Chapter 64: Three Travel Together, Returning to the Star Dou Forest Once More
"Joking is joking, messing around is messing around—but at a critical moment like this, you can't screw me over."
Meng Xiaoyan lightly tugged at Fan Chen's sleeve and whispered. Right now, she was genuinely worried that Fan Chen might trip her up on purpose.
The reason was simple: Guang Ling and the others had decided that Fan Chen and Qian Renxue would take her to obtain her first soul ring.
As for Guang Ling and the others, they would remain hidden in the shadows to provide protection, only intervening if necessary.
"Do I look like that kind of person?"
Fan Chen rolled his eyes at Meng Xiaoyan. Although the two of them often messed with and sabotaged each other, their relationship was actually quite good.
Normally, playful bickering was fine—but when it came to crucial moments, he knew exactly what he should and shouldn't do.
Meng Xiaoyan knew this as well, but her heart was still pounding.
This was her first time obtaining a soul ring. No matter how carefree she usually was, facing something she had never experienced before inevitably made her nervous.
After all, Meng Xiaoyan was still just a child—prone to overthinking.
She wasn't like Fan Chen and Qian Renxue.
Qian Renxue had grown up in the core area of the Spirit Hall since childhood. What she had seen and experienced far surpassed that of her peers.
In fact, she probably knew more than many ordinary adults.
As for Fan Chen, he was an even more special existence. The things stored in his mind were far more numerous than what Qian Renxue carried.
His ability to accept and adapt to new matters was also far stronger than that of ordinary people.
But Meng Xiaoyan was different—she was just an ordinary little girl.
If she hadn't encountered Fan Chen and Qian Renxue back then, she would probably still be staying at the orphanage.
Then, after breaking through to rank ten, she would have been taken away by other members of the Spirit Hall, eventually becoming some kind of public servant or soldier.
Fan Chen had learned about Meng Xiaoyan's past.
Unlike him, she hadn't been in the orphanage since she first gained memories.
She arrived later—more precisely, she was brought there at the age of four.
Her parents had been part of a traveling troupe, wandering from place to place, making a living through acrobatics and various other skills.
Everything Meng Xiaoyan knew about performing had been taught to her personally by her parents.
She had loved performing tricks since she was young, and by the age of four, she had already mastered quite a few.
But that same year, the troupe was attacked by bandits.
Everyone in the troupe was slaughtered by the bandits' blades.
Only she survived—hidden by her mother inside a prop storage box.
Later, Spirit Hall soul masters who arrived at the scene rescued her and brought her to the orphanage.
That was where she met Fan Chen.
Don't be fooled by her usual carefree and bold demeanor—when she first arrived at the orphanage, Fan Chen had seen her more than once hiding in a corner and crying quietly.
Meng Xiaoyan had an unusually deep obsession with money.
In her eyes, it was because they didn't have money that her parents had to wander from place to place.
If they had money, they wouldn't have needed to drift around, wouldn't have encountered the bandits, and her parents wouldn't have died beneath their blades.
If they had money… perhaps everything would have been different.
"Hehe, of course you're not. I'm just nervous, that's all."
Looking at Meng Xiaoyan beside him, smiling apologetically as if trying to curry favor with him, Fan Chen shook his head helplessly and lightly knocked her on the head.
"What are you nervous about? Instead of scaring yourself here, you'd be better off thinking about what kind of soul beast you want for your first soul ring."
As for Meng Xiaoyan's Spirit Eye martial soul, Fan Chen's first thought was to completely copy Huo Yuhao's route.
As for the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm—he didn't even bother thinking about it. Under normal circumstances, it should still be locked deep within the Star Dou Forest by Di Tian, acting as a living power bank.
However, soul beasts of the same lineage as the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm were also very suitable for Meng Xiaoyan.
Unfortunately, they were far too distant. Traveling from Spirit City all the way to the Extreme North was clearly unrealistic.
That left only one option—searching the nearby Star Dou Forest for a suitable mental-type soul beast to serve as her first soul ring.
Mental-type soul beasts were already rarer than most others. Finding one suitable for Meng Xiaoyan was even more difficult.
Even with Fan Chen's ability to sense auras, it would be extremely challenging. That was why Guang Ling and the others had already prepared themselves for a long search.
On the surface, this trip was to help Meng Xiaoyan obtain her first soul ring.
But in reality, there was another purpose.
That was to train the three of them in wilderness survival and team coordination.
Despite their young age, the trio's actual combat strength was not low.
Qian Renxue's current battle power was already enough to confront thousand-year soul beasts directly. Especially after absorbing the inner pill Fan Chen had given her, her strength had increased even further.
Fan Chen, on the other hand, served as the team's support and frontline tank.
The powerful defensive capabilities of the Reverse Edge Demon Armor, combined with the Bai Ze martial soul's keen sensitivity to energy, allowed the trio to avoid many potential dangers.
As for Meng Xiaoyan, she was comparatively weaker. However, with the assistance of weapons forged through Fan Chen's Demon Armor Weapon Imitation, she still possessed a certain degree of combat capability.
It wasn't much—but at least she wouldn't drag the team down.
"First soul ring, huh? Let me see."
Hearing Fan Chen say that, Meng Xiaoyan reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
When she unfolded it, it was filled with dense lines of writing.
Fan Chen leaned over to take a look—and damn, it was all names of mental-type soul beasts.
Purple Spirit Wolves, Silver Valor Beasts—rare soul beasts were all listed there. Even their habits and weaknesses were noted. Her preparation was nothing short of thorough.
Qian Renxue also leaned in at this moment. When she saw what was written on the paper, she smiled softly.
Judging by the neat, delicate handwriting, it was obvious that Meng Xiaoyan had personally gone to the library, found the relevant books, and copied everything down herself.
"There's no need to go through so much trouble. I remember all of this."
After just one glance at the paper in Meng Xiaoyan's hand, Qian Renxue retrieved the corresponding information from her own memory.
"If there's anything you want to know, just ask me. But looking at what you wrote here reminds me of a soul beast that would suit you perfectly."
"What soul beast? Is it written on here?"
The moment Meng Xiaoyan heard this, her spirits lifted, and she hurriedly leaned forward to ask.
"This one."
Qian Renxue placed her slender finger on a name written on the paper.
"Dreamblade Butterfly?"
"Yes, the Dreamblade Butterfly. It's a mental-type soul beast, and its ability involves manipulating dreams to interfere with targets—very suitable for your mutated Spirit Eye martial soul."
Meng Xiaoyan's martial soul was a half-mutated one.
One half possessed mental interference abilities, while the other retained the original characteristics of the Spirit Eye.
This aligned extremely well with the Dreamblade Butterfly's traits, making it an ideal choice for her first soul ring.
"This soul beast isn't particularly rare. It appears in many areas of the Star Dou Forest. If we don't find a more suitable option, using it as your first soul ring would be perfectly fine."
When it came to soul rings, rarer wasn't always better. In specific circumstances, the most suitable was the best choice.
Hearing Qian Renxue's words, Meng Xiaoyan also felt that it made a lot of sense and nodded in agreement.
With a clear target in mind, the three of them began searching in earnest.
With Xiao Bai's assistance, they quickly found traces of a Dreamblade Butterfly.
However, this particular one had a somewhat low cultivation—it had only just broken through the hundred-year mark.
Meanwhile, the maximum soul ring age that Meng Xiaoyan could currently absorb was around five hundred years.
This was roughly on par with what ordinary soul masters could handle for their first soul ring.
Although it couldn't compare to monsters like Fan Chen and Qian Renxue, it was still slightly stronger than the average soul master—clearly, Guang Ling had invested quite a bit into her as well.
"This one's cultivation is too low. Let's look for another."
Fan Chen's suggestion was unanimously approved by Qian Renxue and Meng Xiaoyan.
But just as the three of them were about to leave, Xiao Bai suddenly bristled, fur standing on end.
"Come out—I saw you!"
End of Chapter