Sky-Blue Soul Ring

Early morning.

Outside the Worship Hall, the carriage was ready.

Qian Renxue had changed into a fitted white outfit, her golden hair tied behind her head. Standing beside Qian Daoliu, she kept glancing toward the stone steps leading to the inner hall.

Today, they were heading to the Star Dou Great Forest.

To find First Soul Rings for her and Lin Yuan.

"Why isn't Lin Yuan here yet?"

Qian Renxue had barely finished speaking when footsteps sounded on the stone steps.

Lin Yuan emerged from the inner hall.

His face looked somewhat tired, but his presence was steadier than yesterday.

Qian Renxue glanced at him.

"You're late."

"Something happened last night."

"What happened?"

Lin Yuan stopped.

"A Soul Ring."

Qian Daoliu turned around.

"Was there a problem with a Soul Ring?"

"No."

Lin Yuan shook his head.

"I already have my First Soul Ring."

The air fell silent for an instant.

Qian Renxue thought she had misheard.

"What did you say?"

"I've already broken through rank ten."

Lin Yuan said, "Last night, I obtained my First Soul Ring."

Guang Ling's figure flashed, and he appeared before Lin Yuan.

He pressed a hand to Lin Yuan's shoulder, sending a thread of Soul Power into his body.

His meridians were normal.

His body was unharmed.

His Soul Power had indeed broken through rank ten as well.

Guang Ling withdrew his hand, but his brow furrowed.

"Did you leave the Worship Hall last night?"

"No."

"Did you hunt a Soul Beast?"

"No."

"Then where did your Soul Ring come from?"

Lin Yuan looked at Qian Daoliu.

"Last night, I saw that divine figure again."

Qian Daoliu's gaze sharpened.

Lin Yuan continued, "My consciousness entered a starry expanse. That divine figure didn't speak. It only sent down a wisp of power."

"When I woke up, the Soul Ring had already appeared."

Guang Ling and Qian Daoliu exchanged a glance.

A God-Given Soul Ring.

Only a deity's power could bypass Soul Beasts and directly condense a Soul Ring for a Soul Master.

But Lin Yuan had not undertaken a divine trial.

That unknown deity was not even on the Douluo Continent.

With nothing more than a manifestation of its will, it had crossed an endless distance and bestowed a Soul Ring upon Lin Yuan.

"Release it," Qian Daoliu said gravely.

Lin Yuan raised his left hand.

Pinpricks of starlight gathered.

The Imperial Bow appeared in his palm.

Immediately afterward, a Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet.

The Soul Ring rotated slowly.

It was sky-blue throughout.

Within the ring, there was no remnant Soul Beast soul, nor the resentment ordinary Soul Rings possessed.

Only tiny flecks of starlight flowed ceaselessly along the Soul Ring.

Qian Renxue stepped forward.

"How could a Soul Ring be this color?"

On the Douluo Continent, Soul Ring colors corresponded to different ages.

White for ten years.

Yellow for a hundred years.

Purple for a thousand years.

Yet Lin Yuan's Soul Ring belonged to none of these categories.

Qian Daoliu released his spiritual power and examined it carefully.

A moment later, his expression changed.

"There's no trace of a Soul Beast's presence."

Guang Ling asked, "What about its age?"

"At least a thousand years."

As Qian Daoliu spoke those words, his voice grew a little graver.

Qian Renxue abruptly turned to Lin Yuan.

"Your First Soul Ring is already a thousand-year one?"

There was a limit to what a Soul Master could withstand for their First Soul Ring.

Ordinary Soul Masters could only absorb Soul Rings a few hundred years old.

Forcibly absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring meant almost certain death.

Yet Lin Yuan had not only succeeded, but his body had also suffered no harm whatsoever.

Only last night, Qian Renxue had agreed with Lin Yuan to see who would become a Soul Master first.

Yet after just one night, Lin Yuan had already won.

"That doesn't count."

The words slipped out instinctively.

Lin Yuan looked at her.

"Why not?"

"You didn't hunt a Soul Beast."

"But I have a Soul Ring."

Qian Renxue opened her mouth.

She had no way to refute him.

Regardless of where his Soul Ring had come from, Lin Yuan was now a Soul Master.

Qian Daoliu looked at that sky-blue Soul Ring.

"What's your first Soul Skill?"

"Star Chaser."

"Let's go to the training grounds."

Qian Daoliu turned and headed inside.

"Attack me."

At the training grounds.

Qian Daoliu stood in the center.

Lin Yuan stood a hundred meters away from him.

Guang Ling and Qian Renxue stood outside the grounds. Several worshippers who had received word also arrived one after another.

A sky-blue First Soul Ring.

At the thousand-year level.

Personally bestowed by a deity.

Any one of these was enough to shatter the common knowledge of the Douluo Continent.

Qian Daoliu looked at Lin Yuan.

"Attack with your full strength."

"My Soul Skill has a lock-on effect."

"That doesn't matter."

Qian Daoliu said calmly, "Let me see how far it can pursue me."

Lin Yuan said nothing more.

He gripped the Imperial Bow.

The sky-blue Soul Ring lit up.

Starlight from the Soul Ring streamed into the bow, condensing into an arrow of the same sky-blue hue.

"First Soul Skill."

"Star Chaser."

Lin Yuan drew the bowstring.

In his vision, a faint point of starlight appeared before the space between Qian Daoliu's brows.

It was not a mark placed on his body.

Rather, it was a lock on his presence.

As long as that presence did not disappear, the arrow would not lose its target.

Lin Yuan released his fingers.

Thrum!

The arrow shot out instantly.

It crossed the hundred-meter distance in the blink of an eye.

Qian Daoliu turned sideways to evade it.

The arrow flew past him, but did not continue forward.

It traced an arc through the air and chased Qian Daoliu again.

Qian Daoliu dodged once more.

The arrow changed direction a second time.

It was faster than before.

Guang Ling's gaze shifted slightly.

"It's accelerating."

Qian Daoliu raised his hand.

A golden barrier appeared before him.

He held its defensive strength at around rank twenty.

Boom!

The sky-blue arrow struck the barrier.

The golden screen of light shook violently.

A moment later, a crack appeared in the center of the barrier.

The arrow pierced straight through the barrier and continued toward Qian Daoliu.

Qian Renxue's pupils contracted.

Lin Yuan was only rank thirteen.

Yet this arrow had pierced the defenses of a rank-twenty Soul Master.

Qian Daoliu formed another barrier.

This time, its defenses approached rank thirty.

The arrow struck it and visibly slowed, yet still did not dissipate.

The arrowhead spun ceaselessly.

All its power was concentrated on a single point.

Cracks appeared on the barrier's surface once again.

Qian Daoliu increased his Soul Power a third time.

Only when the defensive strength approached rank forty was the arrow finally stopped.

The starlight gradually faded.

Silence filled the training grounds.

Lin Yuan lowered the Imperial Bow.

Using his Soul Skill just once had consumed nearly half his Soul Power.

Qian Daoliu asked, "Its full effects?"

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Once Star Chaser is activated, it can lock onto a target."

"Ordinary cover, changing direction, and creating afterimages cannot shake off the arrow."

"Every time the target successfully dodges, the arrow records his movements."

"When it pursues him again, its speed and penetrating power both increase."

"At present, it can strengthen up to three times."

After hearing this, Guang Ling drew a soft breath.

The more one dodged, the faster the arrow became.

The more one fled, the stronger the arrow became.

This was no ordinary tracking Soul Skill.

It was forcing the opponent to face the arrow head-on.

Qian Daoliu continued, "What if the opponent conceals their presence?"

"As long as I lock onto them when activating the Soul Skill, the mark won't disappear."

"What about clones?"

"The arrow doesn't track appearances."

Lin Yuan paused.

"It tracks the soul's presence."

The expressions of several Worship Hall elders changed at the same time.

Locking onto the soul.

It already touched upon the realms of the mind and laws.

And this was merely Lin Yuan's first Soul Skill.

Qian Daoliu looked at Lin Yuan without speaking for a long time.

A god-level Martial Soul.

A thousand-year First Soul Ring.

And a Soul Skill powerful enough to span three major realms.

More importantly, the god behind Lin Yuan was actively bestowing power upon him.

He was no longer merely a genius worthy of attention.

He was a successor who had already drawn a deity's gaze.

"Starting today."

Qian Daoliu spoke slowly.

"The first three floors of the Worship Hall's library will be fully open to you."

"The medicinal herbs, Soul Tools, and simulated environments needed for your cultivation will be provided to the highest standards."

Several Worship Hall elders looked at Qian Daoliu at the same time.

This was the same treatment Qian Renxue received for her cultivation.

Qian Daoliu had already made his decision.

He was going to truly nurture Lin Yuan.

"Furthermore, the matter of the sky-blue Soul Ring will be classified as the Worship Hall's highest secret."

"Do not reveal it lightly before outsiders."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Understood."

Qian Daoliu turned to look at the carriage already waiting outside the hall.

"The Soul Hunting Plan will continue."

Qian Renxue was slightly taken aback.

"Lin Yuan already has a Soul Ring."

"You don't have yours yet."

Qian Daoliu said, "Lin Yuan will come along. He needs to learn about Soul Beasts and familiarize himself with his Soul Skill."

Qian Renxue looked at Lin Yuan.

"This time, you can't compete with me for it."

"I have no interest in your Soul Beast."

Qian Renxue gave a soft huff and boarded the carriage first.

The convoy soon left Spirit City.

Lin Yuan sat inside the carriage, his eyes closed as he recovered his Soul Power.

Just as the carriage headed toward Star Dou Great Forest, the Imperial Bow suddenly trembled gently.

Hum-

Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

That was not the excitement it felt upon encountering a Soul Beast.

It was the response of The Hunt upon discovering a target.

Deep within Star Dou Great Forest.

Something was being locked onto by the Imperial Bow.