After Fang Lin insisted again and again, Fang Yuanqiao finally agreed to let him try absorbing a Soul Ring more than 400 years old. At the same time, he repeatedly stressed that if Fang Lin encountered danger during absorption, he had to give up at once.
Fang Yuanqiao had long since planned out the direction for his Soul Ring.
"There are usually two paths for a Tool Martial Soul's Soul Rings. One is to choose pure Soul Beasts with powerful bodies. They can grant Soul Skills that boost your own attributes and strengthen your physique, allowing a Tool Soul Master to make the most of his moves and techniques. These are also the most practical Soul Rings in the early stages."
"The second is metal-attribute Soul Beasts, which strengthen the Tool Martial Soul itself and improve its quality. These Soul Beasts are hard to find. Usually, only Soul Beasts with advanced or even top-tier bloodlines can produce such Soul Rings. Take the Sharp Gold Bamboo, a Plant-type Soul Beast. It's practically extinct in the Soul Hunting Forest."
As Fang Lin summed it up, his father's view was that he should either strengthen himself or strengthen his Tool Martial Soul, rather than pursue some powerful Soul Skill.
The gist was that as long as his Soul Power was abundant and his physique strong, no matter how flashy a skill was, it would only take a few extra slashes to deal with it.
Early the next morning, Fang Yuanqiao took Fang Lin out.
Before they left, Qiao Rong packed plenty of dried meat and water for the two of them in a brown, coarse-cloth bundle.
Fang Lin watched his father sling it over his shoulder and grew curious.
"Don't we have a Storage Soul Tool? This is way too troublesome."
Fang Yuanqiao shot him a look of disdain.
"You think carrying a bundle is troublesome? A Storage Soul Tool with one cubic meter of space costs a thousand Gold Soul Coins. It's not like we have so many Gold Soul Coins they're burning a hole in our pockets."
Fang Lin curled his lip.
Men. He bought whale rubber worth over a hundred Gold Soul Coins without a second thought, but he couldn't bear to spend money on an essential Storage Soul Tool.
By the time they reached the West Street intersection, it was still early, and pedestrians were few and far between.
A wooden cart stood by the roadside, conspicuous on the quiet street. Two middle-aged men sat aboard it.
Fang Yuanqiao lifted Fang Lin onto the cart and introduced them.
"This is your Uncle Li, Li Tian, a level twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster. His Martial Soul is an iron spear."
"This is your Uncle Wang, Wang Yu, a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster. His Martial Soul is a black bear. There's also your Uncle Yang, who didn't come this time. They're all teammates who often go Soul Hunting with me."
"Sorry for the trouble, Uncle Wang, Uncle Li," Fang Lin greeted them obediently.
Li Tian was lean, with a faint scar slanting down from the corner of his eye. His smile, however, was warm and gentle as he reached out to pat Fang Lin on the head.
"Good lad! You reached level ten after cultivating for less than two years since awakening your Soul Power. Your father's done plenty of bragging about you in front of us."
Wang Yu chimed in, "Hasn't he just? My boy had level three Innate Soul Power, and he still hasn't reached level ten at ten years old. It makes me angry just looking at him."
Wang Yu was even more heavily built than Fang Yuanqiao, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with dark skin and a pair of protruding ears. His hulking frame made him look like a giant bear in human form.
Fang Lin offered a few modest words, then glanced at his father.
"Ahem, let's get going."
Fang Yuanqiao flicked the whip against the horses' hindquarters. The two brown horses pulled the wooden cart toward the city gate, its wheels rattling along.
After an hour on the road, the cart reached the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest. Along the way, they saw Soul Masters traveling in twos and threes. At the checkpoint, a group of spear-bearing guards patrolled in iron armor, crossbows hanging at their waists.
Fang Yuanqiao took out a dark iron permit and handed it over. Fang Lin followed it with his eyes and saw a longsword engraved on it.
Noticing his son's gaze, Fang Yuanqiao explained without being asked.
"It's a Soul Hunting permit issued by Spirit Hall. We have to return it after using it and register the Soul Beasts we hunt this time."
"Oh," Fang Lin said, then asked, "Does it cost anything?"
Uncle Wang, beside him, laughed. "Of course. Unless you're a noble, each use costs ten Gold Soul Coins. A higher-level Soul Hunting Forest costs even more."
Fang Lin clicked his tongue in astonishment.
Fencing off land and collecting rent-no wonder Spirit Hall has so many Gold Soul Coins to subsidize Soul Masters.
The guards at the checkpoint inspected the permit and let Fang Yuanqiao's group through. Once they had passed, Fang Yuanqiao stressed again in a serious tone:
"Walk between us, and don't touch anything in there at random. Some poisonous insects and plants are deadlier than Soul Beasts. If you really run into danger, don't try to act tough. Run when you need to."
Fang Lin blinked and nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, Dad. If we really run into danger, even if you're lying right in front of me, I'll turn and run without a moment's hesitation. I have to stay alive to avenge you, right?"
Wang Yu and Li Tian burst out laughing. "Well said! You have to stay alive to take revenge."
Fang Yuanqiao's face darkened. "You little brat, you never watch your mouth. All you do is say unlucky things."
As they spoke, the group officially entered the Soul Hunting Forest.
Fang Lin had assumed the Soul Hunting Forest was merely a pasture where Soul Beasts were kept, but only after entering did he experience its wild atmosphere.
The trees before him rose straight into the sky, their branches and leaves blocking out most of the sunlight and leaving the forest dim. A thick layer of decaying leaves covered the ground, making faint, crackling sounds underfoot. Small flying insects occasionally darted past, their beating wings producing bursts of buzzing.
Wang Yu, walking at the front, suddenly stopped.
"There's movement ahead."
Everyone looked over. The bushes ahead shook, and more than a dozen wild rabbits covered in pink fur darted out. They had long, slender ears and a faint red tint in their eyes.
Fang Yuanqiao spat. "False alarm. A bunch of ten-year Soft Bone Rabbits. Apart from their chewy meat, they're worthless."
A Soul Beast's value lay not only in its Soul Ring, but also in its meat, hide, and bones. When a Soul Hunting party encountered a valuable Soul Beast, it would consider killing it even if it wasn't their target, to make up for the cost of the Soul Hunting permit.
They continued onward, passing a stand of swaying bamboo. Fang Lin stopped to take a few extra looks.
"Stop staring. It's Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. It's tough, but otherwise useless. Even a hundred-year one wouldn't suit you." Seeing Fang Lin standing there in a daze, Fang Yuanqiao urged him on in displeasure.
"Oh, got it." Fang Lin came back to his senses, answered, and caught up.
Farther along, they encountered several Fanged Wild Boars and Black Rock Wolves. The oldest was 240 years old, and they all leaned toward defensive attributes, making them unsuitable for Fang Lin.
Only then did Fang Lin understand what his father had meant about how difficult it was to obtain a suitable Hundred-Year Soul Ring.
After wandering for two hours, Fang Yuanqiao made a decision.
"We'll keep going deeper. There probably aren't any of the right age on the outskirts. If we can't find one before sunset, we'll withdraw to the outskirts first and come back in tomorrow."
The Soul Hunting Forest was divided into an outer zone, a mixed zone, and a core zone. Soul Beasts over a hundred years old were mainly found in the core zone, but thousand-year Soul Beasts also appeared there. If they encountered one, the three men would be no match for it.
Their chances of obtaining a suitable Soul Ring would increase, but so would the risk.
The deeper they went, the denser the trees became, yet the surroundings grew quieter. Wang Yu, who was clearing the way ahead, suddenly turned around.
"Thirty paces ahead to the left. There's a Soul Beast."
Everyone crouched low and slowly parted the bushes. Beside a massive gray-black rock lay a leopard-like Soul Beast. Its dark gray fur was streaked with black markings, its muscles were taut, and it was three or four times the size of an ordinary leopard.
"A Nether Leopard. It has a powerful body, and its speed and strength are among the best of ordinary Soul Beasts." Fang Yuanqiao kept his eyes fixed ahead, his voice steady and calm. "Both its speed and strength are good. It's even more suitable than the Gale Wolf we originally wanted to find. Four black stripes on its tail-it's just over 400 years old."
"That's the one, Dad. I can definitely handle it."
Fang Lin's eyes shone. If he didn't choose a Soul Ring at the age limit for his First Soul Ring, the two pieces of whale rubber he had eaten would have gone to waste.
Fang Yuanqiao pondered for a moment, then spoke to his two brothers.
"Let's do it. Same as usual: you two keep it occupied, and I'll land the decisive blow."
Wang Yu had the advantage in defense, while Li Tian had a long weapon, making them suited to holding the beast off from the front. Fang Yuanqiao, meanwhile, was suited to dealing the decisive damage.
The two nodded. Three lights of Soul Power flared, and Wang Yu's body grew taller once more, a layer of short, light-black fur covering his skin as he charged out first.
The instant it heard the movement, the Nether Leopard lowered its body and let out a low growl. It kicked off the ground with all four limbs, first dodging the bear claw swiping at its back. Then it bared its fangs, opened its bloody maw, and pounced at Wang Yu.
But at that moment, Li Tian's long spear thrust in from the side, aiming precisely at its lower jaw and forcibly checking its movement.
The men worked together with practiced ease, and the Nether Leopard was soon wounded. Just as it began thinking of retreat, Fang Yuanqiao seized the moment and slashed the back of its head. Flesh split open, and blood streamed out.
The Hundred-Year Soul Beast crashed to the ground, but it did not die. Its limbs had merely gone limp, and its consciousness was fading.
Fang Yuanqiao did not let down his guard. Only after chopping off its four limbs did he step aside and call Fang Lin forward.
"Quick, come give him the final blow."
Fang Lin hurried over, gripping a long saber in his hand. Aiming at the wound Fang Yuanqiao had opened, he drove the tip viciously into its head.
A deep yellow Soul Ring slowly rose from the corpse, revolving in midair.