Setting Out to Hunt Soul Beasts

Early the next morning.

While most of the teachers and students at Nuoding Academy were still asleep, two tall and two short figures had already left through the academy gates.

"Master, this is the new disciple you took in, isn't he?" Dean Ma looked at Tang San walking beside Master and smiled.

"Yes, he is my disciple, Tang San." Master nodded calmly. "Although Xiao San's martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, known as a useless martial soul, I believe there are no useless martial souls in this world, only useless Soul Masters. With my martial soul theory to guide him, his future achievements will at the very least reach the rank of Titled Douluo."

"Hahaha, let's hope so." An awkward smile appeared on the dean's face.

"By the way, Dean Ma, I still don't know how to address you." Cheng Xiao looked up at the dean and asked.

"My surname is Ma, and my name is Nuo. You can just call me Dean Ma." Dean Ma smiled.

"Alright, Dean Ma," Cheng Xiao said.

"I almost forgot. Cheng Xiao, you don't know where we're going to hunt Soul Beasts, do you?" Mano asked.

"I don't," Cheng Xiao said, shaking his head in confusion.

"We're going to the Soul Hunting Forest, four hundred li east of Nuoding City. It's where the Empire keeps Soul Beasts in captivity." Mano smiled. "But before we hunt Soul Beasts, we still need to accompany Master while he prepares some things."

"Prepare things?" Cheng Xiao froze slightly, then seemed to recall something and silently nodded.

As the sun gradually rose in the east, more and more pedestrians filled Nuoding City. Street vendors loudly hawked their wares, making the city lively and bustling.

Master's preparations were simple: four waterskins specially meant for drinking water, along with dried rations, cured meat, fruit, and other food for the journey.

Of course, Master also bought a full twenty jin of white radishes. Naturally, those white radishes had an important use.

"Teacher, what did you buy all these white radishes for?" Tang San asked Master between gasps, struggling to carry a basket of white radishes. If he had not cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he might not have been able to lift it at all.

Looking at the full twenty jin of white radishes, Mano sighed helplessly. As Master's friend, he knew very well what those white radishes were for.

Master did not answer Tang San right away. As a master of theory, a trace of bitterness rarely appeared at the corner of his mouth. He patted Tang San's head. "I'll tell you about that later."

Once everything was ready, Dean Mano hired a carriage in the city that could seat four people. Only then did they set off for their destination.

Along the way, Master continually explained martial soul theory to Tang San. At the same time, he gave Tang San a completely blue belt.

Looking at the belt in his hands, Tang San named it Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night. There was no reason for him to refuse Master's gift. After all, the Tang Sect of his previous life followed the principle that one must not decline what an elder bestowed.

After giving Tang San the belt, Master glanced at Cheng Xiao from the corner of his eye. He wanted Cheng Xiao to understand that if he became his disciple, he could receive gifts like Tang San's as well.

But Master was destined to be disappointed. After Cheng Xiao got into the carriage, he leaned against one side and closed his eyes to rest. Even Dean Mano was puzzled. Could it be that the child had slept poorly last night because he was going to obtain a soul ring today?

How could they know that Xiao Wu had pulled out all the stops last night to keep Cheng Xiao from sleeping so early? Yet Cheng Xiao was unmoved by her little tricks and showed no reaction at all.

Seeing that Cheng Xiao was immune even to tickling, Xiao Wu could only pout and go to sleep.

But it was precisely after she fell asleep that Cheng Xiao could no longer sleep, because after Xiao Wu fell asleep, she actually...

Four hundred li was neither a long nor a short journey. After leaving Nuoding City, the four of them did not arrive at their destination, the Soul Hunting Forest, until noon the following day.

Having caught up on sleep in the carriage, Cheng Xiao followed Dean Mano out of the carriage, and all kinds of cries reached his ears.

"Got a permit! Forming a group to hunt hundred-year Soul Beasts! Any Soul Masters who need soul rings, come take a look!"

"Hunting strength-type Soul Beasts! Seven people waiting on a permit! Ten Gold Soul Coins!"

Similar cries rose and fell one after another, and Cheng Xiao gained a preliminary understanding of the Soul Hunting Forest.

Though it was called the Soul Hunting Forest, it was more like an instance dungeon in an online game. The Soul Masters calling out were more like mercenary groups.

The marketplace was extremely noisy. Cheng Xiao's group quickly left it behind, and when he saw the vast forest before him, his heart inexplicably began to stir. A familiar feeling welled up within him.

The Shadow Power in my body is boiling. Is it because this feels like entering a dungeon in Solo Leveling? Cheng Xiao thought.

He was different from Sung Jin-woo. The latter had a system created by the Designer, which allowed him to adapt to the Shadow Monarch's power through methods similar to a game. The system itself was formed from the Shadow Monarch's power.

As for Cheng Xiao, because the Designer who created the system was already dead, the Shadow Monarch had chosen another method. He stored his own power within Cheng Xiao's body. As Cheng Xiao's level rose and his strength increased, the Shadow Power within him would gradually be released and become the source of his strength.

The outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest were encircled by a massive iron fence more than ten meters tall, which looked exceptionally sturdy and secure.

Outside the fence, more than a hundred soldiers patrolled, guarding the Soul Hunting Forest where the Empire kept its Soul Beasts.

"Let's go." In front of the Soul Hunting Forest, Dean Mano handed a token to the soldier on guard. Strange patterns were carved into the pitch-black token, formed from three symbols pieced together: a sharp sword in the center, with a hammer and a dragon on either side.

After the soldier responsible for checking permits confirmed that everything was in order, he hurriedly ordered the other soldiers to open a passage and let Cheng Xiao's group into the Soul Hunting Forest.

After entering the Soul Hunting Forest, Master's somewhat dejected eyes suddenly brightened. His hands formed a seal before his chest. "Come out! Luo—San—Pao!"

Two yellow soul rings rose beneath Master's feet. Immediately afterward, a wave of Soul Power spread from his body. With a flash of purple light, a creature that looked like both a pig and a dog appeared before the four of them.

Luo San Pao had pale purple fur, a pair of drooping ears, and large dark-blue eyes that stared into the depths of the forest. Its fat, bloated body made it look rather foolish, and it did not resemble an ordinary dog. If it had to be described with one name, it was undoubtedly a combination of pig and dog—a pigdog.

"Master, your martial soul is quite special. It can even leave your body." Cheng Xiao crouched down and stroked Luo San Pao's head before smiling at Master.

"My martial soul mutated, and it mutated in a bad direction." Master shook his head, bitterness filling the corners of his mouth. If his Innate Soul Power had not been less than half a rank, how could he have gone further and further down the path of researching martial soul theory?

Still, it was not all bad. He had accepted a genius disciple with Innate Full Soul Power, one with Twin Martial Souls, no less. Once he cultivated Tang San into a powerhouse, who would dare look down on Yu Xiaogang then?

"Cheng Xiao, Master's martial soul truly is special. From a certain perspective, Master is also a rare genius seen once in a century. Unfortunately, fate can be cruel." Dean Mano sighed. He too found it deeply regrettable that his friend's martial soul had such a flaw.

"Enough. Don't discuss my martial soul any further." Master's expression hardened as he spoke sternly. "Let's hurry up and hunt Soul Beasts. Finding one suited to your own martial soul is not easy at all."

After saying that, Master gave Luo San Pao an order.

"San Pao, lead the way."