"It's just that her talent is a bit better than mine, her face is prettier than mine, and that place is even smaller than mine." Hu Liena felt somewhat indignant in her heart.
Moreover, that girl had already left three years ago, yet she remained in Jiang Chen's heart even now.
"Um… Senior Sister, don't overthink it. The reason I thought of you just now is probably that you've charmed me too many times, so I couldn't help but fantasize about you," Jiang Chen said, fearing Hu Liena would feel awkward, and came up with an excuse.
Who would have thought that after hearing this, Hu Liena seemed to have swallowed gunpowder. Her face full of anger, she glared fiercely at Jiang Chen, turned, and ran off.
"What's wrong with her?" Jiang Chen was completely baffled.
During the rest of the journey, Hu Liena didn't say another word to Jiang Chen, leaving him extremely depressed.
"Where exactly did I offend her? Could it be that she never liked me at all, and now that she saw me fantasizing about her in my mind, she got angry?"
The more Jiang Chen thought about it, the more he felt this was the case. He completely failed to realize that Hu Liena was actually jealous.
"Sigh, it seems I should try to avoid contact with her in the future." Jiang Chen shook his head and sighed.
…
The group advanced straight into the depths of the forest and soon reached the area where ten-thousand-year soul beasts appeared.
There was a huge dividing line between ten-thousand-year soul beasts and thousand-year soul beasts. In places where ten-thousand-year soul beasts existed, thousand-year soul beasts were rarely active.
The place they were in now was mostly inhabited by soul beasts that had just barely exceeded ten thousand years.
Yue Guan Douluo was puzzled and couldn't help asking, "Your Holiness, the Pope, isn't Jiang Chen only at rank thirty? Why have we come to the ten-thousand-year soul beast zone?"
Although it was a question, his tone was extremely respectful.
"He wants to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring," Bibi Dong said simply and stopped speaking.
In an instant, Yue Guan's expression became extremely colorful.
Absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring as the third soul ring, was he insane?
Even the Ghost Douluo, shrouded in his black robe, let out a surprised sound. They knew Jiang Chen's talent was extraordinary, but absorbing a ten-thousand-year ring for the third one was simply too terrifying.
The group no longer ventured deeper and instead began searching sideways.
Along the way, they encountered several ten-thousand-year soul beasts, but Jiang Chen wasn't particularly satisfied. As the sky began to darken, everyone had no choice but to retreat to a slightly more peripheral area to set up camp.
Nighttime was the most dangerous period in the forest; soul beasts were far more active at night than during the day.
They retreated all the way to the hundred-year soul beast zone before stopping. Tents were quickly set up, a bonfire was lit, and dinner preparations began.
Although lighting a fire at night in the Star Dou Forest was generally inadvisable, with so many high-level Spirit Hall experts present, and this being only the hundred-year soul beast area, there was no concern at all.
Hu Liena seemed to have become a stranger to Jiang Chen; she didn't say a single word to him the entire night.
Inside the tent, Jiang Chen took out a thick book and began reading. This was the book Bibi Dong had given him.
It recorded thousands upon thousands of soul beasts. Over hundreds of thousands of years, Spirit Hall had documented countless martial souls and had reached a terrifying level of research on soul beasts.
Every soul beast described in the book was depicted in extreme detail, what characteristics they had, where their weaknesses lay, suggestions on how to hunt them, and so on.
Jiang Chen was inwardly amazed. Completing such a monumental work was not something one generation could achieve; it was the crystallization of knowledge from countless generations of Spirit Hall members.
He guessed that perhaps the soul beast research Yu Xiaogang had done wasn't as detailed as what was in this book.
Back when Grandmaster joined Spirit Hall, due to issues with his aptitude and cultivation, his status had been extremely low. Later, at Bibi Dong's suggestion, he shifted his focus to researching martial souls.
Spirit Hall was spread across the entire continent, with awakenings every year numbering in the tens of thousands. Grandmaster took advantage of Spirit Hall's massive convenience in this area, referenced countless cases, and truly developed a set of theories.
However, when he excitedly announced his theories to the entire soul master world, he immediately faced suppression from Spirit Hall's higher-ups, and various denials, slanders, and mockery followed.
Jiang Chen wondered whether Spirit Hall's higher-ups had already mastered these theories long ago but wanted to keep the knowledge firmly in their own hands. Grandmaster's bold public announcement had touched upon Spirit Hall's interests.
One could imagine that if Grandmaster's theories were accepted by the world, the entire soul master world would experience a massive leap forward, which would inevitably threaten Spirit Hall's position.
Shaking his head, Jiang Chen stopped speculating about these matters. Whether his guess was right or wrong didn't matter. As long as the theory was useful, it didn't matter who discovered it.
Jiang Chen had an excellent memory. He had already read more than half of the thick book and had memorized a large amount of soul beast knowledge.
The next day, the group set off again. Not long after, they reached the ten-thousand-year soul beast zone.
Along the way, Jiang Chen repeatedly shook his head, rejecting several soul beasts. Although the ones they encountered had all reached ten-thousand-year cultivation, they were too common and lacked anything particularly attractive to Jiang Chen.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Jiang Chen finally found something.
Fifty meters away from them was a snow-white little beast. Its appearance greatly resembled a mouse, but its body was very slender, and strands of electric arcs occasionally flickered across its body.
Jiang Chen's heart leaped with joy. He couldn't help exclaiming softly, "Lightning Marten."
His voice was light, but it still startled the snow-white little beast fifty meters away.
The little beast raised its head, spotted Jiang Chen's group, and immediately, a large amount of electric arcs burst from its body. Its figure vanished into thin air, reappearing a hundred meters away.
"Teacher."
As soon as he spoke, Bibi Dong chased after it. A Title Douluo's speed was so fast that the current him could only look on in admiration.
Yue Guan Douluo and Ghost Douluo didn't speak but followed Bibi Dong and shot forward.
"Hurry and follow His Holiness the Pope," Ji Tongling shouted, leading the main force after them.
In Jiang Chen's line of sight, the Lightning Marten flickered several more times before disappearing completely.
Bibi Dong hadn't even released her martial soul, yet her speed was still much faster than Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo. She pursued the Lightning Marten until she vanished from everyone's view.
Jiang Chen and the Forbidden Army followed Bibi Dong's tracks from behind.
Although the Lightning Marten's teleportation skill was abnormal, the number of times it could be used each day was limited. It shouldn't be able to escape Bibi Dong's grasp.
After advancing several thousand meters, Jiang Chen finally saw Bibi Dong again.
In Bibi Dong's hand was the Lightning Marten. Together with Yue Guan, she walked back toward the group.
"Little Chen, are you sure you want to absorb this Lightning Marten's soul ring?" Bibi Dong asked.
Jiang Chen nodded. "Absorbing the Lightning Marten's soul ring has a high chance of granting a speed-type skill. If I'm lucky, I might even obtain a teleportation skill."
Jiang Chen wasn't particularly concerned about speed-type skills; what he cared about was only the teleportation skill.
Bibi Dong agreed, "Very well. The Lightning Marten's teleportation skill requires lightning attributes to exert its maximum power. Otherwise, the teleportation distance will be very short. Still, even short-distance teleportation is extremely valuable for you."
Indeed, for an assault-system soul master, possessing a teleportation skill, even short-range, would make them extraordinarily terrifying.
Bibi Dong continued, "However, teleportation skills are rare and unpredictable. Among a hundred soul masters who absorb a Lightning Marten soul ring, not even one may obtain the teleportation skill. You need to be mentally prepared."
"Teacher, I understand," Jiang Chen replied. He took the Lightning Marten from Bibi Dong's hand. Sharp fangs extended from his mouth, and he bit down fiercely toward the Lightning Marten's neck.
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