What He Wanted from His Third Soul Ring

Early the next morning, Shao Heng came to the small kitchen on his own.

He had spent several hours stabilizing his soul power last night, and this morning he looked no different from usual. If Fang Ming had not spread the news far and wide yesterday afternoon, Chen An would almost have thought he was simply waiting for his meal as always.

"Senior Brother, you reached level thirty?" Fang Ming set a basin of washed vegetables on the table. "You told me not to shout about it yesterday, but Elder Gu spread the word before I did."

"Elder Gu was reporting to the sect master," Shao Heng said as he sat down. "You told everyone you saw."

"Why shouldn't I tell people good news?"

After saying that, Fang Ming remembered he still had a basin of vegetables to trim and quickly lowered his head to get back to work. Last night, he had asked Chen An whether he could make an extra dish for his senior brother, only to be told to let Shao Heng stabilize his soul power first. Now that Shao Heng was sitting here perfectly fine, that little idea stirred again.

Chen An did not take up his remark, instead handing them each a freshly steamed bun.

"Eat these for today. You're hunting your third soul ring, but there's no need to rush out this very morning, is there?"

"I'm not that impatient," Shao Heng said. "I'll have someone look into it first, then go once we've found something suitable."

He spoke calmly, but his hand reached for a bun a little faster than usual.

Who could reach level thirty without thinking about their next soul ring at all? For his first two hunts, Shao Heng had followed the sect's senior members. He knew what to prepare and whose instructions to follow. But knowing was one thing; asking him to go to sleep tonight without thinking about anything would probably be difficult.

The last time he obtained his second soul ring, he had been away from the sect for seven days. Only after returning had he learned that the small kitchen had made Squirrel Mandarin Fish during his absence. When Fang Ming described that fish, he all but wanted to explain how crisp every bone had been. Shao Heng had listened with a deepening frown. Later, Chen An had made it again especially for him, finally stopping that lot's mouths.

Yesterday, when Fang Ming heard he was going to obtain his third soul ring, his very first question had been whether they could have something new to eat before he left. How could Shao Heng fail to hear it? His junior brother was using his business as an excuse to think about his own stomach.

Chen An himself had only recently returned with his third soul ring, so he naturally understood the feeling.

But Grandpa Sword still used the one he had obtained as a reason to caution him. If he told Shao Heng now, "Seven thousand years wasn't all that difficult," the old man would probably haul him aside for a good long lecture first.

"What sort are you looking for?" Chen An asked.

"I haven't settled on a soul beast yet." Shao Heng broke open his bun, and steam rose from the middle. "I want to work out where I'm lacking first."

That sounded more sensible than Fang Ming's talk of "finding the strongest one."

After breakfast, Shao Heng was going to Gu Rong for another round of routine training assessment. Chen An handed the cooking over to Uncle Zhou. Since it was not yet time for his afternoon cultivation, he went over with Rongrong to watch.

During their last lesson at the academy, Rongrong had taken a page of notes on soul beasts. This time, going to watch someone she knew practice, she carried no book and walked even faster than Chen An, both hands empty.

Gu Rong was already waiting at the training grounds.

Shao Heng stood in the middle of the grounds, two yellow soul rings rising around him. As his martial soul stirred, the contours of his shoulders and back immediately changed. Dark beast markings spread down his arms, and sharp claws took shape at his fingertips.

The black panther martial soul.

Seeing him sitting in the Kitchen, Chen An had always thought him much steadier than Fang Ming. Now, watching him lower his body and dart forward, he realized that "steady" depended on the setting.

His feet had barely moved before his figure reached the other end of the grounds.

Those few steps were so quick that Fang Ming had not even finished shouting, "Here he comes!"

"He already looks fast enough," Rongrong said.

Chen An thought so too, but then he saw Gu Rong raise a hand and call another adult disciple to the edge of the grounds.

This round was not simply about how fast Shao Heng could charge forward.

The two fellow disciples took their positions, one ahead of the other. The one in front tried to pin Shao Heng down, while the one behind circled toward a protected spot in the grounds. There was no actual support soul master there, only a wooden post marked with a strip of cloth. Touching it would count as getting through.

Once they began, Shao Heng reached the front in a few strides, forcing the first man back repeatedly. But the moment the man behind changed direction, Shao Heng had to check his forward momentum and turn back.

In that brief check and turn, the strip of cloth was touched.

Gu Rong called a halt, but did not rush to discuss the third soul ring.

"You're standing too far forward. Again."

Shao Heng did not argue. He had seen it himself: he could catch up, but he had not left himself a clear route back.

The second time, he no longer chased the man in front, instead drawing his position inward a little first. When the other disciple headed for the wooden post again, he immediately turned back to block him. The movement was not as impressive as his earlier lunge, but at least the strip of cloth remained untouched.

Standing at the edge of the grounds, Fang Ming could not help laughing.

"Senior Brother, you really gave me a fright that first time. If I'd actually been standing behind you, I'd have taken a beating before you got back."

"Then protect yourself first next time," Shao Heng retorted, laughing too.

Laughter aside, during the third round he still practiced turning back several more times. Gu Rong had him change positions twice, only stopping the two sparring partners once he was no longer focused solely on chasing people.

Chen An understood.

The black panther martial soul had no shortage of forward speed, but after charging out, immediately doubling back to cover the distance behind him was still difficult with his current abilities. If his soul ring merely made his forward charge fiercer, it might not make up for that weakness.

But if he did not change his positioning, his third soul ring could not conjure another pair of eyes for him out of thin air either.

After watching from the side for a good while, Rongrong remembered the flag-bearing support student at the academy last time and said softly, "If you leave someone behind you, running faster won't help."

Gu Rong heard her and glanced back.

"You remembered that well."

"I didn't just go there to watch the excitement." Rongrong lifted her chin.

After saying that, she actually went to inspect the wooden post's position and asked Gu Rong when she should start retreating toward safety if she were standing there instead.

Gu Rong led her to the edge of the grounds and pointed out the retreat route behind her. Rongrong took a couple of steps along it herself, without having him carry her over. She was still learning how to use her first soul skill; at the very least, she could learn today where to move first when someone approached.

Shao Heng came off the grounds with sweat already at his temples. He withdrew his martial soul before coming over for water.

"So you want to get back faster?" Chen An asked.

"Ideally, I'd be able to cover those few steps in a short time," Shao Heng said. "Normally, I should hold my position properly myself, not count on my third soul skill for everything. But if someone really does circle past, I need to reach them in time."

That made what he wanted clear.

Chen An nodded without carelessly tossing out the name of a soul beast. Only yesterday morning, he had learned that even upon seeing a claw mark, he had to start by recording "unknown." How could he hear a few words today and decide someone else's thousand-year third soul ring for him?

Gu Rong had Shao Heng sit down to regulate his breathing, then examined the circulation of his soul power once more.

He had trained in the sect for so long, and now that he had reached level thirty, the stability of his foundations and whether he had any hidden injuries both needed checking. Shao Heng had already run several rounds; taking another half day would not leave him unable to obtain a ring.

"Bring your old records tomorrow," Gu Rong said. "Have your master come too. We'll search according to that gap you want to fill."

Shao Heng agreed.

Chen An, however, was still staring at the spot where Shao Heng had stood earlier.

His own third soul ring was Rainbow Porridge. He could make it now and had a general idea of what it could do, but most of what he knew about how it had been chosen had come from Grandpa Sword. Now that someone he knew was obtaining a ring, he had a chance to set what he had learned in class beside an actual choice and examine them together.

On the way back to the Kitchen, Rongrong asked whether he wanted to go listen with her tomorrow.

"Of course," Chen An said. "If there's something I don't understand, I'll ask."

"Didn't you say yesterday that if you couldn't identify something, you shouldn't try?"

"If I can't identify it, I can ask," Chen An said with perfect seriousness. "Surely they can't forbid even asking?"

Rongrong laughed at his words. At the fork in the path, she went to find Ning Fengzhi and tell her father what she had seen at the training grounds today.

Chen An returned to the Kitchen and made up for the time he had just spent away. He still had his usual cultivation to do that afternoon. By the time the kitchen closed for the evening, Shao Heng had also settled the matter of his third soul ring with his master.

He had not rushed to leave, but what he wanted was already much clearer than it had been that morning.

As for which soul beast to seek, there was still time to decide tomorrow, after reviewing the records and consulting his elders.