Soul Hunting Begins

And so, with big meals, reading, medicinal baths, and nourishment from high-quality Whale Rubber and medicines every day, Bao Liang's body grew day by day. His routine was frighteningly regular-

He got up in the morning and ate several big bowls of food, then Meng Hongchen hauled him off to the study to read. He took a medicinal bath in the afternoon and another at night. Before bed, Xiao Hongchen supervised him through a set of punches before he returned to bed to meditate and cultivate.

In Xiao Hongchen's own words: "You eat so much. If you don't work it off, are you waiting to grow fat?"

Bao Liang thought he had a point, then ate another twenty big meat buns right in front of him.

Finally, after a month, Bao Liang no longer felt any noticeable weakness in his body.

What was more, with Jing Hongchen supplying him without regard for cost, Bao Liang had not only grown taller; the medicinal ingredients and nourishing foods he consumed had also been transformed into the purest Qi and blood thanks to the gifts of his twin Ultimate Martial Souls. Not only had Bao Liang failed to grow fat, he had even developed a little muscle.

Unlike a certain Xiao, who was already a two-ring Soul Master but was still a skinny bamboo pole of a weakling.

To that, Xiao Hongchen said, "Want to bet I can get Grandpa to cut off your buns?"

"I said, your venerable self is wise and mighty, unmatched beneath the heavens, a true man among men!" Bao Liang caved in an instant.

Meng Hongchen laughed so hard at the side that she couldn't straighten up.

And on that very day, Jing Hongchen returned early from Mingde Hall.

Not only had he come back early, he was carrying a big piece of equipment-a Soul Power testing Soul Tool.

"Little Bao Liang, come here." Jing Hongchen beckoned to Bao Liang. "It's been a month. Let Grandpa see how well you've recovered."

Bao Liang obediently stepped into the Soul Power testing Soul Tool.

The next second, a beam of white light scanned Bao Liang from top to bottom, leaving nothing unseen.

At the same time, Bao Liang's physical condition appeared on the Soul Tool screen-

Bao Liang, sex male, age six, Soul Power fluctuations level ten, Soul Power strength level twenty-two, physical strength level thirty-two, height 1.55 meters, weight 36 kilograms.

Jing Hongchen was stunned when he saw Bao Liang's data.

Refusing to believe it, he stepped forward and felt Bao Liang all over, from his head to his shoulders, squeezing his arms, then crouching down to squeeze his calves. Only after checking him over several times did he finally accept the astonishing fact.

"Hiss-! That's ridiculous!"

"Still, congratulations, Little Bao Liang." Jing Hongchen straightened up, unable to hide the smile on his face. "Your body is much healthier than before, and its strength is even a match for a Soul Elder's.

"When you go to obtain your First Soul Ring now, you won't have to worry about suffering a backlash from insufficient Qi and blood."

Bao Liang froze for a moment, then excitement swept through him.

This would be the first time in either of his two lives that he absorbed a Soul Ring. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, but he was even more excited.

"Grandpa Jing, how old a Soul Ring can I absorb for my First Soul Ring?"

Jing Hongchen looked at the Soul Tool screen, then at Bao Liang, and finally gave him a few more squeezes before confirming:

"Anything under two thousand years, absorb it as you please. From two thousand to twenty-five hundred, you can absorb it normally. From twenty-five hundred to three thousand, there's a risk. Above three thousand, I wouldn't recommend it.

"After all, you have an Ultimate Martial Soul. A Soul Beast with an ordinary bloodline wouldn't be worthy of your Martial Soul."

When Jing Hongchen finished, not only Bao Liang but even Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were stunned.

"Grandpa, you're not joking, are you?" Xiao Hongchen was the first to jump up. "Meng and I have eaten plenty of Whale Rubber and those medicinal ingredients too. How come we can't absorb Soul Rings that old?"

"Neither of you has an Ultimate Martial Soul." Jing Hongchen glanced at him. "Much less a Second Martial Soul that's a Beast Martial Soul with Ultimate Strength.

"You two might dare to say it, but I don't dare listen.

"Don't think so little of yourselves as humans."

Xiao Hongchen: "..."

Xiao Hongchen gave up thinking.

And Miss Little Meng was still standing to the side, completely dumbfounded.

Bao Liang: "So I'm not human, then? Huh?! Am I human or not?! Am I human or not, after all?!"

"You're our little ancestor." Jing Hongchen flicked him on the forehead in exasperation.

Xiao Hongchen finally found his voice. "...Grandpa, you're way too biased."

"Biased?" Jing Hongchen raised an eyebrow. "If you could train your physical strength to level thirty-two in one month at his age, I'd find you a two-thousand-year Soul Ring too.

"And it would be the Soul Ring of a two-thousand-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear."

Xiao Hongchen shut up.

He silently glanced at his own skinny, bamboo-pole frame, then at the faintly visible muscle lines on Bao Liang's little arms and legs. Suddenly, the world felt unreal.

A little bean two years younger than him had level thirty-two physical strength, higher than his, a two-ring Soul Master.

Where was the sense in that?

Ignoring his grandson's withdrawal, Jing Hongchen turned to Bao Liang and said gently, "By the way, Little Bao Liang, the Evil Eye Grandpa found for you is exactly what you need: primarily spiritual, with destruction as its secondary attribute. And its age is just right-twenty-five hundred years.

"Well? Is that Soul Beast good enough?"

Bao Liang's eyes lit up, and he nearly jumped. "Yes! It's perfect, Grandpa Jing! That's exactly what I need!"

"Good." Jing Hongchen nodded with satisfaction. "Then we'll get ready today, and tomorrow we'll go hunt your Soul Beast."

"Okay!"

Soon, another day passed.

At first light the next morning, Jing Hongchen took Bao Liang and flew toward the Evil Demon Forest.

As they flew, Jing Hongchen explained the key points of absorbing a Soul Ring to Bao Liang. "Remember, when absorbing a Soul Ring, Soul Power is the catalyst, spiritual power is the key, and the body is the vessel.

"Your vessel is sturdy enough now, but your state of mind is important too."

"Mm, I'll remember."

Before long, they arrived at the Evil Demon Forest.

Jing Hongchen ignored every obstacle along the way and headed straight for the target Soul Beast.

In the blink of an eye, a bizarre-looking Soul Beast appeared before Bao Liang.

It was several meters in size, with around twenty to forty tentacles, each over a hundred meters long. Its overall structure was that of a gigantic floating eyeball.

Its single, enormous vertical pupil was dark red. Its entire body was made of dense black flesh, with neither bones nor hair, and distorted patterns of light constantly rippled across its surface.

A twenty-five-hundred-year Evil Eye Tyrant.

Without the slightest hesitation, Jing Hongchen decisively produced two Soul Cannons and unleashed a precision bombardment on the Evil Eye Tyrant.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The cannons roared, and before the Evil Eye Tyrant could react, Jing Hongchen had beaten it half to death in two strikes.

Then Jing Hongchen directly released his Soul Power to suppress it, and... packed it up and took it away.

The whole process flowed as smoothly as clouds and water, without a single second wasted.

Bao Liang watched from the side, his mouth hanging open.

So this is a Titled Douluo? This is a Soul Engineer? This is a bombardment? Truly terrifying.

Jing Hongchen took Bao Liang and flew toward a safer place on the other side of the Evil Demon Forest.

All the way there, Bao Liang's mouth never closed in shock.

After flying into a cave, Jing Hongchen tossed the dying Evil Eye Tyrant inside, then slowly set Bao Liang down.

"All right, Little Bao Liang." Jing Hongchen clapped his hands. "Go finish it off."

Bao Liang came back to his senses and nodded to Jing Hongchen, then turned to look at the nearly dead Evil Eye Tyrant.

Then he grabbed a handful of stones from the Storage Soul Tool Meng Hongchen had given him.

Deflagration... activate!

He poured in his Soul Power, and the pebbles in his hand instantly turned into bombs.

Then Bao Liang aimed at the Evil Eye Tyrant's great eyeball and blasted it point-blank.

Boom!

The stone bombs exploded together against the Evil Eye Tyrant's great eyeball, and it instantly felt the pain.

It had just tried to struggle when Jing Hongchen pressed it back into the ground with his Soul Power.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After a few more handfuls of bombs exploded point-blank, he finally wore the twenty-one-hundred-year Evil Eye Tyrant down and killed it.

"All right, Little Bao Liang." Jing Hongchen stepped forward. "Remember what Grandpa told you-the most important thing when absorbing a Soul Ring is to maintain your state of mind. As long as you get through the first wave, the rest won't be a problem."

"Mm, I know, Grandpa Jing." Bao Liang took a deep breath. "I'm going to start."

Then Bao Liang sat cross-legged and used his Soul Power to draw the Soul Ring above his head, just as Jing Hongchen had taught him.

The next second, the Soul Ring slammed down.

In an instant, an indescribable pressure enveloped Bao Liang's entire body.

The absorption of the Soul Ring had begun.