Douluo Continent: This Tang San is different

Chapter 12 Soul Hunt Begins: Important Notes

In small cities like Nottingham, the main responsibility of the Spirit Hall is to help the city's residents awaken their spirits, and to form a patrol team with the city lord's mansion to patrol together and prevent spirit masters from fighting each other on the streets.

As the head of a branch hall, Matthew's daily work mainly consisted of organizing documents, recording Soul Master levels, and distributing Gold Soul Coins, making his life relatively leisurely.

Needless to say, Su Yuntao spends a month each year helping various villages awaken their martial spirits, and the rest of the time he patrols with the patrol team.

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

It must be said that the Spirit Hall's work is quite good.

Since both of them were free, they naturally planned to accompany Tang San on a soul hunt to pass the time.

In addition, Sisi also came over.

It wasn't that she was also on holiday, but rather that her cultivation had reached level 20, and she needed a spirit ring, so she took leave. She heard that Tang San was also going to hunt spirit beasts, so she decided to go with him.

Matthew led Tang San onto the carriage, while Su Yuntao and Sisi took turns driving.

The Soul Hunter Forest isn't far from Notting City, but it still takes most of the day, so two people need to take turns to keep up with the pace.

"Little Tang, I need to tell you that when you choose teammates for your future Soul Hunting, you must choose a reliable Soul Hunting team, such as one with a big reputation. It's best not to choose those unknown teams. Also, different Soul Hunting Forests have different environments and different Soul Beasts. You must talk to the locals more. Some specific medicines and Soul Hunting equipment are only available in the small towns on the outskirts of the corresponding Soul Hunting Forests." Matthew Nuo liked Tang San very much and was telling him about various precautions for Soul Hunting.

Although Tang San had already memorized these points while reading the book, he still listened attentively to Matthew's instructions.

On this Douluo Continent, there are many more Soul Hunting Forests than just the few that appeared in the original story.

The most famous Soul Hunting Forests are Star Dou Forest, Sunset Forest, Storm Canyon, and Devil Canyon. Other Soul Hunting Grounds with Soul Beasts are either small in size, have few Soul Beasts, or have not yet been explored by human Soul Masters.

For example: the far north.

This place has not been fully explored, and its exact size is unknown.

Honestly, this is what makes a real world. Soul beasts have different attributes; some can breathe fire, and some can control ice. They must live in an environment that makes them feel comfortable.

The natural environment and the types of organisms influence each other. Soul beasts are also a type of organism, only they possess extraordinary power.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, fire-attribute soul beasts will not appear in the far north, and similarly, water-attribute soul beasts will not appear in those scorching desert areas.

Besides these wild Soul Hunting Forests, there are also Soul Hunting Forests jointly controlled by the two great empires and the Spirit Hall.

This part of the Soul Hunting Forest is rumored to have once been a wild soul beast forest, no less large than the Sunset Forest. However, with human development, the felling of trees and the construction of roads have reduced its area, and the powerful soul beasts have migrated to Starry Sky, Sunset Forest, or other suitable habitats for soul beasts.

Nowadays, in such Soul Hunting Forests, ten-year and hundred-year-old soul beasts are everywhere, but thousand-year-old soul beasts are extremely rare.

Why?

Besides the fact that soul beasts improve their cultivation at a slower pace, the more important reason is that the Spirit Hall sends people in every three to five years to inspect, capture, or even kill thousand-year-old soul beasts to prevent them from escaping the forest and attacking nearby villages or destroying farmland.

However, the Spirit Hall will be more lenient with plant spirit beasts that are thousands of years old, since most plant spirit beasts are not yet ten thousand years old and cannot move.

As for thousand-year-old animal spirit beasts, they will capture them as much as possible, since the Spirit Hall has also realized that the number of spirit beasts is decreasing.

If one day soul beasts become extinct, soul masters will no longer be able to cultivate, and this profession will no longer be so noble.

Unfortunately, no one has yet found such a way, and no one has even thought about it; they are simply instinctively aware that soul beasts are precious resources.

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

This forest is called Nottingham Forest.

The reason Notting City has a primary academy is because there is a Soul Hunting Forest not far from Notting City. If there were no Soul Beast Forest, there would be no city nearby.

It can be said that the major forces on the Douluo Continent were all established by relying on forests rich in soul beast resources, since most soul masters do not really like the nomadic adventure of wandering the world.

Outside Nottingham Forest, there is a small town that is quite prosperous and bustling, comparable to the city of Nottingham when it holds a gathering.

The residents of this place are mostly Soul Masters, but the highest level they reach is only a second-ring Great Soul Master. There are also quite a few ordinary people, but most of them are strong and healthy. Two or three of them together are comparable to a first-ring Soul Master.

If a Soul Master is a support, healing, or food-type Soul Master, and has no hidden abilities, even an ordinary, large man can easily take on a one-on-one opponent.

According to Matthew, the number of Soul Masters and Great Soul Masters who die at the hands of ordinary people is not small, several hundred every year, and in one year, the number even approached a thousand.

However, once a Soul Master's Soul Power reaches level 30 and they become a Soul Venerable, the number of Soul Masters who die at the hands of ordinary people drops sharply. In the past ten years, on average, there have only been about three per year.

This is normal. When they are Soul Masters or Great Soul Masters, their Soul Power is still low. They can use their Soul Skills once or twice, or eight or nine times, and then their Soul Power will be exhausted. At that time, they can be defeated by strong ordinary people who surround and attack them.

Once you reach the Soul Master level, both the quality and quantity of your soul power increase, and your body begins to benefit from the nourishment of soul power, gradually strengthening itself. Ordinary people then find it difficult to kill a Soul Master unless you use human lives as bait.

"Xiao San, what do you think of this place? Is it a little strange since it's your first time here?" Su Yuntao asked.

"I'm not used to this kind of liveliness, but it's really prosperous here. Soul beasts are the biggest resource in the world," Tang San sighed. "Most of the soul masters here are born in the Soul Hunting Forest, and the nearby villages and cities were gradually built up because of its prosperity."

"That makes sense. Although places without spirit beasts are very safe, places without the Soul Hunting Forest are definitely very backward. There are no big cities or spirit master academies. Although the Spirit Hall will send people to those places to help awaken spirits, those children with cultivation talent who are unwilling to follow the Spirit Hall are basically unable to attend junior spirit master academies." Matthew said, as if recalling past memories, and sighed.

Tang San nodded.

In the previous life on Earth, during a time of peace, there were still impoverished mountainous areas where most children had to stay in the mountains their entire lives and could not go to school.

Needless to say, the Douluo Continent is even worse. There are only more impoverished areas. Countless children with cultivation talent but low talent (one or two levels of innate soul power) are unable to become soul masters and change their fate because they cannot leave the mountains.

It's not that they're not allowed to go to school, but that they lack the means to leave their impoverished hometowns.

For children whose innate soul power is only level one or two, the Soul Masters sent by the Spirit Hall to awaken their martial souls usually will not extend an invitation to them unless they are related by blood. Instead, they will issue a certificate to give them the opportunity to attend a junior academy.

The Spirit Hall welcomes all Spirit Masters, but at the very least, they must be Spirit Masters.

At the very least, if one's innate soul power is high enough to reach level three, there is hope of becoming a Soul Master, which could lead to special recruitment, allowing one to earn a living at the local Spirit Hall.

It's better to find strong, ordinary people without soul power, train them a little, equip them with weapons and armor, and their role on the battlefield is no less important than that of a soul master than training children with innate first or second-level soul power.

At least these ordinary people have accepted their fate, and their obedience is definitely stronger than that of those who aspire to become Soul Masters but only have one or two levels of talent.

"Also, the chances of you meeting Soul Masters will be much higher when you go to big cities," Matthew added, changing the subject as he described Tang San's future destination...

Although I want to deny it, the saying "birds of a feather flock together" is indeed true.

In small villages like Holy Soul Village, ordinary people only get to see the Soul Masters sent by the Spirit Hall to help awaken their Martial Souls once a year, when the children in the village awaken their Martial Souls.

With his innate soul power, he entered the world of soul masters, where he could see them every day: Matthew, Su Yuntao, Sisi, and various teachers, directors, and deans of Notting Academy... well, the dean was not so common.

Afterwards, the four of them bought some mosquito repellent powder and entered the Soul Hunter Forest.

The guarding knight was from the Spirit Hall and was also Matthew's subordinate, so naturally he didn't dare to ask for a warrant and let him pass directly.

Privileges are ubiquitous as long as one is within the system.

"What kind of spirit beast do you plan to choose for your second spirit ring, Sister Sisi?" Tang San walked on the ground of the Soul Hunting Forest and noticed that there weren't many withered branches and leaves on the ground, so he asked Sisi about her choice of spirit ring.

As Su Yuntao's girlfriend, planning a soul ring for him is a way of repaying Su Yuntao's "kindness in recognizing and nurturing" her.

Furthermore, he also received a lot of help from the Spirit Hall. Sisi was also a member of the Spirit Hall, so there was no problem with them helping each other.

"Yeah, Sisi, tell me your choice and let Xiao San see if it's suitable. If it's not suitable, then change to another one. He's very smart." Su Yuntao chimed in, then used himself as an example, "Like my second soul skill, it allows me to compete with a Grand Soul Master who is close to level 30."

Sisi was somewhat tempted and ultimately decided to trust Tang San, so she said, "Little San, my martial soul is a ribbon, which doesn't have much offensive capability. My first soul skill is a nearly ninety-year-old Mandragora Snake, which gives my martial soul the ability to entangle and even contains some poison that can paralyze enemies. Following this line of thought, for my second soul ring, I want to widen the entanglement range, so I need to find a soul beast that can lengthen my ribbon or cause it to split... What do you think of my idea?"

Entangled?

Tang San was somewhat dazed.

I thought that if I didn't become Yu Xiaogang's apprentice, I would be far away from the Mandala Snake. I never expected to "meet" him again in this way. I have to say, it's really fate.

This is also why Tang San didn't ask about Sisi's soul skills when he was reading in the Spirit Hall, otherwise he wouldn't have been so surprised.

"Sister Sisi, that ninety-year-old Mandragora Snake's spirit ring not only gave you a binding spirit skill, but also increased the resilience of your martial spirit, right?" Tang San asked.

"That's true. My ribbon spirit was originally very fragile and would break easily, but after adding the Mandragora Serpent spirit ring, it has become much more resilient." Sisi nodded. "But the most important point is still the Entangling spirit skill."

"Sister Sisi, what I'm about to say might be a bit harsh. Is it a waste to exchange a spirit ring slot for an Entangling spirit skill?"

To make his point more convincing, Tang San continued, "An ordinary person, after practicing with a rope for a few years, can also lasso someone."

"The ribbon spirit can indeed be used to bind and entangle, but the first spirit ring should primarily enhance the advantages of the ribbon, rather than aiming for the entanglement spirit skill."

"Although martial spirits are not real things, they share similarities with real things. Sister Sisi, what are the characteristics of the ribbon?"

Sisi thought for a moment and said, "Gently."

"That's right, it's all about gentleness. Let me ask you another question: what happens if you swing a sword at a ribbon suspended in the air?" Tang San affirmed these two characteristics of the ribbon and continued to ask.

"The ribbon is cut in two?" Sisi was a little unsure, after all, she had never seen such a scene before.

"Perhaps my question did not provide any context. The person wielding the sword was an ordinary person, and the sword was not a martial spirit, nor a divine weapon; it was just the most ordinary kind of weapon."

(End of this chapter)