Soul Beast List
After returning to the city, Ning Buhui spent the first two days being lazy.
He called it laziness, but he wasn't really idle. Every morning he still went to the training ground to run laps and practice his boxing a few times, only no longer as intensely as he had in the Star Dou Great Forest. After his run, he leaned against the window of his quiet room, basking in the sun and watching the sycamore trees outside sprout new buds. The February wind was still cold, but the sunlight already had a warmth to it. He had been wandering outside for almost a year, his nerves constantly on edge, and now he could finally relax. This sense of relaxation was unfamiliar; he was even a little unaccustomed to it. The next night, he almost went back into the tower to cultivate until dawn, only realizing his mistake when he reached the door of the bamboo house—what's the rush? He's back.
On the morning of the third day, a deacon delivered a scroll of silk. Ning Buhui opened it and saw that it contained a list compiled by Bibi Dong. The scroll listed seven types of Soul Beast, each with its attributes, suggested year, habitat, abilities, and reasons for recommendation. He read through them one by one.
The first type is the Space-Rending Falcon, possessing both wind and spatial attributes. It is over 25,000 years old and inhabits the high-altitude cliffs in the northern part of the Heaven Dou Empire. It is extremely fast, and its Soul Skill are biased towards teleportation and slashing. Its advantage is its strong offensive capabilities, which can supplement damage output; its disadvantage is that it is purely offensive and does not directly help with support or control.
The second type is the Mysterious Ice Giant Python, possessing both ice and water attributes, around 20,000 years old, and appearing on the edge of the Far North. Its Soul Skill lean towards freezing and slowing. The advantage is its wide-range control effect; the disadvantage is that the combination of ice and Water System makes its Soul Skill overly focused on control, overlapping with its existing control chains.
The third type is the Crimson Flame Golden Monkey, possessing both fire and metal attributes. It has existed for 28,000 years and lives in the volcanic rock region of the southern section of the Star Dou Great Forest. Its Soul Skill are geared towards burst damage and armor penetration. Its advantages are high damage output and the ability to quickly end battles; its disadvantages are high energy consumption and short endurance.
The fourth type Hell-Suppressing Bear, possessing both earth and dark attributes, around 30,000 years old, and inhabiting the rocky mountainous region deep within the Star Dou Great Forest. Its Soul Skill lean towards enhancing invincibility and weakening curses. Ning Buhui's gaze stopped when she saw this one.
There were three more types: Shadow Nether Wolf, Golden-Winged Mantis, and Netherworld Poison Scorpion. He quickly scanned them, then flipped back to the page with the Hell-Suppressing Bear and read it three times over.
Dark Earth has two attributes: enhanced super armor and weakened curse.
He closed the silk scroll and went straight to the library.
Over the next few days, Ning Buhui practically immersed himself in the catalogs of Soul Beast and combat records. He dug out all the information the Spirit Hall had on the Hell-Suppressing Bear over the past few decades, including hunting records, eyewitness reports, cases of Soul Ring acquisition, and even several tattered ancient Soul Beast notes. He copied the key information from each document onto paper, piling it up on a whole table.
The core characteristics of the Hell-Suppressing Bear are clear. It is an earth-attribute animal, with thick hide and immense strength. Its dark attribute grants it the ability to curse its opponents. Individuals over 30,000 years old are extremely rare. The entire Spirit Hall's archives only record three sightings, two of which were not captured. The one captured was a 22,000-year-old individual, Soul Ring was given to a Soul Douluo at the time. No one has seen Hell-Suppressing Bear over 30,000 years old in the last hundred years.
But Ning Buhui focused on the year.
The Soul Ring of the Hell-Suppressing Bear have a very high probability of producing the ability he wants: a non-control type curse-type Soul Skill that can weaken the opponent and greatly shorten the battle time. He repeatedly looked at the Soul Ring Record of the Hell-Suppressing Bear 22,000 years ago. The Soul Douluo at that time obtained a weakening skill, the effect of which was almost identical to the description on Bibi Dong's list.
In addition, he also has the Invincible Body. His Martial Soul is quite special, capable of both support and control. His support-oriented Soul Skill have a high probability of granting him the Invincible Body Soul Skill, which will make his support skills more complete.
He spent three days comparing the Hell-Suppressing Bear with the other six Soul Beast on the list, and finally made his choice. Then he went to find Bibi Dong.
"Is it settled?" Bibi Dong asked.
"The Hell-Suppressing Bear," Ning Buhui said, "Ideally one that's 30,000 years old. If we can't find that, we'll settle for something over 20,000 years old."
Bibi Dong looked at him, seemingly unsurprised. She nodded. "You chose it because both the Invincibility and the Curse address your weaknesses. When I listed this name, I felt you would most likely choose it."
"Teacher, you are incredibly insightful," Ning Buhui said with a smile, offering a compliment.
"Don't give me that." Bibi Dong wasn't buying it. "The Hell-Suppressing Bear is hard to find. A 30,000-year-old individual has only appeared three times in the Spirit Hall's records over the past hundred years. They failed to capture it twice, and the one they captured was over 20,000 years old. You should be prepared that you might have to settle for something less."
"Disciple understands," Ning Buhui said. "Do your best and leave the rest to fate."
Bibi Dong didn't say anything more. She took a piece of paper from the table, wrote a few lines, and handed it to the steward beside her. The steward took it, glanced at it, and quickly left.
"I've already sent people to investigate," Bibi Dong said. "Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, there are several rocky mountain areas that are the most likely places where the Hell-Suppressing Bear might appear. The Intelligence Hall will retrieve the latest Soul Hunting Team records and Soul Beast activity reports to narrow down the possibilities. Go back and wait; we'll let you know when we have any news."
"Okay." Ning Buhui and turned to leave.
"Wait," Bibi Dong called out to him.
Ning Buhui turning back.
"You've spent the last six months training in the Star Dou Great Forest, battling many Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast." Bibi Dong's gaze fell on him, as if weighing something. "At the age of nine, you've already reached level 40, the Soul Ancestor. There's no precedent for that in the history of the Spirit Hall. Even your teacher only reached level 40 at twelve."
Ning Buhui didn't respond, waiting for Bibi Dong to continue.
"What are your plans after you get your Fourth Soul Ring?" Bibi Dong asked.
"Continue to go out and train," Ning Buhui said. "If you want to advance quickly, you'll gain insights from life-or-death battles much faster. Cultivating slowly in the Spirit Hall is too inefficient. The competition is still over a year away, and I don't want to regret it then."
Bibi Dong looked at him for a few moments, then said nothing more, only waving her hand.
After leaving the side hall, Ning Buhui went to the mission hall to exchange the materials he had obtained from this training trip, and then went back to wait for news from the Soul Beast.
Over the next few days, he resumed his normal training rhythm and stopped being lazy. Every morning he ran laps, practiced physical skills, and Heart Separation Control; in the afternoon he went to the library to continue researching; and in the evening he went into the tower to cultivate. Life returned to its previous track, but there was one more thing on his mind.
On the evening of the fifth day, a deacon delivered a note. Ning Buhui opened it and saw only one line. "Confirmed sighting of the Hell-Suppressing Bear in the rocky mountain area of the northern section of the Star Dou Great Forest, approximately 30,000 years ago. The most recent sighting was three months ago. Prepare to depart within three days."
He clenched the note in his palm, then released it, folded it, and put it in his ring. He then walked to the window, opened it, and the February wind rushed in, making him feel refreshed.
Three days. In three more days, he can obtain his Fourth Soul Ring.