Hunting the Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle!

"By the way, my good son!"

"Have you set your sights on any soul beast for your third soul ring? We can make preparations in advance!"

Liu Yuer knew that her son had always had his own ideas since he was little. That little head of his was exceptionally clever!

"As for my third soul ring, I do have an idea. I want to hunt a Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle!"

"Around five thousand years old!"

Xia Mu's martial soul, the Light-Hiding Sword, was a sword martial soul possessing ultimate light, containing both light and metal attributes.

His first two soul rings had strengthened the Light-Hiding Sword's metal attribute, so his third soul ring should focus on its light attribute!

The Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle was a soul beast with metal and light attributes that could strengthen the martial soul origin of the Light-Hiding Sword.

"A five-thousand-year Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle?"

There were countless soul beasts in the world, yet this was the first time Xia Feng and Liu Yuer had heard of a soul beast called the Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle.

"It is recorded in the Soul Beast Encyclopedia. The Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle resembles a scarab beetle, possesses light and metal attributes, moves like lightning, and is extremely difficult to catch!"

"However, it likes to feed on the sap of ten-thousand-year Iron Birch trees, so we need to prepare a few things in advance."

"This type of soul beast is extremely timid, and its speed is exceptionally fast. Nets are the only way to catch them!"

"And the net must be specially made. It needs to be woven from cold iron mixed with thousand-year ice silkworm silk in order to restrain it effectively!"

Xia Mu recited the details as if they were family treasures. He had not been idle all these years; aside from cultivation, he had been studying constantly.

"So that's how it is!"

The couple nodded, indicating that they had learned something.

Within the Heaven Dou Empire, Sunset Forest.

"According to the intelligence we purchased, a Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle was spotted in the eastern part of Sunset Forest."

"The exact location is not far ahead."

As one of the only two great primeval forests on Douluo Continent, Sunset Forest covered an immense area.

Sunset Forest stretched across three provinces, with a total area exceeding two million square kilometers. It ran roughly two thousand kilometers from east to west and fifteen hundred kilometers from north to south.

Located in the subtropics, the place was filled with lush, flourishing trees and exuded a primal atmosphere everywhere.

The three of them searched along the border, not daring to venture deep into Sunset Forest for fear of encountering danger.

Many ten-thousand-year soul beasts lived in the depths of Sunset Forest, including powerful beast kings that were ninety thousand years old!

Many thousand-year soul beasts inhabited the outskirts of Sunset Forest. As long as they did not enter the core region, Xia Feng and Liu Yuer had enough strength to protect themselves.

"We're here!"

"According to the intelligence we purchased, that Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle frequently appears in this area!"

"Insect-type soul beasts have relatively low intelligence. Before they grow into beast kings, soul masters usually hunt them through baited traps!"

"However, this method does not work on beast kings over ten thousand years old. Their intelligence rivals that of ordinary people!"

After setting the trap, Xia Mu hid nearby and waited quietly for his prey to take the bait. Even then, he did not forget to share a little knowledge.

"Bzzzt!"

After waiting quietly nearby for three days, a giant insect clad in golden armor finally flew near the trap on the morning of the third day and stopped there.

Boom!

The trap was triggered!

A massive net dropped in an instant!

The Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle had been about to beat its wings and fly away, but it was tightly ensnared by the specially made net.

No matter what it tried, the Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle could not escape the net. Instead, it only became more tightly entangled.

"This Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle is around sixty centimeters long and roughly six thousand years old. It is a little older than expected, but not by much."

"If I grit my teeth, I should be able to endure it!"

Xia Mu had consumed thousand-year Whale Glue and practiced internal martial arts. His physical constitution was comparable to that of a four-ring Soul Ancestor!

If a soul master wanted to absorb a ten-thousand-year fourth ring, their third ring had to be at least five thousand years old.

This had practically become an ironclad rule!

Soul rings were a soul master's greatest foundation, bar none. They concerned a soul master's future.

Liu Yuer and Xia Feng had lacked sufficient foundations, which was why they would never have the chance to possess a ten-thousand-year fourth ring in this lifetime.

Absorbing soul rings was also a gradual process!

If the gap in soul ring age was too great and one lacked a profound foundation to bear it, serious problems would arise instead.

"Sorry about this!"

Xia Mu released his martial soul. Sword light flickered, extinguishing the beetle's life, and a deep purple soul ring slowly rose.

He released his martial soul and drew in the soul ring!

He sat in meditation, regulated his breathing, and refined the soul power!

After the entire process, several hours passed unnoticed. When Xia Mu opened his eyes, the sun was already setting in the west.

"Xia Mu, how are you feeling?"

Xia Feng and Liu Yuer hurried forward, both looking anxious and terrified that something might have happened to their son.

"Wonderful!"

"I've never felt better!"

Xia Mu rose to his feet. Having absorbed another soul ring, he had grown a little taller again.

The childishness on Xia Mu's face had already faded. Though his features were still somewhat youthful, he had grown into a spirited young man.

Young and high-spirited, handsome, with sword-like brows and starry eyes!

"My third soul skill is called Sword Dance. It can greatly increase my attack power by fifty percent in an instant, and it can also enhance my subsequent soul skills."

"Just as I expected, the soul skills produced after hunting soul beasts are related to a soul master's own obsessions!"

"Is this an embodiment of the laws of heaven and earth?"

"Or is this the handiwork of the God Realm?"

Xia Mu looked up at the sky. The profession of soul master was inherently twisted, as though it had been artificially designed!

When Xia Mu came back to his senses, Liu Yuer had already taken out a soul power-testing crystal and strode up to him.

"My good son!"

"Hurry and test your soul power!"

Liu Yuer said softly.

"Buzz, buzz~"

The soul power-testing crystal lit up, revealing his soul power rank.

"Level thirty-three?"

"Your soul power increased by another three levels?"

The two of them were somewhat shocked. They had both absorbed soul rings beyond their limits, yet Xia Mu's improvement was far greater than theirs.

"It must be because Attribute Stacking took effect!"

"For every five levels of soul power I gain, I can receive an extra level of soul power, while everyone else has to cultivate bitterly!"

"But I'm different!"

"By absorbing soul rings beyond my limit, I can rapidly increase my soul power in the early stages and shorten my cultivation time."

"Absorbing a soul ring beyond my limit gives me two levels of soul power, while Attribute Stacking gives me another two levels for free. That greatly reduces the pressure on me."

"Others need to painstakingly accumulate ten levels of soul power to advance, while I only need six!"

"One step ahead, every step ahead!"

"That is my first-mover advantage!"

"However, a soul master's daily cultivation becomes increasingly difficult the further one progresses. Without a high-level meditation method, my cultivation speed will only grow slower and slower in the future."

"Besides, I have an ultimate martial soul!"

"Ultimate martial souls are famously slow to cultivate in the middle stages."

"It seems I not only need to plan for peerless immortal herbs, but also for Little Loser's Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record!"

"The Mysterious Heaven Technique within it can be cultivated all the way to the God King realm. On Douluo Continent, there is nothing else like it!"

Xia Mu's martial soul was among the very best, and his soul ring configuration far surpassed that of ordinary people. All he lacked was a top-tier cultivation method.

However, Little Loser had not even been born yet, and the Mysterious Heaven Technique had yet to appear in the world. Xia Mu had no way to make plans for it!