Chapter 3: Star Dou Forest
After returning to his room and finishing his grooming under the care of Xiao Tao, Ning Bei was still feeling a little excited about getting his first soul ring the next day.
However, many fanfics from his previous world often described the protagonist absorbing a soul ring that surpassed the age limit, resulting in bloody and painful experiences, which made Ning Bei's heart race with anxiety.
"Xiao Tao, did it hurt when you absorbed your first soul ring?"
"Huh? No, it didn't hurt. Why do you ask, young master?"
Xiao Tao looked at Ning Bei in confusion, not understanding why he would ask such a question.
"Well, what was the age of your first soul ring?"
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Tao answered:
"I think it was about 280 years, a Star Demon Tiger."
"Ah, I see."
Ning Bei thought to himself that as an auxiliary soul master, there was no need to seek a soul ring that surpassed the age limit. Absorbing a normal soul ring wouldn't cause too much pain, which made him feel slightly relieved.
Besides, even if he wanted to absorb a soul ring that exceeded the age limit, his parents and the two offerings would never agree to it.
He was already the youngest child of the sect master and was usually pampered. Now that he had awakened a martial soul with full innate soul power, he was even more cherished. Absorbing a soul ring beyond the age limit? That was out of the question.
With expectations in his heart, Ning Bei fell asleep. In his dream, his Pill Tower manifested with nine soul rings, with the last one being a dazzling red soul ring.
The peers from his sect looked at him and whispered:
"Look, it's the Pill God Douluo."
"Wow, he's really handsome."
"Let's go! My kidneys have been bad lately, let's go ask the Pill God for a pill!"
The morning sunlight streamed into the room, and Ning Bei was sleeping soundly in bed.
Knock, knock—there were sounds of knocking at the door.
"Young master, young master, wake up! Lord Sword Douluo is waiting for you at the sect entrance!"
Ning Bei rubbed his eyes and got up.
"Coming! Why are you more excited than I am, the one who's going to hunt for a soul ring?"
After grooming and having breakfast under Xiao Tao's service, Ning Bei arrived at the sect entrance. His adoptive parents and Chen Xin were already waiting there.
"Bei'er, come over here."
Ning Bei's mother waved at him from a distance.
After greeting the elders, Ning Bei went over to his mother.
"First time going on a long trip, listen to your Grandpa Jian, alright? And here, take this."
While giving him instructions, Ning Bei's mother took out a necklace and hung it around his neck.
"What's this?"
"This is a storage necklace. It has twenty cubic meters of space. I've already placed food, water, and your clothes in it. I was going to give it to you after your martial soul awakening yesterday, but you went to the library instead."
Looking at the beautiful necklace on his chest, Ning Bei smiled happily. With soul power and a storage soul tool, it would be so convenient to store things in the future.
"Thank you, mother!"
Ning Fengzhi also stepped forward to give advice:
"The Star Dou Forest is not like the sect. Keep your temper in check and stay close to Grandpa Jian. Don't wander off too far."
"I understand."
The couple then nodded at Chen Xin.
After Chen Xin nodded in return, he summoned his martial soul, the Seven Killing Sword, and placed it horizontally on the ground. He climbed onto it.
"Bei'er, come up."
This wasn't the first time Ning Bei had ridden Chen Xin's sword. When he had first arrived, everything had seemed so new, and he had begged Chen Xin to take him flying a few times.
"Coming, Grandpa Jian."
Ning Bei nimbly jumped onto the Seven Killing Sword and stood in front of Chen Xin.
"Let's go, Grandpa Jian."
With the couple's eyes on them, they ascended into the sky, heading straight for the Star Dou Forest.
Clouds occasionally brushed past Ning Bei, but he didn't feel the wind's touch.
Chen Xin used his soul power to form a protective shield around him.
After several hours of flight, they finally reached their destination.
They jumped off the Seven Killing Sword, and Ning Bei looked at the endless forest in front of him, feeling a rush of excitement.
"Finally, the first step toward becoming a soul master."
The two walked into the forest, and suddenly the world darkened as towering trees blocked the sunlight. Countless Blue Silver Grasses adorned the dark forest, giving it a magical visual experience.
"Bei'er, from now on, don't leave my side. The Star Dou Forest is full of dangers."
"I understand, Grandpa Jian."
Seeing how obedient Ning Bei was, Chen Xin smiled.
"You don't need to be too tense. I can handle most of the dangers."
"Our target this time is the Soul Devouring Rhino. It's a soul beast that devours spiritual energy and feeds on Blue Silver Grass, so we just need to find areas with a lot of Blue Silver Grass. The growth of the Blue Silver Grass generates some spiritual energy as well."
"Then these rhinos are already on the path to death?"
Ning Bei, relieved that they didn't have to wander around like headless chickens, happily nodded. He mentally muttered to himself and followed Chen Xin deeper into the forest.
Along the way, they occasionally encountered some soul beasts. With just a slight release of his aura, Chen Xin easily frightened them away.
Not long after, they found a valley. The brightness in the valley was much higher than the path they had taken, indicating that there was plenty of Blue Silver Grass here.
The two continued into the valley and found several soul beasts standing still, nibbling on the Blue Silver Grass. These were the Soul Devouring Rhinos they were after.
"We found them. To judge the age of a Soul Devouring Rhino, you look at the length of its tail. If the tail is under 10 centimeters, it's less than a hundred years old. For every additional hundred years, the tail length increases by 10 centimeters."
Seeing that they had found the target, Chen Xin began to explain how to judge the age of the Soul Devouring Rhino.
Following Chen Xin's method, Ning Bei measured the tail length of a few of the Soul Devouring Rhinos and found one that was close to 400 years old.
"That one, Grandpa Jian."
"Alright."
As Chen Xin spoke, he vanished from Ning Bei's side and reappeared above the target in an instant, his speed leaving Ning Bei stunned.
"Titled Douluo, truly terrifying."
With a single punch, Chen Xin knocked out the unlucky Soul Devouring Rhino and grabbed it, returning to Ning Bei's side and tossing the prey to the ground. The entire process took less than three seconds.
Ning Bei looked on with envy. But as a little auxiliary soul master, such a combat style was out of his reach.
Chen Xin took out a delicate dagger from his ring and handed it to Ning Bei.
"Bei'er, its eyes are its weak point. Go ahead."
Ning Bei took the dagger and swallowed nervously. In both this life and his previous one, he had never even killed a chicken.
After five minutes of mental preparation, Ning Bei closed his eyes and ended the Soul Devouring Rhino's life with a single strike. A yellow soul ring floated up from the corpse.
"Release your martial soul and try to guide the soul ring with your soul power."
Upon hearing this, Ning Bei immediately followed the instructions. The soul ring seemed to be attracted to the Pill Tower, slowly wrapping around its body.
An hour passed quietly. Ning Bei opened his eyes and saw the light yellow soul ring on his martial soul. A smile of excitement appeared on his face.
Seeing that Ning Bei had absorbed the soul ring, Chen Xin stepped forward and asked:
"How is it, Bei'er? What soul skill did you get?"
(END CHAPTER)
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