There might not be any powerful Soul Beasts in Sunset Forest, but there's that powerful grandfather of yours, Ling Yu grumbled inwardly.
The woman called Aunt Lan rested her gentle gaze on Ling Yu and studied him carefully, a faint trace of scrutiny hidden in her eyes.
She knew well that Ye Lingling was cool and reserved, never growing close to others. Even for a Soul Skill, she would never rashly invite a boy to go Soul Hunting with her. For her to do so, the boy before her must have earned her deep trust.
"Hello, I'm Ye Yilan. My Martial Soul is Purple Radiant Bamboo, and I'm a rank seventy-three Power Attack System Soul Saint." Ye Yilan stepped forward and introduced herself.
"Su Yao. My Martial Soul is Azure Bird, and I'm a rank seventy-three Agility Attack System Soul Saint."
Ye Yilan nodded. After exchanging a few words, the group boarded the carriage and set off.
Before long, Ling Yu took a notebook out of his Storage Soul Tool and began writing.
Dugu Yan glanced at Ling Yu and teased, "You bookworm. Still reading even when you're out Soul Hunting?"
"It's a long journey. I have to find something to do, unless I'm supposed to just sleep?" As soon as he finished speaking, Ling Yu looked at Dugu Yan, clearly directing his words at her.
"You..."
"Looks like someone wants a taste of Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison." Dugu Yan raised her chin, a sly hint of menace flashing in her eyes.
"Don't play around with poison inside the carriage."
"I will."
Ye Yilan helplessly put a stop to their bickering.
"Ling Yu, what are you writing?" Ye Lingling raised her eyes slightly, curiosity entering her cool gaze as she unobtrusively changed the subject.
"A preliminary summary of the patterns behind acquiring Soul Skills, I suppose." Ling Yu's tone was so casual that he might have been talking about the most ordinary thing imaginable.
Yet to the others, his words were like an explosion of thunder. The carriage instantly fell silent, and even the air seemed to congeal.
After a moment, Su Yao recovered. Even though she had grown accustomed to Ling Yu's wildly imaginative theoretical summaries, she still could not take this one in.
"Tell us more." Dugu Yan immediately forgot her little fit of temper and leaned forward, her eyes astonishingly bright and her voice full of impatience.
"First, there are Martial Souls with their own innate Soul Skill pools, such as Nine Heart Begonia, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile, the Clear Sky Hammer, and White Tiger."
"White Tiger? The Clear Sky Hammer?" the three asked in unison.
"White Tiger is one of the very few Martial Souls whose self-enhancement skills can exceed three, so it counts as a special type. As for the Clear Sky Hammer, it comes with innate strength assimilation."
Hearing Ling Yu put it that way, everyone felt it made some sense.
"When compatibility between the Martial Soul and Soul Beast is average-for instance, if only their attributes match-you'll most likely obtain that Soul Beast's strongest Soul Skill. Powerful spiritual power will increase that probability. Of course, there's also a small chance of obtaining one of its other Soul Skills."
"When compatibility between the Martial Soul and Soul Beast is extremely high, there's a relatively high chance of producing an exclusive Soul Skill similar to a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Otherwise, you'll obtain that Soul Beast's strongest Soul Skill, with an extremely low chance of obtaining another."
"When the Martial Soul and Soul Beast are completely incompatible or even clash, a rejection reaction can easily occur, causing death from blood loss. But there's also an extremely low chance of mutation."
"Finally, there's obtaining the same Soul Beast as for the previous ring and following the Limit Style. This will continually strengthen the power of the earlier Soul Rings, but it can also result in similar Soul Skills taking up slots."
Silence fell inside the carriage. These scattered pieces of information had all been vaguely familiar to everyone, yet when someone truly organized and summarized them one by one, they instead felt a sudden clarity, as though their view had opened wide.
"How does that brain of yours work...?" Dugu Yan voiced what everyone was thinking.
"These things have always been there. People simply haven't tried to summarize them." Ling Yu rubbed his temple and smiled faintly.
Ye Yilan now experienced firsthand what made Ling Yu extraordinary, and a gleam entered her eyes.
That afternoon, the carriage reached the outskirts of Sunset Forest. Drawing back the curtain and gazing at the sea of trees, Ling Yu felt ripples stir in his heart.
One of Douluo Star's greatest treasures is right here.
No wonder it could nurture heavenly treasures capable of cleansing the sinews and marrow. After all, those are the corpses of two dragon gods.
I wonder if there are any Soul Bones. Still, after all these years, their energy has probably drained away completely.
"What are you spacing out for? Time to go," called Dugu Yan, who had already left the carriage.
"Coming." Ling Yu jumped down.
After checking their supplies once more, the group entered Sunset Forest.
As soon as he stepped into the forest, Ling Yu felt a sense of nostalgia. After all, he had worked with the Soul Hunting group for so long. A thought stirred in his mind. I wonder how Xiao Wu is doing. When I go home at the end of this school year, I'll stop by the school to see her.
"How old is this one?" Hidden in the undergrowth, the group watched a white owl Soul Beast perched in a tree. Its feathers were pure, flawless white, their tips shimmering with an extremely faint silver glow, as though steeped in moonlight. Whenever it spread its wings, fine motes of purifying light drifted down.
"A little too old. Over two thousand five hundred years." After activating his second Soul Skill, Spiritual Appraisal, Ling Yu sighed. They had already been wandering around here for more than ten days.
"Even taking Heaven Dou Secret Medicine won't be enough. Why does it have to be just out of reach?" Dugu Yan grumbled quietly.
Should I give her part of that eighty-thousand-year-old Whale Rubber? With that factored in, she should be able to absorb it.
Let's look for another couple of days. If we still can't find anything, we'll go with this one, Ling Yu thought.
That evening, they gathered around the campfire to eat roast meat. With the help of Ling Yu's Soul Skill, the marinated meat was cooked to perfection.
"Spiritual-type Soul Masters make the best cooks!" Dugu Yan's eyes curved with delight as she ate, speaking with her mouth full.
"Make some for us when we're back at school too."
Ling Yu rolled his eyes. The sight made Ye Lingling laugh despite herself.
With her stomach full, Dugu Yan leaned lazily against a tree and tilted her head toward the night sky, murmuring softly, "Moon, oh moon, please bless Lingling so she can find a suitable Soul Beast soon."
Perhaps the moon heard her prayer.
In an instant, an emerald-green figure entered the range of Ling Yu's Spiritual Detection, and he immediately stood up.
Its fur was no ordinary color. Instead, its entire body resembled the finest jadeite, lustrous and translucent, shimmering with a faint blue-green sheen.
Its limbs were slender and long, its hooves like mutton-fat white jade. Every step carried a gentle vitality.
The antlers atop its head were not bone, but carved from a single, naturally formed piece of imperial-green jadeite. Their branches spread wide, rich halos of life flowing through their patterns. Tiny emerald flecks of light occasionally dripped from their tips, dissolving on contact, able to cleanse evil and impurities and heal injuries.
Its eyes were a clear lake green, so pure that they held not a trace of impurity. As its gaze shifted, it carried an innate power to soothe the soul.
His second Soul Skill, Spiritual Appraisal, activated.
Age: two thousand two hundred and twenty-two years. Traits: life, purification, healing...
Fortune!
"What is it?" Seeing Ling Yu stand, the others hurriedly asked.
"We've found Lingling's Soul Beast." Ling Yu was so stunned that he lost his composure, completely forgetting that "Lingling" was not yet a name he could use for her, causing Ye Lingling's face to flush slightly.