Just as he expected, Xuan Zi could barely hide his delight.
A six-year-old child, with no background or backing....this was practically a heaven-sent successor candidate for the Sea God Pavilion. And the ability to control soul beasts?
Pure monstrosity.
A mental-control-type martial soul combined with innate full soul power.....this alone was enough to claim a place among top-tier martial souls.
"Then," Xuan Zi asked, voice trembling slightly,
"are you willing to join Shrek Academy?"
"Willing."
Su Wen answered instantly.
"Hahahaha! Good child!"
Xuan Zi laughed heartily, practically dancing in place.
"However…" Su Wen hesitated.
The smile vanished from Xuan Zi's face at once. Even Zhang Leyun held her breath, both staring at Su Wen nervously.
"I still need to obtain my first controllable soul beast," Su Wen said, scratching his head.
With a top-tier tool like Xuan Zi right here, it would be foolish not to use him.
"No problem!"
Xuan Zi patted his chest confidently.
"I'll personally take you to catch one! Forget thousand-year or ten-thousand-year beasts....even those ferocious creatures lurking in the Star Dou Forest's core, three or four hundred thousand years old—I'll grab one and put it right in front of you!"
"That won't be necessary," Su Wen replied.
"Ten years is enough."
"Ten years?"
Xuan Zi nodded instinctively.
"Ah, that makes sense. You're just starting out. You still need to hunt your first soul ring, after all—"
"I already have my first soul ring."
As the words fell, a white, jade-like soul ring quietly rose beneath Su Wen's feet.
Xuan Zi froze.
Then he exploded.
"WHO THE HELL FILLED IN SU WEN'S FIRST SOUL RING?!"
"Which little bastard did this?!"
He rolled up his sleeves, clearly ready to storm off and beat someone senseless.
"I did," Su Wen said calmly.
Xuan Zi: "..."
"It comes with my martial soul," Su Wen added.
"…I see."
Xuan Zi sighed helplessly.
"Nothing to be done, then. Just a pity
.....someone with your talent should've started with an extreme-limit four-hundred-year soul beast at the very least…"
"But it can be upgraded," Su Wen said casually.
"Upgraded...what the hell did you just say?!"
Xuan Zi stared at him blankly. Even Zhang Lexuan's beautiful eyes widened.
"As the cultivation of my first captured soul beast increases," Su Wen explained,
"the year limit of my soul ring will increase along with it."
Xuan Zi: "..."
He slowly turned to look at Zhang Lexuan.
"I think…"
He swallowed hard.
"I need to head back and report this to Elder Mu."
…
"Whoosh!"
A streak of green flashed through the forest, leaving only a faint afterimage in its wake. Trees on both sides swayed violently as the figure darted through the woodland like a ghost.
The next instant....
A pale hand closed gently around it.
No matter how desperately it struggled, escape was impossible.
"Qingfeng," Zhang Lexuan said calmly, opening her hand.
"A bird-type soul beast with exceptional flight speed.
Judging by its wingspan, its cultivation is around seventeen years."
In her palm lay a tiny green bird, trembling violently.
Its feathers were a pale jade color, delicate and exquisite like a crafted ornament.
"But its abilities are too limited," Su Wen shook his head.
"It doesn't even have an attribute."
Extreme speed alone could be powerful....but only at a tremendous cost.
At this early stage, he preferred a more balanced soul beast....one with offense, defense, and decent mobility.
Frankly speaking, even the wind baboon that once nearly slew a god had more potential than this bird.
At least that one possessed wind attributes and strong growth potential.
More importantly.....
A line of text hovered before Su Wen's eyes.
[Qingfeng Bird — Cultivation: 17.5 years
Attribute: None
Potential: None
Cultivation Value: None]
A triple-zero soul beast.
Since awakening his martial soul, an inspection panel for soul beasts had appeared as well....a living bestiary, saving him a great deal of trouble.
Along the way, most ten-year soul beasts were similar.
Even those with potential listed barely had any worth.
That was simply reality.
Ten-year soul beasts sat at the bottom of the food chain...barely evolved from wild beasts, or born from other ten-year soul beasts. Their bloodlines were firmly locked.
One day ten years.....forever ten years....unless they were extremely rare mutants.
"Buzz~"
Seeing the two lose interest, the Qingfeng Bird's dark eyes darted about.
In a flash, it shot into the air, circled a few times to build speed, then fled skyward without daring to linger on the ground for even a moment.