Chapter 12: Soul Hunting Begins: Precautions

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For a small city like Nodding City, the duty of the Soul Hall was mainly to help the people in the city awaken their soul power, and to form a team with the patrol team of the city lord's mansion, and patrol together to prevent soul masters from fighting on the street.

As the master of the sub-hall, Matthew only needed to sort out the documents, record the soul master's level, issue gold soul coins, and was quite leisurely.

Su Yuntao didn't need to say anything. Every year, besides helping the villages awaken their soul power for a month, he would patrol with the patrol team for the rest of the time.

Work for half a month, rest for half a month.

It had to be said that the work of the Soul Hall was pretty good.

Both of them had time, so they naturally planned to accompany Tang San to hunt for souls and spend their rest time.

In addition, Sisi also followed.

It wasn't that she was on vacation, but that her cultivation had reached the twentieth level, and she also needed a soul ring. She asked for leave, and heard that Tang San was going to hunt for soul beasts, so she planned to go together.

Matthew took Tang San on the carriage, and Su Yuntao and Sisi were responsible for taking turns to drive.

The Soul Hunting Forest was not far from Nodding City, but it also took half a day. It required two people to take turns to ensure their physical strength.

"Little Tang, I want to tell you that in the future, when you hunt for souls, you must choose a reliable soul hunting team, such as those with a big reputation. Those teams that are not well-known, it's best not to choose. Also, different soul hunting forests have different environments and soul beasts. You must talk to the locals more. Some specific medicines and soul hunting equipment are only available in the small towns outside the soul hunting forests that correspond to the environment." Matthew liked Tang San very much, so he told him about the various precautions for soul hunting.

Although Tang San had memorized these things when he was reading, he still listened carefully to Matthew's advice.

On this continent of Douluo, there were more soul hunting forests than those that appeared in the original work, and there were many of them.

The most famous soul hunting forests were the Star Dou Great Forest, the Sunset Forest, the Stormy Canyon, and the Devil's Canyon. The rest of the places where soul beasts existed were either small in scope, sparse in number, or had not been explored by human soul masters to the specific approximate range.

For example: the extreme north.

This place had not been explored completely, and no one knew how big it was.

To be honest, this was a real world. Soul beasts had different attributes. Some could spit fire, some could control ice, and they had to live in an environment that made them feel comfortable.

The natural environment and the types of living beings influenced each other. Soul beasts were also a kind of living being, but they had extraordinary power.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, there would be no fire attribute soul beasts in the extreme north. Similarly, there would be no water attribute soul beasts in those scorching desert areas.

In addition to these wild soul hunting forests, there were also soul hunting forests jointly controlled by the two empires and the Soul Hall.

This part of the soul hunting forest was rumored to have been a wild soul beast forest in the past, with a scale not inferior to the Sunset Forest. However, with the development of mankind, the cutting of trees and the opening of roads, the area became smaller and smaller, and the powerful soul beasts inside also moved to the Star Dou, Sunset, or other places where soul beasts gathered that were suitable for survival.

Nowadays, in such a soul hunting forest, there were ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts everywhere, but thousand-year soul beasts were extremely rare.

The reason?

Apart from the slow speed of soul beast cultivation, more importantly, the Soul Hall would send people to check, capture, or even kill the thousand-year soul beasts every few years, preventing them from escaping from the forest, attacking the nearby villages, or destroying the farmland.

However, for the thousand-year plant soul beasts, the Soul Hall would relax a bit. After all, most of the plant soul beasts could not move before they reached the ten thousand year level.

And for the thousand-year animal soul beasts, they would capture them as much as possible, because the Soul Hall also realized that the number of soul beasts was decreasing.

If one day the soul beasts became extinct, the soul masters would not be able to cultivate, and this profession would not be so noble.

Unfortunately, no one has been able to find such a way, or even think about it. They just instinctively realize that soul beasts are precious resources.

Half a day later, the carriage arrived at the Soul Hunting Forest.

This forest was called Nodding Forest.

Nodding City was able to have a junior academy because there was such a soul hunting forest not far from Nodding City. If there was no soul beast forest, there would be no city nearby.

It can be said that the various forces on the continent of Douluo were all built on the basis of the rich soul beast resources in the forest. After all, most soul masters did not like the adventurous style of being at home in the four seas.

Outside the Nodding Forest, there was a small town, which was quite prosperous and lively, comparable to the time when Nodding City held a meeting.

The residents of this town were mostly soul masters, but the highest was only a two-ring soul master. There were also many ordinary people, but they were mostly strong and sturdy. Three or two of them together were comparable to a one-ring soul master.

If the soul master was an auxiliary, healing, or food type, and had no hidden means, such ordinary big men could even fight one-on-one.

According to Matthew, there were also many soul masters and great soul masters who died in the hands of ordinary people. There were hundreds of them every year, and one year, there were almost a thousand.

However, when the soul master's soul power reached the thirtieth level and became a soul sovereign, the number of soul masters who died in the hands of ordinary people dropped sharply. In the past ten years, on average, there were only about three per year.

This was normal. When the soul master and the great soul master were still low in soul power, they could only use their soul skills once or twice, eight or nine times, and their soul power would be exhausted. At that time, ordinary people with strong bodies would attack them, and they might not be able to win.

And after reaching the soul sovereign level, the quality and quantity of soul power improved, and the body also began to benefit from the nourishment of soul power, gradually strengthening. Ordinary people would find it difficult to kill soul sovereigns, unless they used human lives to pile up.

  "Xiao San, what do you think of this place? Is it a bit unfamiliar for the first time?" Su Yuntao asked.

  "I'm not used to this kind of bustle, but this place is really prosperous. Soul beasts are the biggest resource in this world." Tang San sighed, "The soul masters here mostly depend on the Soul Hunting Forest for their livelihood. The nearby villages and cities are also built up gradually because of the prosperity here."

  "That's the truth. Although places without soul beasts are very safe, places without Soul Hunting Forests are definitely very backward. There are no big cities, no soul master academies. Although the Spirit Hall will send people to help awaken the martial souls in those places, those children who have the talent for cultivation but are unwilling to follow the Spirit Hall can hardly go to the primary soul master academy." Matthew said, as if recalling his past memories, and also sighed.

  Tang San nodded.

  On the previous earth, in the peaceful era, there were still poor mountainous areas. The children there could only stay in the mountains for their whole lives and could not go to school.

  Not to mention the Douluo Continent, there would be more poor areas. I don't know how many children who have the talent for cultivation but have low talent (innate soul power of one or two levels) cannot become soul masters and change their own destiny because they can't get out of the mountains.

  It's not that they are not allowed to go to school, but they have no conditions to get out of their poor hometown.

  For children with innate soul power of only one or two levels, the soul masters sent by the Spirit Hall to awaken the martial souls, if they have no kinship, will not usually invite them. They will only issue a certificate, giving them the opportunity to go to the primary academy.

  The Spirit Hall does not refuse any soul master, but at least they have to be a soul master.

  At worst, if the innate soul power is a little higher, with three levels, there is hope to become a soul sovereign. They can be specially recruited and can make a living in the local Spirit Hall in the future.

  It's better to train some ordinary people who are strong and have no soul power, equip them with weapons and armor, and they can play a role on the battlefield that is not inferior to soul masters.

  At least these ordinary people accept their fate, and their obedience is definitely stronger than those who want to become soul masters but have a talent of only one or two levels.

  "Also, when you go to the big city in the future, you will see more soul masters." Matthew changed the topic and continued to describe the place where Tang San would go in the future...

  Although he wanted to deny it, birds of a feather flock together, and this was indeed true.

  Just like the small village of Shenghun, ordinary people could only see the soul masters sent by the Spirit Hall to help awaken the martial souls of the children in the village once a year.

  And he, with his innate soul power, stepped into the world of soul masters, and could see soul masters every day: Matthew, Su Yuntao, Si Si, and the various teachers, directors, and principals of Noding Academy... well, the principal was rarely seen.

  Then, the four of them bought some insect repellent powder and entered the Soul Hunting Forest.

  The knight guarding the forest was from the Spirit Hall, and was Matthew's subordinate. He naturally did not dare to ask for his order and let him pass directly.

  Privilege, as long as you are in the system, it is everywhere.

  "Sister Si Si, what kind of soul beast do you plan to choose for your second soul ring?" Tang San walked on the ground of the Soul Hunting Forest and found that there were not many dead branches and leaves on the ground, so he asked about Si Si's soul ring choice.

  As Su Yuntao's girlfriend, planning a soul ring for him was also a way of repaying Su Yuntao's "grace of knowing and meeting".

  Moreover, he also received a lot of help from the Spirit Hall, and Si Si was also a person of the Spirit Hall. Helping each other was not a problem.

  "Yeah, Si Si, tell us your choice and let Xiao San see if it's suitable. If it's not, change it. He's very smart." Su Yuntao agreed, and then took himself as an example. "Just like my second soul skill, it allows me to compete with a great soul master who is close to level thirty."

  Si Si was a bit moved and finally decided to trust Tang San. She said, "Xiao San, my martial soul is a ribbon, and it has no attack power. My first soul skill chose a mandrake snake that was close to ninety years old, which gave my martial soul the ability to entangle, and even carried some toxins, which could paralyze the enemy. According to this idea, my second soul ring, I want to make the entanglement range wider, find a soul beast that can lengthen my ribbon, or make the ribbon split... What do you think of my idea?"

  Entangle?

  Tang San was a bit dazed.

  He thought that he would stay away from the mandrake snake if he didn't worship Yu Xiaogang as his teacher, but he didn't expect to meet again in this way. He had to say that it was fate.

  This was also because Tang San didn't ask Si Si about her soul skill when he was reading books in the Spirit Hall, otherwise he wouldn't be so surprised.

  "Sister Si Si, that ninety-year-old mandrake snake, besides giving you an entangling soul skill, did it also increase the toughness of your martial soul, right?" Tang San asked.

  "That's right, my ribbon martial soul was very fragile, and it broke when pulled. But after adding the mandrake snake's soul ring, it gained a lot of toughness." Si Si nodded, "But the most important point is still the entanglement soul skill."

  "Sister Si Si, what I'm going to say next may sound a bit unpleasant, but is it a bit wasteful to exchange a soul ring position for an entanglement soul skill?"

  In order to make his argument more convincing, Tang San continued, "An ordinary person, with a rope to practice for a few years, can also lasso others."

  "The ribbon martial soul can indeed be used to bind and entangle, but the first soul ring should mainly enhance the advantages of the ribbon, rather than go for the entanglement soul skill."

  "Although the martial soul is not a real thing, it also has similarities with real things. May I ask, Sister Si Si, what are the characteristics of the ribbon?"

  Si Si thought for a while and said, "Light and soft."

  "That's right, it's the two words light and soft. Let me ask you another question, what will happen if a ribbon is suspended in the air and slashed with a sword?" Tang San affirmed the two characteristics of the ribbon and continued to ask.

  "The ribbon is cut in two by a knife?" Si Si was a bit unsure, after all, she had never seen that scene.

  "Maybe it's because I didn't give the premise when I asked the question. The person who swings the sword is an ordinary person, the sword is not a martial soul, nor is it a divine weapon, it's just the most common weapon."