Setting Out to Hunt Souls

That day, Xu Yang had just come out of the Library Pavilion when he ran straight into his teacher, Ning Fengzhi. Behind him followed a middle-aged man with a firm, square face, a burly build, and exposed arm muscles like granite. An imposing aura faintly radiated from him, and he looked anything but easy to provoke.

The moment the man drew near, Xu Yang felt a wave of heat wash over his face. Clearly, this was a top-tier fire-attribute Spirit Master.

"Yang Er, this is Ning Haiyan. His Martial Soul is the Blazing Flame Blade, and he is a rank seventy-six Power Attack System Battle Soul Sage. From now on, he'll be responsible for teaching you and helping you hunt for Soul Rings. If you need anything, you can tell him. If he can't handle it, you can come to me!"

After looking Xu Yang over with satisfaction, Ning Fengzhi turned and pointed to the middle-aged man behind him, introducing him.

"Ning Haiyan greets Young Master!" Ning Haiyan also stepped forward at the right moment and said.

"Uncle Ning, I'll be troubling you from now on!"

Xu Yang bowed slightly and spoke with humility and respect. This man was a Soul Sage. Even if his teacher was the Sect Leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Xu Yang was still a nobody who could not even be considered a Spirit Master yet. The respect he ought to show absolutely had to be shown.

He did not dare hope that the two Titled Douluo, Sword and Bone, would help him hunt for Soul Rings. As the only two Titled Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one was responsible for holding down the sect, while the other was responsible for protecting the safety of Ning Fengzhi and Madam Ning. On top of that, they had to cultivate themselves, so they simply did not have much time.

As for Ning Fengzhi himself, he had to manage the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. He was already overwhelmed with daily affairs, so it was impossible for him to help others hunt for Soul Rings.

Having a Soul Sage help him was already more than enough for Xu Yang.

"Haiyan, I'll trouble you to take Yang Er to Sunset Forest and help him obtain his first Soul Ring."

"Sect Leader, rest assured. This subordinate will not fail your trust!" Ning Haiyan cupped his hands and said solemnly.

After that, Ning Haiyan led Xu Yang away from the Library Pavilion with a stern expression and set out for Sunset Forest.

Ning Fengzhi was also very at ease with Ning Haiyan. From his surname alone, it was not hard to guess that he was someone who had come from the main family. His loyalty and strength were both sufficient, and he was someone Ning Fengzhi had specifically chosen for Xu Yang.

Seven Treasure City was near Heaven Dou City, not far from Sunset Forest.

Sunset Forest was one of the three great Spirit Beast gathering grounds on the entire Douluo Continent. Although the quality and number of its Spirit Beasts could not compare with the other two gathering grounds, it was enough for most Spirit Masters. Most of the sect disciples' Soul Rings were basically hunted there.

Not to mention, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, a top-tier treasure land, was also inside.

As they walked through the forest, Ning Haiyan taught Xu Yang knowledge related to hunting Soul Rings along the way. It involved driving away insects, avoiding Spirit Beasts, judging whether the area they were in was dangerous, which plants were poisonous, and where antidotes could be found.

It could be said to cover every aspect, leaving nothing out.

Xu Yang also listened very seriously. From time to time, he asked about problems they might encounter, and Ning Haiyan answered them one by one.

It had to be said that Ning Haiyan was extremely experienced. Much of what he mentioned was content Xu Yang had never learned from books, and it benefited him greatly. These were all skills he would rely on to survive on the Douluo Continent in the future, so he could not afford to be careless.

"By the way, Young Master, your choice for your first Soul Ring is..."

"A seven-hundred- to eight-hundred-year Golden-Edged Sun Flower."

When it came to Sun Flowers, Xu Yang could not help but sigh at the depth of a great sect's foundation. The books in the orphanage had only briefly introduced the age and characteristics of Sun Flowers, but in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's collection, the various details of Sun Flowers were recorded with perfect clarity.

Among them were the grades of Sun Flowers. Sun Flowers were divided into Golden-Edged, Silver-Edged, and those without gold or silver patterns. Among them, the Golden-Edged Sun Flower's bloodline had reached the level of a high-grade Spirit Beast, and the passive boosts and Soul Skill effects it could bring were ten times stronger than those of ordinary Spirit Beasts.

With such a huge gap, Xu Yang's only choice was naturally the Golden-Edged Sun Flower.

Ning Haiyan did not speak. Instead, he silently took out a map from his Storage Soul Tool. Although he had some doubts in his heart about the age Xu Yang had chosen, when he thought of Ning Fengzhi's instructions, he did not ask further. He believed that when the time came, the Sect Leader would tell him.

The map showed the distribution of Spirit Beasts throughout Sunset Forest. Because the Spirit Beasts in Sunset Forest were relatively weak, great sects like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had long since finished exploring the forest. What Spirit Beasts lived in which specific areas were all recorded on it. They did not have to be like commoner Spirit Masters, fumbling around blindly and feeling their way forward bit by bit.

As for plant-type Spirit Beasts like Sun Flowers, they found it very difficult to move their own positions, so as long as they were marked out, they basically could not escape.

"This way!"

Ning Haiyan called out, then changed direction and headed deeper toward the front-left.

Xu Yang hurriedly followed.

With Ning Haiyan there, he was not worried about safety either. Whenever they encountered various Spirit Beasts along the way, he would look them over from head to toe. He had never seen such strange creatures across both his lives, so naturally, he was very curious.

He saw all kinds of them, such as Wind Baboons, Soft Bone Rabbits, Mottled Cats, Solitary Bamboo, Netherworld Wolves, Azure Wolves... and more. These Spirit Beasts were wary of the terrifying aura on Ning Haiyan's body, and before they could even get close, they all ran off in advance.

"Uncle Ning, that Wind Baboon's body hair looks about five centimeters long. It should have around thirty years of cultivation, right?!"

"It doesn't have thirty years of cultivation, but fifty. It's true that a Wind Baboon's cultivation can be judged by the length of its body hair, but you also can't rely completely on observation with the naked eye!"

As he spoke, Ning Haiyan's right hand turned into a palm blade, and he swung it forcefully at the front. Fiery Blade Qi instantly passed through the Wind Baboon's body and split it in two. Not the slightest bit of blood flowed out from the wound; all of it had been evaporated by High Temperature.

A white Soul Ring condensed and drifted above the corpse.

Ning Haiyan's control was extremely precise. He had only split the Wind Baboon into two and evaporated its blood. Its other organs and tissues were not damaged at all, and even its long fur was completely unharmed.

Ning Haiyan pulled Xu Yang over to the Wind Baboon and pointed at the corpse on the ground. "Take a look. Is this Wind Baboon's fur still five centimeters...?"

Hearing this, Xu Yang crouched down and parted the Wind Baboon's fur. He discovered that apart from the fur exposed on top, there was another layer of fine down underneath. This layer of down was at least two centimeters thick, meaning the Wind Baboon's fur was at least seven centimeters long.

That also confirmed that this Wind Baboon's cultivation was indeed fifty years.

"Some Spirit Beasts have obvious characteristics that are completely exposed on the outside, so you can judge their age by those traits. But some Spirit Beasts, such as this Wind Baboon, because its fur is dense and plentiful, have traits that are somewhat misleading, making it very hard to judge with the naked eye."

Ning Haiyan passed his own experience on to Xu Yang.

"Then what's the best way to judge?! If you misjudge during a Soul Ring hunt, people can die!"

Xu Yang asked in confusion. He also knew another method, which was judging by the color of Soul Power. Ten-year Spirit Beasts had white Soul Power, hundred-year ones yellow, thousand-year ones purple, ten-thousand-year ones black, and hundred-thousand-year ones red.