Hu Liena

He walked forward a few steps and stopped about thirty feet away from her.

Hu Liena looked at him for a moment, then raised her right hand, palm up.

A thin layer of purple light flowed across her palm. It was faint and did not radiate outward, as if outlining something. "My Martial Soul is the Demon Fox. It's a control type, with a focus on the mental domain."

"Release your Bamboo Soul," she said.

Lin Qing did not hesitate. The Bamboo Soul emerged from his sea of consciousness and silently crossed the distance between them, stopping at the edge of Hu Liena's consciousness.

Hu Liena's expression did not change, but her pupils contracted slightly before returning to normal.

She was quiet for a few breaths, as if sensing how the Bamboo Soul existed and the extremely thin boundary between it and her spiritual power.

"Very light," she said. "Lighter than I imagined. Like a needle, not a blade." She lowered her hand, and the purple light faded.

"Your Bamboo Soul is suited to marking and tracking, not direct suppression. If you encounter a mental-type Soul Master, they can simply disperse it."

Lin Qing nodded and recalled the Bamboo Soul to his sea of consciousness.

She was telling the truth. The Bamboo Soul was indeed fragile; his earlier sparring session with Number Five had confirmed it.

Hu Liena took a step forward, closing the distance to twenty feet. "Again. This time, activate Bamboo Transformation when you release your Bamboo Soul."

Lin Qing glanced at her, then did as she said. He released the Bamboo Soul as bamboo-joint patterns appeared on both arms, and a layer of green bamboo spread from his shoulders to his fingertips.

Hu Liena did not move. She watched his arms for a while, then reached out and lightly tapped his bamboo-transformed forearm.

Her fingertip was icy cold, and her touch was as light as a leaf falling on water. Lin Qing felt the bamboo layer's surface dent slightly, then spring back into shape.

"The hardness is good." Hu Liena withdrew her hand. "But your Soul Power consumption is faster than I imagined. Xie Yue struck you once that day, and you used up a fifth of it.

"If you faced a Titled Douluo, they could shatter your bamboo layer with one strike, and then you wouldn't get a second chance."

She stepped back half a pace and studied him again, as if confirming something.

"You haven't hunted for your fourth Soul Ring yet?"

"No."

"When are you going?"

Lin Qing did not answer immediately. He had indeed not settled on a time. His original plan had been to wait a month, until he had practiced Bamboo Transformation a little more.

But Hu Liena's sudden question did not seem casual.

"Do you have a suggestion?" he asked.

Hu Liena glanced at him, her deep purple eyes betraying no extra emotion. "Spirit Hall has a hunting ground reserved for the Golden Generation, north of Sunset Forest.

"The Soul Beasts raised there are kept at around ten thousand years old. Their attributes are stable, and the quality of their Soul Rings is higher than those outside." She paused.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked.

Hu Liena fell silent for a moment. "Xie Yue said you were an interesting person.

"I want to see just how far you can go."

She turned and walked to the other side of the room, stopping by the wall with her back to him. "I'll speak to Qin Wuj iu about the hunting ground. Get ready. We leave in three days."

She did not look back. Lin Qing stood where he was, watching her back, then turned and pushed the door open.

The corridor was deserted. Qin Wuj iu had already left.

He walked down the corridor at an unhurried pace, going over their conversation again in his head.

Hu Liena was helping him, but she was also testing him.

She wanted to see whether he could seize this opportunity, survive in the hunting ground, and prove worthy of that "core" position.

If something happened to him in the hunting ground, it would mean he had never been qualified in the first place.

Only if he returned alive with an official Soul Ring would she be willing to truly take him seriously.

He walked out of the main building into pleasant sunshine.

A few reserve team members were loosening up in the courtyard. Their gazes lingered on him for a moment as he emerged, then shifted away.

Lin Qing paid them no further attention and headed back to his quarters. The silver token rested on the table beside his open training log. The last page still bore the line he had written yesterday.

He sat down and wrote on the next page: "Hunting ground, three days from now."

He closed the log and lay down.

Three days were enough for him to practice Bamboo Transformation a little more, and enough for him to run through the moves of Bamboo Blade Storm in his head a few times.

His fourth Soul Ring was nearly ready to condense. By the time he returned from the hunting ground, the fourth bamboo joint should be stable enough to condense a ring.

By then, he would have an official Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, as well as a reason for Spirit Hall to keep watching him.

Outside the window, the wind stirred the flags in the alley. He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

Three days later, Lin Qing reached the north gate before dawn.

A carriage was already waiting there. The gray-robed driver dozed against a carriage shaft, and one corner of the carriage curtain was raised. Xie Yue sat inside with his eyes closed and arms folded, a Moon Blade tucked at his waist. He did not so much as lift an eyelid when Lin Qing climbed aboard.

A little later, Hu Liena arrived as well, dressed in a dark combat outfit with her purple hair tied behind her head and a small bag slung over her shoulder. Her expression was calm. The driver cracked his whip, and the carriage set off north, its wheels rolling over the gravel road.

After more than four hours, the carriage stopped in front of an iron fence.

The fence was tall, with iron spikes set along the top, and black-clad guards stood at intervals.

A wooden sign hung on the fence. Wind and rain had worn its lettering pale, but the words "Spirit Hall North Hunting Ground" were still legible.

A middle-aged man in gray came out through the gate, glanced at the three of them, made a few marks in a register, and stepped aside.

"Core hunting ground, west district. Come out before sunset."

Xie Yue walked in front at an unhurried pace. Hu Liena followed in the middle, and Lin Qing brought up the rear. The three passed through the iron gate and followed a dirt road deeper into the dense forest.

The trees on either side grew thicker and thicker. The dirt road beneath their feet gave way to gravel, then to a path covered in fallen leaves. The light dimmed, with only a few shafts slanting down through gaps in the canopy.

The air was damp, carrying the smell of earth and rotting leaves.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, Xie Yue stopped in a clearing.

At the edge of the clearing stood a blue-gray stone half a person's height, with several lines carved into it like a crude map. Xie Yue glanced at the stone, then turned to Lin Qing.

"Thousand-year Soul Beasts live on the outskirts of the west district, ten-thousand-year ones in the middle, and mutated breeds in the depths. What we're after is in the middle."

He paused. "A ten-thousand-year mantis. Speed type, with blade wings. Its attacks are a bit like that arm of yours."

Lin Qing nodded. The ten-thousand-year mantis had tremendous attack power and was just right for his need for a powerful attack-type Soul Skill.

They walked farther, and the trees grew taller and denser, the light fading almost completely. Here and there, enormous claw marks could be seen on the ground, and tree bark had been sliced open by sharp blades, the cuts smooth and clean.

Xie Yue stopped in front of a thicket and crouched to examine the ground. Several fresh scratches marked the soil, varying in depth but evenly spaced, as if left by insect legs passing over it repeatedly.

Xie Yue stood and pointed at a stretch of low woodland ahead. "The mantis's nest is over there. Wait here. I'll lure it out."

He drew a Moon Blade, walked a few steps into the low woodland, and tapped twice on a tree trunk.

The sound was not loud, but it was crisp. Soon, a faint rustling came from deeper in the low woodland, like many feet moving rapidly over fallen leaves.

A dark green figure shot out from among the trees.

It was about ten feet long and dark green all over, with sickle-shaped forelimbs and a pair of thin, transparent blade wings folded against its back. Its compound eyes gleamed coldly in the dim light.

A ten-thousand-year mantis.