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The hallmark of feudal times was the exceedingly slow pace of change.
Whether it was time or place, little seemed to shift.
Over a decade had passed, yet the Spirit Hunting Forest remained unchanged. The only difference was the guard at the entrance, who had been replaced.
A flicker of nostalgia passed through Ye Wen's eyes as he reminisced about the excitement and nervousness of his first soul beast hunt, along with the kind advice from the old guard. Time truly flew by.
Though Ye Wen had once wanted to repay the old guard for his guidance, much had changed since then. Still, the old guard himself was a soul master, so he likely hadn't lived in hardship.
This visit was naturally to help his children and new disciples acquire soul rings. After this period of training, the youngsters' physical capabilities had reached their current limits.
As for Ye Wen's biological children, there was no need to elaborate—both Ye Wen and their mothers were exceptionally powerful soul masters. At the time of their martial soul awakening, they could already handle soul rings of at least 700 years. After further training, they were now capable of absorbing thousand-year soul rings.
As for Ma Hongjun and Oscar, Ye Wen hadn't cheated to boost their abilities. Ma Hongjun could handle a 500-year first soul ring, while Oscar could only manage 400 years. Given their humble backgrounds—and the fact that Oscar was a food-based soul master—it was normal for their bodies to be weaker.
With Ye Wen's cultivation level, he could have ventured into the far more formidable Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul rings for these youngsters.
However, the effect of a first soul ring was limited regardless, so this ordinary Spirit Hunting Forest sufficed. There was no need to overcomplicate things.
The children were especially thrilled to visit this legendary place reserved for soul masters. Ye Tianshui tugged at Ye Wen's shirt hem, asking,
"Daddy, can we become soul masters now?"
Ye Wen adored his youngest daughter immensely. Picking her up, he gently pinched her cheeks and replied,
"Of course! Our little Tianshui will officially become a soul master today. Go show off to your mother when we get back."
"Really?! Daddy's the best! Let's hurry inside—I can't wait to surprise Mommy, hehehe."
"All right, all right, we'll do as you wish."
With that, the group entered the Spirit Hunting Forest in grand fashion.
Ye Wen didn't display his soul rings to intimidate the guards but instead took out his Spirit Hall Elder Token.
This token had been given to him by Bibi Dong. On the entire continent of Douluo, only Title Douluos possessed such tokens—with the sole exception being Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, who had obtained it due to the sect's backing.
In the original story, Yu Xiaogang had shown an elder token given to him by Tang Hao.
Clearly, even Bibi Dong wouldn't have handed such a prestigious token to a useless 29-level Grand Soul Master.
These tokens were typically issued to individuals of renown, so it was baffling why Yu Xiaogang had dared to present his token to Bibi Dong.
Thankfully, the guards at the time hadn't thoroughly checked the token's owner. If they had, such a blatant slap in the face of the Spirit Hall would have resulted in Yu Xiaogang being publicly executed and hung on the city walls.
The guards' eyes widened in awe as they hastily bowed in respect.
As for why Ye Wen didn't use his Sage Emblem, it was because few people recognized it due to its low circulation rate.
Being an artificially cultivated Spirit Hunting Forest, the vegetation here wasn't as lush as in the Star Dou Great Forest. There were also well-trodden paths, giving the place a theme park-like vibe reminiscent of his past life.
Ye Tianxin, the eldest daughter, wielded the Blue-Gold Tyrant Spear, which possessed both sharpness and the life attributes of Ah Yin. Thus, she could seek out plant-type soul beasts with enhancement abilities.
However, after the infusion of the Fire Dragon King's essence, the Blue-Gold Tyrant Spear had mutated, gaining the attribute of ultimate fire.
An ultimate fire weapon martial soul.
Without a doubt, it was one of the top-tier super martial souls, bordering on divine-level.
With the vitality of the Blue Silver Emperor essence supporting her, it wouldn't negatively impact Ye Tianxin herself.
Moreover, with the ultimate fire attribute, there was no need to worry about enhancing the fire essence when choosing soul rings. This allowed her to focus on other aspects, as ultimate fire represented the pinnacle of fire on Douluo Star. Breaking through beyond this required ascending to godhood.
Thus, the current priority was still to enhance her with plant-based buffs.
Before long, Ye Wen found an 1,100-year Thorny Bamboo, which was perfectly suited. Without hesitation, he instructed Ye Tian Xin to hunt it down.
There was no need to exterminate every trace of a soul beast—Ye Wen left the bamboo shoots buried underground, though he did crave stir-fried bamboo shoots.
Faced with ultimate fire, a mere thousand-year plant-type soul beast stood no chance.
Ma Hongjun watched Ye Tian Xin's brutally efficient killing method with envy in his eyes. After all, his own flames weren't yet at the ultimate level, and he naturally revered such top-tier fire attacks.
Next was Ye Tianchen's soul ring.
With his own ultimate attribute, there was no need to stack additional effects, so there was no reason to journey to the Extreme North Ice Plains to hunt ice-attribute soul beasts. Instead, the focus should be on maximizing the unique abilities of his weapon martial soul to sweep through enemies when manifesting his martial soul.
The essence of a blade lay in its slashing power, so enhancing that aspect was key.
Surprisingly, this small artificial Spirit Hunting Forest even housed a thousand-year Sword Willow, which astonished Ye Wen. Without hesitation, he instructed Ye Tianchen to hunt it down.
As always, Ye Wen ensured sustainability by replanting the Sword Willow branches around the area, avoiding total annihilation.
At the same time, Ye Wen used this opportunity to teach his two newly acquired disciples about the relationship between humans and soul beasts. It wasn't purely one of mutual destruction but rather a form of coexistence—or perhaps symbiosis.
Soul beasts could live freely without humans, but if humans lost soul beasts, the profession of soul masters would inevitably perish.
Finally, it was Ye Tianshui's turn for a soul ring.
With the pinnacle of True Dragon lineage and the ultimate ice attribute, her martial soul could be considered stronger than even the Angel martial soul—a divine-level martial soul.
There was no need to worry about any bloodline contamination from the soul ring affecting Ye Tianshui's martial soul.
Who would dare challenge a Dragon King?
Only lower-tier True Dragon martial souls like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon needed to continuously hunt True Dragon or pseudo-dragon bloodlines to consolidate their heritage.
Under Ye Wen's powerful divine consciousness, no soul beast information within the Spirit Hunting Forest could remain hidden.
A look of pleasant surprise flashed in Ye Wen's eyes. He hadn't expected such hidden talents to exist within this small artificial Spirit Hunting Forest.
Deep within the forest lay a lake, and hidden beneath its waters was a soul beast with pseudo-dragon bloodline.
"Little Tianshui, you're in luck," Ye Wen said affectionately.
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