At the first glimmer of dawn, Li Hanqiu was already standing beneath the girls' dormitory.
The golden puppy Luo Sanpao circled Li Hanqiu's feet, his tail wagging wildly.
Yesterday, after Li Hanqiu took Tang San as his disciple, Luo Sanpao had received "true dragon's blood," releasing the Radiant Sacred Dragon's genetic limiter.
Today, the little fellow was especially lively, his blood and vitality surging like a dragon's. A closer look revealed a faint thread of gold in his black pupils.
After washing up, Tang San jogged downstairs toward Li Hanqiu, clutching the little cloth bag Li Hanqiu had bought him yesterday.
Xiao Wu poked her head out from upstairs, her eyes sparkling. "Teacher Li, where are you going? I want to come too!"
Li Hanqiu looked up and smiled. "Oh, it's you, little girl. Your name is Xiao Wu, right? The Soul Hunting Forest is dangerous. You'd better stay in the dormitory."
With that, Li Hanqiu ruffled Tang San's fluffy hair and led him away.
Xiao Wu pouted as she watched the two of them and the dog leave through the school gates. Still unwilling to give up, she waved. "Then tell me all about it when you get back, Little San!"
As they headed out of the city, the sky gradually brightened.
Li Hanqiu walked in front, Luo Sanpao trotting along behind him, while Tang San hurried after them on his short little legs, just off to one side.
"Tang San, did you know that choosing a soul beast for your first soul ring requires care?" Li Hanqiu asked.
Tang San tilted his face up and shook his head blankly. "Teacher, I don't really understand."
"There's someone at the academy who loves putting on airs. He's always talking about the limit for a first soul ring, claiming it's four hundred and twenty-three years, and that exceeding it will make your body explode."
Tang San blinked. Someone who loves putting on airs?
The image of Yu Xiaogang's close-cropped hair surfaced in Tang San's mind. Not wanting to mention him, however, he quickly asked, "Then what do you think, Teacher?"
Li Hanqiu scoffed. "He's just a fool who uses rigid textbook data to hoodwink people. Everyone has a different constitution, and martial souls differ in quality.
"Naturally, the age of the soul rings they can absorb differs too. I refuse to believe that a soul master from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan has the same soul ring age limit as Yu Xiaogang. Besides, absorbing a soul ring depends entirely on its compatibility with the person and their martial soul."
Li Hanqiu paused and rubbed his chin. "That's why there are so many unreasonable points in Yu Xiaogang's theories. How could anything be so absolute?"
Tang San nodded, his eyes lighting up as his little hands unconsciously drew together.
As expected of Teacher! His words were clear and orderly, every sentence striking at the heart of the matter. Just a few remarks had shattered Yu Xiaogang's theories.
The two entered the Soul Hunting Forest. The woods were damp, and dew still clung to the blades of grass.
A stalk of lone bamboo stood quietly beside a stream, green from top to bottom, its soul power fluctuations gentle. A faint sheen flowed around its joints.
Tang San's eyes lit up. "Teacher, would this one work?"
Li Hanqiu barely gave it a glance. "Ten-year solitary bamboo. Ordinary teachers choose this for their disciples to save themselves the trouble."
He kept walking. "Your first soul ring deserves something better."
The words had barely left his mouth when a grayish-brown soul beast shot out of the grass with a whoosh, its fangs gleaming coldly as it lunged straight for the back of Tang San's neck.
Li Hanqiu glanced at it and snorted coldly. "You dare attack my disciple? You've already chosen the road to death."
As he spoke, Li Hanqiu raised his hand, and a bright yellow soul ring rose beneath his feet.
At the same time, Luo Sanpao growled and lifted his head, golden light suddenly blazing in his throat.
A thin bolt of golden lightning shot from his mouth and struck the soul beast with a crack.
The explosion was not loud, but it blasted the soul beast off balance. Its limbs went stiff and numb, and it collapsed, twitching.
A frosty white soul ring slowly floated up above the soul beast's corpse.
Tang San stared, transfixed. "Teacher, Luo Sanpao..."
"No need to be surprised. This is my first soul skill, Thunderlight Fang," Li Hanqiu said calmly. "When using this soul skill, Sanpao opens his mouth and fires a beam of golden lightning. On contact with the target, it produces an explosive impact with a numbing effect.
"So don't let Sanpao's silly looks fool you. He does have a few tricks up his sleeve."
Luo Sanpao lifted his head and gave a smug little rumble.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Li Hanqiu walked straight on without so much as another glance at the soul beast's corpse. "Let's go, Little San."
"You're amazing, Teacher... Can my first soul ring be as powerful as yours?" Tang San gazed at Li Hanqiu's poised, carefree figure from behind, his little eyes brimming with anticipation.
Li Hanqiu glanced at Tang San, who was jogging to catch up with stars in his eyes, and the corners of his lips lifted slightly.
Back when he reached rank ten as a soul scholar, he had paid a hefty sum to have someone hunt a roughly six-hundred-year-old light-attribute lightning soul beast, a Dawnlight Thunder Lizard, and used its soul ring as his first.
Luo Sanpao was, in essence, a light-attribute dragon martial soul.
The Dawnlight Thunder Lizard, meanwhile, was primarily lightning-aligned. Lightning belonged to wood, wood governed growth, and lightning was also the ultimate expression of yang. It was a perfect match for the precursor of his Radiant Sacred Dragon.
More precious still, the Dawnlight Thunder Lizard was a rare soul beast with a four-legged lesser dragon bloodline. Both its attributes and its bloodline were exceptionally compatible with Li Hanqiu.
For that soul ring, he had even specially acquired and eaten a piece of hundred-year whale rubber, forcibly boosting his physical strength until he could withstand absorbing a six-hundred-year soul ring.
Hiring someone to hunt the soul beast and buying the whale rubber had cost him no less than a thousand gold soul coins altogether. More than half of that had been borrowed.
Of course, Li Hanqiu did not explain all those details. He only picked out a few points to tell Tang San.
"My Luo Sanpao naturally has the light attribute, so I need to choose light-aligned or yang lightning-aligned soul rings for high compatibility," Li Hanqiu explained as they walked. "Yours is Blue Silver Grass. It belongs to wood and possesses abundant vitality, so we need to find a plant-type soul beast that follows the path of life as well."
Tang San listened intently, his little head bobbing in agreement.
Although he did not fully understand what Li Hanqiu was saying, since his teacher had said it, it had to be right!
The farther the two ventured into the forest, the denser the soul power became.
They were now deep within the Soul Hunting Forest, where most areas were habitats for hundred-year soul beasts.
Li Hanqiu was not intimidated, however. For one thing, he was a high-ranking, rank-thirty-seven soul elder, and all three of his soul rings had the ideal attributes and ages.
He could still handle a few hundred-year soul beasts. Besides, even setting that aside, he would not have brought Tang San here alone to hunt soul beasts if he lacked confidence.
After all, there probably weren't many people who took their disciples out to hunt soul beasts, only to get knocked unconscious by one before they could even make a move. Isn't that right, Yu Xiaogang?
At that thought, Li Hanqiu suddenly smiled. At the same time, he seemed to sense something and abruptly stopped.
A dark blue-green vine coiled around an old tree ahead. Fine, dense markings covered its length, with faint soul power flowing through them. The entire vine slowly writhed like a living creature.
"A Devouring Spirit Vine," Li Hanqiu said, immediately identifying the soul beast. "A plant-type soul beast. Judging by its length, the depth of its markings, and that flowing soul light, its cultivation should be around five hundred years."
Tang San leaned closer to study it, holding his breath as he blinked.
"This kind of Devouring Spirit Vine survives by plundering the vitality of other plants. It has extremely strong vitality, shares the wood attribute with your Blue Silver Grass, and follows the path of 'devouring.'"
Li Hanqiu glanced at him and smiled. "It's a perfect fit for the 'vitality, assimilating everything' path I want to set for you."
"I'll do whatever you say, Teacher, but..."
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