Douluo Continent: Martial Soul Clay, the Creator of All Things

However, even with the Spirit Hall's speed of information dissemination...

It will take at least ten days to half a month to spread this theoretical information throughout the entire Douluo Continent.

And that was precisely when Master Yu Xiaogang's theoretical information had just left the Papal Palace.

Lu Yan is currently engaged in his first real battle against a soul beast.

His opponent was a ghost wolf that was about ten years old, about 1.6 meters long, with an iron-gray body and eerie green eyes staring fiercely at Lu Yan, which was quite intimidating.

Of course, Lu Yan completely ignored the Nether Wolf's fierce gaze.

He picked up a long staff, a weapon he had prepared beforehand, and charged toward the Netherwolf, which was not far away.

The Nether Wolf showed no sign of cowardice and charged straight at Lu Yan as well.

However, Lu Yan was not as reckless as he appeared.

After closing the distance with the Netherwolf to a certain extent, he threw a lump of clay at the Netherwolf's face, obscuring its vision.

Then, he swung his long staff and launched a series of smooth, quick attacks at the Nether Wolf's waist and abdomen.

The long staff slashed downwards and then upwards, before finally stabbing the most vulnerable spot on the Ghost Wolf's abdomen.

However, even if he hit a vital spot, Lu Yan's strength was still insufficient to instantly kill the Netherworld Wolf.

He was well aware of his own limitations, and once he landed a successful blow, he created distance.

"Awoo awoo awoo"

Immediately, the Netherwolf let out a painful howl. It began to twist its body and spin in place, while trying to scratch off the clay stuck to its eyes with its claws.

But with Lu Yan controlling the clay, how could it possibly regain its sight so easily?

They did not continue using clay to block the Ghost Wolf's airway.

This was already done out of consideration for Lu Yan's desire to hone the staff skills taught by Teacher Zhou in the academy in real combat.

The Nether Wolf twisted its body, and Lu Yan followed suit, changing his stance and steps. Seizing the opportunity, he delivered a powerful chopping blow to Lu Yan's waist and abdomen.

Alternatively, look for an opportunity to use a long stick to poke the area in the waist and abdomen corresponding to the internal organs.

Throughout the entire process, Lu Yan felt surprisingly calm and composed, with a clear mind.

The movements were fluid and the reactions were quick.

When the Netherworld Wolf, which Wang Dachui and the others had deliberately driven into the defensive circle, fell to the ground, blood gushing from its mouth and nose, it was clear that it had suffered severe internal injuries and was about to lose its life.

Lu Yan withdrew his clay martial spirit, allowing it to regain its sight in its final moments before losing its life, and to see the face of the person who had taken its life.

Standing still with his staff sheathed, Lu Yan finally felt the pounding of his heart and the thrill of his first real battle with a soul beast.

"Clap clap clap!" At this moment, Teacher Zhou, who had been watching from the sidelines, started clapping.

"Not bad, not bad, Xiao Liu. It seems that your year of combat training with spears and clubs at the academy has not been in vain."

As soon as Teacher Zhou finished speaking, Wang Dachui, who was also watching from the sidelines, expressed his agreement and praised him.

"Indeed, he's quite good. I've guided many level 10 Soul Masters in hunting Soul Rings, and there are very few who can match Xiao Lu's performance."

"Especially considering that this Nether Wolf was carefully selected by us and its strength is comparable to that of a typical level 10 Soul Master."

"He remained calm and composed throughout the battle, showing none of the panic that other novice Soul Masters often experience when facing Soul Beasts for the first time. He also timed the clay Martial Soul's face-slapping technique perfectly, keeping the rhythm of the battle entirely under his control."

"My assessment is: Excellent! Very talented in combat!"

Next, the other members of the team praised Lu Yan's performance, which made Lu Yan wonder if they were just fooling him.

Did I do a good job? I don't think so!

"Could it be that Uncle Wang is just giving them a commercial boost? After all, they are a professional team."

"Making money is nothing to be ashamed of." This thought even flashed through Lu Yan's mind.

Then Lu Yan shook his head again, "No, no."

At this moment, Old Man Su walked up to Lu Yan and patted him on the shoulder, "Little Six, how did you feel about the first battle?"

"It's alright. Apart from feeling a little excited and stimulated, I don't have any other special feelings." Lu Yan carefully assessed his mental state and answered Old Man Su.

Although it was their first real combat experience and their first time witnessing slaughter, the Netherworld Wolf was, after all, just a soul beast.

After Lu Yan finished speaking, he looked at the corpse of the Netherworld Wolf and the soul ring slowly floating on it.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered the bodies of the innocent passersby he had buried before.

For some inexplicable reason, Lu Yan felt as if he had grown up in some way.

"By the way, Uncle Wang, what should we do with the carcass of this Nether Wolf?" Lu Yan suddenly asked Wang Dachui, who was standing next to him.

"Of course we'll take them. We'll deal with them when we pass a water source. Wolf skin, teeth, and claws are all worth something. Although wolf meat doesn't taste very good, it's still a soul beast, so eating it will be beneficial."

Wang Dachui answered without hesitation, then looked at Lu Yan as if he had thought of something and said, "Little Lu, you don't think we're just going to leave the corpse of this Netherworld Wolf here, do you?"

"What are you thinking about? Soul beast materials and good medicinal herbs found along the way are also part of the benefits of our soul hunting trip."

"Oh, okay, I'm fine now." Lu Yan nodded and then said no more.

"Alright, Little Cow, you take this ghost wolf's carcass with you. The rest of you, keep in formation, let's continue."

A moment later, the group continued their journey. According to the original plan, they were to arrive at the designated location around dusk to set up camp, start a fire, and cook a meal.

This ghost wolf is just in time for an extra meal.

As for things like not being able to light a fire, nobody there took it seriously.

After all, they weren't Grandmaster leading Tang San. With their lineup on the outskirts of the Soul Hunter Forest, if the soul beasts rushed up, they would just be extra food for them.

The group consisted of two other high-level Soul Masters brought by Wang Dachui, both of whom were agility-based attackers, who scouted ahead at a distance.

Wang Dachui and the remaining three academy teachers were positioned in front of, behind, to the left and right of the group, respectively.

Wang Dachui was at the front, with Old Man Su and Teacher Zhou on either side, and Teacher Li bringing up the rear.

As for the remaining four Soul Masters and Lu Yan, they were naturally positioned in the middle of the group's defense.

After all, among the four Soul Masters, two are support-type, one assists in combat, and the other is a food-type who provides logistics and healing.

The remaining two calves and ponies are the logistics personnel and the main labor force in the team.

The group maintained this formation and continued to travel along the planned route on the outskirts of the Soul Hunter Forest.

However, the team kept stopping and starting. Whenever they encountered a suitable soul beast, the great soul masters would always drive it into the defensive circle and hand it over to Lu Yan for practical combat trials.

One of the purposes of this trip was to cultivate Lu Yan's practical experience against soul beasts.

After several real battles against spirit beasts, Lu Yan had become completely familiar with the differences between fighting spirit beasts and fighting human spirit masters.

His fighting style, which works against human soul masters, is equally applicable to soul beasts; one only needs to pay attention to the differences.

Thus, the disgusting fighting style of interfering with the soul beast's vision and actions, "controlling oneself and controlling the enemy," and "creating weaknesses when there are none" has reappeared.

Sometimes Lu Yan didn't even need a long staff; he would go up and engage in close combat with the soul beasts, controlling the rhythm and delivering a punch or a kick.

After all, the three old men had been training with him for a year, so he actually had combat experience; all he needed was to get used to the routine.

After becoming familiar with real combat, Lu Yan's mindset became more relaxed and composed, even showing a bit of a playful interest.

And he was indeed somewhat playful; in battles with soul beasts, he rarely actually killed them.

In other words, they were teased and then released.

Wang Dachui and the other teachers at the academy did not object to Lu Yan's actions; on the contrary, they strongly approved of them.

Their view was that hunting spirit beasts was fine, but care needed to be taken to avoid indiscriminate killing.

They need spirit rings, they need to eat meat, they need spirit beast materials, so killing them is fine.

However, it is clear that Lu Yan and his group's main purpose was not "hunting," but rather to acquire soul rings.

If too many soul beasts are killed and cannot be taken away, then it is considered "indiscriminate killing".

Lu Yan could sense that Wang Dachui, Old Man Su, and the others might not have the subjective intention of maintaining the number of soul beasts to prevent their descendants from having no rings to hunt.

But subconsciously, it still exists.

This is easy to understand, just like how hunters in their past lives knew not to kill pregnant female animals, and fishermen knew to catch the big ones and release the small ones in their nets.

Of course, Old Man Su also explained from another perspective his intention to prevent Lu Yan from having any thoughts of indiscriminate killing.

That is, excessive killing will affect the mindset of a Soul Master.

Well, although Lu Yan didn't feel any particularly negative feelings about killing, he didn't refute Old Man Su's statement.

Moreover, as a modern time traveler, he was not a vegetarian.

He loves eating meat!

But he also lived in a peaceful era and actually had a lot of respect for life itself.

Occasionally, he also likes to buy ham, cat food, cat treats, and the like for stray cats.

Then you can trick them into coming and masturbating for a long time.

However, compared to Lu Yan and his group's attitude, the other group had a completely opposite attitude.

Chapter 26 The Baron's Team, the Hundred-Year-Old Netherwolves

This other group naturally refers to Baron Lingfeng and his entourage.

Lu Yan and the others probably never expected that the Baron's group, who entered the Soul Hunting Forest a day earlier than them, were also not in a hurry to hunt for their first Soul Ring.

Instead, they conducted practical combat training for the young baron on the outskirts of the Soul Hunter Forest.

The young baron, who looked like a seven or eight-year-old Soul Warrior and was nearly 1.6 meters tall, was a sight to behold.

Holding a long spear, he remained fearless in the face of three Nether Wolves surrounding him from three sides.

His still-childish, heroic face revealed a chilling killing intent, and his sharp eyes moved back and forth between the three ghost wolves as his body and steps shifted.

Holding a heavy spear that looked like it was made of rock, the martial spirit inexplicably exuded a dignified aura, causing the three Nether Wolves to hesitate and shrink back.

Grinning and grimacing, it frantically dug at the ground, lunging forward but slowly retreating step by step.

"Die!" The three Nether Wolves cowered and hesitated, but the young baron did not hesitate. He roared and his spear shot out like a dragon.

With a "whoosh," the spear pierced towards a ghost wolf at lightning speed, precisely plunging into its throat before the wolf could even react.