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"Ah~"
An aged voice sounded.
Elder Xuan, munching on a chicken leg with a string of gourds at his waist, stared at Su Wen in surprise. Before Su Wen could react, Xuan gripped his wrist and narrowed his eyes, sensing the soul power within him…
"Eh?"
Xuan exclaimed, "Damn, that's some luck! You all really stepped in it this time, finding such a rare treasure!"
"I found him! I found him!" Ma Xiaotao cried excitedly.
"I know, I know. Now go play," Xuan replied dismissively, then waved a hand. "Lexuan, come with me. Everyone else, stay put."
Su Wen felt the world spin, and in the next instant, he found himself atop an ancient tree. From this height, he could look down through the dense canopy to see the campfires and the ant-sized Shrek inner court disciples below.
A moment later, Zhang Lexuan appeared nearby, standing gracefully as her academy robes fluttered in the wind, accentuating her slender figure. When she caught Su Wen's gaze, the Eldest Senior Sister tucked back a strand of hair and offered him a calm smile.
"Child, can you tell me what your martial soul is?" Elder Xuan asked warmly.
"It captures soul beasts. You can think of it as controlling them," Su Wen replied without hesitation. Since he had decided to join Shrek Academy, the first step was to show his value and secure enough resources to grow stronger.
Shrek Academy had many flaws, but it treated its own people well, especially when it came to cultivating "core" disciples, where they spared no effort. Besides, there was a well-known consensus among transmigrators to the Douluo Continent: for technology, go to the Sun Moon Empire; for traditional cultivation, go to Shrek. The Body Sect was just as protective of its disciples and equal in strength to Shrek, but since he had met Shrek's team first, it seemed it wasn't meant to be.
Most importantly, he was fairly certain he would now be considered one of Shrek's "own."
Just as he expected, Xuan couldn't hide his delight. A six-year-old, orphaned child is practically a heaven-sent heir to the Sea God Pavilion! The ability to control soul beasts, he thought, was simply monstrous. A spirit-control type martial soul combined with innate full soul power would absolutely earn a place among the top-tier martial souls.
"In that case, are you willing to join Shrek Academy?" Xuan's voice trembled slightly.
Keep in mind, Ma Xiaotao, with her innate level nine soul power, was already called a once-in-a-century genius. The only other person with innate full soul power was standing right beside him: Zhang Lexuan, the inner court's number one genius and the one whom the Sea God Pavilion's elders had tacitly approved as the next-generation heir.
"I am willing!" Su Wen answered without hesitation.
"Hahahaha, good child!" Xuan danced with joy.
"However…" Su Wen paused.
At this, Xuan's smile vanished. He and Zhang Lexuan held their breath, staring nervously at Su Wen.
"I still need to acquire my first soul beast to control," Su Wen said, scratching his head. With a top-tier tool like Elder Xuan right here, it would be a waste not to use him.
"Easy! I will personally take you to catch one!" Xuan pounded his chest, secretly sighing in relief. "Forget a thousand- or ten-thousand-year beast. Even if it's one of the 300,000 or 400,000-year-old Fierce Beasts entrenched in the core of the Star Dou Forest, I will catch it and bring it before you!"
"That won't be necessary. Ten years is enough."
"Ten years? Ah, well, that's normal. You are just starting out and still need to hunt your first soul ring to—"
"I already have my first soul ring." As he spoke, the first ring, a brilliant, jade-like white, lit up at his feet.
Xuan froze for a second, then roared in fury, "Who the hell gave Su Wen his first soul ring?!! Which little brat was it?" He started rolling up his sleeves, ready to go down and beat someone up.
"I did," Su Wen said.
Xuan: "…"
"It came with the martial soul," Su Wen explained.
"Is that so… Well, nothing to be done about it then. It's just a pity about the first soul ring. A genius like you should have at least had a beast at the maximum age limit of over four hundred years. Sigh…" Xuan said helplessly.
"However, it seems the age limit can be raised," Su Wen added, smacking his lips.
"It can be raised… What in the world did you just say?!" Xuan stared at him, dumbfounded, while even Zhang Lexuan's beautiful eyes went wide.
"As the cultivation of the first soul beast I capture increases, the age limit of my soul ring will increase along with its age," Su Wen explained with a shrug.
Elder Xuan: "…"
He and Zhang Lexuan exchanged a look.
"I think I need to make a trip back and report this to Elder Mu," he said, his throat tight as he enunciated every word.
…
Whoosh!
A green shadow flashed through the forest, leaving only a faint afterimage and causing the trees on both sides to sway. It roamed through the sea of trees like a phantom.
But in the next instant, a fair hand gently closed around it. Despite its struggles, it could not break free.
"Qingfeng, a type of avian soul beast known for its extreme flight speed. Judging by the length of its wings, it's about seventeen years old," Zhang Lexuan said, slowly opening her palm. A tiny, trembling teal bird lay upon it. Its feathers were a uniform light green, making it look as exquisite as a work of art.
"But its abilities are too one-dimensional," Su Wen shook his head. "It doesn't even have an element."
Extreme speed could indeed be overpowered, but it required a huge investment. In the initial selection phase, he preferred an all-rounder—a soul beast with a balance of offense and defense, and decent speed.
To be honest, even the Wind Baboon that had nearly slain a god was several tiers above this Qingfeng—at least it had the wind attribute and high growth potential.
Most important, however, was the line of text floating before Su Wen's eyes.
[Qingfeng Bird, Cultivation: 17.5 years, No Attribute, No Potential, No Training Value.]
A three-"no" soul beast…
Ever since awakening his martial soul, this ability to inspect a soul beast's attribute panel had appeared, saving him a lot of trouble and effectively making him a "human-shaped soul beast encyclopedia."
As they had traveled, most of the ten-year soul beasts they encountered were similar to this one. The "potential" column wasn't blank, but the value was pitifully low.
It couldn't be helped. Ten-year soul beasts were at the very bottom of the food chain, having just evolved from wild animals or been born to other ten-year soul beasts. Their bloodline was completely locked, with no hope for advancement unless they were a rare mutation.
Buzz~
The Qingfeng's pitch-black eyes rolled. It shot into the air like a bolt of lightning, circled a few times to pick up speed, and flew toward the sky, clearly not daring to stay on the ground for a second longer.
Zhang Lexuan slowly lowered her hand, her beautiful eyes watching the green bird fly out of the forest. She tilted her head up until its figure was no longer visible.
She clapped her hands together briskly, then glanced at the dazed Su Wen.
Her gaze softened. She was strict with the inner court juniors, but for a six-year-old child, her motherly love overflowed.
Elder Xuan had gone back to report to the inner court. A strategic-level asset like Su Wen would, barring any accidents, become a top priority for the academy to cultivate—on a level that even Ma Xiaotao could not match.
Since this was the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest, the danger was extremely low. It was also close to Shrek, so a round trip would only take Elder Xuan a day and wouldn't delay their journey.
(End of Chapter)