Early the next morning, Lin Mu hired a horse-drawn carriage and took Tang San towards the Star Dou Great Forest.
Although there was a Spirit Hunting Forest near Nuoding City, the soul beasts inside were generally of poor quality, making it difficult to find one suitable for Tang San.
The Star Dou Great Forest was vast and rich in resources; soul beasts of various attributes could be found there.
It was undeniable that Lin Mu had taken Tang San as his disciple out of self-interest.
But now that the master-disciple relationship was established, he should fulfill his duties as a master.
If he acted one way to your face and another behind your back, how would that differ from the villainous Tang San?
Moreover, Tang San was related to the main mission. The greater Tang San's change, the more rewards he could obtain, potentially even other armors.
On the way to the Star Dou Great Forest, Lin Mu explained the basic knowledge about soul masters and soul beasts to Tang San.
"Master, is Blue Silver Grass truly a useless Martial Soul?"
In the carriage, Tang San suddenly asked.
"From the perspective of the world, Blue Silver Grass is undoubtedly a useless Martial Soul. Because soul masters who awaken Blue Silver Grass have innate soul power of at most one or two levels. Their talent inherently dictates they will have difficulty going far."
Saying this, Lin Mu paused, his gaze falling on the palm of Tang San's right hand.
Seeing this, Tang San immediately released his Blue Silver Grass. A small blue plant stood in the center of his palm, emitting a faint halo of light.
It looked no different from other Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls.
But upon careful inspection, one could sense a subtle difference—Tang San's Blue Silver Grass clearly had stronger vitality.
After all, it possessed the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline. Even without a second awakening, its essence differed from other Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls.
Lin Mu reached out and patted Tang San's shoulder, continuing his explanation:
"Xiao San, you are different from others. You possess innate full soul power. Even if your Martial Soul is extremely weak, you can strengthen its quality by absorbing spirit rings."
'No useless Martial Souls, only useless soul masters'—this phrase is essentially correct.
Even an inconspicuous blade of grass can play a role in battle if its Martial Soul quality is continuously strengthened.
However, there's a paradox here.
Innate soul power largely depends on the quality of the Martial Soul. If the innate soul power is too low, the cultivation speed is slower, and the number of spirit rings one can absorb is fewer.
Unless, within the limited number of absorptions, the Martial Soul is strengthened to a certain degree, thereby enhancing one's own talent, one would ultimately remain a failure.
Take Yu Xiaogang, for example. If his two spirit rings had strengthened Luo Sanpao's Golden Holy Dragon bloodline, he might genuinely have had a chance to transform into a genius.
Therefore, there are no useless Martial Souls, only a useless Yu Xiaogang.
It's laughable, really. Researching Martial Soul theories his entire life, yet failing to understand his own Martial Soul.
If Tang San didn't have innate full soul power and the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, he would have been ruined by Yu Xiaogang long ago.
For instance, having Tang San absorb the Mandala Snake's spirit ring, obtaining an Entangling spirit skill with a paralyzing effect.
And this so-called "Master" actually thought his operation was top-tier, when in reality, he was just a liability.
"So that's how it is. Thank you, Master, for clarifying."
Hearing this, Tang San suddenly understood, and a wave of admiration rose in his heart. His Master was only about ten years older than him, yet he already possessed such a deep understanding of Martial Souls.
The Star Dou Great Forest was located southeast of the Barak Kingdom, occupying significant territory within both the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire.
Only a small part bordered the Barak Kingdom.
Nuoding City was close to the Barak Kingdom. It took about two days to reach the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
After two days of travel, journeying day and night, the carriage finally arrived at the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
There was a small town nearby. Lin Mu found an inn to stay in, planning to take Tang San soul beast hunting the next day.
The next morning, Lin Mu woke up early. After a simple pack-up, he took Tang San into the Star Dou Great Forest.
During his years of traveling the continent, Lin Mu had visited the Star Dou Great Forest several times, but previously, it was to hunt spirit rings for himself.
Now, his cultivation had reached the 47th-rank Soul Ancestor level. Relying on Flame's Nava, even against a ten-thousand-year soul beast, he had the power to fight.
Within the Star Dou Great Forest, ancient towering trees stretched as far as the eye could see. Dense tree canopies blocked most of the sunlight, leaving mottled light and shadows everywhere on the ground.
Rustle—
A gentle breeze swept by, leaves rustling softly. Waves of fragrance, mingling soil and vegetation, wafted over.
Lin Mu suddenly stopped, his gaze quickly locking onto a distant point.
Under his perception, a swift, shadow-like leopard was charging towards them, clearly seeing them as prey.
Soul masters and soul beasts were natural enemies. Soul masters needed to hunt soul beasts to obtain spirit rings; likewise, many soul masters ended up in the bellies of soul beasts.
From this perspective alone, the Spirit Hall's hunting of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts held no moral issue.
However, this didn't mean Lin Mu sided with the Spirit Hall. Just speaking of that madwoman Bibi Dong made her hard to like.
Perhaps the Spirit Hall was once somewhat good, but under Bibi Dong's management now, it certainly wasn't a force for good.
"Master, a soul beast is approaching."
Tang San's eyes glowed with a purple light. Upon sensing a soul beast approaching, he immediately looked up to warn Lin Mu.
"Xiao San, find a place to hide first. Leave this to me."
Lin Mu's expression remained unperturbed.
This was only the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, where soul beasts above ten-thousand years rarely appeared. The danger level wasn't high.
Moments later, a pitch-black leopard darted out from the distance, moving like a ghostly shadow among the trees.
"A three-thousand-year Shadow Leopard..."
Muttering to himself, Lin Mu released his Martial Soul and placed it at his waist.
In an instant, his entire body burst into raging flames. These flames gradually solidified, transforming into a fully armed suit of armor.
In a flash, Lin Mu's figure vanished, replaced by a figure entirely clad in red armor.
The head, chest plate, armguards, and belt all exhibited flame-like designs. The entire body emanated an intense fiery aura.
Different from the armor in tokusatsu shows, it had less of a plastic feel and more of a metallic texture, highlighting the heaviness that armor should possess. The entire figure exuded an imposing and majestic presence.
"Seeking death."
Seeing the Shadow Leopard pounce, Lin Mu immediately delivered an elbow strike.
After sending it flying, he pressed down on the Shadow Leopard's head, slamming it forcefully into the ground.
BANG!!
Accompanied by a loud crash, the ground instantly cracked and caved in.
Not far away, Tang San was hiding behind a rock. Seeing Lin Mu suppress a thousand-year soul beast with one hand, his eyes widened in astonishment.
So strong!
In the armor-combined state, even without using spirit skills, Lin Mu could handle a thousand-year soul beast with pure strength alone.
But to end the battle quickly, the first spirit ring at his feet suddenly lit up. Flames rapidly converged on his fist, and he threw a powerful, charged punch.
Immediately after, a half-meter diameter flaming fist accurately struck the Shadow Leopard's head, exploding with a BOOM.