Nuoding City, Soul Hunting Forest.
Yu Xiaogang was leading Chen An and Tang San to obtain their first Soul Rings.
The two really were monstrous talents: a little village had actually produced two people with innate full Soul Power, yet both had worthless Martial Souls.
Tang San's was Blue Silver Grass, while the one named Chen An had Lone Bamboo, an absolutely textbook trash Martial Soul.
Yu Xiaogang sighed. Fortunately, Tang San's background was far from simple, and he had another Martial Soul, the Clear Sky Hammer.
By contrast, Chen An seemed perfectly ordinary. Even bringing out his theory of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul had failed to blast any information about another Martial Soul out of Chen An.
He simply insisted that he had no so-called twin Martial Souls.
Yu Xiaogang could do nothing about it. He thought that if he had none, so be it. He just needed to put all his effort into nurturing Tang San!
At that moment, Chen An hid behind the two, inwardly calculating how to persuade Yu Xiaogang to let him absorb a ten-year Soul Ring.
That was because he had transmigrated into the Douluo World and awakened a system called "Return to Simplicity."
The Douluo World had an established rule.
The older a Soul Ring, the better, and there were also supposedly corresponding age limits for absorbing each Soul Ring.
For instance, the limit for the first Soul Ring was four hundred and twenty-three years. Absorbing a hundred-year Soul Ring at that level would give someone a much higher future ceiling.
But the system Chen An possessed worked the other way around.
The lower the quality and age of the Soul Ring he absorbed, the more he could obtain system rewards and trigger hidden Easter eggs.
As for what those were, he would only find out after obtaining his first Soul Ring.
"This is ten-year solitary bamboo. Its characteristic is toughness. Its attacks are weak, but its defense is quite good. It suits both your Martial Souls, especially Chen An's!"
Yu Xiaogang patted the solitary bamboo, which was who knew how many years younger than he was.
Tang San frowned. "Teacher, isn't it a little too young?"
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "Yes. It would be good if it were a few decades older!"
After hearing their exchange, Chen An could not help rolling his eyes.
Holy crap!
Does Gangzi have some kind of ill-fated bond with bamboo?
If Tang Hao were here, wouldn't he pull out his Clear Sky Hammer and unleash the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer?
"Chen An, what do you think?"
Noticing Chen An standing in a daze behind them, Yu Xiaogang could not help asking.
A gleam suddenly flashed through Chen An's eyes.
He thought this was a heaven-sent opportunity. If he used this excuse to absorb a ten-year Soul Ring, it would arouse no suspicion.
"Teacher, I think it's great!"
Since Chen An had been an orphan when he transmigrated here, he had followed Tang San in taking Yu Xiaogang as his teacher.
"But it really is a little too young. Let's leave it until we truly can't find anything else!" Yu Xiaogang gave a light cough. Clearly, he was no fool either. If word spread that someone with innate full Soul Power had only a ten-year first Soul Ring, where would he put his old face?
"All right." Chen An had no other option. He could only find a way later.
"Luo, luo!"
Beside them, Luo Sanpao suddenly roared loudly at something ahead.
"Careful, something's happening!" Yu Xiaogang hurriedly took out masks for the two of them, then activated his Soul Skill. "Fart like thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!"
Sanpao released his stench forward, directly blasting out several ten-year Nether Wolf pups.
Seeing the Nether Wolves before him blasted into their next lives by the foul fart, Yu Xiaogang breathed a sigh of relief.
He pointed at the white Soul Rings floating in the air and began explaining to the two of them. "These are the ten-year Soul Rings we discussed earlier. They have a white sheen all over and belong to the lowest age category of Soul Rings. Unfortunately, they aren't particularly suitable for you!"
Chen An felt like laughing.
Gangzi really had locked horns with ten-year Soul Rings.
Hiss...
Wait a second.
Shouldn't the Mandala Snake be arriving soon?
Chen An suddenly thought of a perfect reason to absorb a ten-year Soul Ring, one that would not arouse the slightest suspicion in either of them.
"Luo, luo!" Luo Sanpao barked at the air again, only even louder this time.
In an instant.
The surrounding atmosphere immediately grew oppressive. Leaves rustled incessantly, and gusts of cold wind swept past everyone present.
At that moment, Tang San spoke first. "Teacher, there's a poisonous smell!"
Hearing this, Chen An immediately perked up.
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives!
Tang San activated his Purple Demon Eye and looked through the bushes. Once he saw clearly, he called out, "It's a huge snake with a dark green triangular head and eyes like rubies."
Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened. He hurriedly threw out the torch in his hand. Once he saw clearly, his heart jolted. "Oh no, it's actually a Mandala Snake!"
Because realgar powder had been scattered on the ground, the snake had not approached yet.
It hissed from a distance, its eyes fixed firmly on the three of them.
"Teacher, what do we do now?" Tang San was extremely calm, and his body kept growing more sensitive.
What do we do? What else can we do but wait for you, the protagonist, to show off, turn the tables on the Mandala Snake, and absorb a hundred-year Soul Ring! Chen An grumbled inwardly.
"Sanpao and I will hold it off in a moment. Hurry and find someone to help!" Cold sweat poured from Yu Xiaogang's forehead. He thought that these two must not fall here, especially Tang San.
"Go!"
Chen An grabbed Tang San and fled toward the Soul Hunting Forest's guards.
However, before the two had run far.
Tang San stopped.
His gaze was resolute, his tone icy. "Chen An, you go first. I have to go back and help Teacher!"
Chen An was about to pretend to dissuade him, but before he could even speak, Tang San's shadow was already nowhere to be seen.
"Fuck!"
"What deep affection between master and disciple!"
Chen An shook his head, thinking that Tang San really had been thoroughly taken in by Yu Xiaogang.
[Detected that the host intends to absorb a ten-year Soul Ring. This system can provide a brand-new chopping knife.]
"Heh, this damn system really wants me to absorb ten-year solitary bamboo!"
Chen An glanced around. After confirming that no one was there, he took out the chopping knife and swung it hard at a solitary bamboo beside him.
After arduous labor, Chen An finally saw the white ten-year Soul Ring he had dreamed of.
He hurriedly sat down to meditate, making haste to absorb this hard-earned Soul Ring.
[Ding-dong! Detected that the host has absorbed a ten-year Soul Ring. Return to Simplicity hidden Easter egg unlocked! Host: Chen An Age: six Martial Souls: Lone Bamboo, bamboo flute System-bound target: Lone Bamboo Hidden Easter egg awarded: the first Soul Skill is randomly imbued with ice and grass elements and awakens a growth attribute. As the host's Soul Power Level rises, elemental purity will increase. Current elemental purity: 10%]
Chen An opened his eyes. He could clearly feel the improvements this elemental power brought.
First came the innate affinity of the ice and grass elements. He now felt as though he were lying in bed, soft and warm.
Next, they brought considerable improvements to his Martial Soul. In any case, he felt that Lone Bamboo's defense and attack had both grown much stronger.
"Teacher!"
Tang San's voice suddenly rang out in the distance.
Chen An knew that Yu Xiaogang had been bitten by the Mandala Snake and fallen unconscious from the poison.
He hurried over to help Tang San, hoping to farm some goodwill with the two of them.
"Hang on!"
"I'm coming!"
Chen An saw Tang San grappling and struggling with the Mandala Snake. He lunged forward in a single stride, darting beneath the snake, and activated his Lone Bamboo Martial Soul. Revealing its sharp tip, he thrust with all his might.
Boom!
The sharp point pierced the snake's lower jaw and struck through its brain, a vital spot, and it collapsed heavily.
Chen An noticed an obvious wound in the snake's brain. He could tell that his strike had counted as a finishing blow.
He looked at Tang San, whose head was covered in sweat and whose hands kept trembling.
He asked in a concerned tone, "Are you all right?"
Tang San shook his head and turned toward Chen An. He had sensed Soul Power just now. "You have a Soul Ring?"
Chen An froze for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. I wanted to use a Soul Skill to help you!"
"Do you know the drawbacks of choosing a ten-year ring as your first Soul Ring?"
Chen An sighed. "I don't care. All I could think about was how to save you and Teacher!"
"Thank you!" Tang San was deeply moved by his words and even gave him a bow.
He walked over to Yu Xiaogang and began removing the poison.
Watching from a distance, Chen An's lips curved upward as he thought, Hehe, this guy really is easy to fool. At this rate, he'll even teach me the Tang Sect Secret Arts of his own accord!