A Ten-Year-Old Soul Elder Seeks His Third Soul Ring

In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.

Bai Yi was ten years old.

He had grown quite a bit taller. He was now about the same height as Ye Lingling, and no longer stood out as a head shorter than everyone else in the Heaven Dou Class.

Some of the baby fat had faded from his face, sharpening his features. His eyes had taken on a faint golden hue.

This was the outward manifestation of the Lingming Stone Monkey's origin.

His black hair had grown a little longer, messy and flowing like feathers.

Ye Lingling had grown as well. Her blue hair was longer than before, falling to her waist.

She still wore a veil. She only removed it when she was alone or when she was privately with Bai Yi.

Over the past two years, the Heaven Dou Class students had grown used to seeing the two of them appear together.

"Do you think Ye Lingling was pretending before?"

A boy squatted at the edge of the training field and whispered,

"She never talked to anyone before, but now she spends every day with Bai Yi. Could he be the legendary child husband?"

The person beside him replied,

"You just don't get it. Smart people start picking out talented prospects early. Otherwise, when they get old, they'll end up leftover women."

"Besides, you've been beaten up by Bai Yi before. He's such a freak that even if you brought in a princess, she'd only serve as his foil."

"...You're right. I'm not worthy."

Bai Yi did not hear those words.

But he could feel the looks around him, and he had long since gotten used to them.

In other people's eyes, he and Ye Lingling were indeed practically inseparable.

They attended class together in the morning, ate lunch together at noon, teamed up to beat others down in practical combat class in the afternoon, and went home together at night.

Still, the results of his cultivation over the past two years had been considerable. By his rough estimate, his body could now directly absorb a Soul Ring under fifty thousand years for his third ring.

After class ended that afternoon, Zhi Lin called Bai Yi to his office. Meng Shenji was there as well.

"Bai Yi, what rank are you now?" Zhi Lin asked nervously.

"Thirty."

Zhi Lin and Meng Shenji exchanged a glance.

A ten-year-old Soul Elder—there had never been such a precedent since Heaven Dou Royal Academy had been founded.

"Then it's time for you to hunt your third Soul Ring," Meng Shenji said.

"We discussed it. Zhi Lin will lead the team, along with two Heaven Dou Grade teachers, and accompany you to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a suitable soul beast."

Bai Yi did not hesitate.

"No need."

Meng Shenji frowned.

"What did you say?"

"I'll go myself," Bai Yi said.

"I have the ability to kill the soul beast I need."

Meng Shenji fell silent for a moment, his tone turning grave.

"Bai Yi, you're only ten. The outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest are one thing, but even Soul Kings don't dare enter the core region carelessly. If you go alone and something happens, who will take responsibility?"

Bai Yi thought for a moment and changed his wording.

"Then let me scout ahead first. Once I find a suitable soul beast, I'll notify you."

Meng Shenji glanced at Zhi Lin and shook his head.

"No. With your personality, you'll say you're scouting, then end up fighting it alone. I don't agree."

Bai Yi knew he could not outargue two Soul Douluo, so he nodded.

"Then I'll go after you've made the arrangements."

Zhi Lin looked at him, feeling that the boy had agreed a little too quickly.

But Bai Yi's expression was utterly sincere. The two did not question him further and let him leave.

Bai Yi walked out of the office, left the academy, and returned to his large residence.

He waited for about half an hour, then transformed.

He became a tiny black beetle, its wings as thin as paper.

His viewpoint lowered, and the dormitory floor became an enormous flat expanse.

He vibrated his wings and slipped out through a gap in the window.

The night wind blew against him as he flew above the palace walls.

Outside the wall, two people in plain clothes stood beneath a tree—spies sent by Xue Qinghe.

They had been stationed there after that banquet. The people occasionally rotated, but the surveillance had never stopped.

The beetle flew over the wall and passed above their heads without drawing any notice.

Bai Yi flew through the night sky for some distance. Only after confirming that no one was following did he return to normal.

He stood on the official road outside Heaven Dou City and rolled his shoulders.

Then he drew a deep breath of the wilderness air and headed south.

The Star Dou Great Forest lay south of Heaven Dou City. It was not too far away. With his current Soul Elder-level speed and the aid of Somersault Cloud, he could reach it in roughly two hours.

After walking for some distance, Bai Yi suddenly stopped and glanced back toward Heaven Dou City.

In the night, Heaven Dou City's lights looked like yellow stars scattered across the horizon. Xue Qinghe's East Palace was probably somewhere near the center of the city, though it was too difficult to make out clearly.

"I've gotten pretty much all the wool I can from that sheep."

Bai Yi muttered to himself, "Now it's time to handle the real business."

For his third Soul Ring, he intended to search and hunt on his own.

After all, ever since gaining the Seventy-Two Transformations and the Body Outside Body Technique, he had yet to truly fight a proper battle.

Star Dou Great Forest.

Bai Yi pushed aside the last cluster of bushes, and the clearing before him made him halt.

At the center of the clearing stood an enormous dark-blue lizard—a Thunder-Patterned Earth Dragon. It was over six meters long, and the golden markings along its back glimmered faintly beneath the sunlight.

It had its head lowered as it gnawed on the remains of prey, its thick tail slowly swaying across the ground and sweeping shallow furrows through the dirt.

Bai Yi crouched behind the bushes without moving. He waited patiently.

Before long.

A sharp screech rang out from the sky, piercing as a blade scraping across the eardrums.

Bai Yi looked up and saw a golden shadow plummet vertically from the clouds.

It was too fast. He could only see a black-and-gold afterimage trailing arcs of lightning as it tore across the sky.

The Thunder-Patterned Earth Dragon reacted swiftly. As it raised its head, blue light surged around its body and the golden markings on its back lit up at once.

It opened its mouth and blasted a thick pillar of blue lightning into the sky.

The Golden-Winged Thunder Roc did not dodge.

It tilted one wing in midair, spinning half a turn. As it rotated, the golden feathers along its wings flung out three crescent-shaped lightning blades.

The lightning blades sliced through the earth dragon's lightning pillar, splitting it down the middle as sparks scattered outward like shattered fragments.

The three lightning blades passed through the shattered lightning and struck the earth dragon with precision.

The first sliced open the scales on its back. The second tore a bone-deep wound across its shoulder. The third severed one of its front claws outright.

The earth dragon let out a muffled roar and toppled onto its side.

The Golden-Winged Thunder Roc dove to less than ten meters above the ground before abruptly spreading its wings. The tremendous gust flattened the surrounding grass and trees against the earth.

It extended its claws and gripped the earth dragon's head with deadly precision.

Its dark-golden claws pierced through the scales and plunged into its skull.

The earth dragon's body convulsed violently a few times, then fell still.

The entire process had taken fewer than five breaths.

Bai Yi remained crouched behind the bushes, holding his breath without moving.

He watched as the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc tore open the earth dragon's abdomen with its beak, removed a faintly glowing light-blue core, swallowed it, then flapped its wings and vanished behind a distant ridge.

Only then did Bai Yi rise from behind the bushes and walk to the edge of the clearing.

The earth dragon's corpse still gave off heat, while the golden markings on its back had already dimmed.

Bai Yi crouched down and examined the wounds cut open by the lightning blades.

The cross-sections of the scales were smooth and even, as though they had been cut by an incredibly sharp weapon.

He reached out and touched the scales along the edge of a wound. A faint numbness spread through his fingertips.

"That was a ten-thousand-year soul beast, yet that Golden-Winged Thunder Roc killed it with one strike."

Bai Yi stood and looked in the direction where the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc had disappeared.

"You're the one, my third Soul Ring."

Bai Yi dusted off his hands and turned to head deeper into the forest.