Sunflower Soul Ring

In the blink of an eye, the three of Li Ming already appeared inside the Soul Hunting Forest.

The conditions for entering the Soul Hunting Forest were considered quite strict.

Mainly, it required a warrant from Spirit Hall.

Applying for a warrant not only required soul power to reach the advancement standard, but it also needed three nobles to vouch for it.

However, money makes the mare go, and they were only three nobles.

In the Heaven Dou Empire, nobles were the least in supply; the official policy enforced a merit-based title system, and as long as one's strength reached the Soul Elder rank, they would be granted the lowest aristocratic rank, Baron.

Trying to find a three-legged toad might be a bit difficult, but finding a cash-strapped baron was an absolute breeze.

There were soul masters who specialized in making a living this way.

So by spending money, Li Ming easily obtained the warrant.

Of course, if he truly couldn't get a warrant, it wasn't as if he lacked a method to enter the Soul Hunting Forest.

His Satellite Map was enough to mark over a dozen smuggling routes, guaranteed to be quite safe, and poachers usually traveled along them.

"Li Ming, I'll find a century-old soul ring for you.

Since it's a gift from me, it can't be too shabby."

Xiao Wu spoke to Li Ming, full of zest as she clenched her fists.

Li Ming smiled slightly, nodded, and then pulled a piece of sheepskin from his pocket.

"What is this?"

Xiao Wu asked curiously, and Tang San was also a bit curious, immediately leaning in close.

This piece of sheepskin was undeniably a hand-drawn map, except the markings on it looked somewhat too childish, like the playful creation of some child.

"This is a map I bought from someone. The soul beast I want is in this place."

Li Ming casually tossed out an excuse. Naturally, this was a map he had drawn following his satellite, and to avoid arousing suspicion, it looked just like a treasure map, with the location of the soul beast marked by a red cross.

"You haven't been scammed, have you?"

Tang San asked with heavy suspicion; no matter how one looked at it, this map seemed somewhat absurd.

"Heh, probably not."

Li Ming said with absolute confidence. Let alone the location of the soul beast above, as long as one followed his route, they wouldn't even encounter a soul beast.

If not for needing someone to protect him and help him deal with soul beasts, he wouldn't even have needed anyone to accompany him.

"Then let's go!"

Xiao Wu felt like it was an adventure and cheered.

Yet setting off like this, Tang San abruptly detected something unusual.

"How come there isn't a single soul beast?"

He had been to the Soul Hunting Forest twice, and it had never been this quiet, causing him to grow vigilant instead.

In contrast, Li Ming, clearly with the worst strength, walked at a leisurely pace, his expression relaxed and casual, much like he was out for a stroll.

Little did Tang San know that at this moment, Li Ming had already taken in everything in the Soul Hunting Forest through his eyes.

He looked as though he wasn't displaying his martial soul, but in reality, he had constantly been utilizing the power of his martial soul—after all, his Satellite Spirit was currently hanging all over the sky.

And for today's hunting operation, he had specially called upon hundreds of satellites to closely monitor the entire Soul Hunting Forest, ensuring there wouldn't be any omissions.

His satellites possessed infrared cameras and the like, and coupled with the 3D imaging model generated by the Satellite AI, they could render 3D images of the scanned soul beasts and locate their positions in real-time down to the centimeter, with all this data being transmitted back to his brain.

By means of Martial Soul Possession, he fused with the Satellite Spirit, making himself equivalent to a satellite; naturally, he could receive the data transmitted by other satellites.

Through this AI data model, his eyes could actually see red figures darting around at various locations in the woods. Of course, to avoid excessive data, it only tallied the soul beasts within a certain range around him.

Therefore, much like having X-ray vision, he could see red living entities one by one right through obstacles.

These living entities weren't detected using cameras, but rather plotted by the AI large model using various data monitored by the satellites.

Thus, the moment a soul beast drew near, he could immediately know, and the same went for soul masters.

In a sense, there wasn't much difference between him and turning on a wall hack.

Under such circumstances, it was basically hard for him to encounter danger.

So this trip was no different from a spring outing.

They walked for a full hour and more before finally arriving at the destination.

When Tang San and Xiao Wu saw the direction Li Ming was pointing, they couldn't help but freeze.

Following the direction Li Ming indicated, they saw a yellow flower the size of a person, growing very classically with a basin-sized flower bud, leisurely enjoying the sunlight piercing into the forest.

"A plant-type soul beast?"

Xiao Wu said in astonishment, having never imagined that Li Ming would actually decide to fuse with a plant-type soul ring. Yet could his strange martial soul even fuse with a plant-type soul ring?

"A sunflower!"

Tang San appeared even more surprised as he recognized this kind of soul beast, his expression quite peculiar.

"If I remember correctly, this should be the sunflower mentioned by Teacher, a rare soul beast with neither offensive capabilities nor fusion value."

Tang San looked toward Li Ming uncertainly.

"That's right, it's this one!"

"What's a sunflower?" Xiao Wu didn't particularly like studying, so she didn't know either.

"A sunflower is a plant-type soul beast. It can absorb faint solar energy to strengthen itself, but it has almost no means of attack.

If it's used as a soul ring, I'm afraid it won't have even a shred of offensive capability."

Tang San hurriedly answered Xiao Wu's question, looking at Li Ming with a strange expression. For some reason, he felt a sudden sense of relief in his heart, feeling that absorbing such a soul ring would inevitably ruin him, though he didn't even know where his hostility toward Li Ming came from.

"Ah?"

Xiao Wu was taken aback, saying with some hesitation.

"Should we change to a different one?"

"No need, it's this one."

Li Ming immediately pulled out three pairs of sunglasses. These were specially custom-made after spending quite a bit of time, crafted from a special crystal, precisely to deal with today's scene.

Tang San and Xiao Wu both took the items, feeling rather curious, and then saw Li Ming put them on his face. They followed suit and put on the glasses.

"How magical!"

Xiao Wu cried out in pleasant surprise, instantly feeling the world before her eyes dim down a lot.

"I remember Teacher saying the sunflower's method of attack is to release sunlight to irritate the eyes so it can escape."

Tang San instantly figured out the use of this thing.

"Xiao Wu, go get 'em!"

Li Ming cheered Xiao Wu on.

Hearing Li Ming's words, Xiao Wu abruptly dashed out.

Dealing with a tiny, century-old plant-type soul beast was truly a bit too simple for her.

Sure enough, the sunflower sensed danger and immediately released dazzling sunlight, after which its roots pulled out from the ground to make a fast escape.

Yet Xiao Wu, wearing the glasses, was completely unaffected; she easily intercepted it and gave it a thorough beating until it was on the verge of death.

Only then did Li Ming step up, taking out a carried hatchet and hacking fiercely at the sunflower.

Soon, soul power surged forth from its body.

Li Ming sat cross-legged and began absorbing the soul ring.

In the blink of an eye, several hours passed. When Li Ming opened his eyes once more, a sharp glde burst from them.

The fusion was successful!

Li Ming impatiently displayed his martial soul.

He saw that an extra yellow soul ring had appeared on his Satellite Spirit.

That's right, this soul beast had been meticulously selected by him.

His Satellite AI could long since determine the age of a soul beast based on detection data.

And this sunflower approached the upper limit of the soul ring absorption age proposed by Grandmaster.

The limit was 423 years, while this sunflower was 402 years old.