Choosing the First Spirit Ring

When Lin Yue and Tang Yin walked out of the hotel, a middle-aged man in fitted clothes was already waiting at the entrance.

He looked close to forty, with sharp eyes and a faint smile that made him seem quite approachable. He was Su Yan, the teacher from the Junior Soul Master Academy leading the two children on this soul hunt.

As the academy's dean of studies, he was also a level thirty-seven Battle Soul Elder with an ape martial soul. Even within the Soul Hunting Forest, he counted as a formidable combatant.

As arranged, the headmaster had assigned him to help Lin Yue and Tang Yin obtain their First Spirit Rings.

However, this trip to the Soul Hunting Forest had unexpectedly gained an uninvited participant.

Beside Su Yan, Yu Xiaogang, the Master with a crew cut, smiled and nodded at Lin Yue and Tang Yin, looking as though everything had gone exactly as he expected.

"Director Su, why did you bring him too?"

Seeing Yu Xiaogang again, Lin Yue rubbed his forehead, immediately feeling a headache coming on.

"I happened to run into him on the way here. Master Yu Xiaogang heard that I was helping students hunt for Spirit Rings and volunteered to come along to help us identify the Soul Beasts."

Su Yan smiled faintly, thinking he had found himself a rather good partner. But when he turned around, he saw that both students wore complicated expressions. Their eyes seemed particularly unconvinced by Yu Xiaogang.

"Ahem, you two needn't be like this. Although the Master's martial soul has a minor flaw, he is still a Soul Grandmaster, and his theoretical knowledge is quite extensive. He should be able to help."

Was that so? Hard to say...

Remembering Yu Xiaogang's dreadful performance when helping Tang San acquire his First Spirit Ring in the original story, Lin Yue could not help shaking his head.

This Soul Grandmaster, who only had level twenty-nine Soul Power, probably had less actual combat strength than an ordinary Soul Master.

Noticing that the atmosphere had grown a little strange, Su Yan hurriedly tried to smooth things over and changed the subject.

"By the way, weren't you two already at Innate Full Soul Power? Why are you only hunting for Spirit Rings now?"

"Haha, we needed to make some basic preparations first. Otherwise, we wouldn't even know what Spirit Rings to hunt for."

Lin Yue already had a rough plan for this Spirit Ring hunt and knew exactly what he wanted. He only hoped Yu Xiaogang would not cause trouble.

"That makes sense. Then tell me, little ones, what do you think?"

As they entered the Soul Hunting Forest, Su Yan smiled, clearly holding great expectations for the two children.

Though both were poor work-study students, they were exceptionally diligent and talented. If nothing unexpected happened, they might truly have the potential to become Titled Douluo in the future.

Judging by their performance at the academy, not a single student dared refuse to acknowledge them.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Yin took the initiative to speak, her beautiful eyes carrying a hint of earnestness.

"I want a Spirit Ring that can increase the strength of Blue Silver Grass."

Tang Yin had spent plenty of time in the library lately, and she had already formed quite a few ideas of her own.

During the half month since she had entered the Soul Master Academy, she had often fought Xiao Wu, mainly because she had been unwilling to accept her initial defeat.

Yet reality proved that even in open terrain, unless she truly used hidden weapons, she could not gain any advantage over Xiao Wu. Even if she merely threw ordinary pebbles, she still could not do much against her.

The greatest issue was still the gap between their martial souls.

Even without using soul skills, Xiao Wu's nimble movements after possessing her martial soul were enough to erase the advantages brought by techniques such as the Mysterious Heaven Skill, leaving Tang Yin miserable and helpless.

Blue Silver Grass without the support of a Spirit Ring was less useful than a small dagger. It would shatter at the slightest touch.

If she had not trusted Brother Lin's earlier judgment, she herself would have begun to wonder whether Blue Silver Grass really was a useless martial soul.

"Increase its strength? Then what do you think of this Ten-Year Lone Bamboo?"

After being disregarded by the two little geniuses and holding it in all the way here, Yu Xiaogang finally could not restrain himself after entering the Soul Hunting Forest. He pointed at a Soul Beast nearby and spoke up.

"Among plant-type Soul Beasts, if we are talking about the ones with the strongest vitality and considerable toughness, then naturally it has to be bamboo."

Yu Xiaogang pointed at several pale green plants. They looked slightly greener than ordinary bamboo, standing perfectly straight yet appearing utterly unremarkable. Without being told, it would have been almost impossible to recognize them as Soul Beasts.

Before Lin Yue could even give him a contemptuous look, Su Yan nodded approvingly.

"Bamboo Soul Beasts can grow several centimeters in a single day. I've even heard that some people can hear bamboo growing."

"So Lone Bamboo is quite suitable as a First Spirit Ring for a plant-type martial soul. Its only problem is that its age is a bit too low. There are basically no Lone Bamboo Soul Beasts over a hundred years old."

Seeing both teachers praise Lone Bamboo so highly, Tang Yin's little face showed a trace of bewilderment as she looked strangely at Lin Yue.

Lin Yue forced out a smile and lowered his voice as he spoke to her.

"Bamboo is indeed good, but ten years definitely won't be enough."

"That's right! But a mere Ten-Year Lone Bamboo is only worthy of ordinary people. Xiao San, you're a genius. You absolutely cannot let such a low-level Spirit Ring limit your horizons. This is only our very last option, a backup!"

Growing more excited as he spoke, Yu Xiaogang became increasingly animated. The previous restraint on his face had vanished completely.

"According to the theories I derived from compiling information on geniuses from various factions, the theoretical upper limit for a Soul Master's First Spirit Ring is four hundred and twenty-three years. We should get as close to that age as possible!"

With his earlier judgment acknowledged, Yu Xiaogang regained that punchable air of petty arrogance, acting like a self-important Master as he instructed them.

"At the same time, Blue Silver Grass's offensive power is too weak. We should add Spirit Rings with poison and toughness attributes. In my opinion, snake-type Soul Beasts with potent venom may be more suitable."

Heh.

Listening to Yu Xiaogang's lengthy speech, Lin Yue curled his lips, wearing an expression of disgust that said he had expected nothing less.

Noticing the disdain in Lin Yue's eyes, the slight interest Tang Yin had felt toward poison-type Spirit Rings instantly vanished. Her little face showed the same shared hatred.

Still, although she habitually stood on the same side as Brother Lin, the curious girl lowered her voice and asked softly.

"Brother Lin, are poison-type Spirit Rings bad?"

As a member of the Tang Sect, Tang Yin had an instinctive affinity for poison. If her martial soul could carry poison, it would greatly improve her early combat ability.

Besides, poison and toughness really did sound like they could compensate for Blue Silver Grass's most urgent weaknesses in the early stages. It seemed rather good.

"Ah Yin, don't listen to him. He's completely talking nonsense."

Watching Yu Xiaogang grow more and more excited until he seemed to have forgotten where he was, Lin Yue shook his head repeatedly.

To hell with snake-type Spirit Rings! To hell with poison! Taking a martial soul centered on life and forcibly adding poison to it was like letting one rotten rat dropping ruin an entire pot of soup!

Did he not see that even a terrifying martial soul like the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor suffered backlash from absorbing overly powerful poison attributes? For a martial soul centered on life to play with poison, was that not simply destroying its own foundation?

If she truly chose a Mandala Snake as her First Spirit Ring, it would be nothing but shortsightedness—caring only about immediate benefits while completely sacrificing future growth.

It was no wonder Tang San in the original story had ignored his own Blue Silver Emperor in the later stages. Yu Xiaogang had already ruined it by treating it as an experiment. What use could it possibly have afterward?

In that Master's eyes, Blue Silver Grass was probably worthless from beginning to end. Giving it Spirit Rings was only meant to help break through realms and make it easier to raise the Clear Sky Hammer later. That was why he could say something as outrageous as a Ten-Year Lone Bamboo being usable.

"As for the Master's supposed four-hundred-and-twenty-three-year Spirit Ring limit, just take it with a grain of salt. After being strengthened by Whale Rubber, your physical strength far exceeds that of ordinary Soul Masters. Absorbing a five- or six-hundred-year Spirit Ring will absolutely not be a problem."

"Mhm, I believe Brother Lin."

Her face brimming with sweetness, Tang Yin tightly hugged Lin Yue's arm, happier and more delighted than she had ever been.

Ever since that night, when she had decided to accept the new name Tang Yin, she had unexpectedly discovered that the faint barrier that had always seemed to exist between her and Brother Lin had completely shattered.

He no longer avoided her slightly as he had before. Instead, he seemed to have accepted her feelings and love, and his movements no longer carried those traces of stiffness and distance...

Though they had not yet taken the final step, Tang Yin believed that one day, Brother Lin would completely belong to her...

Thinking of this, the little girl's face was filled with happiness...