Soul Hunting Forest

If he could have beaten Li Ye, Wang Sheng would have given him a good thrashing, one way or another.

You say the food on the cafeteria's first floor tastes awful? I've been fucking eating it for four years. Does that mean they've been feeding me like a pig all this time?

"Hey, Xiao San, Xiao Wu, how can you stomach something this awful?" Li Ye's eyes nearly popped out as he watched the two calmly eating their food.

"Oh, a wild boar wants fine bran now?" Perhaps Li Ye had drawn too much attention, because several students eating upstairs immediately began mocking him.

"Hah, where did this gelded pig come from? You dare throw your weight around in front of me? Aren't you afraid I'll carve off your flesh and roast it?" Hearing the taunt, Li Ye shot the speaker a murderous little look.

"Hah, you even dare glare at me? Looks like you don't want to last at Nuoding Academy, new boy." Seeing Li Ye dare talk back, the student who had mocked him instantly bristled with fury.

Li Ye wasted no more words. Pushing off a cafeteria pillar, he leaped to the second floor and slapped the student who had just stood up, sending him flying, before jumping back downstairs.

Seeing Li Ye knock Liu Long to the floor with just one slap, Xiao Chenyu, who had been watching the show nearby, was so frightened that he immediately buried his head in his food, not daring to say a word.

Although he was the boss of Nuoding Academy, that was only because his father was the lord of Nuoding City, not because he was the strongest.

Even though he could beat Liu Long too, he would have to go all out to defeat him easily.

Yet Li Ye had slapped Liu Long so hard he could not get up, without even using his martial soul or soul power. Beating him would surely be much the same.

So better a fellow cultivator die than this poor priest. Who told that blind fool Liu Long to go provoking someone so casually?

"Uh, senior brother, isn't it a little inappropriate to beat him up that badly?" Seeing Liu Long's miserable condition, Tang San once again could not stop himself from saying something so foolish.

"Hm? Xiao San, what do you mean?" Li Ye gave Tang San a puzzled look.

Li Ye was genuinely confused. Since when had Tang San become so... like that? The other boy had insulted him and even threatened to beat him up, yet Tang San was blaming him instead.

"No, no, senior brother, I wasn't saying you were wrong to hit him. I was worried the academy might punish you for beating him up like that. That's why I said it." Realizing that Li Ye seemed to have misunderstood him, Tang San immediately explained.

"Oh, so that's what you meant. I didn't realize you were so thoughtful, Xiao San, even considering that. But I don't care about that sort of thing. At worst, I'll get expelled, and then I can just go to our senior martial uncle. Besides, we still have Teacher, don't we? He's a friend of Nuoding Academy's dean, so there's nothing to worry about." Li Ye smiled as he spoke.

Still, thinking about how he had just misunderstood his good junior brother Tang San, Li Ye could not help feeling a little ashamed.

"Senior martial uncle?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. We have a senior martial uncle, Flender. He's Teacher's sworn elder brother, a rank seventy-three Soul Saint. He's really powerful." Seeing the confusion all over Tang San's little face, Li Ye immediately realized and explained.

"To think our senior martial uncle is a Soul Saint. He really is powerful."

Although Tang San still did not quite understand how powerful a Soul Saint was, he had heard Old Jack talk about one every day, so he understood a little.

After dinner, Li Ye spent a wonderful night leaning against Xiao Wu, but Tang San could not get to sleep at all that night.

Early the next morning, Yu Xiaogang came to Dorm Seven and left Nuoding Academy with Li Ye and Tang San.

"Yaaawn... Teacher, aren't we attending the opening ceremony?" Tang San yawned, looking at Yu Xiaogang with an exhausted face.

"The opening ceremony isn't important. Our priority is finding you a suitable soul ring, Xiao San. Speaking of which, did you not rest well last night? Why are you so sleepy?" Yu Xiaogang asked, looking at Tang San with concern.

"Ah, Teacher, I don't know what happened either. I just couldn't sleep last night." Tang San sighed miserably.

Seeing this, Li Ye could only turn his head away to keep Tang San from seeing the smile on his face.

He truly had not expected Tang San to be so sensitive. All he had done was spend a night sleeping against Xiao Wu.

If something really did happen, wouldn't Tang San turn into a lovesick doormat?

"All right, Xiao San, let me first tell you about your first soul ring."

"..."

"So, for your first soul ring, you should ideally hunt for one with toughness and control attributes."

Yu Xiaogang rattled on and on until Li Ye's eardrums nearly burst, yet Tang San still looked as though he wanted more.

That little expression seemed to say, Grandmaster, please tell me more. I haven't learned enough yet.

"Teacher, Xiao San's mother is the Blue Silver Emperor. Are you sure he needs abilities like toughness, control, or poison?" Li Ye asked speechlessly.

As far as he was concerned, why insist on adding soul rings to a perfectly good Blue Silver Emperor that, while not conflicting with its own attributes, did not suit it either?

"Wait, Xiao Ye, if you hadn't reminded me, I would almost have forgotten." With Li Ye's reminder, Yu Xiaogang instantly understood.

"Teacher, what does Brother Ye mean?" However, Tang San had only recently become his disciple and had no idea what riddles Li Ye and his teacher were speaking in.

"Xiao Ye means that your Blue Silver Grass isn't ordinary Blue Silver Grass, Xiao San. It's descended from the Blue Silver Emperor."

"So the attributes of the soul rings you add should lean more toward the Blue Silver Emperor's holiness and powerful vitality, with control and attack abilities coming second."

"As for toughness, you can include a little as a secondary attribute, provided those earlier attributes remain the main focus. Poison, however, is completely unnecessary. Although that sort of attribute is useful early on, it will become a stumbling block in your cultivation later."

"So, Xiao San, what is your choice?" After explaining the reasoning, Yu Xiaogang did not forget to ask Tang San's opinion.

"I... I'll follow your advice, Teacher," Tang San answered.

Tang San: Why the fuck are you even asking me a question like that? I didn't understand any of the stuff you just said. Boohoo X﹏X, is this something I can decide? You're the teacher, and he's my senior brother. Even if I choose, won't you two still decide which soul beast to hunt? I don't even know which soul beasts have which attributes, X﹏X.

Before long, the three entered Soul Hunting Forest, not far from Nuoding City.

"Xiao San, when hunting for soul rings in Soul Hunting Forest, you must remain vigilant at all times. Otherwise, we could very well go from hunters to prey. That goes for you too, Xiao Ye. Don't think you can look down on Soul Hunting Forest just because you've hunted for soul rings twice in Star Dou Forest."

Looking at Tang San obediently following beside him, then at Li Ye darting all over the place, Yu Xiaogang could not help sighing.

In his heart, Li Ye had been his only true personal disciple from beginning to end. At most, he had taken Tang San in out of consideration for his idol, Tang Hao.

Yet whether in temperament or attitude toward learning, Li Ye simply could not compare with Tang San.

Fortunately, Li Ye's talent far surpassed Tang San's, and he worked no less hard. In the future, even if he did not far surpass Tang San, at least he would not lose to him.

Now Yu Xiaogang only hoped that Li Ye would become more mature and steady as he grew older. Otherwise, things really would be difficult.