Energy-Type Falcon Soul Beast

"Sis, I hurt all over!"

In the Soul Hunting Forest, Chu Heng followed Su Xianling, rubbing the places where she had hit him during yesterday's sparring session and deliberately drawing out his words.

"It hurts here, and here too... Ow... I think my ribs hurt as well."

Chu Heng sounded more pitiful with every word.

"Big sis, I think I might have serious internal injuries."

Su Xianling kept walking without slowing down. She couldn't even be bothered to look back.

"Oh."

"..."

Chu Heng choked. Just "oh"?

Unwilling to give up, he hurried a few steps to catch up.

"Big sis, I'm still a kid. I'm at an age where I'm growing."

"If you hit me like that, you could stunt my growth."

Su Xianling turned her head.

"Stunt your growth? What are you planning to do once you're fully grown?"

Chu Heng's eyes widened.

What kind of thing is that to say?!

Before Chu Heng could respond, Su Xianling gave him a faintly amused look and turned away again.

Chu Heng's face fell.

All I did was tell the truth... Did she really have to hold on to it this long?

Of course, Chu Heng only dared think that. If he said it aloud, he would probably get another beating tonight.

"Sigh..."

Chu Heng let out a long sigh.

When you're under someone else's roof, you have to keep your head down.

The two of them were in no hurry.

Su Xianling had brought Chu Heng to find a Soul Beast, so they stopped often along the way. Whenever they entered a new area, she took a moment to sense the Soul Beasts nearby.

Chu Heng followed behind her, recovering from yesterday's injuries while observing their surroundings.

As they ventured deeper, the atmosphere of the Soul Hunting Forest gradually changed.

It took them an entire day to reach the inner region.

"From now on, don't stray too far from me."

Su Xianling stopped and gave him a serious warning.

"The Soul Beasts here are still too dangerous for you. You don't have a Spirit Ring yet. If you run into one, you probably won't even have a chance to fight back."

Chu Heng nodded at once.

"Got it!"

Joking was one thing. Staying alive mattered more.

The two of them began searching for a Soul Beast suited to Chu Heng.

But... things did not go as smoothly as they had imagined.

"How about this one?"

Standing on a boulder, Su Xianling pointed to a Soul Beast gnawing on tree bark nearby. Chu Heng stared at it for a while but felt nothing.

He shook his head.

"No."

They walked a little farther.

"That one?"

"No."

"What about this one?"

"Still no."

"..."

Over the next half day, Su Xianling showed Chu Heng more than a dozen different Soul Beasts, but his Martial Soul never gave any noticeable response.

Su Xianling gradually began to frown.

She had not expected even the Soul Beasts in the inner region to fail to resonate with Chu Heng.

"Let's look farther ahead."

Su Xianling was not discouraged. They still had plenty of time.

Just as they were about to move on...

"Screech!"

A clear cry suddenly rang out overhead. Chu Heng stopped short. That feeling...

My Martial Soul!

The instant the cry sounded, Chu Heng felt a distinct stirring in his Martial Soul.

He looked up.

"Big sis! That one up there!"

Su Xianling reacted instantly and looked up. High above them, a blue-gray figure darted past between the treetops. Its wingspan was nearly two meters, and a faint sheen shimmered along the edges of its feathers.

One glance was enough for Su Xianling to identify its type and age.

"An Energy-Type Falcon Soul Beast... About two hundred years old."

At that, she looked at Chu Heng in surprise.

"Are you sure it's that one?"

"Yeah."

Chu Heng nodded earnestly.

"My Martial Soul reacted."

Su Xianling studied the falcon overhead, her eyes thoughtful.

That was interesting. Among the Martial Souls recorded to date, very few required an energy-type Soul Beast for a Spirit Ring, and those Martial Souls had no obvious traits in common.

If Chu Heng's Martial Soul could not sense one on its own, finding a suitable Soul Beast through theory alone would have been difficult.

"Energy-type..."

Su Xianling repeated the words. Now that they knew what to look for, the rest was simpler.

"Whatever Soul Beast you need,"

Su Xianling said with a smile,

"I'll find it for you."

The moment she finished speaking, she vanished.

"Huh?"

Before Chu Heng could react, he could only watch as Su Xianling raced after it through the treetops. Her speed far surpassed the falcon's.

Before long, a startled cry came from the distance.

"Screech!"

Then the branches and leaves shook.

A moment later, Su Xianling emerged from the forest. The falcon that had been soaring freely through the sky was now subdued in her grasp.

Chu Heng's mouth twitched. So this is the difference in strength. The Soul Beast he had encountered before might have been weaker than this one, yet he had chased it for ages without touching a feather.

For Su Xianling... it was no harder than catching a chicken.

"Come here."

Su Xianling brought the Soul Beast over to Chu Heng.

"See how it feels up close."

As Chu Heng approached, the response from his Martial Soul grew clearer.

"It's this type."

He gave his answer.

"Then there's no mistake."

Su Xianling nodded.

She examined the Soul Beast in her hand more closely. After a while, she frowned slightly.

"Around two hundred years... Its age is still a little low."

She had originally intended for Chu Heng's first Spirit Ring to come as close as possible to the theoretical limit he could withstand.

The little guy was already stronger than an ordinary six-year-old, and he had trained for so long. There was no need to be so cautious with his first Spirit Ring.

Su Xianling looked at Chu Heng.

"If you're not in a hurry, we can keep looking. Now that we know you need an energy-type Soul Beast, we'll have a much clearer target. We might find one of a more suitable age."

Chu Heng fell silent. Before receiving the Soul Ring Blessing, he probably would have absorbed this one immediately.

A suitable Soul Beast was hard to find, after all, and a little over two hundred years was not bad.

But now...

Since he had a chance to obtain an older Spirit Ring, there was no need to rush. The Soul Ring Blessing could indeed increase its age, but the higher its starting age, the better the result would be.

"Okay."

Chu Heng nodded.

"Let's keep looking."

Su Xianling was pleased with his answer.

"That's more like it. Your first Spirit Ring will affect your future development. There's no reason to settle just to save a few days."

And so, the falcon they had gone to the trouble of catching did not become Chu Heng's first Spirit Ring.

Su Xianling merely kept it restrained and brought it along.

If they could not find anything more suitable, it would be their fallback choice.

For the next five days, they searched the inner region of the Soul Hunting Forest. With a clear target, they ruled out unsuitable Soul Beasts much more efficiently.

Yet after five days, they still had nothing.

That evening, Chu Heng sat beside the fire, looking at the falcon nearby that had completely resigned itself to its fate. At last, he spoke.

"Big sis."

"Mm?"

Su Xianling was roasting something.

"How about..."

Chu Heng pointed at the falcon.

"We just go with that one."