At Xue Qinghe's words, the fingers clutching her sleeve slowly relaxed, and the furrow between her brows finally smoothed out.
She walked up to Zhang Fei and patted him on the shoulder. "Xiaofei, you've rendered a great service this time."
Titled Douluo Pufferfish beside her also wore a stunned expression. "Brat, you actually guessed right."
The corners of Xue Qinghe's lips curved up as she removed a ring from her hand and held it out to Zhang Fei.
The ring was silver-gray, its surface smooth and unadorned. Its material felt warm to the touch and gave off a gentle sheen.
She placed the ring in Zhang Fei's palm. "This is the storage ring I use personally. It has thirty cubic meters of space. Consider it your reward for now."
Zhang Fei lowered his head to look at the ring in his palm. The inner band still retained the warmth of her fingertips.
Before he could speak, Xue Qinghe continued, "Also, I'll reward you with a Soul Bone later. Is there anything you want?"
Zhang Fei's eyes lit up. He looked up at her seriously. "Your Highness, can I... ask you for something?"
"Go ahead."
"I want a storage Soul Tool that can hold living creatures."
"A storage Soul Tool that can hold living creatures?" Xue Qinghe raised her brows slightly. "Those are rather rare."
"But don't worry, I'll remember it. Tomorrow, I'll look through the royal treasury. If there's one, I'll give it to you along with everything else. If not, I'll have the Heaven Dou Auction House keep an eye out for one."
After saying that, Xue Qinghe turned and returned to the desk, sitting down as her expression regained its usual calm.
She swept her gaze across the three of them and lowered her voice. "The matter of the Whale Rubber must be kept absolutely confidential. No one can be told. Only the four of us may know."
All three nodded at once.
Zhang Fei immediately returned to his room to change. His short robe was still smeared with black, cottony impurities, making him feel terribly uncomfortable.
That night, She Long came to Zhang Fei's quarters and began teaching him Spirit Hall's advanced meditation method.
"Close your eyes. Feel the circulation of your Soul Power, then guide it to your dantian..."
She Long instructed him patiently.
Spirit Hall's advanced meditation method differed from the basic methods taught outside. Its cultivation efficiency had been significantly improved, the route taken by Soul Power through the meridians was more refined, and its benefits far surpassed those of ordinary meditation methods.
Zhang Fei sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed as he felt the warm energy slowly travel along its prescribed route.
Having never studied any martial arts techniques in his previous life, he found it all incomparably miraculous.
For the next five days, he consumed a piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber every day, then soaked in an ice barrel for half an hour.
The first three sessions had the most obvious effects. Each time, he could feel his muscles and bones being tempered anew.
Starting on the fourth day, the extent of the improvement gradually weakened.
By the fifth day, the effects of the Whale Rubber had become negligible.
After climbing out of the ice barrel for the last time, She Long inspected him as usual, then nodded in satisfaction. "Xiaofei, your physique is now probably close to that of a Soul Elder. But to be safe, your first Soul Ring shouldn't go straight to a thousand years. A soul beast around eight hundred years old is the safest choice for you right now."
Zhang Fei nodded.
He had calculated it clearly. A piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber could raise his Soul Ring endurance limit by roughly one hundred years, and the latter two pieces had not increased it by much.
The five pieces had raised it by around four hundred years. Adding that to his original foundation, he was indeed about at the eight-hundred-year threshold now.
A Thousand-Year Soul Ring? Better forget it. Zhang Fei was not that greedy. Taking things steadily was the proper path.
Xue Qinghe's rewards also arrived over the next two days.
One was a Green Gourd the size of half a palm, jade-green from top to bottom.
It was a storage Soul Tool capable of holding living creatures. Its internal space was roughly a dozen cubic meters. It was not large, but it was enough.
When Zhang Fei received it, he nearly laughed aloud. Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, immortal herbs, wait for me.
A Soul Bone had also been delivered alongside the gourd: a forty-thousand-year strength-type right arm bone that glowed with an earthy yellow light.
Naturally, Zhang Fei would never absorb this Soul Bone.
His goal was a complete set of Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones. Otherwise, he would be letting down the grandeur of being reborn.
Zhang Fei put the Soul Bone away, considering how he might find a suitable opportunity in the future to give it to his grandfather.
To be honest, She Long's equipment was rather shabby. With a purple fifth Soul Ring, he was looked down on everywhere he went. The old man needed a little more confidence.
The night wind blew through the window lattice, and the side courtyard fell quiet.
Zhang Fei sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed as he circulated the advanced meditation method until he finally fell into a deep sleep late at night.
The next day, before dawn had fully broken, the eastern horizon had only just begun to pale.
She Long hauled Zhang Fei out of bed.
"Wake up. We're leaving."
Zhang Fei opened his eyes groggily, rolled out of bed, and haphazardly pulled on his clothes.
She Long patted him on the shoulder. A gentle stream of Soul Power enveloped them both, and with a flash, they silently swept out of the Crown Prince's Residence.
They left Heaven Dou City through its southern gate and flew southwest.
Zhang Fei was tucked beneath She Long's arm, the wind howling past his ears as cities and fields rapidly receded beneath his feet.
Sunset Forest was the second-largest wild soul beast forest on Douluo Continent. It lay southwest of Heaven Dou City, only two or three hundred li away. At the flight speed of a Titled Douluo, they could reach it in less than an hour.
When a vast sea of green came into view, they had arrived at Sunset Forest.
Viewed from the sky, it was an immense and boundless forest. The trees were taller than imagination, their dark-green canopies layered upon layer and stretching all the way to the end of the horizon.
She Long slowed down and gradually descended, finally landing in a forest clearing on slightly elevated ground.
When his feet touched the soft layer of humus, Zhang Fei could not help taking a deep breath.
The air in the forest was utterly different from that of Heaven Dou City. It carried the dampness of soil, the faint sourness of rotting leaves, and a certain wild aura that instinctively put one on guard.
She Long withdrew his Soul Power and patted Zhang Fei on the shoulder. "From here on, we walk."
Zhang Fei nodded.
He understood She Long's intentions. He had always been pampered in luxury, and aside from what he had learned from books, he had virtually no actual combat experience.
Without trudging through mud and pushing through forests, he would never become a true powerhouse by relying solely on secluded cultivation.
She Long walked ahead, condensing that bluish-purple Snake Lance in his right hand. The spearhead gleamed with an icy light as he casually swept aside vines and low-hanging branches blocking their path.
"Stay close. Don't stray more than three steps away from me."
Zhang Fei followed closely at She Long's side, practically walking against the hem of his grandfather's clothes.
Honestly, Zhang Fei was a little nervous. Although he had been on Douluo Continent for three years, he had never seen a real soul beast.
Even the crack of an occasional dry branch beneath his feet made his heart tighten.
The two slowly headed deeper into the forest. After sweeping aside a vine, She Long asked, "Xiaofei, have you given any thought to what you want for your first Soul Ring?"
Having read the original story, Zhang Fei had long considered the matter.
Beast Spirits were different from Tool Spirits. They emphasized the accumulation of bloodline.
On Douluo Continent, what mattered was your backing, your cultivation resources, and your Spirit bloodline.
If you did not possess a Body Spirit, what was the point of desperately training your body? Evolving your bloodline was the proper path.
Of course, this was also Zhang Fei's lazy self-consolation, and it was not advisable. Although he had Whale Rubber, he would still need to exercise occasionally in the future.
Before you continue