All rights reserved to the respective authors.
"Dialogue": Represented in double quotes for conversations between characters.
'Thoughts': Represented in single quotation marks, indicating the characters' internal reflections.
[Diary]: Represented in square brackets, used for messages intended for the heroines or entries written by Tenshin.
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Hunting Soul Forest
Deep within the shadowy expanse of the Hunting Soul Forest, a swift silhouette wove through the dense undergrowth, moving with uncanny grace and agility. It wasn't alone. A much larger figure soared above, wings slicing the air as it gave relentless chase. Their pursuit blurred into a flurry of motion—until, in a split-second decision, the smaller figure performed a sudden backflip. The maneuver caught its pursuer off guard, sending the larger beast crashing into a thick tree with a jarring crack.
Seizing the opportunity, the nimble figure landed lightly, swiftly putting distance between them before turning to face its adversary.
As the forest dimness gave way to clearer light, the identities of the combatants came into focus. The smaller figure was Satoru Tenshin, his snow-white hair a stark contrast to the green gloom around him. His blue-silver eyes burned with sharp focus. Shimmering faintly around him was his martial soul: the Dragon Chains. On closer inspection, the chains were marred with fractures. His clothing was scorched and torn, his body marked with fresh cuts and bruises. His ragged breathing revealed the battle's toll.
Across from him stood his opponent—a magnificent bird, easily twice his size, hovering with defiant poise. Its plumage gleamed with five distinct yet harmoniously woven colors: blue, red, green, yellow, and brown. The Five-Colored Soul Bird. Each hue represented a different elemental affinity: blue for Water, red for Fire, green for Wind, yellow for Lightning, and brown for Earth. This was no ordinary soul beast. Based on his observations and the grueling, hour-long clash that preceded this moment, Tenshin estimated the creature's age at roughly 2,400 years—a rare find indeed.
It had been about a month since Tenshin received permission to embark on his soul ring hunt. In that time, he had engaged in countless skirmishes with soul beasts, each battle sharpening his reflexes and refining his combat style. Before this, his training had been a solitary endeavor, devoid of living opponents—an environment that, while effective, ultimately limited his growth.
These recent weeks had broken through that stagnation. He had begun to evolve.
But he hadn't killed indiscriminately. Tenshin had carefully selected one soul beast from each major age tier—decade, century, and millennium—to observe. After each kill, he used his spiritual power in tandem with his second martial soul, the Wise Eyes of the Dragon, to study and analyze the process of soul ring formation with meticulous precision.
His suspicion ran deep: he believed the soul cultivation system, as dictated by the Divine Realm, might not merely be a method to suppress only the soul beasts. Soul rings, and even soul bones, could be restrictive tools, not just empowering ones. They were external—imposed. His theory was that they might have been designed also to suppress or limit a soul master's potential on the Douluo Continent.
Fueled by this belief, Tenshin scrutinized every detail of the soul ring creation process. While the full depth of the system eluded him, he had already uncovered several disturbing truths. Even rings under the 10,000-year threshold carried faint traces of resentment—too weak to inflict spiritual(mental) shock, but strong enough to interfere in specific moments. More importantly, he noticed fine, complex arrays embedded within the rings' structure.
Some of the symbols seemed familiar—fragments of knowledge he had gleaned from a soul tool manual he'd earned through his system. One array in particular appeared to "store" or hide the soul beast's lingering resentment. That discovery alone pushed him to spend an entire week in seclusion within a hidden cave, decoding as many of these arrays as possible.
The first half of his month-long expedition, therefore, was less about covering ground and more about uncovering truth. He remained near his camp, sparring with local soul beasts while delving deep into the mechanics of the soul rings. By the end of that period, he had developed a foundational understanding of the malicious designs embedded within soul rings—and had begun drafting a method to counteract them.
Back to the fight
Tenshin couldn't take his eyes off the Five-Colored Soul Bird. 'I knew this fight would be tough—but this is absurd,' he thought, a wave of exhaustion sweeping over him as he assessed his remaining soul power. Nearly three-fifths of it was gone, despite the steady regeneration provided by his Silent Breath of the Deep Core.
'Even with my control and efficient usage, I've burned through so much,' he noted, a dry mix of irony and fatigue in his thoughts. Without the high compression and control of his soul power and sheer physical resilience, he knew he would have fallen long ago.
For over an hour, he had endured a punishing duel, constantly grappling with the inherent disadvantage of fighting with a flying enemy—and worse, one capable of wielding five distinct elemental attacks. Each element was a lethal surprise waiting to strike the moment he lost focus.
These thoughts flickered by in an instant. Then Tenshin acted.
His Dragon Chains lashed forward, targeting the still-dazed soul beast. Soul power surged into the spear-like head of the chain as he unleashed Lightning Wave—the shape head raced toward the bird. At the last possible second, it reacted on instinct, erecting a wall of earth before attempting to take flight.
It never got far. Just as it gained some altitude, Tenshin met it midair with a spinning, compressed sphere of energy—his Rasengan. The attack connected with a heavy impact, but the bird managed to strike back, its wind-infused claws slashing across Tenshin's arm and chest.
The soul beast was flung backward, crashing into the earth. Tenshin dropped to one knee, barely keeping his balance. The claws hadn't pierced deeply, but the wound was wide, streaking across his upper torso in angry red lines.
"Hrr~" he hissed, jaw clenched against the pain. He couldn't afford to let this drag on. The Five-Colored Soul Bird was badly injured—now was the time to end it.
He raised his left arm, a single finger pointed at the spot where the beast had fallen. Crimson soul power surged forth, now fused with the domination element, coalescing into a compact, pulsing sphere of energy.
"Cero."
A beam of scarlet destruction burst from his fingertip, tearing through the forest and gouging a deep trench into the earth.
BOOM!!!!
The explosion rocked the landscape. The Five-Colored Soul Bird had been preparing its own final, desperate assault—but it hadn't had time to fully align its five elemental powers. The imbalance cost it dearly.
Silence followed, broken only by the settling dust and the distant groan of the forest.
Several minutes passed before Tenshin moved. His gait was uneven, each step revealing the extent of his injuries and the near depletion of his soul power. He initiated Soul Rebirth Circulation, letting its healing energy trickle through him. The process was slow—painfully so—but steady.
'Two to three days,' he estimated grimly, 'to fully recover and replenish my soul power.'
As for his second martial soul, the decision to avoid using it had been intentional. Revealing it for now posed too great a risk, so he was avoiding using it so as not to become dependent on the Wise Eyes of the Dragon in combat. And he was confident he could secure victory without it—and now, he had.
Eventually, he reached the crater—a silent monument to the battle's ferocity. At its center lay the still, majestic body of the Five-Colored Soul Bird. Hovering above it, glowing faintly with ethereal light, was a vibrant purple soul ring.
It would remain for twenty-four hours.
Without hesitation, Tenshin leapt into a nearby tree and settled into a cross-legged position on a sturdy branch. Closing his eyes, he began to meditate, focusing on replenishing his energy and accelerating the healing effects of the Soul Rebirth Circulation. The battle was over—but his recovery had only just begun.
Nearly four hours had passed before Tenshin finally opened his eyes. The sharp edge of pain had dulled, and his soul power reserves had recovered to a much more stable level. Though far from fully restored, he felt significantly better—his most urgent injuries had been healed, and his mind was once again sharp.
With a surge of renewed vigor, he descended swiftly from the tree's branches and returned to the crater's heart. The air was thick with residual energy, the atmosphere tingling with remnants of the earlier battle. Settling into a cross-legged position once more, Tenshin exhaled slowly and extended his hand, summoning forth his Dragon Chains in a ripple of soul power.
He took a deep, centering breath. Then, with a calm gesture, he called the thousand-year-old soul ring. The vibrant purple ring hovered, then began to drift toward him, as if guided by an invisible thread linking them.
Suddenly—
"Huh?"
His consciousness expanded in a burst of awareness. In the blink of an eye, he was no longer seated in the crater, but immersed in a boundless, swirling sea of elemental energy. At its center, the Dragon Chains floated serenely, unaffected by the storm of fire, wind, water, earth, and lightning spinning around them.
Then, another vision took hold. Tenshin saw his meridians—every single one—unfold before him in vivid, anatomical precision. The major energy channels glowed like rivers of light, while the finer threads—the tiniest capillaries—etched themselves across the canvas of his mind like intricate brushstrokes.
"Inner Vision?!"
His thoughts raced. He remembered this phenomenon described in the original novel—Tang San had experienced something similar while absorbing his first soul ring.
'Could this be a universal phenomenon for all soul masters when bonding with their first soul ring?' he wondered. But almost immediately, he dismissed the idea. 'No... if it were, the cultivation system of this world wouldn't be so stagnant—so primitive.'
Clearing the distraction from his mind, he focused intently on the map of meridians before him. This was a rare opportunity—to refine, correct, and complete his own internal energy diagram. While his previous mapping had been detailed, even exhaustive, much of it remained speculative due to the presence of residual impurities that distorted his sense of flow.
His Foundation Establishment Breath had strengthened and expanded his meridians, yes—but it lacked a key function: purification. It could enhance his body through blood and breath, but it could not purge the detritus clogging his finer energy channels.
Now, with Inner Vision, he could see clearly. And he memorized every path.
The soul ring's energy surged.
It hit him like a tidal wave—heat, pressure, and power crashing into his body as the Five-Colored Soul Bird's essence fused with his martial soul.
A scorching current coursed through his veins, setting every nerve ablaze. His muscles tightened and compacted, dense and taut with new strength. Bones groaned under the force, cracking subtly—not from damage, but from rapid transformation. His frame adjusted, refined by the elemental torrent reshaping him from within.
Waves of energy rippled through him. Each wave stirred a strange, layered sensation—a volatile blend of pain, numbness, and an eerie fullness just beneath his skin. But it was not the pain of injury. It was the ache of evolution.
Every cell seemed to tremble and awaken.
The deeper the energy penetrated, the more profound the metamorphosis. His meridians pulsed with power, their channels now clearer, stronger, and more defined. Even his senses sharpened—he could feel the wind above the trees, the pulse of the earth beneath the crater, the subtle shift in ambient elemental frequencies.
Then, as abruptly as it began, the burning tide receded.
In its place came a wave of warmth—gentle, encompassing. It washed over him like a mother's embrace, settling deep into his bones. The elemental realm that had surrounded him moments before faded like mist, replaced by a weightless silence.
Time seemed to pause.
Eventually, his eyes fluttered open.
The crater remained, but the world around him had changed. The Hunting Soul Forest, once familiar, now seemed richer—deeper. Shadows moved more subtly, and colors glowed faintly in the dark.
Above, the night sky had fully unfurled, a tapestry of ink and stars stretched overhead. Bioluminescent flora shimmered faintly at the forest's edge, their glow dancing in rhythm with the distant calls of nocturnal soul beasts.
Tenshin sat alone, surrounded by the echoes of battle and the quiet breath of a world he was beginning to see—and feel—more clearly than ever before.
Without hesitation, a quiet urgency surged through Tenshin, spurring him into motion. Though his body remained sore and fatigued, the fresh surge of vitality granted by the soul ring's absorption lent him strength enough to move. He needed to find shelter—a secure spot where he could rest, reflect, and begin to comprehend the sweeping changes his body had just undergone.
Before long, he found his refuge high within the arms of a towering tree. Nestled in a hollow he had carved with careful precision, Tenshin finally allowed himself a brief moment of respite. His limbs ached, his wounds throbbed beneath hastily wrapped bandages, but the worst had passed. Breathing steadily, he leaned back against the rough bark and began a focused inspection of his internal condition.
A series of simple tests confirmed his suspicions. 'Just as I thought,' he mused, his thoughts sharp despite the fatigue. 'The elemental attacks caused some internal damage, but nothing unmanageable.'
A chill traced his spine as the memory of the battle replayed—the searing strikes, the relentless barrage, the raw elemental force tearing through the air.
'Airborne opponents are bad enough, but add five-element attacks to the mix, and it becomes a nightmare,' he thought, scowling at the memory. His brow furrowed, lips pressing into a tight line.
But then, as he tilted his head upward to gaze through a narrow gap in the tree trunk, his expression darkened further. The stars above glittered coldly, their light indifferent to the turmoil within him.
'Those bastards,' he cursed silently, his frustration growing sharper with each confirmed result. 'Control over soul power—reduced. Impurities—worsened.'
The absorption had left its mark, and not all of it was beneficial. Soul rings, for all their power, came with a hidden cost: they disrupted the natural flow of soul power and introduced impurities into the practitioner's body—into their blood, their meridians, their very essence.
Tenshin's jaw clenched as another realization sank in. 'If even the blood is being tainted, then soul masters with strong bloodlines might never reach their true potential.'
And for someone like him—someone carrying the dormant strength of a dragon bloodline—this was not a theoretical concern. It was personal. He had confidence in his own ability to protect his lineage from corruption, but he couldn't say the same for others. A bloodline of lesser purity or strength might degrade over time, stunted by a process no one had ever questioned. He exhaled slowly, a deep breath that carried away the bristling edge of his irritation. The tension in his shoulders eased, and his gaze returned to the stars.
'Once I'm fully recovered, I'll complete and implement the purification method,' he resolved silently, a fire of purpose smoldering behind his calm exterior. 'No more delays.'
There was still time—about a month remained before he was due back at the Academy. The two-month leave he had managed to secure now felt even more precious, a rare opportunity to experiment freely, refine his countermeasures, and reclaim control over his soul power without interruption.
The wind whispered softly through the branches above, carrying the faint scent of moss and night-blooming flowers. High in the quiet cradle of the tree, with stars as his only witnesses, Tenshin closed his eyes. The battle had ended, but the path forward had only just begun.