Douro Continent

Chapter 35 Soul Guidance Device, Moonlit Night on the Twenty-Four Bridges (Part Two)

This was Tang San's first time riding in a carriage. Although it was a bit bumpy, the novelty kept him interested, and he frequently peeked out from behind the curtains. Looking at the bustling crowds and the various shops, he couldn't help but feel a longing for the outside world. This life was destined to be different from his previous one. He wondered what it would be like to enter society.

"Little San, this is for you." The master's calm voice startled Tang San from his thoughts. When he looked at the master, he found that a belt had appeared in the master's hand sometime during the night. It was a very beautiful belt.

The belt is entirely black with dark stripes that are barely visible at first glance. Twenty-four milky-white jade stones are evenly inlaid throughout the belt, each about the size of an adult's thumbnail and round in shape. Their warm, lustrous color clearly indicates they are rare and exquisite jade.

"Thank you, teacher." Tang San accepted the gift without hesitation. He had seen this before in the Tang Sect; the inner elders would always give a gift when accepting a disciple. The belt that Master gave him must have the same meaning.

The master said, "This belt has been with me for many years, and it has been buried for many years. I hope that in the future it will shine with its due brilliance in your hands."

As soon as Tang San got his hands on the belt, he sensed that it was extraordinary. There seemed to be many faint air currents flowing around the belt, and these air currents were stored in the jade stone with the belt itself as the bridge.

"When I obtained it thirty years ago, I didn't know its name. But based on my years of research, it can be considered a top-tier soul tool, used for storage. As long as you inject your own soul power into it, each piece of jade can provide one cubic meter of storage space. It's convenient for storing such items."

Soul tool was a completely new term for Tang San. Although he didn't know what the soul tool meant, the master's explanation had already greatly shocked him.

Twenty-four jade stones, which translates to twenty-four cubic meters of storage space, meant enough to store twenty-four different types of hidden weapons. Tang San's eyes burned with fervor, his desire to improve his Xuan Tian Gong reaching an unparalleled level. He wished he could immediately possess enough internal energy to practice the use of various hidden weapons. With this belt, he would no longer need to worry about storing hidden weapons.

Before Tang San could even ask, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang explained, "Soul tools, as the name suggests, are devices used using martial soul power. Very few soul tools have been passed down through generations, and most have no offensive function. Soul masters themselves don't need weapons. Soul tools can be described as artifacts; how they were created and made has long been lost. This belt was obtained by me and some friends during an expedition. It was given to me as payment. For me, it's not of much use, but you should be able to use it later. Give it a name."

Looking at the twenty-four warm and lustrous jade stones, Tang San almost instinctively recalled a famous poem from his previous life: "The moon shines on the Twenty-Four Bridges. Let's call it The Moon Shines on the Twenty-Four Bridges."

The master paused slightly, his stiff face revealing no expression, then nodded and said, "It's a very nice name, just a bit too long."

Tang San sighed inwardly, perhaps this was a memory of his previous life.

The master said, "Using it is simple. Just inject your soul power into that jade stone, and you'll be able to sense the existence of its space. If your reaction is quick enough, the things inside will seem to appear out of thin air. But to master its properties, you'll need a lot of practice. This will be a lesson for you in the future."

Even without the master's explanation, Tang San understood the importance of mastering the skill of retrieving objects from the Twenty-Four Bridges under the Moonlit Night, and quickly nodded in agreement.

Tang San had initially wondered how his master would use all those items to hunt soul beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest, but now, with the Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moon, none of that mattered anymore. With nothing else to do along the way, he began practicing controlling the items stored and retrieved using the Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moon under his master's guidance. And the items he used for practice were those white radishes…

Four hundred miles is not a long distance, but it's not short either. It wasn't until noon the next day that they arrived at their destination, the Soul Hunter Forest.

When Tang San stepped off the carriage, he discovered that the Soul Hunting Forest was completely different from what he had imagined.

In Tang San's mind, forests should be full of the breath of nature, secluded and tranquil, with fresh air and few people.

But the Soul Hunting Forest before us, at least from the outside, feels like a huge marketplace.

Outside the forest, there were many houses, or rather, shops. Various shouts and calls rang out one after another, and simple man-made paths crisscrossed the area. The noisy atmosphere made Tang Sanlian frown.

"We have a warrant to form a group to hunt down power-type soul beasts. We're still missing two people."

"Hunting agile soul beasts, seven-person warrant. Ten gold soul coins."

Similar shouts rose and fell, and most of the shops sold weapons, armor, and various food supplies.

The master led Tang San into the market of what could be called a small town. "Do you know why I bought everything in Notting City?"

Tang San shook his head.

The master pointed to the prices displayed in the shops, "Because prices at least double here. You might be wondering why it's so lively outside a forest. It's actually quite simple. Where there are spirit beasts, there is profit. This is especially true in forests where spirit beasts are specifically raised by the state. Spirit masters are a wealthy group, and there are too many people who want to make money off them."

"Teacher, what did those people who were just shouting 'Let's form a group' mean?"

(End of this chapter)