Douluo Continent: My name is Lu Mingfei, and my martial soul is Lu Mingze.

The moment Lu Mingfei stepped into the forest, he felt as if the whole world had changed.

The light suddenly dimmed, and the dense canopy overhead sliced ​​the sunlight into fragments, casting dappled patterns of light on the ground.

The sounds around us changed too.

The sounds of insects chirping, birds singing, the distant growls of unknown spirit beasts, and the rustling of the wind through the treetops made it feel like stepping into another world.

Zhang Lexuan walked at the front, her mental detection spreading silently, clearly reflecting every soul beast and every piece of terrain within a radius of several hundred meters in her consciousness.

Her expression remained gentle, but her eyes had become much sharper.

This is her responsibility as the team leader.

Lu Mingfei followed not far behind Zhang Lexuan, looking around with great interest.

He wasn't particularly nervous, after all, Zhang Lexuan was a Soul Douluo, and Elder Xuan was secretly following along, so nothing serious was likely to happen.

It's like a group of people going to the zoo, except they walked into the cages themselves.

The Soul Hunting Operation proceeded smoothly over the next few days.

Under Zhang Lexuan's guidance, the students who needed the equipment found suitable soul beasts according to their age and attribute requirements.

Zhang Lexuan was very familiar with the outer areas of the Star Dou Great Forest. She knew exactly which soul beasts were distributed in which areas, which areas were relatively safe, and which areas needed to be bypassed.

Before each battle, Zhang Lexuan would first stop the team, use mental detection to lock onto the target, and then assign different people to be responsible for the main attack, restraint, and support based on the type and age of the target soul beast.

The entire hunting process was clean and efficient, without any delays.

Lu Mingfei also participated in several battles.

He is more than capable of dealing with some soul beasts that are less than a thousand years old.

His speed was a huge advantage in the complex terrain of the forest. Several times he flanked the spirit beasts from the side, creating opportunities for the main attacker to deliver a fatal blow.

After a while, the other trainees in the team began to look at him with new respect.

Initially, everyone's impression of him was "Master Song's personal disciple", "the kid who has a good relationship with the senior sister", and "the one who was carried by Ma Xiaotao". There was a bit of curiosity about him.

But after a few days, everyone discovered that although this kid was always talking nonsense, he was never ambiguous when he needed to be serious, and his actions were ruthless and accurate. Moreover, he was very generous—he took out all the high-grade soul-restoring pills and healing ointments he had brought and gave them to the injured students without any hesitation.

He used the pocket money Qian Duoduo gave him to buy a lot of supplies at the treasure hunt, and it all came in handy this time.

The male trainees were the first to become familiar with him.

The reason is simple: Lu Mingfei can tell jokes.

And it's not the kind of pretentious, dry jokes, but all sorts of vulgar and sarcastic slang, coupled with his "I'm just talking nonsense, but what can you do about it?" expression, making you want to punch him, but also unable to help but laugh.

In the evening, a group of people gathered around the campfire to eat, and Lu Mingfei began his performance.

"Do you know why spirit beasts aren't very smart?"

Why?

"Because all they do is absorb the essence of heaven and earth, they don't read books or newspapers, they are isolated from information, and their cognitive level is low."

"...What kind of twisted logic is that?"

"I'm telling the truth. Think about it, a soul beast that has lived for ten thousand years, ten thousand years! Even if it only reads one page of a book every day for ten thousand years, its knowledge reserves would still crush any bullshit Limit Douluo."

"How can a soul beast turn the pages if it doesn't have hands?"

"Just use your mouth to turn it over; as long as you can bite it, it's fine."

"What should we do if the book gets chewed up?"

"Then just read one page at a time, tearing it out like eating instant noodles."

The group burst into laughter.

Yao Haoxuan laughed the loudest, slapping his thigh as he laughed.

"Lu Mingfei, you're a real character."

"I'm speaking the truth, what are you laughing at?" Lu Mingfei said innocently.

The female trainees' attitudes toward him also began to change from curiosity to affection.

Lu Mingfei brought a small gift for everyone.

They weren't anything expensive; some were exquisite hairpins, some were small bottles of invigorating perfumes, and some were a few beautifully packaged pastries.

The key point is that he carefully selected the gifts he gave to each person; although they weren't expensive, he put a lot of thought into catering to their preferences.

Xixi's eyes lit up when she received the pastries. She ate three pieces before stopping, then patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder and said, "Lu Mingfei, you are such a good person."

Lu Mingfei smiled but didn't say anything.

Building relationships by giving gifts is the simplest and most effective method.

These gifts were all bought at the Treasure Pavilion's Treasure Appreciation Event, and they cost Qian Duoduo—or rather, Yan Shaozhe's Gold Soul Coins.

He has no qualms about using borrowed flowers to present to Buddha.

Over the course of a few days, all the students who needed the required spirit rings successfully obtained them.

Except for Lu Mingfei.

It's not that we can't find suitable spirit beasts, but rather that we simply don't know what to hunt for him.

Zhang Lexuan pulled Lu Mingfei aside and asked him seriously, "Mingfei, your martial soul is a body-based martial soul. Do you know what kind of soul beast is suitable for you?"

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment, then scratched his head.

"To be honest, senior sister, I don't know either."

Zhang Lexuan frowned slightly.

"What is the form in which your true martial soul manifests externally?"

Zhang Lexuan had always known that Lu Mingfei's true form was his martial soul, but she had never seen him use it in battle, and the same was true during the soul-hunting operation these past few days.

Lu Mingfei thought about what Lu Mingze looked like in his mind, and then said, "He's just a cute little boy."

"...A cute little boy?"

"Yes, she looks a bit like me, but a size smaller, and looks about eight or nine years old."

Zhang Lexuan was silent for a few seconds, seemingly trying to construct this image in her mind.

"Your martial spirit... is a miniature version of yourself?"

"More or less."

Zhang Lexuan's brows furrowed even more.

She had seen original martial souls before, but she had never heard of a martial soul that manifested as a smaller version of herself.

The choice of spirit rings for one's main spirit is usually related to the characteristics and development direction of the spirit itself.

For example, those with an offensive martial soul tend to choose a spirit beast that can enhance their attack power, while those with a defensive martial soul tend to choose a spirit beast that can enhance their defense power.

But how should we define Lu Mingfei's martial soul—a miniature version of himself?

Zhang Lexuan posed this question to the other members of the team, asking them to come up with ideas.

Yao Haoxuan was the first to jump out: "Since it's a physical spirit, let's find a spirit beast that can enhance the physical body, such as a strength-type Ironclad Rhinoceros or a defense-type Xuanjia Turtle."

Zhang Lexuan shook her head: "Ming Fei's physical body is already very strong. He has a self-created soul skill that strengthens his physical body, so there is not much benefit in adding similar soul skills."

Xixi raised her hand: "What about the mental power aspect? Find a spirit beast with a mental attribute to enhance your mental power?"

Zhang Lexuan thought about it again and shook her head: "His mental strength is also very strong, and his fighting style is more inclined to close combat combined with environmental control. Pure mental attribute soul skills may not be the optimal solution."

Others offered various suggestions, some suggesting speed-oriented, some support-oriented, and some control-oriented, but Zhang Lexuan rejected them all.

It's not that these directions are bad, but rather that they're all not quite the right path.

Lu Mingfei's fighting style is too diverse.

It features melee combat, ranged combat, crowd control, burst damage, area-of-effect attacks, and single-target breakthroughs.

He's like a Swiss Army knife, he has all sorts of functions.

The advantage of this style is its flexibility; it can handle any situation.

The downside is that it's hard to find spirit rings.

Because there is no clear main direction.

After discussing for a long time, no one could come up with a solution that would convince everyone.

Zhang Lexuan rubbed her temples and looked at Lu Mingfei with a smile.

"Your martial spirit is really a headache."

Lu Mingfei scratched his head and gave an embarrassed smile.

"I think I am indeed quite a headache."

Actually, he wanted to say that it didn't matter what kind of spirit ring he obtained, as it wouldn't be of any use to him.

"I think so too," Xixi nodded in agreement from the side.

"Also, you still owe Xiaotao a treatment. If you just run away like this, be careful you'll get a beating when you get back."

Lu Mingfei's face darkened again.

"She's my senior, I'm not her personal fever-reducing doctor, I'm not!"

"Yes, yes, yes, you can believe it yourself."

Lu Mingfei: "..."

Everyone laughed.

Just as everyone was engaged in a heated discussion, Lu Mingfei casually asked, "What do you senior brothers over there think?"

No one responded.

Lu Mingfei was slightly taken aback. He turned his head and saw that the three male students who should have been sitting on the other side of the campfire were gone.

They weren't there either, not even near the tent.

Zhang Lexuan noticed it too, and her brows furrowed slightly.

"Where are the others?"

Yao Haoxuan stood up, looked around, and shook his head.

"It was here just a moment ago, and it's gone in the blink of an eye."