Star Dou Great Forest.
As soon as Su Changge stepped into the forest, the ancient trees blotting out the sky blocked his view.
The space around him seemed cut off from the outside world, sinking into absolute silence.
If not for the occasional cries of Soul Beasts coming from deep within the forest,
the darkness and oppressive atmosphere would have been enough to drive anyone mad with loneliness.
After smearing his entire body with the leftover droppings of Soul Beasts, Su Changge crouched in the undergrowth, watching the Soul Beasts that passed by.
It was a common trick for ordinary people to avoid wild beasts. Though filthy, it was highly effective.
Clutching the dagger in his hand, which had been coated with more than a dozen kinds of poison, Su Changge rapidly sifted through the Hundred-Year Soul Beasts he knew.
Over the past ten years, he had asked Yu Xiaogang countless times which Soul Beasts would be suitable as the First Soul Ring for the Goblin Cub Martial Soul, but... Yu Xiaogang had never answered.
Things had come to this. For now, he could only rely on his own judgment... and instincts.
"The Goblin race has far too many drawbacks in its early stages. Its attack, defense, and support abilities are practically nonexistent compared with Martial Souls and Soul Beasts of the same kind. And its body is too weak to provide a Soul Master with any meaningful increase in combat power."
"To offset the Goblin Martial Soul's early-stage drawbacks, the First Soul Ring must come from a physically powerful Soul Beast. The best choices would undoubtedly be a dragon-blooded beast or an ancient species, but those Soul Beasts are impossible to find on demand. Aside from the protagonist's group, few people could hope to have that kind of luck."
"The second choice would undoubtedly be a bear, tiger, lion, ape, or python—a group of Soul Beasts with powerful bodies and terrifying combat strength. Even if the Soul Beast I hunt in the early stages is below the ideal age, I can make up for the deficiency later by raising the Soul Ring's age through other means."
"The third..."
One option after another flashed through Su Changge's mind, and in the end, he settled on the second choice.
Among the great Soul Beast clans of bears, tigers, lions, apes, and pythons, the most famous were undoubtedly the Titan Giant Ape, Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, Golden Nine-Headed Lion, and other such clans.
According to the records, each of these Soul Beast clans had members who had lived for over a hundred thousand years, even beings of kingly stature.
Their potential was outrageously high.
Of course, even the most ordinary members of these powerful clans almost always lived in the mixed and core regions of Star Dou Great Forest. Whether he could encounter one in the outskirts was another matter entirely.
"It's nightfall."
After continuing onward for several hours, Su Changge saw starlight filtering down and immediately stopped.
He found a thicket near a muddy pool and buried himself in it.
The dead of night was a paradise for Soul Beast predators.
A weakling like him would meet only death if he made even the slightest sound.
"Boom!"
The next morning, Su Changge had just dozed off, unable to fight his exhaustion, when a sudden explosion jolted him awake.
"There. There's the ripple of a Soul Skill, and... that sound is a tiger's roar."
After determining the direction, Su Changge gritted his teeth and crept toward the source of the explosion.
Fortune favored the bold. At the very least, he had to find out what kind of tiger Soul Beast it was.
After sneaking about a thousand meters, Su Changge reached the scene.
In the clearing ahead, four Soul Masters were surrounding a huge, dark-green tiger. A little kid of about ten stood outside the battle.
"Shadow Ghost Tiger!"
Once he identified the giant tiger, Su Changge's interest waned.
This shadow-type Soul Beast had some redeeming qualities in combat, but its weaknesses were far too obvious.
If it encountered a holy-light-type or fire-attribute Soul Skill, it would be powerless to fight back.
As Su Changge watched, the Shadow Ghost Tiger took several low-tier Soul Skills head-on and lost its fighting ability completely. Blood poured from its abdomen, and it fell unconscious, gravely wounded.
"Check the Shadow Ghost Tiger's vital signs."
"Position Three, keep watch and make sure the Shadow Ghost Tiger can't threaten the client."
"Position Four, ready your healing skill. Be prepared to handle any emergencies."
"Those Soul Masters out there are so professional!!!"
Watching the four Soul Masters take all kinds of precautions after bringing down the Shadow Ghost Tiger, Su Changge's eyes widened repeatedly.
These guys really knew their business.
Even the Soul Masters from the academies probably couldn't take risk prevention to this level, could they???
"Position Two confirms the danger has been eliminated."
"Position Three confirms the area is safe!"
"Position Four is ready."
After a string of responses, the leading Soul Master jogged over to the ten-year-old kid and put on a fawning smile. "Honored client, all danger has been eliminated. This Shadow Ghost Tiger is yours now. You can go kill it and claim your Soul Ring."
"Ah... oh, right. Thank you, thank you."
The kid seemed to have only just recovered from his fright. He replied, drew the short sword at his waist, and hurriedly made his way toward the unconscious Shadow Ghost Tiger.
Squelch.
The short sword pierced its throat.
The Shadow Ghost Tiger's breath faded completely. In its place, a Yellow Soul Ring rose from the tiger's corpse, shining with dazzling light.
But what made the four Soul Masters' faces go slack was the kid's reaction after touching the Soul Ring with both hands. He froze in place, then looked at them helplessly.
"Damn it. We can't be that unlucky, can we?"
The leading Soul Master muttered under his breath, slapped his forehead, and wore an utterly hopeless expression.
"Th-that Soul Ring is three hundred and ninety years old. It exceeds the limit of what I can absorb right now..."
"But don't worry, I'm very satisfied with your service. I can pay more—double, triple, whatever you want—as long as you help me hunt a suitable hundred-year tiger-type Soul Beast and claim its Soul Ring."
"Pay more?"
The four Soul Masters seemed to have been triggered by some special switch. Their expressions changed in unison, and they all put on fawning smiles.
"Ah, my honored client, why didn't you say you could pay more earlier?"
"If you'd said so sooner, we would've given you the full foot-bath treatment... Come on, let's keep going. According to the map of the outer region, there are more tiger-type Soul Beasts ten li ahead."
"Brothers, no matter what, we've got to make sure you go back fully satisfied."
Over the next few days, Su Changge encountered more than ten Soul Hunting mercenary teams in the outer region and gathered intelligence on plenty of Soul Beasts there.
Fortunately, he kept his distance, so he never attracted the attention of those Soul Hunting mercenary teams.
Before he knew it, Su Changge had ventured a hundred li into the forest and reached the heart of the outer region.
"According to the information those Soul Hunting mercenary teams let slip, this should be the area where the Titan Giant Ape has appeared before."
Su Changge climbed with all his might to the top of the thickest tree within a radius of several hundred meters. He concealed himself beneath the dense canopy and swept his surroundings with a blade-sharp gaze.
After waiting for several hours, Su Changge felt the earth tremble beneath his feet.
At the edge of his vision, a Titan Giant Ape over nine meters tall strode past the low-growing trees, heading in his direction.
"Damn those Soul Masters! Why didn't they mention how old this Titan Giant Ape was?"
"At over eight meters tall, this Titan Giant Ape must be at least three thousand years old."
"The poison I have on hand probably wouldn't even be enough to make it yawn."
Su Changge's face turned green, the same color as his Martial Soul. He lowered himself, afraid that even the slightest trace of his presence might escape and turn him into a crunchy snack for the Titan Giant Ape.