Soul Hunting Permit, and Meeting Su Yuntao Again

After successfully joining Yao Luochen's pharmacy, Duan Qingya took only a week to analyze every medicinal ingredient in its cabinets.

At the same time, Duan Qingya learned from the books Ling Zhi had given him that the Douluo Continent also had many medicinal ingredients with special effects.

However, these ingredients had to be bought at the Soul Master Market, and whether he could find them depended on luck.

That was because most of these ingredients were guarded by powerful soul beasts.

Usually, only soul hunting teams that happened to come across them while hunting soul beasts could bring them back to sell, and their prices were fairly steep.

"Qingya, here's this month's pay."

Once most of the patients had left, Ling Zhi called Duan Qingya over, took out two Gold Soul Coins, and handed them to him.

"In the blink of an eye, you've been working here for two years, Qingya! Time really flies."

Duan Qingya put away his monthly pay and nodded slightly in agreement with Ling Zhi's thoughts.

Over those two years, by analyzing medicinal ingredients, Duan Qingya had finally formulated a potion that could speed up his tamed beast's cultivation.

Thanks to that potion, Duan Qingya had finally broken through to level ten the previous night.

"Boss Ling, I may need to take a week off soon. I broke through to level ten yesterday, so I need some time off to obtain a soul ring."

Hearing that Duan Qingya wanted time off, Ling Zhi showed no objection. He agreed with a sweeping wave of his hand, then added a reminder.

"When you go, remember to hire a strong Soul Master team. Ideally, get a hundred-year soul ring and lay a solid foundation as a Soul Master."

"Your soul power level is ten, which meets the application requirements. Here is your soul hunting permit."

After confirming that Duan Qingya's soul power level had reached ten, the Spirit Hall official stamped his soul hunting permit with the Spirit Hall seal.

"By the way, our Spirit Hall has recently started taking commissions to hunt soul beasts. Our prices are much lower than those outside. If you're interested, I can help you apply."

Duan Qingya had been about to take his soul hunting permit and leave, but hearing that Spirit Hall even offered soul hunting services immediately piqued his interest.

After all, Spirit Hall was more professional and responsible than some Soul Master team picked at random off the street. Besides, he was an eight-year-old child; if he suddenly brought out that much money, someone was bound to set their sights on him.

"Then could you give me a price list? I need to go home and discuss it with my guardian."

The official, who had only mentioned it in passing, immediately grew enthusiastic and handed Duan Qingya a price list that had already been prepared.

"Two hundred and forty Gold Soul Coins for a three-hundred-year soul beast. That really is much cheaper than the soul hunting teams outside."

Looking at the price list on the table, Ling Zhi was also somewhat surprised. He had not expected Spirit Hall to start doing this sort of business.

"But Qingya, take your prescription back! Consider these one hundred and eighty Gold Soul Coins my contribution. You don't have to repay me."

With that, Ling Zhi pushed the money pouch back toward Duan Qingya. He had not even glanced at the prescription Duan Qingya had offered.

"Then I'll gratefully accept the money. As for this prescription that speeds up the healing of burns, I still hope you'll accept it, Boss Ling. Think of it as something for the patients who come here in the future."

Duan Qingya had not expected to obtain the money so easily. He had written out this prescription before coming just in case.

"Then let me thank you on behalf of the patients who come here to have their burns treated."

Since Duan Qingya kept insisting, Ling Zhi could hardly refuse any further, so she put the prescription away.

Feeling that she had gotten the better end of the bargain, and remembering that Duan Qingya was now living alone in Nuoding City, Ling Zhi offered to accompany him to Spirit Hall.

"Still, just to be safe, Qingya, I'll go with you! We wouldn't want Spirit Hall throwing its weight around and bullying its customers."

With Ling Zhi accompanying him, Duan Qingya returned to Spirit Hall once more.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Duan Qingya saw which Soul Master would be accompanying him to hunt a soul beast.

"Oh, aren't you that child from Village Chief Niu's family? It's been two years, and you've already broken through to level ten!"

Duan Qingya was the only person Su Yuntao had encountered in recent years with level-six innate soul power, so naturally, he remembered him clearly.

Seeing that the Soul Master who would hunt a soul beast for him was Su Yuntao, Duan Qingya could not help marveling at the wonders of fate.

"Senior Su Yuntao, you look even more impressive than you did two years ago!"

After chatting with Su Yuntao for a while, Duan Qingya learned that he had accepted this commission entirely because Sisi's birthday was approaching. Su Yuntao wanted to earn some extra money to buy her a necklace worth one thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Hearing Su Yuntao's reason, Duan Qingya, who knew he was still single, was at a loss for what to say next.

Duan Qingya could only awkwardly steer the conversation back to soul hunting. After confirming the time and place, he quickened his steps and followed Ling Zhi out of Spirit Hall.

Early the next morning, outside the Soul Hunting Forest.

Seeing the large pack on Duan Qingya's back, Su Yuntao, who had only brought medicine and a day's worth of food, could not resist teasing him.

"Kid, we're here to hunt soul beasts, not have a picnic! If you lose any of that stuff later, don't say I didn't warn you."

Faced with Su Yuntao's teasing, Duan Qingya merely put on an embarrassed smile.

He could hardly tell Su Yuntao that his pack contained tools for dissecting soul beasts, could he?

Once the guards had checked their entry permit, Duan Qingya followed Su Yuntao into the Soul Hunting Forest.

"Before we start looking, let's confirm this one more time. You want to hunt a snake-type soul beast that's a little over three hundred years old?"

As soon as they entered the forest, Su Yuntao took out the commission sheet and confirmed their objective with Duan Qingya again.

"Preferably a venomous one. I want to use venom to make up for my martial soul's lack of attack power."

At present, the Azure Chi was somewhat lacking in strength, whether as his tamed beast or as his martial soul.

Therefore, venom was an excellent way to make up for that weakness.

"That's a very good idea. Venomous snakes are easy to find. There's a three-hundred-and-twenty-year-old Mandala Snake marked on the map."

Seeing that Duan Qingya had a plan for his soul ring, Su Yuntao took out a soul beast distribution map with an approving expression and pointed to a marked location.

The map in Su Yuntao's hand had been specially provided by Spirit Hall in Nuoding City, and it marked the locations of most of the soul beasts.

Yet when Duan Qingya and Su Yuntao arrived at their destination, both were dumbfounded. Another snake had appeared where the Mandala Snake was marked.

"Wait, why is there an Azure-Scaled Snake King over four hundred years old here?"

Wondering whether his eyes were playing tricks on him, Su Yuntao rubbed them and checked the map in his hand again.

According to the map's markings, there shouldn't have been even a ten-year-old Azure-Scaled Snake King nearby! How had a four-hundred-year-old one suddenly appeared?

While Su Yuntao was puzzling over this, Duan Qingya noticed that the Azure-Scaled Snake King had injuries on the rear half of its body, but its belly was bulging.

Remembering the Azure-Scaled Snake King's habit of eating other snakes, Duan Qingya immediately realized that the three-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake had not vanished—it had been eaten.

"Kid, can you guarantee that what you're saying is true? If something goes wrong, I'll definitely be able to escape, but there's no telling whether you can."

Su Yuntao's first instinct was to reject Duan Qingya's proposed plan to hunt the Azure-Scaled Snake King.

Was he kidding? Su Yuntao would only receive a little over a hundred Gold Soul Coins for this soul hunting commission. How could he possibly take a risk for that?

Of course, Duan Qingya knew that Su Yuntao would not agree without something to gain.

"Senior, a month ago, someone brought an Azure-Scaled Snake King Gallbladder from a snake over a hundred years old to the market and sold it for over three hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"And didn't you happen to mention that you're a little short on money lately? This Azure-Scaled Snake King is over four hundred years old, so it'll only be worth more!"