Royal Academy had also nurtured him.

Lin Hao did not care whether Qin Ming was ungrateful or not.

He had entered the academy to study. Once he obtained his Spirit Ring, his dealings with Qin Ming would grow fewer and fewer, perhaps even disappear entirely.

"Gold-attribute Soul Beasts are relatively hard to find. Let's keep searching here. If we can't find one, we'll go deeper into the forest." Qin Ming seemed to be talking to himself as he laid out the next step of the plan.

"Alright, Teacher Qin Ming."

Lin Hao's first Spirit Ring had the earth attribute, and its Spirit Skill was the Mountain Moving Talisman.

His second Spirit Ring had the water attribute, and its Spirit Skill was the Sea Overturning Talisman.

People aimed higher. None of the Soul Master Academies in the Balak Kingdom were among Lin Hao's options.

So, when the headmaster of Notting Academy asked Lin Hao to choose an academy for further study, his first thought had been the imperial capital, Heaven Dou City.

The most famous academies in Heaven Dou City were six in number: the five elemental academies and Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

The Mountain Moving Talisman could have allowed Lin Hao to enter Elephant Armor Academy.

Elephant Armor Academy was a family-oriented academy. If Lin Hao entered, there was an extremely high chance he would face exclusion.

The Sea Overturning Talisman had the water attribute, making Skywater Academy an option. However, it accepted only women, and they had to be beautiful.

After careful consideration, Lin Hao ultimately decided to enroll at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, which had no restrictions on Soul Power attributes.

"Lin Hao, can you tell me about your teacher?" Qin Ming suddenly asked.

Lin Hao was young, and to avoid unnecessary trouble, he had lied when discussing the attribute of his third Spirit Ring, claiming that his teacher had required it to be gold-attributed.

Qin Ming continued, "The Spirit Master world is divided into two major cultivation schools: the Balanced Path and the Extremist Path. Whether it is the Balanced Path or the Extremist Path, Spirit Masters choose Spirit Rings of the same attribute when obtaining them. No one has ever followed the path of the Ultimate Balanced Path."

"There is now." Lin Hao smiled and added, "As for my teacher, he is a reclusive master. He instructed me not to reveal his name. Please forgive me, but I cannot tell you who he is."

The Ultimate Balanced Path referred not only to following multiple paths of development such as control, support, and agility, but also to developing different attributes.

Boom!

Suddenly, an energy shockwave came from the distance.

Qin Ming immediately became alert, and his Martial Soul possessed him at once.

A mass of yellow flames rose from his body. The muscles beneath his clothes abruptly swelled, stretching his originally loose outer robe taut, while both of his eyes turned yellow.

He scanned the surroundings but detected no danger.

Qin Ming lightly tapped off the ground, leaping between tree trunks as he swiftly climbed a large tree and stood atop its crown.

Just as Qin Ming reached the treetop, he was astonished to discover that Lin Hao was standing atop the crown of another tree.

Qin Ming's heart tightened.

Lin Hao gazed into the distance. More than twenty kilometers ahead, a faint glow could be seen blooming. The sounds of battle were coming from that direction.

"Such powerful energy fluctuations. Teacher Qin Ming, let's go take a look!"

"Alright. But be careful."

Having received permission, Lin Hao pushed off with the tip of his foot and used the Flying Catkin Movement Technique, leaving layers of afterimages behind him.

Qin Ming's heart tightened again. Without summoning his Martial Soul, this is a Self-Created Soul Skill. Just who is his teacher? With this one Self-Created Soul Skill alone, his agility is already no weaker than that of the three-ring Soul Elder Osler!

When Lin Hao reached the site of the incident, he happened to see six people with wings on their backs flying in one direction.

"Hm?"

Lin Hao secretly became wary. He blinked, thinking, Could they be from Shrek Academy?

Lin Hao had never attended Shrek Academy.

Nor had he ever met Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Ma Hongjun, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, or Zhao Wuji.

From their ability to fly and their respective appearances, Lin Hao guessed that there was an eighty percent chance they were from Shrek Academy.

Then what was that battle just now? Did Er Ming take Xiao Wu away? With that thought, Lin Hao did not hesitate and followed Zhao Wuji and the others.

"Teacher Zhao?" Qin Ming had clearly recognized Zhao Wuji, who was leading the group ahead. He hurriedly called out, "Follow them."

They continued running through the forest. From afar, they could hear voices coming from ahead.

"Kid, you're not deliberately using the Titan Giant Ape to toy with me, are you? I don't have time to waste here with you. If you join my family, I'll let you absorb this Spirit Ring. Otherwise, leave behind an arm as compensation for my granddaughter."

"Since you can't help me fulfill my wish of saving Xiao Wu, then naturally I can't join your family. If you want my arm, come take it yourself!"

"Since you want to die, I'll grant you your wish."