Douro Continent

Chapter 38 Soul Guidance Device, Moonlit Night on the Twenty-Four Bridges (Part 5)

Tang San thought of an important question, "Teacher, how do we determine the strength of a soul beast? Or rather, its age?"

The master said, "It's not difficult to discern the strength of a soul beast. Look at that lone bamboo in front of you. That's also a soul beast, a plant-type soul beast. It will be useful to you. The lone bamboo itself is tough; although its offensive power isn't strong, its defense is quite good. This is a ten-year-old lone bamboo because its height doesn't exceed ten meters. Only those over ten meters are considered a hundred years old. Therefore, generally speaking, soul beast identification mainly depends on its size and the color of the soul power it uses when attacking. The color of soul power is the same as its strength; that is, a ten-year-old soul beast uses white soul power, a hundred-year-old one uses yellow, and so on. Of course, when facing an unknown soul beast, you'd better not look at its soul power. If it's beyond your capacity, then you will face catastrophic danger."

"Teacher, shall we hunt down this Guzhu?"

The lone bamboo doesn't look particularly remarkable; it's only because it's surrounded by tall trees instead of a bamboo grove that it attracts attention. Its body sways gently, and its bamboo strips move rhythmically in the wind.

The master said, "Don't do it for now. If there's no better option, this will be your only choice in the end. You must be careful when choosing a spirit ring. Each spirit ring is irreplaceable. When a spirit cultivator advances to a spirit master, they can absorb the spirit rings of hundred-year-old spirit beasts. More precisely, spirit rings of spirit beasts with a cultivation level lower than 423 years. I have carefully studied the growth experiences and failures of many spirit masters. 423 years should be the limit that the first spirit ring can withstand. Therefore, I hope that your first spirit ring will be as close to this limit as possible."

The master's research on martial souls was always so precise. Tang San felt that having such a teacher was definitely a blessing.

"Even though both are hundred-year spirit rings, the spirit rings produced by a hundred-year spirit beast and those produced by a nine-hundred-year spirit beast are the same color, the attribute boosts they provide are vastly different. Pursuing the limits of spirit rings while ensuring safety as much as possible is a compulsory course for every excellent spirit master."

Continuing onward, the master was giving Tang San a vivid practical lesson. Thanks to the keen senses of his spirit, Luo Sanpao, they could even spot spirit beasts hidden in the shadows. Perhaps because most of these spirit beasts were only at the ten-year level and lacked strong aggression, the master explained to Tang San the names, characteristics, and methods for identifying their cultivation years.

Looking up at the sky, the master said, "It seems we'll be spending the night in the Soul Hunter Forest. Let's find a place to camp first."

After searching for a long time, although quite a few soul beasts that met the criteria appeared, the master did not rush to take action and patiently continued to search.

The master chose a campsite in a depression with complex terrain, surrounded by many towering trees.

The master took out a large glass bottle from a wristband-shaped soul tool he was wearing and handed it to Tang San. "Sprinkle it around here. Remember, sprinkle it evenly."

"Okay." Tang San took the bottle. Inside were some powdered medicines, somewhat pungent. Tang San's nose twitched, and he immediately recognized it as a medicine similar to realgar from his previous life. The Tang Sect was famous for its hidden weapons and poisons. Although he was an outer disciple, he was quite skilled at identifying poisons. During his search for soul beasts, he had found many poisonous herbs he could identify in the Soul Hunting Forest and placed them in the Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moonlit Night. Grandmaster's knowledge of martial souls was unquestionable, but in identifying these non-spirit-powerful poisonous herbs, he was far inferior to Tang San, who had experience from two lifetimes. Especially since many of these poisonous herbs needed to be combined to release their toxicity.

After sprinkling the powder, Tang San handed the bottle back to the master.

"Do you know why I sent you to scatter these things on the periphery?" The master's expression was very serious; at this moment, he was the teacher testing his student.

Since he could identify what the powder was, how could Tang San not guess the master's purpose? Without hesitation, he said, "It should have two functions: one is to mask our own scent, and the other is to repel creatures like snakes, insects, and rodents."

The master nodded in satisfaction. "That's right, exactly. This is called snake-repelling powder, an essential for adventures. Remember, in the forest, especially in forests inhabited by spirit beasts, try not to use fire. Although most wild beasts and spirit beasts fear fire, there are a few particularly powerful spirit beasts that love fire. If you encounter them, unless your own cultivation is strong enough, you will surely die."

As darkness fell, the forest was far from peaceful; the chirping of insects, the calls of birds, and even the roars of wild beasts rose and fell in waves.

Without lighting a fire, and with the surroundings completely dark, Tang San and his master ate a simple dinner and then rested against a large tree.

Grandmaster was definitely a competent teacher, or rather, he valued Tang San extremely. Even though it was time to rest, Grandmaster still asked Tang San about all the spirit beasts he had introduced to him during the day, in order to deepen his impression.

Tang San's memory was pretty good, and the novelty of encountering spirit beasts for the first time deepened his memory. Even when his answers were slightly wrong, Grandmaster corrected them one by one.

"Little San, do you know why I said that the cultivation of a Soul Master is most important when one is young?" The Grandmaster's deep, hoarse voice carried a hint of sadness.

Tang San shook his head, waiting for his teacher's explanation.

(End of this chapter)