Dragon Scale Turtle: Do Soul Beasts Think with Their Lower Bodies?

"Brother Huxiao, here. Master said that once you finished training, you should go to the dining hall."

"Mm, got it. Let's go."

Xu Huxiao emerged from the water and naturally took the towel from Bao Jingjing's flushed hands. After drying himself off, he changed into a fresh black robe and headed for the dining hall.

Six people had come to Thousand Islands Lake for this vacation. Besides Xu Huxiao and his father, there were Yun Ji, Bao Jingjing, the Soul Sage Xiao Kong, and the butler Luo Ming.

Aside from managing their daily affairs, Luo Ming had also come along to obtain his second Soul Ring.

Bao Jingjing was here because she had reached level twenty and needed to obtain her second Soul Ring as well.

As a Food-type Soul Master, her Soul Power Level should have risen very slowly. However, because Bao Jingjing had spent the past two years constantly studying cuisine, she brought Xu Huxiao a new dish every three days.

This behavior happened to align perfectly with her Martial Soul. Coupled with the Demon Clam pearl Xu Huxiao possessed, which could raise Soul Power Levels and evolve Martial Souls—

Bao Jingjing had smoothly reached level twenty.

Soul Sage Xiao Kong had come along as a guard and fighter.

As for the little mermaid Yun Ji, she was Xu Huxiao's little tagalong. She only wanted to melt her Holy Knight's cold heart while satisfying her own playfulness and curiosity.

After lunch, Xu Huxiao's group boarded a small boat and departed from Returning Moon Island to hunt Soul Beasts and obtain Soul Rings.

Although the islands of Thousand Islands Lake looked chaotically scattered, they were actually clearly divided by boundaries.

On the boat, Xiao Kong and Luo Ming were responsible for steering, while Xu Huxiao ate the dessert jelly Bao Jingjing had made and studied the map on the small table.

The map divided Thousand Islands Lake into three rings.

The inner ring, middle ring, and outer ring.

The inner ring was located at the center of Thousand Islands Lake. There stood Bright Island, the largest island in the lake, and Bhikkhu City, the capital of Cupid Kingdom, had been built upon it.

Near Bright Island were three smaller islands, which served as subsidiary islands and were connected to Bright Island by iron chain bridges.

Together, these four islands formed the inner ring, where the nobles and royal family of Cupid Kingdom resided.

The middle ring was the largest of the three. It was mainly divided into two areas: human settlements and the Barren Island Group, where Soul Beasts lived.

Returning Moon Island, where Xu Huxiao's family was vacationing, belonged to the human settlement area of the middle ring.

The outer ring consisted of everything beyond the middle ring, along with a portion of the territory on land.

The place Xu Huxiao and the others were heading for was the Barren Island Group inhabited by Soul Beasts. It was not a cultivated Soul Hunting Forest, but a wild habitat for Soul Beasts.

The Dragon Scale Turtle with Sub-Dragon Bloodline lived in the Barren Island Group.

"Son, that turtle you're looking for should be here, right?" Xu Bayan said casually as he gnawed on a braised pork knuckle.

"Mm. The information provided by the hall says it's here. Uncle Xiao Kong and I also contacted the local Spirit Hall Main Hall, and we received the same information."

Xu Huxiao looked over the map, then surveyed the terrain of the surrounding islands. Their boat had already entered the Barren Island Group.

"But the Barren Island Group is so large. It won't be easy to find a specific kind of Soul Beast, will it?"

"Father, I came prepared."

"Oh? Then I'll leave it to you. Your dad's going into the cabin for an afternoon nap. Call me if anything happens."

Xu Bayan finished the pork knuckle in two bites, tossed the bone in his hand overboard, stretched lazily, and entered the cabin.

Before long, loud snores drifted from inside the cabin.

Seeing this, Xiao Kong could not help saying, "Big Brother really has a big heart. There are quite a few fierce Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts in Thousand Islands Lake. Is it really okay to let little Huxiao search for the Dragon Scale Turtle alone?"

Xu Huxiao smiled. "Uncle Xiao Kong, aren't you here too? The Wind Mane Hound, the continent's number one tracking Martial Soul, and your title of Life Reaper Across Ten Thousand Miles are renowned throughout the Soul Master world."

"Haha, you sure know how to talk, kid. But these waters are vast, so they're very unfavorable for my scent tracking."

Xiao Kong sniffed the air and found that the scents of all kinds of Soul Beasts were faint. As for the target, the Dragon Scale Turtle, there was not a single clue.

Then Xiao Kong noticed that whenever their boat approached a lush, green deserted island, Xu Huxiao would grab a handful of brown, sticky, gelatinous stuff from a small jar and throw it onto the shore.

It was as though he were leaving markers.

Xiao Kong smelled it. The scent was strange and faint, and he grew curious about Xu Huxiao's actions.

"Huxiao, are you trying to use the stuff in that jar to attract Soul Beasts? But this doesn't smell like ordinary bait used to attract Soul Beasts."

Xu Huxiao grabbed another handful of the mud-like substance from the jar and hurled it forcefully at a rock by the shore.

Splat!

The brown gelatinous mass stuck to the rock.

After that, the boat continued onward. Xu Huxiao turned and said, "This really isn't bait for attracting Soul Beasts. I specially asked Master Ding Huayang to prepare it for Dragon Scale Turtles."

Xiao Kong became even more curious. "I remember Dragon Scale Turtles are ordinary omnivorous Soul Beasts. Do they have some unusual preference for a certain food?"

After leaving a marker on the last deserted island, Xu Huxiao had used up the brown substance in the jar.

He washed his hands in the lake, dried them with the towel Bao Jingjing handed him, and said, "This isn't for Dragon Scale Turtles to eat. It's specifically used to put turtle-type Soul Beasts into heat."

"You mean this makes Dragon Scale Turtles go into heat?" Xiao Kong was somewhat surprised.

"That's right. Calling it an aphrodisiac isn't quite accurate. Um, it should be said that this attracts Dragon Scale Turtles that are currently in heat."

"I checked the records on Soul Beasts in the hall. This is the season when Dragon Scale Turtles are in heat."

Even so, Xiao Kong could not help asking when he saw Xu Huxiao resting calmly in a lounge chair nearby.

"Even if that's the case, are you really so certain the Dragon Scale Turtles will take the bait? Don't we need to make any other preparations?"

Xiao Kong felt this method was somewhat unreliable. He had never seen anyone use such a method to attract Soul Beasts.

"Uncle Xiao, Soul Beasts are different from humans. Their mating season only lasts a month or two. During this special period, their urge to mate is often stronger than their urge to eat."

"So these Dragon Scale Turtles will be extremely sensitive to scents that stimulate their mating desire."

"After all, at a time like this, they're all thinking with their lower bodies."

After Xu Huxiao spoke, he opened his mouth and accepted the fruit pudding Bao Jingjing fed him.

Yun Ji, on the other hand, also opened her mouth, waiting to be fed.

The moment Xiao Kong heard "thinking with their lower bodies," he immediately understood. A slightly lewd, meaningful smile appeared on his face.

"Oh, I get that. Hehe, looks like you're quite the expert, kid."

Xu Huxiao was speechless and did not want to respond to Xiao Kong, the self-proclaimed expert.

Luo Ming, who was steering the boat, asked, "Young Master, where should we head now?"

"We wait. After half an hour, we'll return the way we came. For now, find a deserted island to dock at."

"Got it."

Xu Huxiao then looked at Xiao Kong and said, "Uncle Xiao, we'll stop here for a while. If any Soul Beasts attack during that time, I'll have to trouble you to deal with them."

Xiao Kong took a swig from his wine gourd and said, "No problem. With me here, ordinary Soul Beasts won't dare disturb us."

The boat docked. Xiao Kong took a small book from his waist, flipped onto the roof of the boat's canopy, and began reading it with great interest.

Xu Huxiao casually glanced at it and saw that it was a small book with a blue cover.

"Golden Lotus Spring Bathing Illustration"...

He did not know what to say. He remembered that Xiao Kong always carried this book around and read it often. He had thought it was some kind of Soul Power meditation technique.

But it turned out... it was nothing of the sort.

Xu Huxiao truly did not know how Uncle Xiao Kong, who read such improper books every day, had cultivated to the Soul Sage realm.

Perhaps everyone had their own unique way of cultivating.

After silently mocking him, Xu Huxiao cast aside his distracting thoughts, closed his eyes, and began regulating his breathing as he circulated his Yang Origin Soul Power.

Even without obtaining a Soul Ring, one could still cultivate and accumulate Soul Power. Once a Soul Ring was obtained later, one's Soul Power would rise significantly.

Half an hour later.

The boat set off and began returning along the same route.

This time, the boat traveled through the middle of the waterway, trying not to disturb any Soul Beasts that might have been attracted.

Xu Huxiao also activated the scanning state of the Eye of Omniscience, mainly to obtain information about the names of Soul Beasts.

Very soon.

The boat arrived at the place where Xu Huxiao had thrown down the last of the "bait."

It was a shoal, and the brown gelatinous "bait" was in the center of it.

From afar, three Soul Beasts could already be seen gathered around the brown gelatinous mass, making deep, muffled cries.

Mooow...

Mooow...

The sound resembled the bellowing of water buffalo, though it was much deeper.

Xu Huxiao's lips curled upward at the sight. This was precisely the mating call Dragon Scale Turtles made while in heat, and the Eye of Omniscience also sent him three identical messages:

[Soul Beast]: Dragon Scale Turtle

It seemed Master Ding Huayang's specially prepared concoction was highly effective. Now they only needed to see whether there was a Dragon Scale Turtle over a thousand years old.

"A turtle head with long dragon whiskers, a somewhat long tail with yellow dragon whiskers, fine black scales covering its four limbs and shell, and a body nearly two meters long. A Dragon Scale Turtle!"

"You really did lure Dragon Scale Turtles here, Huxiao. You're something else, kid."

"Three of them came at once. If I remember correctly, the age of a Dragon Scale Turtle is judged by its size, as well as the length of its dragon whiskers and the color of the dragon whiskers on its tail."

"The dragon whiskers on these three tails are yellow, so they're all Hundred-Year Soul Beasts. One of them has dragon whiskers a little over seven inches long."

"It should be between seven and eight hundred years old. Huxiao, it's perfect for your second Soul Ring!"

Upon seeing the three Dragon Scale Turtles, Xiao Kong revealed a delighted expression and rattled off all the relevant information about them.

To think they had found a suitable Soul Beast so quickly. Xiao Kong became interested in Xu Huxiao's method of attracting Soul Beasts, thinking that perhaps he could use this method once he reached the Soul Douluo realm.

After all, ordinary Soul Masters often spent ten days or half a month without finding a Soul Beast suited to them, and they had to keep risking their lives exploring forests.

How could it ever be this easy?

However, Xu Huxiao was not overly pleased, because he was not looking for a Hundred-Year Dragon Scale Turtle.

He was looking for a thousand-year-old one.

What Xiao Kong said matched the results scanned by his Eye of Omniscience.

These three Dragon Scale Turtles were all Hundred-Year Soul Beasts. The oldest among them was only seven hundred and sixteen years old.

[Soul Beast]: Dragon Scale Turtle

[Age]: Seven Hundred and Sixteen Years

[Talent Abilities]: First, Energy Armor; second, Rapid Rolling.

[Path to Death]: It's both dragon and turtle. Just look at that grotesque mismatched appearance—it must be evil. Kill it, and may the continent be rid of all evil Soul Beasts!