Chapter 66: Return to the Star Dou Great Forest

the Star Dou Great Forest, a group of wild boars fiercely charged at a youth, their charge kicking up large clouds of dust, the vibration making people suspect a minor earthquake.

A red-haired muscular man stood beside the youth and said: 'Shatter-tooth Boar, their innate ability is to split fine spikes from their long tusks, which can cause enormous damage to the flesh of any creature they pierce. Taken alone, it is not a particularly strong soul beast, but the trouble is, as you see, they are herd animals; their combined momentum is terrifying, and they hold grudges fiercely—kill one and the whole pack will pursue you to the ends of the earth. As a target for hunting soul rings, they are extremely low in cost‑effectiveness.'

Facing the oncoming boar herd, he acted as if he hadn't seen them and asked the youth, 'How about it, Wulin, want to take them as soul rings?'

'Of course not! Speaking of which, Dean, do you have any suggestions?'

These two people are naturally Tang Wulin and Gong Changlong; they came to the Star Dou Great Forest this time to help Tang Wulin obtain his second soul ring.

I never expected to run into this situation as soon as I entered the Star Dou Great Forest; thinking back to last time, when I first arrived here I was chased by a pack of wind baboons, Tang Wulin seriously suspects that this place is ill‑fated for him.

Facing the charging boar herd, Tang Wulin assumed a defensive stance, but then momentarily didn't know what to do.

Among these boars, the weakest are at the ten‑year level, there are also century‑old ones, and even the leading Shatter-tooth Boar has reached the thousand‑year level; one‑on‑one Tang Wulin is confident he could defeat it, but facing so many enemies at once is beyond his ability.

Before setting out, Gong Changlong told Tang Wulin that he would only help Tang Wulin find suitable soul beasts, or intervene to save him when he faced life‑threatening danger he couldn't handle; for troubles like this that Tang Wulin could settle himself, he would not get involved.

Gong Changlong nodded satisfactorily.

'Well, using this kind of soul beast as a soul ring for your Blue Silver Emperor would indeed be a waste, so let's forget it.'

Saying that, he grabbed Tang Wulin's collar and lifted him up onto a tree.

The herd of boars simply rushed past underneath the tree, and the crisis was naturally resolved.

Seeing Tang Wulin's surprised expression, Gong Changlong said proudly, 'Shatter-tooth Boars, due to their size, normally won't actively oppose enemies that can climb trees; as long as you don't strike first and just climb up, they won't fight you to the death.'

'Like that…'

Tang Wulin suddenly understood.

He had only studied at the Academy for a year, and during that year neither Wang Yan nor Mu En had taught him much about soul beasts, so what Gong Changlong said was basically outside his knowledge.

After the boar herd's thunderous sounds had completely faded from earshot, Gong Changlong pulled Tang Wulin down from the tree and asked, 'Although it's a bit late to ask now, Tang Wulin, what type of soul ring are you planning to attach to your Blue Silver Emperor?'

'What do you mean?'

Tang Wulin's expression showed some confusion.

Gong Changlong explained:

'Generally speaking, different soul beasts give your martial soul different types of soul rings; as outstanding students of Shilake Academy, we should naturally plan the distribution of soul ring types, and for plant‑type martial souls, soul rings usually come in four varieties.'

'The first type is to add poison; some plant‑type martial souls are highly toxic, and although your Blue Silver Emperor is not among them, it is not impossible to grant it this property via a soul ring—in fact, your senior sister Tang Ya follows this path.' 'The second type is to increase quantity and toughness, namely controlling and attacking through purely physical means; your Blue Silver Grass previously seemed to follow this path, but now that it has evolved into the Blue Silver Emperor, you need to seriously consider whether to continue down this route.'

'The third type is enchantment, that is, adding elemental power to the basis of a plant. In this world many high‑level plants can wield elemental force—for example, the famous Profound Ice Grass, which can use ice‑attribute power, and the higher its age, the more such points it has.'

'As for the last type, it is the path of adding vitality; this kind of soul ring is usually chosen by auxiliary or healing plant‑type soul masters, which originally had nothing to do with you, but considering the nature of your martial soul, you can also consider this type.'

Gong Changlong spoke at length, clearly very familiar with this knowledge.

Having finished, he gave Tang Wulin a light shrug.

'You have only just prepared to absorb your second soul ring, and you haven't decided on your martial soul's development path, so you can absorb any of these four types, but I advise you to choose carefully, after all a soul master can absorb at most nine soul rings for a single martial soul.'

After hearing him say that, Tang Wulin pondered for a moment and quickly arrived at an answer.

'I choose a life‑attribute soul ring.'

To him, all four development directions seem feasible; no matter which direction, the Blue Silver Emperor can achieve it.

But to say which is most suitable for him, Tang Wulin believes it is the fourth type.

For no other reason than that the name of his third martial soul is 'Natural Son'.

Gong Changlong blinked in surprise, then broke into a satisfied smile.

'Excellent, no wonder you are Mu Lao's disciple—your self‑understanding is truly thorough. In fact, among these four soul‑ring types, the one I most recommend is also the path of enhancing vitality; only this direction best suits your Blue Silver Emperor, which overflows with vigorous life force.'

He said, 'Come with me, I'll take you to find a suitable soul beast.'

Saying that, he led the way in a certain direction.

Tang Wulin hurried to keep up with his pace and asked:

'Dean, do you know where there are life‑attribute soul beasts?'

The distribution of soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest changes every day; although plant‑type soul beasts do not shift positions as frequently as animal‑type soul beasts, they still always face the risk of being eaten by other soul beasts, and if one stays away for a period of time, the environment here will undergo drastic change, making it theoretically impossible to know exactly where any particular soul beast is.

However, Gong Changlong laughed heartily and said, 'Although I can't guarantee that over there I will definitely help you find a suitable soul beast, I can assure you that the chances of finding related soul beasts there are much higher than elsewhere, so feel free to follow me.'

Seeing Gong Changlong's confident smile, Tang Wulin stopped asking further questions and silently followed behind him.

During this past year he had also heard of Gong Changlong's former identity; with the nickname 'Beast King', setting aside his strength, his knowledge of soul beasts alone certainly ranks among the top three in Shilake Academy, and is indeed trustworthy.

(End of chapter)