After the soul fight ended, Ji Hongchen left with two hundred Gold Soul Coins, feeling thoroughly pleased with himself.
"Now I finally have a steady income."
Ji Hongchen touched the Gold Soul Coins in his money pouch, his spirits high.
The sound of money was so pleasing to the ear.
The days that followed were fairly uneventful.
Almost every day, Ji Hongchen shuttled between soul fighting and cultivation.
A year and a half passed like this.
Ji Hongchen's soul power successfully reached rank twenty.
Of course, during that time, he occasionally returned to Nuoding School. He could collect a reward of several hundred Gold Soul Coins without much trouble, so why not?
He also took the opportunity to press Xiao Wu about her debt.
Unfortunately, the one-year deadline had already passed. Xiao Wu now owed him a full six thousand four hundred Gold Soul Coins, and next month, that would shoot straight past ten thousand.
Xiao Wu was so anxious that she stamped her feet.
She had even considered working for Ji Hongchen to pay off her debt.
Though Ji Hongchen had refused.
After all, someone was watching from the shadows.
He had earned quite a lot of money.
But he was still broke.
Over the past year and a half, he had earned twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins, only to spend every last one on upgrading the Jinghong Sword into a high-grade martial soul.
Still, it was all right.
At least the Jinghong Sword had reached the level of a high-grade martial soul.
Moreover, Ji Hongchen discovered that this was nowhere near the Jinghong Sword's limit. In other words, with enough resources, he really could upgrade it into a divine-grade martial soul, or even have it become a Super Divine Artifact itself.
His current limit for his second soul ring was around nineteen hundred years. Unfortunately, thousand-year whale rubber no longer had any effect on him, or he could have pushed that limit even further.
He had also asked around about the price of ten-thousand-year whale glue. It was extremely rare even in Douluo I, since sea soul beasts were not easy to hunt.
Any piece of ten-thousand-year whale glue cost over five thousand Gold Soul Coins. Expensive though that was, it was practically dirt cheap compared with its price in Douluo II.
"With my current strength, killing a thousand-year soul beast shouldn't be a problem. With the improved Compound Bow, I should be able to handle a two-thousand-year soul beast."
Ji Hongchen picked up the Compound Bow and headed out.
This time, he did not go to the Soul Hunting Forest. There were too few thousand-year soul beasts there, and they were all at the lower end of that range, making them unsuitable for him.
Instead, Ji Hongchen went straight to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Alas.
How pitiful that he did not even have a Soul King-level Dao Protection guardian! Otherwise, why would he have to toil away hunting soul beasts himself?
He entered the Star Dou Great Forest.
Ji Hongchen became much more cautious. Fun was fun and games were games, but his life was no joke.
He had no desire to die young.
He wandered around the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest for a day.
Ji Hongchen still failed to find a suitable soul beast. Either the species was wrong, or its age exceeded a thousand years.
He did not dare gamble on that sliver of a chance, either.
So he chose to play it safe. His second soul ring absolutely had to fall between fifteen hundred and two thousand years. Any higher, and his body could burst, killing him.
"I'll look around some more."
Ji Hongchen took a bite of dry rations and continued on his way.
Somewhere in a dense stretch of forest.
The surrounding treetops swayed, leaves rustling as a dark shadow flashed past, too quickly for its appearance to be seen.
A moment later.
The shadow suddenly crouched, then pounced on the prey beneath it. The fangs in its mouth instantly pierced the prey's neck, killing it on the spot.
Ji Hongchen, hiding in the shadows, finally caught sight of the soul beast's true appearance.
"A Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger!"
The sound of flesh being torn rang out.
Not far away.
The Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger ripped apart the prey beneath its paws. Only after confirming there was no danger did the beast tear off a chunk of bloody flesh and begin feasting.
This soul beast was quite powerful.
It was also exceptionally fast without sacrificing attack power, making it a fine choice.
This beast was destined for him!
Seeing this, Ji Hongchen acted.
He drew the Compound Bow to its limit.
Whoosh!
An arrow forged from tungsten steel shot out, striking its target in an instant.
Squelch!
The arrow sank into the Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger's eye, but lodged firmly there instead of piercing straight through its head.
An agonized roar suddenly rang out. The Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger instantly locked onto its target, muscles surging as the beast became a streak of shadow and charged at Ji Hongchen.
Ji Hongchen's pupils contracted.
Killing Intent Perception activated, and the Jinghong Sword in his hand slashed out in an instant.
"First Soul Skill, Slash!"
A blade of sword qi shot out, heading straight for the Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger.
Bang!
Who knew whether the Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger had gone mad? The beast actually took the sword strike head-on and continued lunging straight at Ji Hongchen.
Ji Hongchen raised the Jinghong Sword.
The recoil from that tremendous force instantly drove Ji Hongchen back dozens of steps before he barely managed to steady himself. The web between his thumb and forefinger throbbed.
Damn it.
This thing was practically a fighter with sky-high speed and attack power. One swipe had nearly knocked his organs out of place.
Ji Hongchen cursed inwardly.
But he did not dare let his guard down.
When the Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger had taken his sword strike head-on, he had severed its foreleg, considerably reducing its speed. So, the advantage was his!
Ji Hongchen drew a deep breath.
"Jinghong, Slash!"
Fierce sword qi gathered around him, painting an ink-wash scroll of mountains and rivers. Ji Hongchen held nothing back in this strike, unleashing his full strength.
Sword qi swept across the battlefield.
The Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger seemed to sense that something was wrong.
An almost human flicker of fear flashed through its eyes.
But Ji Hongchen had severed its forepaw. There was no evading this strike!
Swish!
Sword qi flashed past.
The Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger did not utter a single scream. The beast stood rigidly in place, the light of life gradually fading from its eyes.
Thud.
A gust of wind blew past.
The Shadow-Killing Saber-Toothed Tiger's corpse instantly split in two.
A purple soul ring floated out of the corpse.
Ji Hongchen first set traps around the area and scattered Beast-Repelling Powder. Only then did he climb a tree and prepare to absorb the soul ring.
As the soul ring's power poured steadily into his body.
Ji Hongchen's body gradually began to change. His soul power kept rising, and his arms seemed to undergo changes as well.
Powerful surges relentlessly battered his body.
Ji Hongchen gritted his teeth. After absorbing more than ten pieces of thousand-year whale rubber, his physique was strong enough to absorb this eighteen-hundred-year soul ring.
A moment later.
Ji Hongchen opened his eyes.
An exquisitely beautiful layer of armor with a metallic sheen was gradually covering his arms!
"This is... Sword Dao Avatar Armor!"
Ji Hongchen looked at the Sword Dao Avatar Armor on his arms in delighted surprise. This was something that existed only in the comic adaptation.
He had never expected to obtain it himself!
However, because his strength was still insufficient, the Sword Dao Avatar Armor currently covered only his lower abdomen and hands.
This thing was far more overpowered than the Martial Soul Avatar in the original story.
Once he became powerful enough, or obtained divine power and gathered a complete set of soul bones, the True Body Armor could advance into a Bone Armor Avatar, taking his strength to another level.
"Wonderful!"
Naturally, Ji Hongchen could not praise it enough.
He could sense that the True Body Armor covering just half an arm had already increased his overall strength by at least ten percent.
"Right, there's also the second sword!"
The Iron Block Martial Soul inside Ji Hongchen shrank another size as a second Sword Embryo gradually took shape. Compared with Jinghong, this sword was more compact.
Its blade was long and slender, like a willow leaf, with the color of black jade.
Moreover, this sword could merge into shadows without a sound.
"I'll call you Shadowstep!"
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