The Thunder Wolf

After absorbing the Soul Ring, the sword had changed. Before, it had looked like a piece of discarded scrap iron—blunt and battered, hardly worthy of being called a sword. Now, though it was still far from splendid, it could at least be called a proper sword.

Li Changqing ran a fingertip along the blade, feeling the difference, and nodded. "Now that's a sword. Not bad!"

He walked up to a tree with a trunk as thick as the mouth of a bowl and gave his sword a gentle swing.

A flash of sword light passed through it. The upper half of the trunk slid off and fell to the ground, leaving a smooth cut. The blade was several times sharper than before.

Li Changqing continued his tests. He wanted to see how powerful his first Soul Skill was.

A yellow ring rose from beneath his feet and circled up and down his body. "First Soul Skill: Keen Edge!" he called.

A keen force burst from the sword. There was no overwhelming display of power; the blade merely took on a deeper luster.

Li Changqing swung again, this time at a boulder half as tall as a person.

The blade swept through the boulder, cutting it in two.

This time, he had not used Sun True Fire to empower the sword. The blade, enhanced by his Soul Skill alone, had split the boulder, leaving another flat, smooth surface.

Keen Edge, the first Soul Skill of Li Changqing's Sword Martial Soul, greatly increased the blade's sharpness and hardness. With the skill active, he felt it could cut through steel. It was a perfect Soul Skill.

"Perfect." Li Changqing put away his sword, smiling.

He looked up at the sky. The sun was already sinking westward, and the roars of Soul Beasts sounded in the distance. Anyone else who had obtained their first Soul Ring would surely have left the Star Dou Great Forest, but Li Changqing hesitated.

His Soul Power had already reached level twenty. With one more Soul Ring, he could become a Soul Grandmaster.

Li Changqing gritted his teeth. "Since I'm already here, I might as well press on and get my second Soul Ring in one go. That'll save me another trip. Deeper in!"

He straightened his pack, checked his provisions, and continued deeper into the forest.

As he walked along a woodland path, Li Changqing kept a wary eye on his surroundings while pondering something.

Ever since obtaining his Soul Ring and breaking through, he had felt a faint stiffness when controlling this body. It was like wearing clothes that did not quite fit. It would not affect him in battle, but it still felt awkward and uncomfortable.

At first, Li Changqing had thought his Soul Power had risen too abruptly to level twenty after he obtained the ring, and that his body had yet to adjust to the leap in strength.

But after examining the sensation more closely, he realized that was not it. The stiffness came not from unfamiliarity with his newfound power, but from a mismatch between body and soul.

"This isn't my original body, after all." Li Changqing sighed helplessly.

This body had not been his to begin with. Although his soul had inhabited it for ten months, he had believed he had gained perfect control over it.

Yet now that he had grown stronger, this stiffness had appeared.

It looks like, when I get the chance, I'll have to rebuild my original body around my soul, Li Changqing thought. That's fine. What's the point of crossing into another world if even my body isn't my own?

Kunpeng True Blood held boundless vitality and power. Rebuilding a body would not be difficult for him; the time simply was not right yet.

Li Changqing's eyes lit up as an idea struck him. This body shouldn't go to waste, either. Once it's strong enough, perhaps I can pour all its power into my Sword Martial Soul and turn it from an insubstantial Martial Soul into a real sword. That would make full use of it.

I can put the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well aside for now. Since I'll abandon this body sooner or later, I shouldn't waste Immortal Herbs on it. When the time comes, I can use the well's immense energy and the herbs' medicinal power to rebuild my body, saving as much Kunpeng True Blood as possible.

Even without Immortal Herbs, the Kunpeng Method is powerful enough that I'm confident I can become a Titled Douluo in very little time.

With his plans settled, Li Changqing felt a sudden clarity and gained more confidence in the future.

He deliberately stopped the Kunpeng True Blood from nourishing his body. That tiny expenditure was only a hair from nine oxen, negligible beside its reserves. But if he meant to abandon this body, he would not waste a single trace of its power.

Li Changqing pressed on. Looking at the dense primeval forest stretching beyond sight, he felt a headache coming on. "The first Soul Ring took me five days. How long will the second one take?"

Li Changqing had searched the Star Dou Great Forest for seven whole days without finding a suitable Soul Beast. None of the beasts he encountered could force him to fight at full strength, so they failed to meet his standards.

Thus, even when the Soul Beasts he killed yielded Hundred-Year Soul Rings, he did not absorb them.

Those seven days had been miserable. He had lived like a wild man, gnawing on dry rations when hungry and drinking dew or finding a mountain spring when thirsty.

Branches had torn several large holes in his clothes, which were stained with mud and Soul Beast blood. His hair was a mess and his face was filthy; he looked like a wild man.

Li Changqing sighed. "I'm almost out of food. If I can't find one soon, I'll head back to Soul Hunting Town and rest."

That afternoon, the already dim sky grew darker. Heavy black clouds crowded the horizon, and a strong wind set the leaves rustling. A stifling pressure filled the air.

"A downpour's coming." Li Changqing looked up at the sky. He was about to find a cave or somewhere else to shelter from the rain.

Suddenly, a low wolf howl rose from a nearby valley.

"Awooo—"

This howl was unlike the ones he had heard before: deeper, fiercer. It had to belong to a powerful Soul Beast.

Li Changqing abandoned his search for shelter and headed toward the howl. "I hope this Soul Beast meets the requirements for my second Soul Ring."

He summoned his Sword Martial Soul and advanced cautiously.

Passing through a dense thicket, Li Changqing reached the valley entrance.

There, atop a boulder in the valley, stood an enormous wolf. Its fur was the blue of lightning, and it stood nearly two meters tall, as imposing as a sturdy yak.

Arcs of electricity flickered now and then across its blue fur.

Its eyes were an uncanny blue, with electricity flashing through them too, like two balls of lightning.

It was a Thunder Wolf, a powerful Soul Beast with few rivals of the same age.

Once Li Changqing saw it clearly, his eyes brightened. "A wolf-type Soul Beast with the Lightning Attribute. By the rules of the Douluo Continent, Soul Beasts with elemental attributes are generally powerful. This wolf looks even stronger than the Black Iron Mantis. Its age should meet the requirements for my Sword Martial Soul's second Soul Ring."