"The Soul Beast I chose for Zhu Zhuqing is the Shadow Cat, a darkness-type Soul Beast. Zhu Zhuqing can delve deeper into the path of darkness. As for Dai Mubai, I chose the Golden Claw Wolf, so he can delve deeper into the metal attribute. This should break the resonance between your Martial Souls." Ning Yuhao shared his thoughts with the others.
"All right! Then I'll go get a Golden Claw Wolf." Dai Mubai clenched his fists, his face resolute.
Although Zhu Zhuqing said nothing, the expression on her face revealed her determination too.
Seeing this, Liu Hu merely sighed. He had never expected such an ordinary assignment to involve something like this. Fortunately, if it really worked, at least the eldest prince could offer him some protection.
Led by Soul Douluo Liu Li, the group headed straight into the depths of the plains. The Soul Beast Ning Rongrong needed this time was called the Great Strength Elephant, which was extremely well suited to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's "first: strength."
Great Strength Elephants usually lived in herds and were enormous themselves. Less than half a day into the plains, the group easily found a herd.
There were only eight Great Strength Elephants in this herd, with just one thousand-year Great Strength Elephant standing over five meters tall. The rest were all hundred-year beasts.
"Let me handle this," Liu Hu said first. For a Soul King like him, this herd of elephants was easy enough to deal with.
Before long, a four-hundred-year Great Strength Elephant was brought down, while the others were frightened away by the Soul King's presence. Ning Rongrong delivered the finishing blow with a sharp blade, then sat cross-legged and began absorbing the Soul Ring.
The absorption went smoothly. Although it was right at her age limit, she had consumed all sorts of heavenly treasures since childhood, so her physical constitution far surpassed that of ordinary people. Ning Rongrong's Soul Power Level also reached 13.
Soul Beasts that lived in groups were always easy to find. The group set out again and found a pack of Golden Claw Wolves after a little over two hours. This time, there were two three-thousand-year Golden Claw Wolves among them, and the pack was larger too. To be safe, Liu Li simply took action himself.
For a Soul Douluo, it was a mere flick of the wrist. Soon, a seven-hundred-and-fifty-year Golden Claw Wolf was thrown before Dai Mubai.
"I have to remind you: once you take this step, turning back will most likely be very difficult. Are you ready?" Ning Yuhao warned him again. After all, viewed in a more serious light, this affected the succession rights of the Star Luo Empire. If Dai Mubai regretted it, Ning Yuhao would have no choice but to kill him.
Dai Mubai took a deep breath. "I'm ready. I don't want to take part in some bullshit duel between heirs."
Dai Mubai took out a longsword and easily ended the Golden Claw Wolf's life. A yellow Soul Ring floated out, and he began absorbing it.
However, Dai Mubai's absorption did not go as smoothly as Ning Rongrong's. He had never been raised as an heir and had received fewer good things. On top of that, he was not particularly diligent by nature, let alone someone who improved his physique outside of cultivation.
Absorbing a Soul Ring so close to his age limit subjected his body to unbearable pain. "Aah!!" Dai Mubai could not help crying out in agony.
Nearly twenty minutes passed before Dai Mubai finally finished absorbing it. As he opened his eyes, golden light flashed through his mismatched pupils.
"Well? How does it feel?" Ning Yuhao asked.
Dai Mubai looked at Zhu Zhuqing first instead. Both seemed to have sensed something, and neither could hide the excitement in their eyes.
"This is great!" Dai Mubai grabbed Ning Yuhao in a hug and excitedly tossed him into the air, caught him, then tossed him up again.
Just as he was about to fly into the air once more, Ning Yuhao grabbed Dai Mubai's collar and finally managed to keep himself from being launched. When he failed to toss him up, Dai Mubai hugged Ning Yuhao fiercely again. Ning Yuhao could only feel himself struggling to breathe, his waist on the verge of being crushed.
"Take this!" Ning Yuhao drove a punch into the ribs at Dai Mubai's side. Accompanied by Dai Mubai's scream, Ning Yuhao finally stood on the ground again.
It took Dai Mubai quite a while to recover. "Grandmaster, you really didn't hold back with that one."
"If I hadn't used some force, you'd probably still be going berserk."
"I was just happy." It was not only Dai Mubai; a gentle smile had also appeared on Zhu Zhuqing's face.
Dai Mubai continued, "I can feel that the resonance between our Martial Souls has weakened considerably. We probably can't use our Martial Soul Fusion Skill now either."
Ning Rongrong certainly knew how to seize on the key point. "So it still hasn't disappeared completely?"
"That's right, but I believe that once Zhu Zhuqing obtains her Soul Ring too, and we keep doing this afterward, we'll definitely be able to sever the Martial Soul resonance completely."
The others nodded in agreement. Ning Yuhao asked, "You still haven't told us what Soul Skill you got. This Soul Beast should be quite compatible with your Martial Soul too."
Dai Mubai nodded. "The Soul Skill I obtained really is very suitable. It's called White Tiger Wind-Breaking Claw, and it has very strong armor-piercing capabilities. It should be very useful against defense-type Soul Masters."
After Dai Mubai's firsthand test, everyone expressed tremendous confidence in Ning Yuhao's theoretical expertise. Zhu Zhuqing would not even leave his side, leaving Ning Rongrong with no choice but to keep accompanying her.
The group rested for a while and did not resume moving until nightfall. The Shadow Cat Zhu Zhuqing needed was a Soul Beast that only moved about at night. It was also extremely fast and difficult to catch.
Moreover, since Shadow Cats were solitary Soul Beasts, the group practically wandered around for an entire night before finding one of a suitable age, even with a Soul Douluo using his spiritual power to search.
"We only found three Shadow Cats all night. Luckily, this one's age is suitable," Ning Rongrong said with a yawn.
Liu Li and the others were fine, but the four youngsters were all somewhat sleepy. After all, they had spent the entire night roaming the plains and had covered quite a lot of ground.
Only Ning Yuhao was doing somewhat better. With his immense spiritual power, million-year Wisdom Soul Ring, and the physical enhancements brought by his two and a half Martial Souls, his current physical constitution far surpassed that of his peers.
Shadow Cats were not large. Even a four-hundred-year one was only as long as an adult's arm. Its entire body was pitch-black, even its eyes, making it extremely difficult to spot by sight in the dead of night.
After finishing off the Shadow Cat, Zhu Zhuqing began absorbing the yellow Soul Ring. It went fairly smoothly, and she successfully finished absorbing it just as the sun rose.
As the Soul Ring attached itself to her Hell Spirit Cat, Zhu Zhuqing stood up and carefully sensed things again. A radiant smile appeared on her face.
"This is great! The Martial Soul resonance has completely disappeared." Dai Mubai was so happy that he almost began dancing with delight.