Report: This Soul Beast Had Earned Its Death!

Deep within Spirit Hall's Soul Hunting Forest.

A low-lying valley.

Rocky cliffs stood all around, with towering trees reaching for the sky. Looking down from above, the vast valley was a scene straight out of a primeval forest.

This was Dragon-Seeking Valley!

A squad of Spirit Hall iron-armored warriors guarded the mountain pass surrounded by peaks. To enter, one needed a fourth-class or higher permit for the Soul Hunting Forest.

After bringing Xu Huxiao and the other three here and presenting the map detailing the soul beast distribution in Dragon-Seeking Valley, Wang Zhong remained outside rather than following them in.

After all, the type of Soul Ring one acquired was somewhat private. Besides, with His Excellency Demon Bear present, even a thousand-year soul beast would be easy to capture.

And that was indeed the case.

There were no fewer than nine types of draconic soul beasts in Dragon-Seeking Valley, but only two met Xu Huxiao's requirements:

The social Long-Armed Dragon Ape.

And the solitary Black-Patterned Dread Lizard.

With their target decided, they had barely entered Dragon-Seeking Valley.

When Xu Huxiao and the others encountered a group of sturdy Back-Passing Dragon Apes.

Without another word, Xu Bayan captured one in the blink of an eye—a poor fellow that was roughly four or five Hundred-Year-old.

"The age of a Back-Passing Dragon Ape is easy to identify. Just look at the scales on its palms."

"With every additional Hundred-Year, its body grows taller and sturdier. It can reach nearly three meters at most, and its strength rises dramatically. One finger will become covered in black scales."

"Once black scales have covered all of its fingers, it means the dragon ape has reached a thousand years. At that point, it undergoes a transformation. Rather than growing larger, its body shrinks, its fur gradually falls out, and hard scales grow over its entire body."

"A thousand-year Long-Armed Dragon Ape has greatly enhanced defense and speed."

"After reaching Ten Thousand Year, it grows a dragon horn between its brows. At that point, its strength experiences explosive growth."

"As for the one beneath my foot, only four and a half fingers are covered in scales, so it should be around four hundred and fifty years old."

"The limit for an ordinary Soul Master's first Soul Ring is four hundred and twenty-three years, but you're tough, son. I don't think absorbing a four-hundred-and-fifty-year one will be a problem."

"So, what do you think? Do you want this Long-Armed Dragon Ape? It should grant your Twin Arms Martial Soul a seventy percent strength boost and a sixty percent defense boost. You might even gain its unique area attack skill—Thousand-Force Battlefield."

Xu Bayan pinned the trembling dragon ape beneath one foot while explaining soul beast knowledge to his son.

Beside them, Bao Jingjing was frightened by the ugly, vicious-looking dragon ape before her and kept hiding behind Bao Dexian.

Xu Huxiao, on the other hand, was brimming with interest.

In truth, Xu Bayan did not need to explain anything. Through the Eye of Omniscience, Xu Huxiao had already learned all the information about this soul beast.

[Soul Beast]: Long-Armed Dragon Ape

[Age]: Four hundred and fifty-two years

[Innate Abilities]: 1. Long-Armed Might; 2. Berserk; 3. Thousand-Force Battlefield.

[Path to Death]: Neither dragon nor ape, and God-fiendish besides. One glance tells me it isn't good-natured. This dragon ape has earned its death!

This was the soul beast information obtained through the Eye of Omniscience. Both its age and innate abilities were displayed in great detail.

It was just that...

The "path to death" below was a little unserious.

Xu Huxiao focused his mind on the innate abilities section, and the detailed information for all three abilities immediately appeared in his mind.

[Long-Armed Might]: When the Long-Armed Dragon Ape activated this ability, the strength of its arms doubled and its defense increased by sixty percent.

[Berserk]: When its life was threatened, the Long-Armed Dragon Ape could pound its chest to activate Berserk. Under the intense mental stimulation of rage, its speed increased by seventy percent and its strength by eighty percent.

[Thousand-Force Battlefield]: A special ability granted by the draconic bloodline within the Long-Armed Dragon Ape. When used, it could combine its innate might with the force within fifty meters around it, mixing it with Soul Power to form arrows of Thousand-Force Battle Qi and fire them outward. It was a wide-range group attack skill.

All three abilities were quite good.

However, Berserk affected one's mind after activation, filling one with rage. Seeing this, Xu Huxiao hesitated.

If he chose this Long-Armed Dragon Ape as his first Soul Ring, its abilities would likely be mixed together when forming his Soul Skill. In other words, when he activated his first Soul Skill to enhance his attributes, it might come with the rage induced by Berserk.

Excessive rage would stimulate the Hulk Martial Soul's energy. He worried that the two Martial Souls might clash because of it.

After all, he intended to cultivate both in the future.

But it was also possible that the formed Soul Skill would not carry Berserk's effects after absorption.

There was an element of chance involved.

Xu Huxiao decided not to absorb it for the time being.

There was still the Black-Patterned Dread Lizard in Dragon-Seeking Valley to consider. If its abilities were worse, he would choose this Long-Armed Dragon Ape instead.

Xu Huxiao said, "Father, I want to take a look at the other Black-Patterned Dread Lizard first, then make a choice after comparing them."

"Fine. Let's take another look around Dragon-Seeking Valley and pick up something for tonight's dinner while we're at it."

Normally, soul beasts formed Soul Rings and vanished after death, making them inedible.

But that only applied to ordinary people.

High-ranking Soul Masters had their own simple special methods to prevent dead soul beasts from forming Soul Rings, turning them into edible meat instead.

The places where Black-Patterned Dread Lizards frequently appeared were marked on the map near a shallow bank beside a small stream, making them easy to find.

Dragon-Seeking Valley in Spirit Hall's Soul Hunting Forest was close to the Star Dou Great Forest. It was part of a tropical rainforest, lush with vegetation.

Aside from draconic soul beasts, it was also home to a rich variety of other soul beasts.

Along the way, Xu Huxiao and the others encountered six or seven groups of soul beasts. Of course, that was because Xu Bayan had not released his Titled Douluo aura.

It was rare for his son to come out, so Xu Bayan deliberately let Xu Huxiao see the various kinds of soul beasts and explained them to him.

This combination of practical observation and theory made for excellent learning.

But for Xu Huxiao.

Learning about soul beasts was not all that necessary.

Because he possessed the Eye of Omniscience, which saw through everything. He could learn all information about any soul beast with a single glance.

And he could even clearly see the path to death they had earned.

Xu Huxiao silently grumbled to himself.

Beside a stream in the dense forest.

With Xu Bayan and Bao Dexian clearing the way, they quickly arrived at an area where Black-Patterned Dread Lizards often appeared. From afar, they spotted a giant lizard over three meters long resting beneath the shade of a tree.

This giant lizard was robust and grayish-white, with pitch-black demonic markings across its body. Unlike ordinary giant lizards, its hind legs were exceptionally thick, while its forelimbs were comparatively short.

"This is a Black-Patterned Dread Lizard. Judging by the eight complete rings of black markings on its tail, combined with its size, it should be an eight-hundred-year soul beast."

"Huxiao, this one isn't suitable for you. Let's look around some more."

Xu Bayan had determined its details with only a glance.

But just as he was about to leave and continue searching, Xu Huxiao beside him grabbed hold of him.

"Father, this is the one!"

Xu Bayan's expression turned stern as he frowned. "Son, absorbing a Soul Ring is no joke. The limit of four hundred and twenty-three years was established through the experiments of countless Soul Master scholars. Exceeding that limit will cause problems."

"If your Soul Power runs wild, at best you'll suffer severe injuries and never make further progress in Soul Power, just like Luo Ming."

"At worst, you'll explode and die. We must be cautious."

Xu Huxiao had long prepared an explanation for absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his level. Moreover, he had already obtained the Black-Patterned Dread Lizard's information through the Eye of Omniscience.

It was better than the Long-Armed Dragon Ape. He was very satisfied.

\n[Soul Beast]: Black-Patterned Dread Lizard

[Age]: Eight hundred and sixty years

[Innate Abilities]: 1. Gluttonous Grip; 2. Hunting Camouflage.

[Path to Death]: Tsk, tsk. Its name has "dread" in it. What more is there to say? An evil soul beast, through and through. This dread lizard has earned its death!

Although it was only eight Hundred-Year and sixty years old, not yet at his limit of eleven Hundred-Year.

Xu Huxiao had nevertheless decided on this soul beast, because he knew the limit given by the Eye of Omniscience was his true limit. Even a single year beyond eleven Hundred-Year would not work.

Even if he found a soul beast that was just over a thousand years old, absorbing its Soul Ring right at the edge of his limit carried tremendous risk.

Besides, having a thousand-year purple first Soul Ring would be far too eye-catching.

Although Spirit City was temporarily peaceful, hidden dangers still remained. If that conspicuous purple first Soul Ring drew further malicious attention.

And brought him several more unpredictable assassination attempts, that would be a real loss.

Fighting to live in the face of death was certainly thrilling.

But Xu Huxiao knew he was no chosen protagonist. He could not guarantee that he would survive every life-and-death crisis.

At this stage, what mattered was developing steadily for a while, until he possessed enough strength to protect himself.

As long as he only exceeded the conventional four-Hundred-Year limit and his Soul Ring remained yellow, there would be no problem.

As for convincing his father.

Xu Huxiao said, "Father, I am confident that I can absorb this soul beast's Soul Ring. If you're truly worried, you can examine my Bloodline Power."

"Even if your bloodline exceeds... Hm? This Bloodline Power—son, how can you possess such vigorous Bloodline Power?!"

Seeing his son's persistence, Xu Bayan naturally grasped Xu Huxiao's arm with his large hand. Given his attainments in bloodline cultivation, he sensed the difference immediately with only a slight examination.

Xu Bayan said in shock, "Your Eight Extraordinary Meridians are innately open?!"

This...

One had to know that Xu Bayan himself had only opened the Governing and Conception Vessels.

While Xu Bayan was astonished, Bao Dexian beside him was somewhat puzzled.

What were the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and what did it mean for them to be open?

This involved the secrets of bloodline cultivation. Ordinary Soul Masters, and even many Titled Douluos, might not know that once the meridians of the human body were opened, not only would one's Soul Power cultivation speed increase greatly, it also meant the body could absorb Soul Rings beyond its level.

In other words, Xu Huxiao, whose Eight Extraordinary Meridians were all open, had physical qualities at least equivalent to a level-twenty Soul Grandmaster. The limit at level ten was four hundred and twenty-three years, while for a level-twenty Soul Grandmaster, it was seven hundred and sixty-four years.

At the same time, not only was his physique stronger, but having all Eight Extraordinary Meridians open also meant he could withstand greater impacts of Soul Power.

Xu Bayan stared at his son as if he were looking at a monster. With physical conditions like these, he was truly freakishly talented!

Perhaps this brat really could absorb an eight-Hundred-Year Soul Ring beyond the limit.

The astonishment in Xu Bayan's eyes gradually turned into delight. Naturally, the higher the age of the absorbed Soul Ring, the better.

If it could be absorbed, even a million-year first Soul Ring would pose no problem!

That was because an absorbed Soul Ring not only increased a Soul Master's Soul Power, but also allowed that power to grow and evolve the Martial Soul while strengthening the Soul Master's body.

"Damn it! As expected of my seed! Hehe!"

Xu Huxiao was delighted. "Then does that mean you agree, Father?"

Unexpectedly, Xu Bayan said:

"With me protecting you and your monstrous talent, you can indeed give it a try. But there is one more test. If you pass it, that will prove you truly have the ability to attempt it."

"Otherwise, to be safe, we should choose a soul beast around six-Hundred-Year-old."

"Father, what test?" Xu Huxiao's eyes were filled with powerful confidence.

"The test is this: personally hunt this Black-Patterned Dread Lizard."

"If you complete the test, Dad has another gift for you."