A gentle breeze swept through, causing the branches and leaves of the surrounding trees to tremble and emit a rustling sound.
The dappled light and shadows cast on the ground constantly shifted in shape. Though it was currently winter, the Star Dou Forest, located in the south-central part of the continent, carried little chill.
It could truly be described as a place where spring lingered year-round.
Xu Zihuang sat on a soft blanket, his left leg bent and his right leg raised, with one foot flat on the ground. His right hand rested on his knee, supporting his chin. Though his posture appeared relaxed, it gave off an air of flawlessness, as if no weakness could be found.
His gaze remained fixed on Dai Luoli, who was absorbing a soul ring.
Among the four sons of Duke White Tiger Dai Hao, the ones with the greatest cultivation talent were undoubtedly the legitimate heirs, Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin. Dai Yueheng's ability to reach the Soul Emperor level before the age of twenty was proof enough of his excellence.
There was a saying on the continent: those who could break through to Soul Emperor before twenty were considered top-tier geniuses. Barring any accidents, they were destined to become Titled Douluo in the future, with a high likelihood of reaching the realm of a Level 95 Super Douluo.
Dai Huabin's cultivation speed surpassed even Dai Yueheng's at the same age, and his future achievements were expected to be even greater.
However, in terms of sheer potential, Dai Luoli outshone both Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin.
Dai Luoli's situation was different from Huo Yuhao's. Huo Yuhao's physical and cultivation talents were simply too poor. Without a heaven-defying treasure capable of altering his fate, reaching the Soul Elder realm would have been his limit.
If he resorted to drugs that forcibly overdrew his potential and lifespan to boost his soul power, he might have reached Soul King at best.
But Dai Luoli's case was different. His potential stemmed purely from the untapped power of his benignly mutated martial soul. To fully evolve his mutated White Tiger martial soul into a Blood Tiger, a martial soul surpassing the quality of the White Tiger, all that was needed was proper guidance—guidance to awaken the spiritual attributes within the martial soul's origin.
As a soul master with spiritual attributes himself, Xu Zihuang could easily assist Dai Luoli in completing this evolution if he chose to.
But there was no need for that.
As always, all his actions were driven by self-interest. He would only act when Dai Luoli could offer returns equal to his efforts or demonstrate sufficient value to be utilised. Until then, there was no rush.
Ning Tian leaned quietly against Xu Zihuang, the slightly curled ends of her smooth platinum mid-length hair brushing against his arm. The rich fragrance of her hair mingled with the fresh scent of the surrounding plants, creating a refreshing and pleasant atmosphere.
Unlike Xu Zihuang, she had only glanced at Dai Luoli briefly before looking away. With Yu Tianhuang by her side, no other man could catch her attention.
However, she keenly noticed that Yu Tianhuang seemed to be paying a bit too much attention to Dai Luoli.
Turning her head slightly, she asked softly, "Tianhuang, what's wrong?"
Xu Zihuang had no intention of hiding anything. Leaning close to Ning Tian's ear, he whispered. The fact that Dai Luoli's martial soul contained spiritual attributes wasn't exactly a secret. At the very least, Gu Lao, who was secretly following them, would certainly have noticed.
By openly sharing this with Ning Tian, Xu Zihuang was also putting on a show for Gu Lao.
Hearing Xu Zihuang's words, a trace of surprise flickered in Ning Tian's lustrous eyes, but that was all.
While Xu Zihuang and the others rested, Zhou Ye, who was guarding Dai Luoli, naturally refrained from disturbing them. He even deliberately avoided looking their way to avoid any offence.
Though Dai Luoli was merely a concubine's son, he was still a son of Duke White Tiger Dai Hao. Since awakening his martial soul at the age of six, the cultivation resources allocated to him had never been withheld by the Duchess.
No intelligent person would do something so easily criticised.
Compared to Huo Yuhao, Dai Luoli's childhood treatment was far better, at least in terms of nutrition. Combined with the robust physique granted by his mutated White Tiger martial soul, it took him just over an hour to successfully absorb the soul ring of the Giant Palm Black Tiger.
This was also because the Giant Palm Black Tiger had been severely wounded by Xu Zihuang. In its final moments, most of its resentment was directed at Xu Zihuang, which meant Dai Luoli faced almost no backlash from the soul ring's lingering soul resentment during the absorption process.
Soul resentment was a weakened form of soul shock.
Soul resentment existed in every soul ring.
When a soul beast with over ten thousand years of cultivation died, the soul resentment within its soul ring would transform into soul shock. Generally, absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring required at least Level 50 soul power. At Level 50, a soul master's physical and mental faculties would have developed to a certain degree, with their spiritual power growing to a sufficient range to withstand the soul shock.
A bright yellow soul ring pulsed up and down Dai Luoli's body before suddenly locking into place.
Dai Luoli opened his eyes and stood up. As the yellow light of his second soul ring surged, he swung his right hand. Instantly, an illusory white tiger claw materialised in the air. The claw shimmered with intense white light, and the fluctuations of spiritual power were even more pronounced, causing the surrounding space to distort faintly.
With a swing, it struck the ground, producing a thunderous boom. In front of him, a massive tiger claw imprint appeared, sunken into the earth.
The second soul skill Dai Luoli had obtained was the Giant Palm Black Tiger's innate soul skill, Black Tiger Giant Spirit Claw. However, after combining with his White Tiger martial soul, it had transformed into the White Tiger Giant Spirit Palm.
A White Tiger Giant Spirit Palm infused with partial spiritual attribute attacks.
Even Beibei noticed the uniqueness of Dai Luoli's martial soul this time. Having inherited Elder Mu's Sovereign's Descent technique, which combined soul power and spiritual power, Beibei could sense that Dai Luoli's second soul skill, White Tiger Giant Spirit Palm, showed the rudimentary fusion of soul power and spiritual power.
It was truly astonishing.
Dai Luoli clenched his fists in excitement. This second soul skill was far more powerful than the White Tiger Fierce Light Wave. And all of this was thanks to Yu Tianhuang.
Without Yu Tianhuang, he would never have obtained such an exceptional soul ring from the Giant Palm Black Tiger.
With this thought, he couldn't help but look at Xu Zihuang with gratitude and deep admiration.
"Let's leave the Star Dou Forest first," Xu Zihuang said, giving him a slight nod before standing up and walking toward the forest's exit alongside Beibei, who was carrying Tang Ya, and Ning Tian.
"Yes," Dai Luoli responded instinctively, then hurriedly followed with Zhou Ye.
His personality had always been timid and self-conscious. Though he wanted to strike up a conversation with Xu Zihuang along the way, he didn't dare to speak.
Surprisingly, Xu Zihuang took the initiative to exchange a few words with him, which filled him with joy.
But this was, after all, their first meeting, and their interaction remained brief.
After leaving the Star Dou Forest, the two parties parted ways.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are 40 early chapters available on Patreon
[email protected]/facficmax10--------(@→a)