Chapter 37: Art Of Heavenly Inquiry
“Anyway, we’re going to Sunset Forest. Should we take the chance to act as mercenaries and help someone hunt a Soul Ring?” Meng Huaifeng suggested.
“Of course. It’s a good chance to observe the formation of Soul Rings and the process of absorbing Soul Rings.” Dan Heng nodded in agreement.
Although he somewhat resented this world’s predatory Cultivation System, Dan Heng couldn’t possibly stop others from cultivating.
Whether they helped or not, Spirit Masters who needed to hunt Soul Rings would still do so.
As long as they weren’t hunting Soul Beasts that had gained sentience, Dan Heng didn’t mind lending a hand.
It was no different from hunting for meat.
The group arrived at the town square, which was bustling with activity—some hawking Soul Beast corpses, others seeking teammates.
“Six-hundred-year Golden Deer corpse, antlers intact, selling cheap for one thousand Golden Soul Coins!”
“Sunset Forest outer area Soul Beast distribution map, only ten Silver Soul Coins—you won’t lose out, you won’t be fooled!”
“Third Soul Ring mutual soul hunting, already five people, need one more support system Spirit Master and agility attack system Spirit Master!”
“Professional soul hunting for hire, all Soul Sect members, any bosses?”
……
“Wow, it’s like an online game’s teaming square.” March 7th exclaimed.
“The only difference is no text bubbles over their heads.” Meng Huaifeng added.
Who would’ve thought March 7th would give Meng Huaifeng a disdainful look: “What ancient online game do you play? Ones that still use text bubbles for communication?”
“Uh~” Meng Huaifeng was speechless. His own civilization was still stuck on that little broken planet and hadn’t ventured out—how could it compare to the games made by the Company that spanned the Universe?
“Let’s find a boss first, find a boss.” Meng Huaifeng quickly changed the subject.
Spirit Masters with backing and background always had relatives and friends to help them with soul hunting—people they could trust.
Only those commoner Spirit Masters who weren’t doing well would spend money to hire people to help them hunt Soul Rings.
There weren’t many such people, but plenty of soul hunting teams—it was a case of more wolves than meat, with fierce competition. It was normal for an unknown soul hunting team to go ten days or half a month without a single job.
After getting a basic understanding of the soul hunting market rates, Meng Huaifeng bellowed at the top of his lungs: “Professional soul hunting for hire, 0.5 Golden Soul Coins per year of Soul Beast age, no upper limit. Safe, cheap, and fast, but no escort out of Sunset Forest after obtaining the Soul Ring.”
Normal rates were one Golden Soul Coin per year for Soul Beasts under ten thousand years, extra for rare ones, and prices skyrocketed for those over ten thousand years—the higher the age, the steeper the rise. A hundred thousand year Soul Beast would cost at least ten million Golden Soul Coins.
Of course, that was a price with no takers. If you could actually find and defeat a hundred thousand year Soul Beast, wouldn’t it be better to kill it yourself and get the Soul Bone drop?
Though they wanted to experience life, they didn’t want to waste too much time finding a boss, so Meng Huaifeng slashed prices drastically.
Meng Huaifeng’s quote seriously disrupted the market rates, and the other soul hunting teams glared at them hostilely.
“Where did you soul hunting team come from? Do you understand the rules?”
“No upper limit? What a joke. Here’s fifty thousand Golden Soul Coins—go hunt a hundred thousand year Soul Beast for me and see?”
“So young, what strength could you have?”
“…”
Four or five soul hunting teams closed in, cracking their knuckles menacingly—clearly intending to teach these newcomers a lesson.
“Xing, March.” Meng Huaifeng called out.
“Coming!”
Xing and March 7th stepped in front of Meng Huaifeng, blocking the group.
As they passed Meng Huaifeng, he quietly added: “Don’t go overboard, six Soul Rings will do.”
“Pretty young girl, but her brain isn’t all there.”
“Looks like you haven’t grasped the situation. Let your uncles teach you properly.”
“If you know what’s good for you, get out now…”
Amid the filthy words, Xing and March 7th summoned their Martial Spirits, and six Soul Rings instantly stunned everyone in the square watching the commotion.
Golden energy arcs burst from Xing’s chest, enveloping her body like lightning, radiating an aura of destruction. The nearest soul hunters felt as if a massive boulder was pressing on their hearts, leaving them breathless.
A crystalline snowflake floated before March 7th, and the nearby temperature plummeted rapidly. A visible layer of frost formed on everything within ten meters, and the closest group shivered violently.
“Know what’s good for you and get out with what?” Xing shouldered her Planet Bat and asked.
“Hmph, we’re not to be trifled with.” March 7th bared her teeth menacingly, but it only made her look cuter.
“Sorry for the disturbance!” The soul hunting teams immediately bowed, heads low, and slunk away in defeat.
Soul Emperors this young had to be heirs from some major power out for life experience—couldn’t afford to provoke them.
Anyway, they’d probably do one job and leave—no big deal, no impact.
Bottom-tier Spirit Masters had their own ways to survive.
The crowd in the square instantly erupted, especially those looking to hire soul hunters.
Soul Emperor!
Spirit Masters of that strength were VIPs anywhere—how many soul hunting teams had one?
Even if they did, their rates were outrageously high.
These people were not only strong and cheap, but clearly from prominent backgrounds.
People like that wouldn’t care about their meager wealth—no chance of being targeted maliciously.
Overflowing sense of safety, right?
Though they said no escort after obtaining the Soul Ring, what was the most dangerous part of soul hunting? Finding and hunting the Soul Beast, and the time absorbing the Soul Ring!
Leaving the forest alone was low risk—super worth it!
“Soul Emperor Lord, I need to hunt my fourth Soul Ring, two thousand to five thousand years!”
“My third Soul Ring, anything over one thousand years!”
“…”
Many Spirit Masters who’d planned mutual soul hunting couldn’t resist signing up.
Mutual soul hunting meant low-level Spirit Masters teaming up against stronger Soul Beasts—dangerous and with lower age limits.
Who didn’t dream of absorbing a peak-limit Soul Ring?
Now they could get near-limit Soul Rings for half the price—grit your teeth and it was doable.
Meng Huaifeng only picked three people, not taking them all—after all, those soul hunting teams needed to eat too.
One needed a ten-thousand-year wolf-type fifth Soul Ring, two needed around four-thousand-year fourth Soul Rings.
Entering Sunset Forest, Meng Huaifeng summoned his Martial Spirit, also displaying six Soul Rings.
“Let me Baidu the nearest ten-thousand-year wolf-type Soul Beast location first.” Meng Huaifeng said, as his sixth Soul Ring lit up.
“Soul Skill, Art of Heavenly Inquiry!”
Energy rapidly drained from Meng Huaifeng’s body until a piece of information appeared in his mind, stopping the consumption.
“Found it. Follow me.” Meng Huaifeng took the lead toward the ten-thousand-year wolf Soul Beast’s direction.
This was Meng Huaifeng’s first time using this Soul Skill—Xing’s eyes lit up. If she had this ability, no treasure chests or trash cans could escape her grasp.
Another day dreaming of swapping Martial Spirits with Meng Huaifeng.
What I’ve written might be a bit draggy. From now on, I’ll try to cut back on daily side plots, push the main storyline, and aim for about a hundred chapters per world.
