Chapter Seven: The Soul-Hunting Forest! The Target for the First Soul Ring! The First Encounter with a Soul Beast!
Lu Yu was uncertain just how powerful the Soul Sect truly was. The Heavenly Talisman, though capable of being formed solely through mental strength without consuming soul power, could only unleash its basic potency in this way. Only by channeling soul power could the talisman’s full might be unleashed. However, his current soul power cultivation was still quite low, making it difficult to significantly enhance the talisman’s effectiveness.
Moreover, on Douluo Continent, as one’s cultivation advanced, the body continually underwent transformation. In the world of the Immortals, Lu Yu could use special offensive talismans to catch internal martial arts masters off guard and slay them instantly. Yet on Douluo Continent, achieving such feats was far more challenging.
Putting his thoughts aside, Lu Yu turned and left.
...
“What? You want to enter the Soul Hunting Forest alone to obtain a soul ring?” Director Su could not help but widen his eyes as he looked at Lu Yu.
Just moments ago, Lu Yu had suddenly come to request leave, citing the need to enter the Soul Hunting Forest to acquire a soul ring.
Lu Yu shook his head. “Director Su, my grandfather will accompany me, but I heard that entry requires the guarantee of three nobles, so I wanted to ask the academy for assistance.”
Naturally, the academy would help students obtain soul rings. However, there were not many battle spirit masters in the academy, and most of the time they did not directly assist students in hunting; instead, they provided channels.
The Soul Hunting Forest was a place where spirit beasts were kept in captivity. The outskirts usually had teams specially hired to assist with hunting soul rings, and the fees depended on the strength of the spirit beasts hunted.
Those groups were quite unscrupulous, and ordinary families could only afford to hunt spirit beasts with a ten-year soul ring value.
Because of this, many ordinary spirit masters’ first soul rings were only ten-year soul rings.
As for hunting alone in the forest? Not to mention the long journey, the dangers alone were enough to dissuade many.
“I recall your enrollment documents stated you were an orphan?” Director Su frowned as he looked at Lu Yu. Since Lu Yu had just enrolled that morning and possessed innate full soul power, he had a stronger impression of him.
Lu Yu smiled. “Although I am an orphan, the village chief adopted me and treats me as his own.”
Director Su thought for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, our academy has certain privileges. You don’t need noble guarantees. I’ll issue you a certificate, and with this, you can enter the Soul Hunting Forest.”
In his view, even the poorest village chief could at least afford to hire someone to hunt a ten-year soul ring spirit beast.
Ten minutes later, Lu Yu left the teaching office contentedly with a certificate from Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy.
If he were to go to the Spirit Beast Forest, the back-and-forth travel would waste too much time, and he was well aware of the forest’s dangers.
Ten-year and hundred-year spirit beasts posed no threat to him, but some stronger thousand-year beasts were beyond his confidence to defeat.
If he was unlucky and encountered a ten-thousand-year spirit beast, his only option would be to flee!
One careless move could cost him his life.
Fortunately, there were no ten-thousand-year spirit beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest, and the number of thousand-year beasts was very small, naturally making it his first choice to acquire his initial soul ring.
With the certificate Director Su had given him, Lu Yu left the academy and headed straight out of the city toward the Soul Hunting Forest.
Along the way, he pondered the matter of his soul ring.
Which spirit beast should he choose for his first soul ring?
Since there had never been a spirit master with the Fan Tian Seal spirit on Douluo Continent, Lu Yu had no reference and could only rely on himself to explore.
But once chosen, the soul ring would accompany him for life, so he could not decide hastily.
Upon arriving at the Soul Hunting Forest, Lu Yu presented the certificate from Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy and declined the offers of the hired teams, then entered alone.
The hired teams and the forest guards all looked dumbfounded.
How old was this kid?
He looked no older than eight or nine, yet dared to enter the Soul Hunting Forest alone?
Because of his cultivation and training, Lu Yu’s development was faster than his peers, so judging by appearance alone, it was difficult to tell that he was actually only six years old.
The hired teams and guards did not stop him but merely reminded him once. Seeing Lu Yu’s determination, they let it go.
After all, anyone coming to hunt soul rings generally had at least tenth-level soul power. Ten-year spirit beasts were of low intelligence, and with tenth-level soul power, combined with wisdom and weapons, even a child had a chance of killing a ten-year spirit beast.
They simply assumed Lu Yu was poor and thus wanted to hunt ten-year spirit beasts alone.
Once inside the forest, Lu Yu cautiously observed his surroundings while continuing to contemplate the soul ring choice.
“In prehistoric novels, the Fan Tian Seal’s attack method is smashing, and it specifically targets the forehead!”
“Judging by this, a strength-type soul ring should suit it better...”
“However, in various novels, a ‘seal’ also possesses suppression and sealing abilities besides attacking...”
“I have the Golden Light Incantation and have mastered the Six-Ding Heavenly Armor Talisman, so my defense is strong. Later, when I cultivate thunder techniques, I will have ranged attacks...”
“As for sealing and suppression, many talismans can also achieve that...”
“In that case, I will choose strength!”
With that resolved, Lu Yu no longer hesitated and strode deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest.
But before he had gone far, a black shadow suddenly darted out from the forest. The shadow was incredibly fast and in the blink of an eye appeared beside him.
Lu Yu felt a fierce gust rush past him along with a pungent stench invading his nostrils.
“Buzz…”
“Bang!”
A golden light flared up, followed by a heavy impact sound.
The black shadow’s strike failed and it quickly retreated, landing not far from Lu Yu.
A roar echoed through the air.
Lu Yu looked at the sleek black-furred tiger before him and a flicker of excitement shone in his eyes. Smiling, he said, “Since you came to me, let me test my strength on you!”
Thud, thud, thud…
A series of heavy blows echoed continuously in the forest. Two shadows, one golden and one black, darted and circled, stirring gusts of wind.
“Pfft—”
With the sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh, the two shadows finally halted.
Lu Yu slowly withdrew his palm, glowing with dense golden light, blood repelled by the light.
Looking at the black tiger collapsed on the ground, a pale yellow soul ring rising from it, Lu Yu frowned and muttered, “This black tiger’s cultivation shouldn’t exceed two hundred years. Yet relying solely on the Golden Light Incantation and physical strength, it took such effort to deal with a two-hundred-year spirit beast…”
If anyone had witnessed the fight and heard his words, they would likely be amazed.
Good heavens!
From the start of the fight until now, less than half a minute had passed, and he had won without a scratch. Wasn’t that enough?
Although the Golden Light Incantation was a defensive technique, it also had considerable offensive power.
However, Lu Yu was still laying his foundation and had yet to fully master it, so its power was limited.
“Looks like without using talismans, I should be able to defeat spirit beasts under five hundred years old in a short time…”
“Defeating those over five hundred years will require more effort…”
“As for thousand-year spirit beasts, I’ll need to use talismans to overcome them…”
Lu Yu assessed his own strength, glanced briefly at the soul ring the black tiger produced without much interest, and continued deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest.