Suddenly, Su Nan stopped in his tracks.
"Be careful—there's a spirit beast approaching!"
After warning Chu Chengzhou, who was following behind him, Su Nan focused intently on the bushes ahead.
Though he was a four-ring Soul Ancestor, the Soul Hunting Forest wasn't a place for carelessness. Even someone of his caliber could stumble if he let his guard down.
Moreover, he wasn't alone this time—he had a "burden" tagging along behind him!
Soon, a faint rustling sound reached Chu Chengzhou's ears. The air seemed to carry a faintly acrid scent, though it wasn't overpowering and even had a subtle sweetness mixed with the aroma of tea.
"A poison-type spirit beast?"
Su Nan raised an eyebrow. A crimson spear martial soul materialized in his hand as soul power radiated from his body, and four soul rings—yellow, yellow, yellow, and purple—began to glow.
Chu Chengzhou clearly observed that his grandfather's first soul ring, though a hundred-year one, was very pale, likely only a century or two old.
The second soul ring was much darker, probably over five hundred years.
The third soul ring should have been a thousand-year purple one, but unfortunately, his grandfather lacked influential connections and had to settle for another hundred-year ring instead.
However, judging by its deep yellow hue tinged with purple, Chu Chengzhou knew it was a hundred-year ring around 900 years but not quite reaching a thousand.
As for the fourth soul ring, it was a pale purple, likely only around one or two thousand years old—far inferior to those of soul masters with optimal soul ring configurations.
Not long after, the rustling stopped. Peering ahead, Chu Chengzhou saw a triangular snake head, dark green in color, rise from the bushes. Its ruby-red eyes stared directly at them.
"Is that… a Datura Snake?"
At first glance, Chu Chengzhou recognized the unwelcome visitor.
During his three years at Nuoding Academy, he hadn't just idled away his time. In between cultivation, he had read numerous books about spirit beasts.
While he might not recognize genetically mutated or rare spirit beasts, common ones like the Datura Snake—relatively prevalent in the Soul Hunting Forest—were familiar to him.
"Scram!"
Su Nan pointed his fiery spear, releasing a powerful aura as he barked at the distant Datura Snake.
Though spirit beasts were renewable resources, their growth cycle was incredibly long. Since this Datura Snake hadn't harmed them, Su Nan had no intention of killing it—just driving it away would suffice.
Of course, this particular Datura Snake wasn't very old and lacked intelligence, so it naturally couldn't understand his words.
But lack of intelligence didn't mean stupidity. Encountering a powerful "two-legged spirit beast," unless it was an extremely bloodthirsty type, most spirit beasts would flee to save their lives.
Sure enough, after Su Nan unleashed his "powerful" aura, the Datura Snake shuddered, quickly retracted its head, and slithered away into the bushes.
"Huh? Nearly four meters long—isn't this the same snake from Tang San's First Soul Skill: Motherly Embrace?"
Seeing the retreating Datura Snake, which was nearly four meters long, Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but muse to himself.
Tang San: Ha~! Behold my first soul skill—Motherly Embrace!
"Little Chengzhou, were you scared by that Datura Snake just now?"
After driving the snake away, Su Nan turned to see Chu Chengzhou lost in thought and teased him playfully.
Chu Chengzhou: "…"
You're joking—I'm not scared.
Well… maybe a little. A nearly four-meter-long venomous snake, its dense scales rippling as it moved—who wouldn't be scared?
After this minor incident, the grandfather-grandson duo continued searching for their target in the Soul Hunting Forest.
More than two hours later…
"Hey~, Grandpa, isn't that a Sky Azure Tree over there?"
Chu Chengzhou pointed to a "sapling" nearby—a tree with thick branches, about seven meters tall, a canopy spanning roughly thirty square meters, and dense, dark green leaves.
Yes, it was just a sapling. In the Soul Hunting Forest, towering trees dozens of meters high were commonplace, so a seven-meter tree really could only be considered a sapling.
"That's right! But judging by its aura, it hasn't reached six hundred years yet."
Su Nan nodded.
Estimating a spirit beast's age based on its size was unscientific and prone to errors.
Just like humans come in different heights and builds, variations in growth environments, absorbed nutrients, or consumed food meant that spirit beasts of the same species and age could still differ in size.
To accurately judge a spirit beast's age, one needed to observe its soul power fluctuations.
Of course, if one's perception was lacking, size was still a decent indicator—it at least minimized significant errors.
After pondering for a moment, Chu Chengzhou said, "Let's keep it as a backup target for now. If we find something suitable in the next couple of days, we'll skip this Sky Azure Tree. If not, I can use it for my first soul ring."
"Sounds good!"
Su Nan nodded.
Perhaps fate favored them—or perhaps heaven pitied Chu Chengzhou, the "super trash" who managed to reach level 10 pre-soul master in just three years. The very next morning, they encountered a suitable target.
An Sky Azure Tree over eight meters tall with a canopy spanning nearly fifty square meters.
"Little Chengzhou, this Sky Azure Tree is about six hundred fifty years old—close enough."
Su Nan informed Chu Chengzhou.
"Mm-hmm, this one will do!"
Chu Chengzhou nodded.
Subsequently, the grandfather-grandson pair began gathering dry wood nearby.
Why? Naturally, to burn down this Sky Azure Tree.
On the Douluo Continent, there were several restrictions for soul masters absorbing soul rings. One was that the target spirit beast had to be killed personally by the soul master, or its death process must not involve any foreign soul power interference; otherwise, the resulting soul ring couldn't be absorbed.
When hunting animal-type spirit beasts under the guidance of a powerful soul master, the expert could subdue or severely injure the target, allowing the soul master seeking the soul ring to deliver the finishing blow.
However, plant-type spirit beasts differed greatly from animal types. Ordinary soul masters couldn't easily determine whether a plant-type spirit beast was mortally wounded.
Perhaps the next strike would kill it, or perhaps it would still retain combat ability.
Moreover, unless a plant-type spirit beast had formed a core, such as a "tree heart," it lacked obvious weak points.
Take this eight-meter-tall Sky Azure Tree, for example—completing the finishing blow wouldn't be easy for Chu Chengzhou.
Fortunately, plant-type spirit beasts generally had a fatal flaw: limited mobility or complete immobility.
Gathering some dry wood, splashing oil, and then igniting it with a single spark would allow Chu Chengzhou to sit back and wait for the soul ring to appear.
Axes or saws? No need!
It was precisely because low-level plant-type spirit beasts had this glaring weakness that the number of plant-type soul masters with white first soul rings on the continent was far fewer than those of other disciplines.
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