Douluo Continent: A Thousand Miles of Cultivation

You've been away training for two years and don't know what's going on at home. Lately, I've been learning etiquette, which is really troublesome. Is it really necessary for a Soul Master to learn these things?

I've also arranged for your room to be cleaned regularly. I hope you'll be back soon!

—Thousand-foot Snow

'This girl...' Qian Shui pulled out a knife and a sword. In his opinion, neither of these two weapons were ordinary!

In terms of refinement, it is already better than the industrialized products of Qian Shui's previous life!

Achieving this is actually quite extreme! You have to understand that industrialization isn't a synonym for bad; in fact, it's very good!

Modern metalworking is incredibly complex and far surpasses that of the era of cold weapons, and the two swords in Qian Shui's hands are truly masterpieces! They could very well be the pinnacle of craftsmanship in the Douluo Continent!

Because it comes from the Spirit Hall!

In his spare time, he used to draw eight-sided Han swords and Tang swords, which was his favorite style. Qian Renxue had seen it before and praised it as beautiful!

Qian Shui guessed correctly. These two swords were personally requested by Qian Renxue from Qian Xunji. She repeatedly instructed that they must be the best!

Therefore, this production order was issued by the highest authority of the Spirit Hall, and it is indeed the best! Because the Spirit Hall spent a lot of money to have Lou Gao in Gengxin City make it!

These daily necessities were personally selected by Qian Renxue, and she even prepared a lot of clothing to accommodate the child's growth spurt.

'She's acting like a mother hen, even looking up information. Haven't I seen what she's reading? Nobody knows more about the Star Dou Great Forest than me! I'll definitely give this idiot a good talking-to when we get back, so her worldview isn't always limited by her martial spirit!'

Qian Shui can only say that this thing arrived just in time; it was there when she was about to go out, and it was like having a drink of water right at her lips!

There was one thing he wanted to argue with the messenger about: "Senior, I guess you should have arrived long ago! Did you really have to wait until this special day?"

"Yes."

"Damn it! You should have given it to me a day earlier, then I wouldn't have had to make this thing!"

Qian Shui put one hand to his forehead and pointed with the other at the travel backpack rack that he had spent a long time making!

"Uh…"

The Soul Saint was dumbfounded. He was just an extra, how could he be "tricking his father"? Since he was paid to do a job, he naturally had to deliver on time, not even a day early or a day late.

"By the way, senior, could you do me a favor and take it back to Wuhun City to give to your young lady?" Before the masked young man could react, Qian Shui shoved the lamb into his arms and patted his shoulder. "Tell your young lady that I'm going to hunt souls next. I'll probably be back around the time I break through to Soul Master level 30!"

"Yes!"

The masked man, unsuspecting, grabbed the lamb and vanished in a flash.

Ignoring the little lamb's cries, Qian Shui prepared to set off.

He took out a suitable set of clothes, donned the attire of human society for the first time in a long time, and with his meager belongings, embarked on his journey.

Qian Renxue's style has always been platinum, and the clothes she chose naturally reflected this style. With the spatial soul tool hanging around her neck and her usually shaved, gray-blue head touched, a strangely styled young man appeared, resembling a richly dressed little monk.

Qian Shui's plan is to first hunt down an earth-attribute speed-type soul beast, and then prepare to use the five elements' mutual generation and restraint soul ring attachment method to comprehensively cultivate.

Earth-attribute soul beasts are generally ground-based monsters, focusing on defense. Speed-type soul beasts are actually rare, but not entirely nonexistent.

There are no records of such soul beasts being discovered in the Star Dou Great Forest; they only exist in desert areas.

Qian Shui's destination was the Lost Canyon, also known as the 'Death Canyon,' an area surrounded by a vast desert.

Even the Golden Generation of the original timeline found that place terrifying, mainly because the environment was so harsh.

Not to mention the surrounding desert, the canyons with slightly better environments are even more terrifying gathering places for soul beasts. Not to mention soul beasts like the wasteland wolf, there are even top-level soul beasts like the dark phoenix!

However, Qian Shui had no intention of going any deeper; he simply wanted to find a thousand-year-old desert fox on the outskirts.

Without hesitation, Qian Shui headed west, leaving the Star Dou Great Forest and arriving at a town within the Star Luo Empire.

Thanks to its proximity to the Star Dou Great Forest, Soul Masters frequently come here to hunt Souls, making it a bustling town known for its Soul Hunting economy in the Douluo Continent.

I spent some time having a meal, found a hotel, took a nice shower, and rested for a night to recharge.

……

“Miss, Young Master Qian Shui asked me to give this to you!” The masked man also returned to Wuhun City and met Qian Renxue. He handed over the noisy little lamb to her. “Young Master Qian Shui has set off to obtain the second ring. He said he will return to Wuhun City when his strength reaches the level of Soul Master.”

"Okay." Qian Renxue took the lamb, their eyes widening in surprise.

Although girls like small animals, Qian Renxue and the lamb don't get along well. However, since Qian Shui has been entrusted to her, she will naturally take good care of him.

After spending some time building a relationship, I found that they didn't care at all, so I could only instruct them to build a kennel for the lambs in the yard and have someone feed them regularly, and then I went off to do my own thing.

Although I don't know what kind of soul beast Qian Shui wants to hunt, I'm not as worried as I was at the beginning, since someone is following me now.

……

The Douluo Continent is not desolate; it is simply in a feudal era. Unlike Earth, where cities and people are everywhere, the continent is sparsely populated due to its relatively small population.

Thousand Waters is now very close to the Kingdom of Barak, but there's no need to check in right now. The super marathon runner is showing his power and moving forward at full speed!

Weary from our journey, we arrived at the edge of the desert, replenished our freshwater resources, and then ventured deep into the desert heartland.

"Spatial soul tools are really great!" Leaning against the fallen dead tree, Qian Shui lit a fire; it was already late.

The weather in the desert is always like this: hot during the day and cold at night. In his previous life, Qian Shui could only watch the world from a screen at home and had never experienced it in person. Now he has finally seen it for himself.

The sky above Douluo Star is unpolluted, and there is no light pollution in the desert. The stars in the desert sky are clearly visible at night.

Although it's puzzling why there's a moon in Douluo Continent, the Big Dipper is nowhere to be seen there!

"The Big Dipper! That is the star that the people of Earth yearned for most in their very past!"

The Big Dipper is the constellation of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, symbolizing emperors and holding a very special significance for the Chinese people, as it is a guiding star.

The Starry Sky Forest has towering tree canopies and a rainy climate, making it difficult to see a sky full of stars at night.

Looking at the sky, Qian Shui felt very lonely. He missed home, missed Blue Star, missed his country, and missed his hometown where he was born.

What about an ordinary person under the starry sky? He is not a curious explorer, an astronomer who asks "heavenly questions," or a leader of human society.

He was just an ordinary, very realistic person, a boy who only looked up at the stars on cold nights.

But that's precisely why! Just as our ancestors first looked up at the stars, first walked upright, and first lit a fire! Everything was predetermined!

Because the mountain is right there!

"The stars and the sea! How far away am I from there now?! It feels almost unattainable!"

Absolutely not! I could grasp the sun and moon and pluck the stars from the sky! So what if I went home?

It is precisely because we believe that we see!

Qian Shui felt like a stranger; his sense of belonging was on Blue Star, not Douluo Star! Now that he had entered the realm of the extraordinary, he should be unparalleled in the world! Only in this way could he possibly realize his small wish of returning home.

"You should always have ideals, what if they come true? But why worry about that 'what if'? Just be down-to-earth, and you'll achieve it step by step!"

Qian Shui took out his sword and gently stroked its blade.

"Since I drew my sword, I have been able to intoxicate three thousand guests with the fragrance of flowers in the hall, and my sword's frost chills fourteen provinces!"

He slowly began to wield his sword, his mind replaying indelible fragments of martial arts from his past life. Gently imbuing the sword with his soul power, he savored the millennia-old cultural heritage, a surge of emotion welling up within him.

"The Yellow Emperor cast the Xuanyuan, marking the division of life and death, rise and fall! Time was exhausted! Until the six directions and eight wastelands were all unified..."

Before my eyes, I seem to see the moonlight before my bed, and the Yellow River in the sky; in my ears, I seem to hear the clanging of swords and the thunder of horses, and the sounds of dancing pavilions and singing stages.

The sword in his hand gleamed like frost, its blade pointing towards the vast expanse!

Meanwhile, the companions in the distance stared wide-eyed. They had never heard of Qian Shui wielding a sword. Although it was somewhat of a strange imitation, the way he danced, stirring up the wind and sand, was undeniable. It was hard to imagine that this was the level of skill a level 20 Soul Master could possess!

Sadness comes quickly and goes quickly. Qian Shui has been alone and depressed for a while, but humans are social animals, so how could he not have problems?

"Sigh, I want to drink... Too bad I'm not an adult yet!"

Chapter 22 Choosing the Third Soul Ring

Imagination is wonderful, but the logic of behavior is certain. Just like the surge of enthusiasm after drinking chicken soup for the soul, a salted fish can turn over and still be a salted fish.

Finally, Qian Shui still had the purpose of hunting for Soul Rings. Desert Foxes are huge but cute-looking, unlike Tibetan Foxes. Their ears are particularly large and their hearing is excellent.

Fortunately, the creature they were trying to catch wasn't a highly alert little animal, but a powerful thousand-year-old soul beast. So once they found it, it wouldn't run away. They could just fight it out. Who was afraid of a two-legged little brat like you? But the next second, they managed to slap out Gigi.

This desert trip gave Qian Shui a 6000-year-old soul ring. When he absorbed it, it almost drove his protector crazy. If Qian Shui is doomed like this, they won't be much better off. They might even end up with Gigi.

It's fortunate that we ran into Qian Shui; even Tang San wouldn't agree to play like this!

The Desert Fox is an extremely fast soul beast. The harsh desert environment necessitates an even faster attack speed, and its jumping ability is outstanding.

These soul beasts are actually very difficult to hunt by leaping into the depths of the sand to kill their prey. However, Qian Shui's attack was not just a physical attack; his primordial spirit leaving his body also carried a mental attack, which made it possible for Qian Shui to kill with one blow.

"Second Soul Skill, Fox's Leap!" Qian Shuiping used his second soul skill to leap to the top of the tree.

He had returned to the Star Dou Great Forest, but instead of going back to his base, he traveled along the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest from west to south into the territory of the Star Luo Empire, then moved eastward, and finally circled the Star Dou Great Forest once.

The second soul skill is also an amplification-type soul skill, which can greatly gather aura while improving jumping ability and speed.

The millennium-old soul skills have begun to become more complex, and Qian Shui's progress in analyzing and reapplying them is not fast, so he can only familiarize himself with the soul skills through constant practice.

However, he was running too fast, and a small area wouldn't allow him to maneuver effectively. So he decided to continue his journey, taking a loop around the Star Dou Great Forest and improving his strength along the way.

At this point, his level was revealed, and he jumped directly to level 27. In the latter half of the year, he decided to complete most of the journey around the Star Dou Great Forest, and then steadily break through to level 30 before preparing to return to Wuhun City.

Because a certain important time point was approaching, and the Douluo Continent was about to descend into chaos, he dared not wander around outside after that.

With a knife in one hand and a sword in the other, Qian Shui chanted something like "Wine enters the heroic gut, roars become sword energy," "Kill one person in ten steps," "Sword technique descending from the sky," and "Starburst Stream Slash," before running and leaping away into the distance.

This left the protector speechless for a moment, but she understood; after all, she's reached that age.

(I'm not, I didn't, I'm definitely not a chuunibyou! — Qian Shui Douluo)

……

As the year 2629 of the Douluo Calendar approached, Qian Shui had already circled most of the Star Dou Great Forest, traveling and marveling at its rich natural resources.

Ever since he acquired the spatial soul tool, Qian Shui's culinary instincts have become uncontrollable. He collected a bunch of seasonings and began to try them one by one.

These days have truly been like a culinary adventure in the Starry Sky Forest. I've been eating, watching, and even practicing my skills along the way, and before I knew it, I was level 30.

He wasn't in a hurry to hunt souls. With the experience of the second ring, he was now even more relaxed. His actual combat strength should have already exceeded the Soul Master level, and he should be able to kite and wear down a Soul King.

He had already fought a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast and almost died, but luckily he ran fast. After the fight, still shaken, he boasted to himself, "One against one for those over a thousand years old, invincible for those under a thousand!"

Unfortunately, when people get carried away, they often run into bad luck. That day, he had just finished breakfast when he stepped on something, and then a huge roar of a beast echoed all around.

"A Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear?! What I wished for has come true! Earth begets gold, young man, you've come at just the right time!"

Qian Shui charged forward with his sword, instantly leaping into the air and slashing at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's neck. Just as he was feeling increasingly pleased with himself, thinking the battle was over, the bear swung its claws at him.