Chapter 6

The next morning, when sunlight streamed through the window and shone on his face.

Bai Ran instinctively crawled out of bed.

It wasn't that he feared Old Man hitting his butt; it was simply that he had developed the good habit of waking early.

The degenerates in the small town had no leader; perhaps they thought killing the Spirit Hall's purple-clad steward would cause too much trouble, so they decided to lay low for a while.

After a simple breakfast, Old Bai hired a carriage, and they set off for the southeastern part of the Fasno Province, located within the Baraq Kingdom, the Hunting Soul Forest.

Upon reaching the Hunting Soul Forest, it was already approaching night.

However, Bai Liang did not take Bai Ran to a nearby inn to rest.

Instead, he brought him into the Hunting Soul Forest.

Unlike the paradise of soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, the Hunting Soul Forest consists of soul beasts raised by the empire.

Night is not only not dangerous, but because many soul beasts are unwilling to move at night, it actually makes it easier to find suitable soul beasts.

As for the Star Dou Great Forest at night, not to mention that the forest is very dark and hard to discern direction; once one mistakenly enters the territory of a powerful soul beast of a certain type, the outcome is almost certainly death.

At the same time, the Star Dou Great Forest at night is also feeding time for some dark soul beasts.

For example, the powerful Human-Faced Demon Spider, disliked by other soul beasts, usually chooses to come out and forage at night.

If an ordinary soul master were to encounter this thing at night, they could start considering their next life.

On the surface, the Hunting Soul Forest is managed by the empire and the Spirit Hall, so entering it requires not only paying a considerable fee but also obtaining the relevant permits and documents from the Spirit Hall.

Fortunately, Comrade Bai Liang does not need to, because he possesses an imperial token.

"Dad, where did you get this token? It looks pretty impressive."

Seeing his father casually produce a token, the guards responsible for guarding the Hunting Soul Forest became respectful and politely let them pass.

Bai Ran became a bit curious.

If he remembered correctly, the Spirit Hall has several ranks of tokens, the highest being the legendary "Papal Order."

"This is merely an honorary token bestowed by the empire."

"My Tian Dou token is not of high rank; I've heard that the highest-rank Tian Dou token bears an engraved swan symbolizing the imperial martial soul."

Bai Liang: "With this brat's talent, he should someday be able to obtain the empire's highest honorary token."

"Dad, with this token, can we freely enter the Hunting Soul Forest from now on?"

I've heard that the meat of some soul beasts is quite tasty.

The Star Dou Great Forest is too far and dangerous; definitely not considering it.

This Hunting Soul Forest, not far and not dangerous, feels pretty good.

"You little brat, what nasty idea are you thinking up now?"

"I'm bringing you to this Hunting Soul Forest just this once; next time, it'll probably be your academy teacher taking you to the Sunset Forest or the Star Dou Great Forest."

"Hold a barbecue party in the Hunting Soul Forest?"

Bai Liang thought this brat could actually pull it off.

Bai Liang: "Is this how the empire intends veterans' benefits to be used?"

"……"

After entering the Hunting Soul Forest

Bai Ran suddenly realized he hadn't yet planned which soul beast to hunt for his first soul ring for his Human Emperor Banner martial soul.

"Old Man, Old Man, what soul beast did you hunt for your first soul ring?"

"A two-hundred-year-old Swiftwind Magic Wolf."

"What soul skill did it grant?"

"Magic Wolf Wind Field, granting teammates within ten meters a 100% speed boost, and for each increase in soul power level, the field's radius expands by 2.5 meters. After leaving the range, the effect gradually fades over time, lasting up to three minutes."

"Old Man, this is a domain ability, right?"

"The effect of the first soul ring is a buff-type aura; Bai Ran suddenly realized their family's inherited banner-type martial soul is somewhat heaven-defying, feeling it could go toe-to-toe with the neighboring Star Luo Empire's Crown martial soul."

"You kid, stop talking nonsense; domain-type skills must grant self-buff while also weakening enemy combat power."

"My soul skill only provides a buff; how could that be considered a domain? Moreover, as your father, I advise you not to hunt the Swiftwind Magic Wolf for your first soul ring."

"Why, such a powerful soul skill isn't good?"

"Or are you afraid my soul skill's effect will surpass yours, making you feel unbalanced?"

"As an innate full soul power cultivator, Bai Ran's physique is quite good; his first soul ring's soul beast age should definitely be around four hundred years."

"As for completing the first soul ring by breaking through a thousand-year feat?"

"First, he lacks a so-called brainless system that could directly assign him such a thing."

"Second, the profession of soul master has developed for countless years on the Douluo Continent, yet historical records show almost no one able to obtain soul rings beyond the prescribed age limit; isn't that enough to illustrate the problem?"

"Because the Swiftwind Magic Wolf's speed isn't that great, Dad recommends you choose the Lightning Rabbit for your first soul ring."

"Although the Lightning Rabbit hardly has any attack power and usually eats plants."

"But this soul beast's speed is truly not ordinary fast."

"Compared to that little thing, the Swiftwind Magic Wolf doesn't even qualify to eat its exhaust."

"Furthermore, as a tool-type auxiliary martial soul, the banner cannot produce offensive soul skills even after absorbing soul rings from beasts like the Swiftwind Magic Wolf."

"In that case, why not put all points into agility and choose the Lightning Rabbit? 'Dad, since the Lightning Rabbit is so fast, can we catch up?'"

"A four-hundred-year Lightning Rabbit might not even be caught by an agility-attack Soul Elder; Dad, a partially auxiliary soul master, dragging a kid who can hardly keep up, could we catch up? 'That's definitely no problem.'"

"Comrade Bai Liang patted his chest, indicating this was trivial for him."

"Old Man, quit joking."

"Bai Ran: If you can run faster than the Lightning Rabbit, I'll directly……"

"Before Bai Ran could even set a flag, he found himself being picked up by his father."

As a tattered flag appeared in his father's hand.

The next second, Bai Ran felt what it was like to fly.

Such speed, even a Soul King of the agile attack system, famed for speed, could not match.

Bai Ran: My father, really just a Soul Elder of over thirty levels? ……

A few minutes later, "yue~"

After getting down from his father's arms, Bai Ran vomited.

Originally his stomach was empty, and after vomiting for a while, Bai Ran was truly hungry.

He directly clung to the old man's thigh, making him cook food for himself.

"Lao Bai, how did you run so fast, you made me vomit all over.

I'm hungry, quickly make something good to eat."

"Not fast at all, this speed is clearly just average."

Bai Liang recalled that, after he gave this speed-boosting aura to an agile attack system soul master in his team, wow, the original altitude movement directly turned into ground-hugging flight.

……

(End of chapter)