After a moment of surprise, Yu Yuanzhen quickly recovered.
He did not say much more about the matter.
Perhaps, deep down, he was gratified that his grandson Yu Tianheng cared enough about family to visit his uncle, Yu Xiaogang.
Only grandfather and grandson traveled together to hunt a Soul Beast and obtain a Soul Ring. They had no attendants with them.
Nor did they need guards for protection.
After all, Yu Yuanzhen was an unrivaled powerhouse at the Titled Douluo level. Looking across the continent, there were very few Titled Douluo Soul Masters who could defeat him at this early stage, so there was no need to worry about their safety.
The two rode a carriage toward the nearest Soul Beast forest.
Half a day later, they arrived at a forest roughly four hundred li northwest of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
This place was on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, where a large number of Soul Beasts lived.
For Yu Tianheng, who was about to obtain his First Soul Ring, searching the outskirts was enough.
Yu Yuanzhen led the way, while Yu Tianheng followed behind him.
As they traveled, Yu Yuanzhen did not forget to impart knowledge about Martial Soul cultivation. "Tian Heng, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul is domineering and powerful. To unleash its greatest might, you must hunt dragon-type or sub-dragon-type Soul Beasts. Only their Soul Rings can provide the strongest Soul Skills."
"You must remember that well."
"I'll remember," Yu Tianheng said.
After searching the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest for several hours, Yu Yuanzhen finally found a Soul Beast suited to Yu Tianheng's First Soul Ring.
It was several li away from the grandfather and grandson.
But Yu Yuanzhen spotted it at a glance.
It was a sub-dragon-type Soul Beast called a Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon, with both wind and lightning attributes. Its long, slender body was covered in bluish-gray scales, and a row of sharp bone spikes ran down its back. Its limbs were thick and powerful, its claws incomparably sharp, and its tail as thick and strong as a steel whip. Its head resembled a crocodile's, but it had a pair of enormous dragon horns, and purple lightning flickered in its eyes.
It was approximately four to five hundred years old.
It was exceptionally well suited to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.
At the sight of the Soul Beast, Yu Yuanzhen glanced at Yu Tianheng with a smile. "You've got good luck, kid. We found a Soul Beast suited to you so quickly. I'll capture it first. Get ready to kill it yourself."
With that, Yu Yuanzhen took a step forward and vanished from where he stood. His figure became a lightning afterimage, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of the Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon.
Yu Yuanzhen used no Soul Skill. He merely raised a hand and struck out with his palm, slamming it straight into the Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon's forehead.
The Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon had no chance to react and was knocked unconscious.
Yu Yuanzhen then picked up the Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon and brought it before Yu Tianheng. He casually tossed the Soul Beast aside, took a short sword from his waist, and handed it to Yu Tianheng, reminding him:
"A Soul Ring appears after a Soul Beast dies, but only the Soul Master who kills the Soul Beast personally can absorb the Soul Beast. I've knocked this Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon unconscious, so it can't resist. Kill it yourself, then absorb its Soul Ring."
Yu Tianheng reached out and accepted the short sword. Gripping the hilt in his right hand, he slowly drew it.
The blade was long and narrow. Its cold sheen was as piercing as frost and snow, as though it could easily slice through the air. The edge was thin and sharp, and a closer look revealed a cold gleam along it, as if even a passing glance could be cut.
From its appearance alone, Yu Tianheng could tell it was an exceptionally sharp weapon.
Short sword in hand, Yu Tianheng strode up to the Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon. Without the slightest hesitation, he tightened his grip on the dagger and thrust it at a vital spot on the Soul Beast.
Thanks to his cultivation of the Innate Skill, Yu Tianheng's physical condition was beyond that of his peers.
With his martial cultivation at the Body Refining Fourth Layer, his strength was nearly equal to an adult's.
He struck with all his might.
Blood blossomed atop the Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon's head. The blow killed it instantly.
Just then, a system notification sounded: "Ding, congratulations to the host for killing a hundred-year Soul Beast, the Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon. Rewards: one hundred Silver Soul Coins, one bottle of Body Tempering Liquid, and 100 Heavenly Mandate Points."
Huh?
Yu Tianheng was startled. He had not expected killing a Soul Beast to earn him a system reward.
Less than a moment after the Sky-Rending Thunder Dragon was killed, a yellow Soul Ring appeared above its corpse.
The color meant it was a Hundred-Year Soul Ring.
Seeing his grandson Yu Tianheng kill a Soul Beast so decisively, Yu Yuanzhen showed an appreciative expression.
Taking a life was not difficult. What Soul Master had not shed blood? Never mind hunting Soul Beasts-even killing people was commonplace. Take Yu Yuanzhen himself: as he grew from an ordinary Soul Master into a Titled Douluo, he too had accumulated a mountain of blood debts.
But Yu Tianheng was only a six-year-old child, and he had never even killed a chicken before. Suddenly faced with a Soul Beast several times larger than himself, he had killed it in a single blow. That was decisive enough.
Back when Yu Yuanzhen had taken Yu Xiaolong to hunt his first Soul Beast, Yu Xiaolong had hesitated for a long time before striking.
Compared with him, Yu Tianheng was unquestionably far more outstanding.
"Make the most of the time and absorb the Soul Ring. Grandpa will stand guard, so you can absorb it without worry," Yu Yuanzhen said.
Yu Tianheng nodded and sat down cross-legged, drawing the Soul Ring toward himself with his Soul Power.
At the same time, the system issued a notification: "Ding, the system has detected one Hundred-Year Soul Ring. Does the host wish to absorb it?"
Absorb! Yu Tianheng said silently.
Whether because of the system or because his cultivation of the Innate Skill had given him a powerful physique, Yu Tianheng completed the entire process of absorbing his first Soul Ring with great ease.
He finished smoothly in less than a quarter of an hour.
Yu Yuanzhen, watching from the side, was a little surprised.
Generally, it took a Soul Master half an hour, an hour, or even longer to absorb a Soul Ring.
Only those with extraordinary talent could absorb a Soul Ring in such a short time.
By that reckoning, Yu Tianheng was one of those exceptionally gifted people.
The discovery filled Yu Yuanzhen with wild joy.
He thought to himself that, as expected of a cultivation genius with Innate Full Soul Power, the kind seen only once in a hundred years, Yu Tianheng was indeed beyond comparison with ordinary people.
After successfully absorbing the Soul Ring, Yu Tianheng could clearly feel that his Soul Power had risen by a large margin. His cultivation had gone straight from level ten to level eleven.
Once he had finished absorbing it, Yu Tianheng slowly rose to his feet, feeling the powerful strength brought by his breakthrough.
Just then, Yu Yuanzhen asked, "What Soul Skill did your First Soul Ring give you?"
Each time a Soul Master absorbed a Soul Ring, they gained a Soul Skill.
There was no need to cultivate that Soul Skill; it could be used immediately.
After he absorbed the Soul Ring, the Soul Skill's name and abilities appeared directly in Yu Tianheng's mind. He answered bluntly, "My First Soul Skill is Thunder Dragon Claw!"
"Thunder Dragon Claw?" Yu Yuanzhen repeated the Soul Skill's name silently, then nodded. "Generally speaking, the Soul Skills of Soul Masters with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul don't differ much. Most of their First Soul Skills are also Thunder Dragon Claw."
"Use it and let me see how powerful it is."