The Thousand-Year Second Ring and the Baby Silkworm

After meeting up with the Maple Leaf City Lord, Jiang Yue saw the satisfied expression on his face and immediately understood that the City Lord had definitely not gone far. He had most likely been hiding nearby and watching him the whole time.

Otherwise, he would not have been so pleased.

In the Maple Leaf City Lord's eyes, Jiang Yue was certain to become a Shrek student in the future, and he even had a strong chance of entering the Inner Court. That alone would add a brilliant stroke to his achievements.

Once they confirmed that everything needed for the soul hunt had been prepared, the City Lord took Jiang Yue out of Shrek City and headed toward the Star Dou Forest.

It was not that there were no Soul Hunting Forests within the Heaven Dou Empire, nor that those forests lacked Mental Attribute soul beasts suitable for Jiang Yue's Soul Ring.

The truth was that the Maple Leaf City Lord believed Jiang Yue's talent required him to choose every Soul Ring with great care. Coupled with the rarity of Mental Attribute soul beasts, unless they went to the Evil Forest to hunt members of the Evil Eye Clan, no other soul beast gathering ground was more suitable than the Star Dou Forest.

After more than a year, this was Jiang Yue's second time entering the Star Dou Forest. This time, however, he was nowhere near as relaxed as when he had come with that mysterious old man before. The reason was the difference in strength between the City Lord and the old man.

Under the old man's protection, Jiang Yue had entered the Star Dou Forest as if he were returning home. As long as he stayed within a certain range, he could wander about freely.

This time, however, the Maple Leaf City Lord repeatedly warned Jiang Yue not to stray more than five meters away from him. After all, they were looking for a Thousand-Year Soul Beast with a Mental Attribute. They had to venture deep into the Star Dou Forest to have a better chance of encountering one.

The City Lord took out some soul beast intelligence he had bought and began planning their route based on the map of the Star Dou Forest.

The Star Dou Forest was incomparably dangerous. Even with the cultivation of a Soul Sage, the Maple Leaf City Lord had to proceed cautiously. The outer region was still manageable; once those Hundred-Year and Thousand-Year Soul Beasts sensed the pressure radiating from him, they scattered in all directions.

Only after entering the Mixed Zone did the City Lord slow down.

The situation in the Mixed Zone was extremely complicated. They could easily encounter powerful Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts with formidable bloodlines. Such existences were not something an ordinary Soul Sage like the City Lord could handle alone.

To ensure his own safety, Jiang Yue's safety, and the success of this soul hunt, the City Lord vigilantly watched their surroundings as he led Jiang Yue toward the target soul beast's habitat.

After approaching a certain area, the City Lord seemed to have discovered traces of the target soul beast, and his tense shoulders finally relaxed somewhat.

Then, with a smile, he stepped aside and made enough room, signaling Jiang Yue to go forward and take a look at the soul beast that would soon become his second Soul Ring.

Through layers upon layers of leaves, Jiang Yue barely made out a pinkish-purple soul beast lying on the ground. It looked rather like an elephant, but it was much smaller. Its eyes were half-closed, and if one did not look carefully, one might mistake the gaudy patterns around its eyes for its actual eyes.

This type of soul beast was called a Nightmare Demon, a rare pure Mental Attribute soul beast. It had also been recorded in the illustrated guide the old man had given Jiang Yue.

"There are only two rings of patterns around its neck. One is dark, while the other has only just appeared and is hard to notice without looking closely. That means this Nightmare Demon is around eleven hundred years old, just right for you."

"Wait here. There aren't any other soul beasts nearby. It's only a Thousand-Year Soul Beast—I'll catch it for you in five breaths."

Although the Maple Leaf City Lord was merely an ordinary Soul Sage, dealing with a soul beast that had only just passed a thousand years and did not possess an absurd bloodline like the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear was effortless for him.

Did they really think everyone was as irresponsible as Xuan Zi? If a Soul Sage could run into trouble hunting a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, it would be safer to replace the Maple Leaf City Lord as soon as possible.

Almost the moment he finished speaking, the City Lord made his move. Jiang Yue could not even see his figure before he used his martial soul. He only felt a violent gust rise beside him, kicking up a cloud of dust and leaves that made him cover his mouth and nose while constantly brushing away the debris.

By the time Jiang Yue recovered and looked ahead, the City Lord had already knocked the Nightmare Demon unconscious. He sat atop it and waved Jiang Yue over.

Seeing this, Jiang Yue nodded.

This was the bearing a Soul Sage should have. A Soul Sage represented someone who had absorbed more than one Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring and endured the unique soul shock of such rings. It was only natural for one to completely suppress even a pure Mental Attribute soul beast in terms of spiritual power.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yue once again criticized a certain Super Douluo in his heart.

As he emerged from the brush, Jiang Yue had just intended to bow and thank the City Lord when a surge of Soul Power supported his body. After withdrawing it, the City Lord signaled for Jiang Yue to stop with the empty formalities and quickly kill the Nightmare Demon instead.

Jiang Yue raised his left hand and summoned the Passionate Sword. A lone yellow Soul Ring floated beside him, but this Soul Ring would soon welcome a new companion.

The Nightmare Demon's eyes were simply too small. Even though it was a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, they were not large enough for the Passionate Sword to pierce through its eye socket and destroy its brain.

Seeing this, Jiang Yue flicked his wrist, spun the sword in a flourish, then pushed off the ground and leaped high into the air. Gathering all his strength, he swung the sword toward the Nightmare Demon's neck.

Before the Passionate Sword, no matter how tough the soul beast's body was, it was useless.

The instant the blade entered flesh, a sharp clang rang out. Sword light burst through its body, severing the Nightmare Demon's head from its neck.

When its neck was cut through, there was neither sound nor blood. Its unsupported head rolled forward twice, the wound smooth as a mirror. At first glance, it could practically have been used as one.

The next second, however, blood burst from its head like a punctured balloon. The severed neck on the other side became a fountain, spraying blood continuously outward. For a time, it seemed as though a rain of blood had fallen within a ten-meter radius.

The moment the Nightmare Demon's life ended, strands of Soul Power gathered above its body and condensed into a magnificent purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Ignoring the blood on his face and body, Jiang Yue immediately sat cross-legged and guided the Soul Ring onto the Passionate Sword.

The Soul Power contained within a Thousand-Year Soul Ring was qualitatively different from that of a Hundred-Year Soul Ring. The moment absorption began, Jiang Yue felt his meridians begin to ache and swell. However, the City Lord had previously simulated the impact of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring's Soul Power for him, so Jiang Yue had some experience. He easily merged the Soul Power within the ring with his own.

Then, Jiang Yue's own Soul Power slowly circulated through his meridians together with the Soul Power contained in the ring. The progress was slow, but it was steadily advancing.

Underground in a certain area of the Star Dou Forest, one would normally expect a place without sunlight to be pitch-black. Yet this place was illuminated brilliantly by golden-white light.

Anyone or any soul beast sensitive to temperature would discover that this area was colder than its surroundings.

A faint fragrance also permeated the air.

"Ha, even though I blew up another human, I finally figured it out! I'm going to become the first Wisdom Soul Ring in history!"

"My God-Making Plan finally has a foundation! With the strength I have left, even if that person is trash, I can turn him into the greatest genius in history!"

"Those bastards who treated me like food! Just wait! I'll make you pay!"

The source of the voice was the very origin of the underground light: a baby silkworm more than seven meters long and one meter in diameter.

This baby silkworm was plump and entirely jade-white. Even underground, its jade-colored skin was spotless. Its surface was crystal-clear, light flowing beneath it, and its overall texture resembled an extraordinarily rare heavenly treasure.

Most peculiar of all, starting half a meter behind the baby silkworm's head, there was an incomparably luxurious golden pattern at regular intervals along its body. From head to tail, there were ten golden patterns in total.

This baby silkworm was none other than the first true Million-Year Soul Beast of the Douluo Plane, the greatest opportunity of Unrivaled Tang Sect—Sky Dream Ice Silkworm!

Over the past ten thousand years, so many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had appeared throughout the Star Dou Forest. Aside from the auspicious protection of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the greatest contributor was Sky Dream Ice Silkworm before them.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm differed from other soul beasts. His cultivation had been piled up through vast quantities of Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Ice Marrow. Apart from the tremendously nourishing ice and Mental Attribute origin Soul Power within his body, everything else was pure heaven-and-earth energy.

Just how pure was that energy? It was so pure that once forced out, other soul beasts could absorb it perfectly and use it to increase their cultivation.

It could be said that Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could no longer even be considered a soul beast. He was simply a walking million-year heavenly treasure.

Sky Dream-brand bug energy treasure—everyone who used it praised it.

One major reason the ferocious beasts of the Star Dou Forest had not been well-known ten thousand years ago was that, at the time, they had all been absorbing the heaven-and-earth energy from Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

After successfully advancing into a Million-Year Soul Beast, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm finally escaped before the last of his ice and Mental Attribute origin Soul Power could be drained away.

Under the threat of the Million-Year Tribulation, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm knew that he could not survive the tribulation in his current condition. Thus, after personally witnessing Sea God Tang San and the others ascend as gods ten thousand years ago, he came up with a bold idea: create a god!

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had just completed the final experiment necessary to become a human's Wisdom Soul Ring. Now that he had finally figured out how to become one, he needed to find a human with a Mental Attribute who could bear the origin Soul Power he had left.

To bear Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's remaining origin Soul Power, that human could not be too highly ranked. This was why the quasi-Titled Douluo he had selected at the beginning had exploded—the main reason was that a high-level human's body had no room left to contain Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's enormous origin power.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm knew he did not have much time left to choose. In less than ten years at most, his Million-Year Tribulation would descend. He had to find a suitable host before then.

But Mental Attribute Soul Masters were already scarce, and the host also had to be of low rank. There were few Soul Masters who met both requirements, and he still had to encounter one. The odds were lower than winning the lottery.

At the very least, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was certain that he could not find one in the Mixed Zone where he currently was. He had already prepared to secretly head to the outer region and wait for his destined person.

His host did not need to possess outstanding talent. After all, he, the unprecedented Million-Year Soul Beast, was here. Even poor talent would not be a problem. With him around, everything would turn out fine.

Just as Sky Dream Ice Silkworm celebrated having finally found a way to become a Wisdom Soul Ring and a way to keep living, his black dot-like nose twitched. As though he had smelled something wonderful, unprecedented light burst from his tiny eyes!

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sensed the presence of a Mental Attribute Soul Master within the range of his Mental Detection, and it was a young one!

"Could today be my lucky day? I actually found a young Mental Attribute Soul Master in the Mixed Zone!"

No matter what, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm decided to go take a look. His end was drawing near, and if he did not begin his plan quickly, he might die from the exhaustion of his life force.

The Ice Silkworm Clan possessed almost no combat power. Even in the Extreme North, they were among the species at the very bottom of the food chain.

However, the Ice Silkworm Clan consisted of ice-attribute and Mental Attribute soul beasts. Their notorious Simulation Soul Skill was used with extraordinary mastery. This was the key to why the Ice Silkworm Clan could survive and why Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had been able to escape from Di Tian and the others.

As a Million-Year Ice Silkworm, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Simulation was the pinnacle of the Ice Silkworm Clan. As he moved through the Star Dou Forest, it was as though he did not exist in this world. As long as he wished it, no living creature could actively find him.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was not good at much else, but when it came to spiritual power, even the Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler could not compare to him in certain aspects.

After arriving near the area he had detected, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm extended his spiritual power forward to investigate the situation there. Naturally, his main focus was the Mental Attribute Soul Master he had discovered.

"Hmm... more than seven years old, almost eight. He really is a Mental Attribute Soul Master. Heavens! He's already a Soul Grandmaster at this age? Is he absorbing his second Soul Ring? And it's a Thousand-Year second Soul Ring?!"

"Heavens, you've finally opened your eyes! You've favored me again! This is practically fate's guidance! Such a genius is my perfect host! Thank you for fate's gift!"

After confirming Jiang Yue's age, attribute, and cultivation, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who had originally retained some vigilance, could no longer remain calm.

Over the years, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had gained some understanding of humans through his experiments. He naturally understood what it meant for a Soul Grandmaster under the age of eight to possess a Thousand-Year second Soul Ring.

Without exaggeration, Jiang Yue was an absolute genius among humans, the complete opposite of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

"No, I still need to wait. He's absorbing a Soul Ring right now. I can't disturb him."

Absorbing a Soul Ring was an extremely important matter. A Soul Master was at their most vulnerable during this time and absolutely could not be disturbed by any external force.

Since Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had already regarded Jiang Yue as the best choice for his host, he naturally could not disturb him at such a moment.

After calming his excitement, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm decided to wait until Jiang Yue had successfully absorbed the Soul Ring before proceeding with the rest.

Beside Jiang Yue, the Maple Leaf City Lord naturally could not discover Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who was deliberately hiding. By then, he had already dealt with the Nightmare Demon's corpse, and he had even wiped all the blood from Jiang Yue's skin clean.

The smell of blood could attract powerful beings in the Star Dou Forest, so they had to be cautious.

Under the City Lord's protection, Jiang Yue's breathing gradually became even. The Soul Ring above his head disappeared, and the fluctuations of Soul Power around his body slowly settled.

The violent Soul Power within the Soul Ring had finally been completely subdued by Jiang Yue. The absorption was finally complete. Just as Jiang Yue opened his eyes and was about to examine his Thousand-Year Soul Ring, a voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

"I've finally waited for a suitable human. It's a pity I can't cry, or I'd definitely be sobbing my eyes out!"