Douro Continent

Chapter 36 Soul Guidance Device, Moonlit Night on the Twenty-Four Bridges (Part 3)

The master said, "Soul beasts aren't so easy to hunt. Some naturally powerful soul beasts, even with relatively short cultivation periods, still possess formidable attack power. This so-called group hunting of soul beasts involves multiple people cooperating, each hunting the soul beast they need to obtain a soul ring. With the help of others, they only need to deliver the final blow. It's the most common and safest method of hunting soul beasts on the continent. But is forming a group really that easy?"

At this point, the master looked at the shouting soul masters and a hint of disdain appeared in his eyes.

"A truly excellent Soul Hunting group must consist of at least five parts: a Food-type Soul Master responsible for supplies, a Recovery-type Soul Master responsible for status and Soul Power recovery, an Agility-type Battle Soul Master responsible for reconnaissance, a Strength-type Battle Soul Master responsible for defense, and an Attack-type Battle Soul Master responsible for eliminating the enemy. Only a group composed of these five parts can be considered a complete group. Moreover, the cooperation between them cannot be formed in a day or two. The process of gradual integration alone requires at least several years of cooperation. More importantly, the members of the same group must trust each other. Absolute trust. Otherwise, they can easily collapse instantly when faced with danger."

Tang San asked in surprise, "Why were you defeated? Was it because you weren't strong enough?"

The master shook his head and said calmly, "In the future, you may also have the opportunity to join such a group. When choosing a group, you don't even need to consider the strength of other members, but there is one thing you must remember: in the group you join, you can expose your back to anyone else."

Tang San still didn't quite understand what the master meant, but the master didn't explain further. He led him deeper into the market.

Although the market was noisy and chaotic, Tang San was still somewhat shocked when they walked out of the market and saw the vast forest in front of them.

The trees' towering height testified to their age. A massive steel fence surrounded the forest, its sharp spikes protruding from one side. The fence, exceeding ten meters in height, appeared extremely sturdy.

That's not all. Outside the fence, a squad of a hundred soldiers was patrolling. These soldiers were all dressed in full iron armor, carrying long spears. Their military bearing was impeccable. The sight of a hundred steel warriors standing together gave off a chilling and menacing feeling.

The master said in a low voice, "The Soul Hunting Forest is not a place anyone can enter. Only Soul Masters with a warrant issued by the Spirit Hall can enter the Soul Hunting Forest to hunt Soul Beasts. Although there are those who sneak in, they rarely have a good ending. These soldiers are only for outer defense. Inside the Soul Hunting Forest, there is also a special enforcement team from the Spirit Hall that checks warrants at any time. Those people are ruthless."

Tang San asked, "Teacher, does the Soul Hunting Forest belong to the Spirit Hall or the country?"

Grandmaster's expression changed slightly, and he gestured for Tang San to be quiet. "Don't ask similar questions outside. I'll tell you about the relationship between the Spirit Hall and the nation later. Obtaining the warrant isn't difficult. First, you need the Spirit Hall's approval to confirm that your strength has indeed reached the peak of a certain stage, requiring a spirit ring to advance. Second, you need the guarantees of at least three nobles."

As he spoke, the master had a token in his hand. The dark token was made of an unknown material, and the pattern on it was composed of three shapes. In the center was a sword with its tip pointing downwards. To the left and right of the sword were a hammer and a monster that Tang San had never seen before.

Grandmaster saw the curiosity in Tang San's eyes and handed him the token. "Remember this symbol. It's a unique mark of the Spirit Hall. There are six types of symbols in the Spirit Hall. The way to distinguish each token is simple: look at the image on it. The lowest-grade token only has a sword on it, symbolizing the spirit of a former chief administrator of the Spirit Hall. The next higher-grade token has a hammer next to the longsword, symbolizing a once extremely powerful elder of the Spirit Hall."

Tang San's ability to draw inferences from one instance is quite good. "Teacher, these two people must hold extremely important positions in the Spirit Hall. However, I've heard before that beast spirits are stronger than weapon spirits, so these two spirit masters must both have weapon spirits, right?"

The master patted Tang San's head and smiled, "Those who say that weapon spirits are stronger than beast spirits clearly don't understand spirits well enough. The strength of any spirit depends on two key factors. One is the amount of spirit power added during awakening, and the other is the method and process of cultivation. Perhaps, before level 30, beast spirits are stronger than weapon spirit masters because they can be attached to oneself. But at higher levels, there is no difference between the two. Strength depends solely on individual cultivation."

"This token of mine is a third-class token from the Spirit Hall. With it, you can basically enter most of the Soul Hunting Forests in the Heaven Dou Empire. The standard for this is that these Soul Hunting Forests have never seen a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast. And unlike the first two types of tokens, which must be returned to the Spirit Hall after a soul beast hunt, mine can be held for life. This token features a Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex, which is considered a top-tier existence among beast soul spirits. Although its owner is not a member of the Spirit Hall, the family he represents is highly respected by the Spirit Hall."

For some reason, when the master mentioned the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex, a hint of indescribable melancholy appeared in his eyes.

Tang San asked, "So, the three higher-level tokens are each marked with an additional type of martial soul?"

The master nodded and said, "That's right. These six spirit marks represent six powerful spirit masters and six powerful families. Three of them are in our Heaven Dou Empire, and the other three are in the Star Luo Empire."

(End of this chapter)