Jiang Huai's words moved Bibi Dong, who stood beside him, beyond measure.
Look, what a wonderful child!
Compared with him, that unfilial daughter in Heaven Dou City was simply nothing!
Clearly, the God of Love was still at work!
Bibi Dong suddenly wondered whether she had endured so many hardships in the first half of her life so that she could meet such a sensible disciple as Jiang Huai now.
She would definitely keep showering him with affection in the future!
As for Qian Daoliu, his offer had only been a spur-of-the-moment impulse, stirred by the sight of a promising talent. Seeing Jiang Huai's firm refusal, he did not insist.
From his position as Great Enshrined, whether Jiang Huai belonged to the Papal Hall or the Worship Hall, he was ultimately still a member of their Spirit Hall.
Another talent with Twin Martial Souls was certainly astonishing, but his granddaughter Qian Renxue was destined to become a god!
"In that case, I won't take away someone else's beloved disciple."
As he spoke, Qian Daoliu casually took a solid gold token from his Storage Soul Tool and placed it in Jiang Huai's hand, establishing a friendly connection in advance.
"This is a token of our Worship Hall. If you encounter something even your teacher cannot resolve in the future, you may bring this token to the Worship Hall and seek me out."
With those words, Qian Daoliu's figure vanished from the Papal Hall in a flash of golden light.
"Teacher, this..."
Holding the token, Jiang Huai instinctively looked toward Bibi Dong, who merely gave a disdainful snort.
"Keep it. Since that old bastard offered it to you himself, you might as well take it."
"Besides, your teacher is the Pope of Spirit Hall. What could possibly be beyond my grasp?"
"However..."
At this point, Bibi Dong looked at the solid gold token in Jiang Huai's hand, and a meaningful smile suddenly curved her lips.
To a certain extent, although Qian Daoliu was willing to hand some of Spirit Hall's authority over to her, its Pope,
the true foundations of Spirit Hall had always remained in the hands of those old bastards in the Worship Hall.
Spirit Hall's Soul Bone treasury was one such example.
Since that old bastard Qian Daoliu had made such a promise, and her beloved disciple was so exceptionally gifted,
one way or another, she would have to use this pretext in the future to find a way to extort a suitable set of Soul Bones from those old bastards!
Soon, several days flew by.
With Yue Guan and Bibi Dong, two powerful Super Douluos, leading them, the party of four finally reached the outskirts of Sunset Forest.
Most of Jiang Huai's previous knowledge of Soul Beast forests had come from written descriptions in his past life.
Now that he was actually there, looking at the towering trees all around him that easily reached dozens of meters in height, Jiang Huai could think of no description other than "terrifying indeed."
The cries of cicadas and birds rang incessantly around them. Thanks to the special nature of this Soul Beast gathering ground, even the Soul Power drifting through the air seemed considerably purer than outside.
"Come along, Xiao Jiang Huai, Nana. You two little ones need a seven- or eight-hundred-year First Soul Ring and a roughly two-thousand-year Third Soul Ring respectively. You won't find Soul Beasts of those ages out here on the outskirts."
"We'll have to head farther in."
Yue Guan spoke with a beaming smile, his thumb and middle finger delicately pinched together.
Although Jiang Huai's physique had improved again during this time,
it was still not quite enough to forcibly double the age limit his body could withstand in such a short period.
Thus, after examining him, Bibi Dong could only settle for the next best option, generally setting the age of Jiang Huai's prospective First Soul Ring at seven or eight hundred years.
Still, since he was already here, there would naturally be more solutions than difficulties!
For a moment, world-shaking wisdom brewed furiously in Jiang Huai's mind.
Yue Guan led the way at the front, while Bibi Dong followed behind at a leisurely pace.
Yet even with two Super Douluos personally leading them, obtaining a truly suitable Soul Ring was not something they could accomplish immediately.
Over their first day of Soul Hunting, the four either failed to find a suitable Soul Beast or finally encountered one, only for its age to fall far short.
"Xiao Huai, there's no need to hurry. It's perfectly normal for Soul Masters to spend several weeks, or even a month or so, in the forest while Soul Hunting."
For a fleeting moment, looking at Jiang Huai, Bibi Dong seemed to recall her own first Soul Hunting trip...
Back then, her teacher had taken her along too...
No, she had no teacher. Qian Xunji had already courted death!
"Don't worry, Teacher. Your disciple understands that too."
And so...
One day passed, then two, then three...
As the four ventured deeper and gradually approached the heart of Sunset Forest, Jiang Huai also consciously kept an eye out along the way for any poisonous mist that might appear nearby.
Yet after searching for several whole days, he had still found no trace of it.
No, I have to get this opportunity into my hands as soon as possible, or I won't be able to sleep!
With that thought, Jiang Huai abruptly underwent Hell Spirit Cat possession!
Fucking hell! Shit!
Why did this thing come with cat ears?
Yue Guan and Bibi Dong, walking ahead, turned back in surprise.
"What's wrong, Xiao Huai?"
Hu Liena's eyes instantly lit up. She reached out at once and rubbed those two little Bugles like mad, simply unable to stop.
Bibi Dong: Damn it, I want to touch them too!
"All right, Senior Sister. There's something important."
Jiang Huai spoke with a speechless expression.
"Teacher, my Nether Civet Martial Soul is extremely sensitive to the presence of death.
"There's a place in Sunset Forest that seems to be shrouded by something, as though countless living creatures have perished there."
"And within that shrouded area, there seems to be something special drawing me to it through some unseen connection."
At Jiang Huai's words, Yue Guan suddenly understood!
According to the information he possessed, his lifelong enemy, that old poison freak, seemed to have made his home in Sunset Forest.
Based on what he knew of that old fellow Dugu Bo,
if his lair was here, he would definitely have placed large quantities of poisonous things around its perimeter.
Presumably, the place where countless living creatures had perished that Jiang Huai's Hell Spirit Cat sensed was, in all likelihood, Dugu Bo's residence!
After Yue Guan told Bibi Dong his conjecture, she spoke with commanding confidence without the slightest hesitation.
"All right. Since you say something there is drawing you in, Xiao Huai, I'll accompany you there to take a look!"
"Yue Guan, put Soul Hunting aside for now. Focus all your efforts on finding where that old wretch Dugu Bo might be living!"