Casting the Line; The Second Soul Ring

"Young master, did you do all this on purpose?"

Early the next morning,

they had spent the night in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Yet in the clearing they had made the night before, only Ouyang Ling and the Flying Tiger Soul Sage remained, the latter voicing his confusion.

"Mm-hmm."

Ouyang Ling neither confirmed nor denied it. He then took a bite of dry rations and mumbled about an unrelated subject. "When you cast a fishing line, you have to wait patiently."

Only after swallowing did he put on a serious expression. "I'll speak to Sister Xue'er about this myself."

It turned out that yesterday, after Flander made his request, Ouyang Ling had proposed a possible solution. Since the ravages of the Evil Fire would be unavoidable in the future, Ma Hongjun could only endure them himself.

This method was not particularly clever, so from the beginning, he had made it clear to Flander that it could only treat the symptoms.

As for how he would endure it...

Ouyang Ling's solution lay in a Soul Ring.

He recommended a type of Soul Beast to Ma Hongjun called the Purgatory Hound. This Soul Beast was exceedingly rare and was said to possess the bloodline of the divine Three-Headed Hellhound, an evil hound that guarded the gate between the human world and hell.

Rumors were rumors, but the Purgatory Hound possessed a unique ability: Fire Lure.

It could absorb flames that sought to harm it, becoming immune to fire while increasing its own attack power.

If Ma Hongjun could hunt down a Purgatory Hound's Soul Ring and obtain this ability, he would no longer be troubled by the Evil Fire. At the very least, he would not be burned to death by it.

As for the future, it would be best for him to obtain Soul Beasts with Phoenix bloodlines or top-tier fire attributes. The former could purify his Phoenix bloodline and strengthen his resistance, while the latter could purify his flames.

After all, although Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire contained evil energy, it made up only a small portion of it. Otherwise, it could not have been completely purified by relying on a single immortal herb.

Thus, after learning from Ouyang Ling about the Purgatory Hound and the areas where it might dwell, Flander took Ma Hongjun to search for one as soon as dawn broke in the forest, following a simple night of rest.

Before leaving, he gave Ouyang Ling a token and told him that he had founded Shrek Academy, along with its exact location.

"Shrek Academy? I've never even heard of it." The Flying Tiger Soul Sage pondered it, but could not recall anything at all.

Logically speaking, an academy founded by one of the Golden Iron Triangle should have had at least some renown among Soul Masters.

"That academy isn't legitimate. To put it bluntly, it's a third-rate backwater school." Though he coveted talented people, Ouyang Ling was not the least bit polite in his assessment.

To be honest, he truly admired how responsible Shrek Academy's teachers were toward their students.

But if one were to talk about the quality of Shrek's teaching resources... sorry, having looked into the major academies, he could not praise them.

Still, that was understandable. After all, Shrek's teachers had all come from unconventional backgrounds and made their own way in the world. More importantly, they had no money and no resources.

This approach was only suitable for—or rather, could only produce results for—students who were already highly talented.

And if those students, who were already exceptionally gifted, studied at professional academies such as Heaven Dou Imperial Academy or the Four Element Academies, then without other factors interfering, they would achieve even better results.

In cultivation, resources were everything!

"Ah? So that's how it is." After hearing the general explanation, the Flying Tiger Soul Sage no longer cared.

What great accomplishments could an academy like that possibly achieve?

Presumably, only that Flying Horn himself and the disciple with the Phoenix martial soul he had taken in were worth noting.

Yet when he glanced aside and saw Ouyang Ling wearing an interested expression, the Flying Tiger Soul Sage's heart sank. This is bad!

Surely the young master was not interested in it now?

After a fierce internal struggle, he finally spoke with some hesitation. "Young master, do you want to enroll there?"

"Enroll?"

Ouyang Ling was initially stunned, but he quickly understood what he meant. His eyes immediately narrowed into crescents. "How could that be? What are you thinking, Senior?"

This was just like fishing. He only needed to set out bait and cast the line; he did not actually need to jump into the water and fish it out himself.

Besides, why would he abandon Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, which had better resources and a better environment, to choose the run-down Shrek Academy?

He was not stupid.

That was right. In Ouyang Ling's eyes, attending Heaven Dou Imperial Academy was already set in stone.

As for drawing in Shrek Academy's teachers and students... once he reported it to Sister Xue'er, Qian Renxue, who also valued and thirsted for talent, would naturally take notice.

As for himself...

He only needed to grow stronger and become the strongest!

With that thought, Ouyang Ling rose to his feet. "Senior, it's time for me to obtain my second Soul Ring."

"Roar—"

A colossal beast burst from the water. Its scythe-like claws curled as they gathered strength, while its head had already whipped violently to the side. Just as its elongated jaws were about to snap shut...

Boom—

The river exploded in a burst of spray!

Bang—

A tiger claw descended from the sky and slammed down heavily. Its claws, sharp as daggers, pinned the beast's head firmly in place.

Yet the beast swung its massive claws, and the raised sail on its back flashed with purple light. It was clearly prepared to keep fighting for its life, every inch of it brimming with savage instinct.

Only after another heavy blow—

Boom—

did the Flying Tiger Soul Sage's claws brutally slice off half its head, severing its long jaws and massive claws along with it. Only then did the giant beast fall unconscious.

"It's really hard to knock out."

Only after repeatedly confirming that the giant beast could no longer resist did the Flying Tiger Soul Sage dare let Ouyang Ling step forward and take its life for his second Soul Ring.

From beginning to end, this one-sided battle had actually lasted a full minute and a half. Yet for a Soul Sage, knocking out a two-thousand-year Soul Beast should not have required so much effort. It should have been easy.

But this giant beast was different. It was hailed as the "Overlord of Ancient Rivers," and as early as three hundred years ago, Spirit Hall had declared it extinct.

However, twenty years ago, a Soul Master rediscovered traces of it and reported them to Spirit Hall. After verification, it was confirmed that the last one still lived in the Star Dou Great Forest and possessed cultivation of around two thousand years.

Unfortunately, this time, it truly would go extinct.

Because Ouyang Ling's target this time was precisely this water-attributed sub-dragon Soul Beast—the Raging Current Thornback Dragon.

"Do it."

"All right."

Ouyang Ling gently clenched his right hand, and water froze in his palm, forming a trident.

He aimed it at the creature's brow and was just about to drive it down hard!

"Roar—"

The Raging Current Thornback Dragon suddenly awoke and launched one final desperate attack by instinct. The Flying Tiger Soul Sage, who had long been on guard, acted decisively and held it down firmly.

The next instant—

Rip—

As the trident pierced in, the amber glow in its eyes dimmed, and a Thousand-Year Soul Ring slowly rose.

A second Soul Ring at the thousand-year level!

The Flying Tiger Soul Sage was astonished and inwardly emotional.

He had long learned from the young lady that the young master intended to absorb a Soul Ring beyond his level, and the young master himself had confirmed it. Otherwise, he might truly have thought that the young lady wanted to kill the young master, or that the young master was seeking death by attempting a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Who would have thought...

The younger generation truly surpassed the old. He was about to break convention.

As for Ouyang Ling,

Ah... a two-thousand-year Soul Ring.

He had thought that facing this Soul Ring, which he would absorb beyond his level, would make him excited or nervous. Yet he had not expected that only calm remained.

Perhaps in his eyes, the training of the past two years, the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue from the last three months, and the trial of soul pressure... all of it had tempered his mindset until he believed that obtaining a thousand-year second ring should come naturally.

After adjusting himself and bringing his body to its peak condition, Ouyang Ling began drawing in the Soul Ring.

"Buzz—"

Brilliant purple light enveloped him.

As time passed, the fluctuations of soul power became increasingly apparent. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down Ouyang Ling's forehead, yet his entire body remained unmoving, composed and steady.

Until, with a soft pop like an air bubble bursting, the Thousand-Year Soul Ring no longer resisted and slowly settled around Ouyang Ling's waist.

One yellow and one purple, shining against each other.

The next instant—

Whoosh—

Ouyang Ling's eyes snapped open.

Feeling the surging soul power and the gift he had received from the Pillar of Goodness, he knew that he had succeeded!

Yet just moments earlier, he had experienced something in the Sea of Spirit that brought him profound realization.