The Team Takes Shape

"Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully recruiting Divine Blacksmith Lou Gao, cutting off Tang San's important opportunity. Red-level Task completed. Reward: 1 Red Grade Summoning Card and 500 diamonds."

"Ding, detected that the host has successfully recruited most members of the Blacksmiths' Association and exceeded the system task requirements. Reward: 1 Black Grade Summoning Card."

"Use both the Red Grade Summoning Card and the Black Grade Summoning Card."

Xiao Yu immediately used the freshly acquired summoning cards. At present, only Mu, a Titled Douluo, guarded the sect. That was naturally enough to deter one region, but they were still lacking if they truly clashed with the continent's top powers.

"Ding, Black Grade character selection complete. Congratulations to the host for obtaining Phoenix Ikki, one of the Five Bronze Saints of the SS Era. Martial Soul: Undying Fire Phoenix. Innate Soul Power: level 10. Current Soul Power Level: 32."

"Ding, Red Grade character selection complete. Congratulations to the host for obtaining Scorpio Milo, a Gold Saint of the SS Era. Martial Soul: Golden Scorpion. Innate Soul Power: level 9.5. Current Soul Power Level: 95."

"Ding, detected that the host and his subordinates now have seven people with similar Soul Power Levels, meeting the requirements to form a team. Tasks are now issued as follows:

1. Purple-level Task: Register for the Great Soul Arena team matches. All members must obtain Silver Spirit badges;

2. Black-level Task: All members must obtain Gold Spirit badges in the Great Soul Arena team matches;

3. Red-level Task: All members must obtain Purple-Gold Spirit badges in the Great Soul Arena team matches;

4. Gold-level Task: All members must obtain Sapphire Spirit badges or higher in the Great Soul Arena team matches;

5. Winning streak rewards: Three consecutive victories in Great Soul Arena team matches will earn a White-level reward; five consecutive victories, a Yellow-level reward; ten consecutive victories, a Purple-level reward; twenty consecutive victories, a Black-level reward; fifty consecutive victories, a Red-level reward; one hundred consecutive victories, a Gold-level reward."

The Great Soul Arena?

Xiao Yu slowly raised his head. Even without the system issuing this task, he would have gone anyway. Spirit Master cultivation was not something one could achieve by shutting oneself away; it required practical combat, training, and sparring. Although the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Elite Tournament was more formal, had more complete rules, and pitted elites of the same age against one another, it was only held once every five years. The Great Soul Arena, on the other hand, could be visited every day as long as conditions allowed.

Still, Xiao Yu considered the current team's composition:

1. Xiao Yu, Martial Soul: Underworld Apostle, level 35 assault-type Battle Soul Master.

2. Phoenix Ikki, Martial Soul: Fire Phoenix, level 32 assault-type Battle Soul Master.

3. Eden, Martial Soul: Thunder and Lightning Master, level 33 control-type Battle Soul Master.

4. Zilong, Martial Soul: Azure Dragon, level 32 assault-type Battle Soul Master.

5. Xie Wu, Martial Soul: Unicorn, level 30 agility attack-type Battle Soul Master.

6. Miyi Mei, Martial Soul: Harp, level 30 support-type Battle Soul Master.

7. Iao, Martial Soul: Sea Phantom Beast, level 26 assault-type Battle Soul Master.

The team composition was not bad, but it still fell somewhat short of Xiao Yu's expectations. However, the Spirit Master Competition was still a long way off. Besides, just as Shrek had Tai Long, Jing Ling, Huang Yuan, and Jiang Zhu as four substitutes, the team would need reserve members as well. They could make new arrangements when the time came.

Several days later, after settling the association's affairs, Lou Gao hired more than a dozen carriages and left Gengxin City with Si Long, Si Yu, and several dozen other blacksmiths, following Xiao Yu and the others. As for Lou Gao's other two disciples, Si Kai and Si Di, they remained behind to oversee the Blacksmiths' Association.

The Blacksmiths' Association had extensive holdings; it was impossible to move everything to the Nine Stars Hall, nor was that realistic. After discussing it with Lou Gao, Xiao Yu decided to make the Blacksmiths' Association the Nine Stars Hall's branch in Gengxin City. Personnel would rotate regularly. Si Long, Si Yu, and the others would leave first to study Soul Tool knowledge and crafting under Lou Gao, then return after three months to switch with Si Kai, Si Di, and the other Advanced Blacksmiths.

After returning to the sect and handling matters related to the Blacksmiths' Association, Xiao Yu began arranging for Xie Wu and Miyi Mei, who had reached their bottlenecks, to obtain their spirit rings. Aside from Milo and Hui Huo, who accompanied them as guards, Xiao Yu also brought Phoenix Ikki, Eden, Zilong, and the other members whose Soul Power Levels were close to his own and who were preparing to form a team.

Phoenix Ikki and Eden, the two newly arrived lone wolves, had initially wanted to refuse. This time, however, Xiao Yu did not agree. He patiently persuaded them that only teamwork could lead to mutual victory in the future, and that the Star Dou Great Forest had countless spirit beasts, making it easier to hone their practical combat abilities. Only then did the two agree.

This was not Xiao Yu's first trip to the Star Dou Great Forest. He had already thoroughly familiarized himself with the conditions around its outskirts, and under his guidance, the group quickly entered the forest's interior.

"Everyone, stay alert. Most spirit beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest hold no goodwill toward humans and are generally aggressive. Maintain the formation, and don't wander around carelessly."

Xiao Yu said solemnly, "This will count as the first real battle since our team was formed. Unless absolutely necessary, Milo and Hui Huo will not intervene."

Everyone nodded together. Phoenix Ikki possessed the top-tier beast Martial Soul, the Fire Phoenix, which naturally gave him bloodline suppression over spirit beasts. Thus, he took the lead and walked at the front of the group.

Xiao Yu and Zilong, both assault-types, walked along the left and right flanks. The relatively weaker Xie Wu, Miyi Mei, and Iao stayed in the middle, while Eden brought up the rear. As for Milo and Hui Huo, they followed several meters behind, keeping their distance as they watched from afar.

In Douluo Continent, Di Tian and many other truly powerful spirit beasts were busy at the Lake of Life absorbing that living power bank. Unless those two fools, the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape, suddenly lost their minds and charged together to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, there really were no spirit beasts that could threaten the two of them.

Xie Wu's Martial Soul was a unicorn. The spirit beasts most suitable for his spirit rings were naturally those of the same race as his Martial Soul, such as Sacred Unicorns and Radiant Unicorns. Failing that, they could seek out horse-type spirit beasts. There would be some difficulty, but it would not be especially great.

Miyi Mei, on the other hand, was more troublesome. Although he was classified as a support-type Spirit Master, he was actually half support and half control. Besides boosting his allies' strength, the music from his harp also carried mental attacks. Spirit Masters with slightly weaker spiritual power could be directly stunned by him, while even those with strong spiritual power would have their attack and defense weakened.

That reminded Xiao Yu of Huo Yuhao, the child of destiny from ten thousand years later. Wasn't his first Martial Soul, the Spirit Eyes, a mental control-type Martial Soul? His First Spirit Skill, Mental Detection, and Mental Sharing could also be considered support abilities in a sense. His spirit rings could serve as a reference.

Of those spirit beasts, ice silkworms lived in the Far North. The only one in the Star Dou Great Forest was being kept as nourishment by those ferocious beasts with hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation. Who would dare snatch food from a tiger's mouth?

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was even more impossible. If Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was merely food for those ferocious beasts, there might still be the slightest room for negotiation. But the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was truly their reverse scale. Touching her would leave only one path: a fight to the death.

The Evil Eye Tyrant was far away on the Sun Moon Continent, and Xiao Yu truly did not know whether Douluo Continent had such spirit beasts. However, the spirit beasts that produced several of the other spirit rings—the Purple Spirit Wolf, Silver Moon Wolf, and Silver Eagle Beast—were rare as well, but were still much easier to find than the others. They could try searching for them.