The First Soul Ring and the Emotion-Transforming Sword

Star Dou Forest was the largest gathering place for soul beasts on Douluo Continent. At a glance, it was an untouched primeval forest.

Most of the continent's soul beasts lived here. It could be said that the variety of soul beasts within Star Dou Forest surpassed even all the other soul beast habitats combined.

Without exaggeration, as long as a soul master who came here to hunt soul beasts had enough luck, they could find a soul beast suitable to serve as their martial soul's soul ring in Star Dou Forest.

Not only did Star Dou Forest contain half of the continent's Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, it was also the place with the most Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts aside from the ocean.

Thus, unlike other Soul Hunting Forests, the soul beasts here had not yet been enclosed and raised by humans like those in the other hunting forests. But ten thousand years later...

Even the nearest soul hunting town was dozens of kilometers away from Star Dou Forest, out of fear that the soul beasts within would launch a beast tide.

"Mental Attribute soul beasts are basically impossible to find in the outer regions. We'll still need to go deeper inside. This old man can help you with your first soul ring, but after that, you'll have to rely on yourself."

"Mm, thank you."

Jiang Yue felt somewhat troubled by the old man's words.

The reason Mental Attribute soul masters were so rare was not only because Mental Attribute martial souls were inherently uncommon, but also because Mental Attribute soul beasts were scarce.

Not to mention that this era did not yet have any systematic method for cultivating spiritual power.

If one really had to name one, perhaps only Tang Sect's Purple Demon Eye could be considered a spiritual power cultivation method.

Jiang Yue had some ideas regarding soul rings for the Passionate Sword. Of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, three possessed Mental Attributes: Evil Eye Tyrant, Ten Thousand Demon King, and Demon Spirit, who had only appeared by name in the original work.

If he wanted the Passionate Sword to absorb the soul rings of those creatures, Jiang Yue might need to turn around and add several suitable soul rings to the Unfeeling Sword when he reached around the seventh ring, so that his body and spiritual power could reach the level necessary to absorb Ferocious Beast soul rings sooner.

After all, the threshold for absorbing a Ferocious Beast soul ring was the physical constitution and spiritual power of a Titled Douluo.

But that was all for the future. Thinking about it now was still far too unrealistic.

And speaking of Mental Attribute soul beasts, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was an existence that simply could not be ignored during the era of Unrivaled Tang Sect.

A million-year Mental Attribute soul beast, he could not only provide an additional martial soul, but his innate spiritual origin could also raise ten soul rings to the hundred-thousand-year level.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could be called the greatest cheat in Unrivaled Tang Sect aside from Electrolux.

The only concern was whether that person in the heavens had noticed Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the first true million-year soul beast.

Jiang Yue had originally been able to determine that the current timeline was around before the events of Unrivaled Tang Sect. After asking around over this period, he could confirm that the main storyline of Unrivaled Tang Sect had not yet begun. He simply could not determine how long it would be before that Spirit Eyes boy began his life of being manipulated.

Logically speaking, one had to be extremely careful within Star Dou Forest, because no one knew whether a soul beast might leap out from some hidden corner the next second.

Yet the old man led Jiang Yue on a leisurely stroll through the depths of Star Dou Forest. Even though the old man kept his aura restrained, the soul beasts did not dare take even one step closer due to their instinctive reaction to danger.

The more timid ones had already fled when they sensed danger from over a hundred meters away. Even the bolder ones could only remain where they were, baring their fangs and watching the old man and Jiang Yue warily.

The old man was exceedingly relaxed, as though he was not in Star Dou Forest at all, but in his own backyard.

Seeing how confident the old man was, Jiang Yue relaxed quite a bit as well. Still, he closely followed behind him and observed the soul beasts they encountered along the way.

The illustrated guide the old man had given Jiang Yue only recorded Mental Attribute soul beasts, so Jiang Yue did not recognize any of the creatures before him.

After living in this world for six years, the impact those six years had had on Jiang Yue's worldview was far less than what this past month had brought him.

"The next time you come to Star Dou Forest alone or with others, you must not act as you are now. These soul beasts are only behaving this way because they fear this old man's strength."

"At the same level, soul beasts are stronger than soul masters. Normally, even a five- or six-hundred-year soul beast would be difficult for a Soul Grandmaster to deal with."

"In a place where soul beasts gather, aside from guarding against soul beasts, you should be even more wary of those who came hunting with you."

"I'll remember that."

Seeing that Jiang Yue seemed to understand, the old man nodded unconsciously.

Then, feeling that the opportunity was rare, the old man began introducing every soul beast they saw along the way to Jiang Yue. His knowledge was vast, and he recognized nearly every soul beast they encountered.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yue absorbed this rare knowledge like a sponge.

Time passed second by second. Before long, the old man brought Jiang Yue to the mixed zone of Star Dou Forest. Here, Jiang Yue could clearly feel that the surroundings were much quieter than in the outer region.

Suddenly, the old man stopped walking and stared fixedly in a certain direction, as though confirming something.

Before Jiang Yue could follow the old man's gaze and see what was there, the old man suddenly raised his right hand and made a grasping motion toward the front. At once, rustling sounds rang out through the entire forest.

Listening closely, Jiang Yue heard chaotic sounds continuously coming from that area, rapidly approaching from afar.

Bang!

A heavy object hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. After Jiang Yue waved away the dust before him, he saw a dark purple soul beast restrained by the old man.

The soul beast resembled a wolf, but it was smaller. Its front legs were shriveled, clearly incapable of supporting its body.

"This is... a Purple Spirit Jackal?"

"Correct. It seems you've memorized quite a few soul beasts from that illustrated guide over this period. This Purple Spirit Jackal has only just surpassed five hundred years. It is very suitable for your first soul ring."

"It's nothing. Since it concerns my future cultivation and soul rings, of course I had to remember them all."

"But as I recall, Purple Spirit Jackals are pack soul beasts that live with wolf packs. Sir..."

Before Jiang Yue could finish speaking, low growls surrounded both him and the old man. Giant wolves over two meters tall at the shoulder emerged from the bushes one after another, forming a vast black mass. The gleam on their black-purple fur dyed even the originally emerald-green forest black and purple.

Wolves and jackals colluded. Legend had it that jackals were malformed wolves. Though they needed wolves to carry them, they played the indispensable role of strategist within a wolf pack.

Clearly, the Purple Spirit Jackal in the old man's hand was the still-growing candidate strategist of the wolf pack before them. Their future strategist had been captured, so the wolves had naturally come to rescue it.

"Heh, quite a few of you are at the ten-thousand-year level. You actually came for a mere hundred-year creature. Should I say you're loyal, or that you're not afraid of death?"

The old man did not even release his soul rings. He merely let out a trace of soul power and killing intent, and the wolves before him were frightened stiff, their legs trembling like sieves.

After intimidating the wolves, the old man tossed the Purple Spirit Jackal before Jiang Yue, indicating that he should kill it here and absorb its soul ring.

Seeing the old man's confidence and the wolf pack's inability to take even a step forward, Jiang Yue gathered his courage, summoned the Passionate Sword, and prepared to stab it into the Purple Spirit Jackal's eye.

However, Purple Spirit Jackals were Mental Attribute soul beasts. Ordinary soul beasts only barely gained some intelligence at around ten thousand years, but Mental Attribute soul beasts were different. Their intelligence developed earlier. In fact, if one wished to absorb the soul ring of a ten-thousand-year Mental Attribute soul beast beyond one's level at the fourth ring, the required spiritual power would be considerably higher than that needed for an ordinary ten-thousand-year soul ring.

Seeing the human child before it raise a weapon toward it, a flash of light passed through the Purple Spirit Jackal's eyes.

Jiang Yue felt as though someone had stabbed his head with a needle. His vision blanked out for an instant, and his consciousness disappeared briefly as well.

The old man simply watched Jiang Yue. Based on his assessment of Jiang Yue's strength, that little spiritual attack would not cause him any harm.

Just as the old man expected, Jiang Yue regained consciousness after merely holding his forehead for a moment, completely unharmed.

"Hiss—"

That blankness had only lasted a moment before vanishing. When the scene before him returned to normal, Jiang Yue naturally realized that the Purple Spirit Jackal had attacked him with spiritual power.

His head still ached slightly, but the Purple Spirit Jackal refused to accept its fate. Seeing that Jiang Yue had not been affected by its spiritual power at all, it began its final struggle before death.

But it no longer had the chance to gather its spiritual power again. Its actions completely erased the last trace of reluctance in Jiang Yue's heart. Jiang Yue braced his right hand against the sword's pommel and forcefully drove the Passionate Sword through the Purple Spirit Jackal's eye and into its brain.

The Passionate Sword's blade was like a scorching knife cutting through butter. Even when Jiang Yue, unfamiliar with a soul beast's anatomy, struck the skull, the sharp blade still pierced into the Purple Spirit Jackal's brain without resistance.

Squelch—!

Thick red and white fluids splattered everywhere. The Purple Spirit Jackal's body was suppressed by the old man and unable to resist. After twitching weakly a few times, it stopped moving. A bright yellow soul ring slowly condensed above its corpse, and Jiang Yue vaguely felt the attraction it held for him.

After pulling the Passionate Sword from the Purple Spirit Jackal's head, Jiang Yue laid it across his legs. He sat down cross-legged and began absorbing the soul ring as the old man had taught him.

Sensing the pull, the Purple Spirit Jackal's soul ring slowly approached Jiang Yue's body and hovered above his head.

The energy within the soul ring entered Jiang Yue's body, making all the meridians in his body swell with searing pain. Feeling the faint pain, sweat appeared on Jiang Yue's forehead. He hurriedly circulated the soul power in his body to resist the soul power within the ring.

Jiang Yue's soul power had some effect. The soul power that had been rampaging through his meridians was forcibly controlled and began following the path of Jiang Yue's own soul power.

Not long afterward, a crisp cracking sound came from within Jiang Yue's body. The bottleneck between Soul Scholar and soul master shattered, and the soul power within the ring completely merged with Jiang Yue's own soul power. It flowed gently through every meridian in his body, and wherever it passed, it felt like a spring breeze brushing his face. The swelling pain vanished, leaving only the comfort of soaking in a hot spring.

His first soul ring had been successfully absorbed.

Just as Jiang Yue rejoiced over successfully absorbing the soul ring and was about to end the process, threads of soul power began flowing toward his brain, filling it with coolness, as though he had eaten mint.

Before Jiang Yue could figure out what was happening, his vision suddenly brightened. A silver-white space appeared before him, filled with silver-blue particles of light.

The light particles rapidly descended, gathering into a vast ocean of intertwining silver and blue throughout the entire space.

At that moment, Jiang Yue floated naked in midair, but his attention was not on that trivial matter. Before him, two enormous swords that connected heaven and earth crossed each other.

Aside from the silver-white Passionate Sword, whose blade shimmered with flowing radiance, the other sword was a deep blue. Dim, profound light flickered across its blade, calm and unruffled.

"These are... the Passionate Sword and the Unfeeling Sword?"

"Then this must be... my Sea of Spirit?"

Jiang Yue looked around but saw no trace of the old man. Combining that with his current situation, he roughly guessed where he was.

Spiritual power was a force possessed by every soul master, while the Sea of Spirit was the place within the human body that stored spiritual power. Compared to other soul masters, Mental Attribute soul masters could more easily sense the existence of their Sea of Spirit.

However, one generally had to wait until one's spiritual power had reached a certain level before being able to enter the Sea of Spirit as Jiang Yue had.

The reason Huo Yuhao had been able to enter his Sea of Spirit immediately after gaining a soul ring was entirely because Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had expanded it for him. Otherwise, it would have taken him at least another year or two to sense its existence.

For Mental Attribute soul masters, spiritual power was just as important as soul power. Neither could be lacking, which showed just how important the Sea of Spirit was to Mental Attribute soul masters.

As he approached the two massive swords standing in his Sea of Spirit, Jiang Yue could feel the sense of familiarity emanating from the Passionate Sword and Unfeeling Sword.

Unlike the Unfeeling Sword at his side, the Passionate Sword seemed to be coated in a red film after Jiang Yue touched it. The film appeared abruptly, then vanished just as suddenly, completely merging into the Passionate Sword as though it had never existed.

After waiting for some time and finding that nothing happened, Jiang Yue had no idea what that scene had meant. Once he confirmed that his Sea of Spirit was unharmed, he left it.

In the outside world, Jiang Yue opened his slightly dazed eyes. His mind was still somewhat muddled, and only after steadying himself did he recover. At that moment, Jiang Yue felt that his mind was much clearer than before absorbing the soul ring, and his heterochromatic eyes appeared even more spirited.

Looking at the yellow soul ring floating around him, Jiang Yue could not help feeling that everything was unreal. Just over a month ago, he had still been an ordinary child in a small mountain village.

In just over a month, he had not only independently awakened the incomparably powerful Passionate Sword and Unfeeling Sword martial souls, but had also successfully gained a hundred-year soul ring and truly stepped into this world's system of extraordinary power.

It could even be said that Jiang Yue's current position was no worse than that of children his age from some great families.

And all of this was thanks to the guidance of the nameless old man before him.

Jiang Yue stood and bowed to the old man. There was not much he could do now, so he could only express his gratitude this way.

Seeing this, the old man smiled and nodded before releasing a surge of soul power that drove away the wolf pack still watching from nearby with eyes full of hatred.

Seeing that the Purple Spirit Jackal was dead and that the enemy before them was not someone they could provoke, the wolves ultimately left the area.

"Hehe, these soul beasts know when to back down."

"You must remember that the number of soul beasts on the continent has already decreased greatly compared to the past. Unless survival demands it, or you need a soul ring, never slaughter soul beasts on a large scale."

"Mm, I understand."

"It's good that you understand. But if soul beasts provoke you, do not show mercy either. All right, tell me about your first soul skill."

Hearing this, Jiang Yue's attention returned to the yellow soul ring at his side and the Passionate Sword in his hand.

He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the skill imprinted within the soul ring. The soul power in his body almost instinctively circulated along a specific path, activating the soul ring. The ring lit up with a warm glow.

"First soul skill, Emotion Thread Sword Attachment."

As the soul skill activated, an additional layer of silver radiance seemed to appear across the Passionate Sword's surface, making it feel sharper than before. Jiang Yue's mind also became clearer.

First soul skill, Emotion Thread Sword Attachment. Upon activation, the Passionate Sword's attack power increased by thirty percent, its blade sharpness increased, and spiritual power increased by twenty-five percent.

Sensing the changes in Jiang Yue, the old man finally revealed a smile. In his eyes, this soul skill was clearly meant for the assault type and had absolutely nothing to do with the control type.

Seeing Jiang Yue silently stare at the Passionate Sword in his hand without speaking, the old man was just about to offer a few words of comfort when he noticed Jiang Yue make another move.

The Passionate Sword and Jiang Yue continuously released spiritual power outward. This intangible, formless energy would have been impossible to detect if not for the old man's profound cultivation.

The spiritual power continuously gathered at one point. In the end, a small red sword nearly identical in shape to the Passionate Sword, though much more delicate, appeared floating behind Jiang Yue. It looked like Jiang Yue's most loyal guardian.

The old man silently watched the scene before him. By now, turbulent waves had already risen within his heart. At the instant that small red sword appeared, even his spiritual power had been affected. He had not deliberately defended himself just now, but with his spiritual power, this should never have happened!

"The fragrance of flowers strikes, revealing sudden warmth; magpie calls pierce the trees, rejoicing in the clear new sky—Seven Emotions: Joy, condense into a sword!"