Entering the Soul Beast Forest

Xu Qianqian and the other two stepped down from the carriage.

Their goal this time was to hunt a soul beast called the Bloodfeather Wolf. This type of soul beast was well suited for absorption by wolf-type martial souls, and their target was one between three and four hundred years old.

For soul beasts below a thousand years, every additional hundred years increased the difficulty of absorption to a certain extent.

In theory, a Soul Master could absorb a soul ring over four hundred years old.

If they took whale glue.

A thousand-year soul ring might even be possible, but Xu Qianqian felt it was better to play it safe.

If she actually got the city lord's biological son killed, her position as his adopted daughter would become rather awkward.

She had subtly gotten a certain someone to eat whale glue for a while, and he had also been tempered by the spiritual pressure of the Gale Wolf King phantom for so long.

If he still could not absorb a three-to-four-hundred-year soul ring, Xiao Yuanshan might as well raise another kid.

The boy was simply too useless. There was no helping it.

"Come to think of it, this is Yu'er's first time in the Soul Beast Forest, isn't it?"

Xiao Yuanshan's voice pulled Xu Qianqian back from her wandering thoughts, but she merely listened quietly to the two of them talk.

"Yes. I didn't expect it to be so lively even near the Soul Beast Forest," Xiao Chenyu remarked.

Xiao Yuanshan shook his head. "Yu'er, Qianqian, soul masters without any backing can only hunt soul rings by teaming up with others."

"That's why there is usually a market like this near a Soul Beast Forest."

"What I need to tell you is that this kind of team-up comes with the risk of being stabbed in the back."

"Because no one trusts one another?" Xiao Chenyu asked thoughtfully.

"That's right," Xiao Yuanshan said. "There is a huge difference between major sects and ordinary soul masters like us."

"Whether it is absorbing soul rings or improving one's physique, there are plenty of methods." As he spoke, he gave Xu Qianqian a seemingly casual glance.

Xu Qianqian had kept whale glue from him, but she had made Xiao Chenyu eat it for several months. If it truly had no effect, she would not have been so adamant given her personality.

During that time, rumors had spread that the city lord of the City Lord's Manor was impotent at night, leaving Xiao Yuanshan utterly unable to defend himself.

Returning to his senses, Xiao Yuanshan continued, "All kinds of targeted preparations also give the disciples of major sects a higher starting point than ordinary people."

"They already start higher, so naturally their descendants will be more outstanding as well. Their initial innate soul power is often higher than that of soul masters awakened from ordinary people."

"It is said that in certain top-tier sects, anyone who wishes to become a candidate for sect master successor need not even think about it without innate soul power above level seven."

"Innate level seven..." Xiao Chenyu clicked his tongue in amazement.

"The level of one's innate soul power determines the cultivation speed of one's martial soul, and even its cultivation limit."

After saying that, Xiao Yuanshan looked at Xu Qianqian, who had remained silent.

"Qianqian, you need a token to enter the Soul Beast Forest. You've come here many times with the headmaster, so you know that, right?"

"Mm. The tokens are issued by Spirit Hall, but they seem different from the one you just showed me."

"That is also what I wanted to explain: there are two different categories of tokens."

Xiao Yuanshan took out a token bearing the mark of Notting City, with the words Heaven Dou inscribed on it as well.

"Due to the relationship between Spirit Hall, the Star Luo Empire, and the Heaven Dou Empire, tokens are divided into two categories."

"One type is issued by the two empires and recognized by Spirit Hall. They are generally only given to official personnel of the empires."

"The other type is issued by Spirit Hall and represents sects and academies."

"That kind of token... I have one too." After thinking it over, Xiao Yuanshan hesitated slightly before taking out a token with strange patterns on it. It was completely different from the previous one and looked quite exquisite.

"This token is so pretty," Xiao Chenyu said in surprise.

The token was covered in dense patterns that faintly formed images. Some patterns connected with others, combining into entirely different images.

Amid the black-and-white patterns, some parts had been colored, occupying more than half of the entire design.

"Such tokens are issued by Spirit Hall. They are usually only given to sects, powerful soul masters, or places like academies. They are also divided into permanent and time-limited types."

Xu Qianqian's eyelashes flickered slightly. If she remembered correctly, this token seemed to be the one her father had handed to Xiao Yuanshan.

"So many patterns are lit up? It doesn't look like something a Soul King should possess."

Xu Qianqian noticed Xiao Yuanshan's hesitation when he took out the token, but she did not ask further.

No matter what the truth was, there was no point in knowing it without sufficient strength.

After that brief interlude, the three of them entered the Soul Beast Forest.

After dealing with the several-decade-old soul beasts that attacked them along the way, the three entered an area where hundred-year soul beasts often appeared.

"Yu'er, Qianqian, ahead is a gathering place for hundred-year soul beasts. Thousand-year soul beasts may even appear sometimes. You must stay alert."

Xiao Yuanshan's voice was stern as he warned them. Xu Qianqian and Xiao Chenyu both nodded.

The forest gradually grew denser. Even beneath the sunlight, the surroundings seemed somewhat dim, and the vegetation appeared to be a deeper shade as well.

Xu Qianqian activated her wide-area perception.

With herself at the center, everything within a radius of one thousand meters fell within her senses.

"Head west. There's a Bloodfeather Wolf there that's nearly four hundred years old."

Because the distance was too great, Xu Qianqian could not appraise it with her martial soul, but she could still make out some details.

"Alright!" Xiao Yuanshan merely gave Xu Qianqian a long look at her suggestion and did not press her for answers.

Following the location Xu Qianqian had indicated, the group quietly approached.

After parting a clump of waist-high grass, they saw a Bloodfeather Wolf nearly two meters long, its fur pitch-black, lying silently on the ground as though taking an afternoon nap.

"Bloodfeather Wolf. Cultivation: 385 years. Wind attribute. Soul skill..."

Through her martial soul's appraisal, Xu Qianqian obtained the soul beast's true information.

At Xu Qianqian's slight nod, Xiao Yuanshan immediately launched his attack.

The Bloodfeather Wolf sensed the danger and jolted awake. The enemies had already reached its very face.

Xiao Yuanshan was surprised as well. Why was this wolf so poorly alert? That clearly did not match the Bloodfeather Wolf's usual habits.

However, opportunity would not come twice.

He kicked the Bloodfeather Wolf into the air, depriving it of any point from which to exert force.

Then, he unleashed his third soul skill, aiming at the Bloodfeather Wolf's vulnerable abdomen and piercing straight through it.

In the blink of an eye, the Bloodfeather Wolf was on its last breath as it crashed to the ground. The prepared Xiao Chenyu immediately drew his dagger and delivered the fatal blow.

"Quick, absorb the soul ring!" Xiao Chenyu had already sat cross-legged and begun drawing the soul ring into his body without needing Xiao Yuanshan to say more.

"Now it's up to him." Xiao Yuanshan let out a long breath.

If his son had not insisted on a soul beast ring from one over three hundred years old, refusing to accept anything less.

He could have gotten Xiao Chenyu an ordinary hundred-year soul beast a year ago, and the absorption would not have been nearly this difficult.

When had his normally carefree son become so determined in his cultivation?

Sure enough, people influenced one another.

After spraying the beast-repelling mist they had brought around the area, Xiao Yuanshan looked at Xu Qianqian and asked in a low voice, "The Bloodfeather Wolf failed to notice us because of you, Qianqian, right?"

"Mm..." Xu Qianqian nodded.

"I used my domain to conceal our presence, bringing the three of us into relative harmony with the surrounding environment."

"You used your domain?"

Xiao Yuanshan was astonished. He had not noticed the slightest trace of his adoptive daughter using her domain.

"Yes. It's the only domain I have that I can show off, so naturally I have to practice it properly."

Xu Qianqian spread her hands.

"This isn't something simple practice can achieve!" Xiao Yuanshan's voice carried a hint of disbelief.

He was a level 38 Soul Elder, yet he could not even detect a Soul Master using an innate domain.

That was too terrifying.

Xiao Yuanshan even thought of the mistress of Moon Pavilion in the Heaven Dou Imperial Capital.

Could Xu Qianqian, at such a young age, already have reached her level?