Four days later, the group left Spirit City once again.
This time there were fewer of them.
Qian Daoliu did not go.
Neither did Qianjun.
Longyu took some time to accept that.
His first expedition had included two Titled Douluo.
It was easy to become accustomed to absurd levels of security.
This time they were accompanied by Blue Luan Douluo, Mu Qinghe, and several Spirit Hall Soul Masters specialized in exploration.
Renxue.
Luoyue.
Longyu.
Lingyu had also insisted on going.
She was not searching for her ring yet.
She wanted to observe.
Jin Yue had insisted even more.
Golden Crocodile had said no.
Longyu suspected she was still protesting back in Spirit City.
The region lay to the south.
Tall forests.
Rocky hills.
Constant air currents flowing from a nearby mountain range.
Perfect for aerial Soul Beasts.
Luoyue carried a map.
Blue Luan did not.
Longyu noticed.
“You know the way?”
“Yes.”
Luoyue looked at him.
“When were you here?”
“About thirty years ago.”
“And you remember everything?”
“The important parts.”
Luoyue opened her notebook.
Blue Luan sighed.
“You don’t need to write down everything I say.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because you didn’t write anything down either.”
Longyu decided to walk a few steps faster.
He did not want to get caught in the middle.
They encountered their first aerial Soul Beast before noon.
It was none of the species they were searching for.
A gray bird around twenty years old.
Luoyue identified it.
“Stonewing Sparrow.”
Longyu looked at her.
“How do you know its age?”
“Outer feather coloration and beak size.”
Blue Luan intervened.
“Exact?”
Luoyue immediately corrected herself.
“Estimate.
Between fifteen and thirty.”
Blue Luan nodded.
Longyu smiled.
Everyone was becoming irritatingly precise.
He liked it.
The first Blue Feather Gale Hawk appeared on the second day.
Luoyue saw it before the scouts did.
“Above.”
Everyone looked upward.
A blue silhouette crossed the clouds.
Fast.
Very fast.
Longyu nearly lost sight of the bird when it changed direction.
Luoyue did not.
Her eyes followed every movement.
“Juvenile.”
Blue Luan asked:
“Age?”
“Under one hundred.”
“Why?”
“Wingspan is too small.
The blue coloration hasn’t reached the secondary feathers.”
Blue Luan nodded.
They did not pursue it.
It was too young.
But Luoyue watched it for almost twenty minutes.
Longyu did too.
The bird did not fly like an ordinary hawk.
It used air currents.
Reduced unnecessary movement.
Rapid changes in direction.
Control.
Efficiency.
When it disappeared, Luoyue looked at her notes.
“I like it.”
Longyu smiled.
“We still haven’t seen one of suitable age.”
“I know.”
“Or the other species.”
“I know.”
“Then—”
“Longyu.”
“Yes?”
“I know how your method works.”
Longyu closed his mouth.
Lingyu laughed.
They found the first Radiant Sunhawk near sunset.
Renxue sensed it before she saw it.
She stopped.
“Light.”
Longyu looked around.
“Where?”
Renxue raised her head.
On a rocky ledge stood a bird.
Its feathers were gold and white.
When the final sunlight of the day touched its wings, they seemed to burn.
It was not true fire.
It was condensed light.
Longyu immediately sensed the reaction.
Not from his Martial Soul.
From Renxue.
The Six-Winged Seraph appeared involuntarily behind her for a moment.
The Sunhawk spread its wings.
A luminous pressure answered.
Blue Luan raised a hand.
“Stay still.”
No one attacked.
Observe first.
Conclude afterward.
Longyu almost smiled when he recognized the lesson.
The bird watched them from above.
Territorial.
Not afraid.
Renxue took one step forward.
The Sunhawk screeched.
Light gathered around its wings.
“Ranged attack,” Longyu said.
Luoyue was already writing.
“Concentration on the primary feathers.”
Renxue smiled.
“I want to see it.”
“Don’t provoke—”
Too late.
Renxue released a small amount of her aura.
The Sunhawk reacted.
A golden line descended from the cliff.
Mu Qinghe almost intervened.
Blue Luan did not.
“Let her.”
Renxue raised a hand.
Golden Soul Power collided with the light.
Boom.
The explosion was small.
Renxue moved half a step backward.
“I like it.”
Longyu ignored that.
“The density was high.”
Lingyu asked:
“Purification?”
Longyu looked at the point of impact.
Hard to know.
Blue Luan spoke.
“Do not measure everything from a single attack.”
Another lesson.
The Sunhawk descended.
This time it attacked with its claws.
Fast.
Renxue moved.
Without a Soul Ring yet, her options were limited.
But her Martial Soul was absurd even without one.
She avoided the first pass.
The bird climbed.
Turned.
Dropped again.
Longyu watched.
Attack.
Flight.
Light.
Aggression.
Excellent.
But something was missing.
“Age,” he said.
Luoyue studied the feathers.
Blue Luan did as well.
“Three hundred,” she said.
“Higher.”
Luoyue frowned.
“Four hundred?”
“Close.”
Blue Luan studied the claws.
“Between four hundred and four hundred fifty.”
Renxue looked toward Longyu.
He already knew the question.
“Compatible.”
“Age?”
“Safe.”
Renxue frowned.
“That sounded like you wanted an older one.”
Longyu did not answer immediately.
That was the problem.
It was a very good beast.
Possibly excellent.
But Renxue could probably endure more.
Should they reject it for that reason alone?
Longyu remembered his own rule.
COMPATIBILITY FIRST.
AGE SECOND.
He looked at the Sunhawk again.
“I don’t know.”
Renxue looked surprised.
“You don’t know?”
“It’s a good candidate.”
“Then—”
“But I want to observe it more.”
Blue Luan smiled.
“Correct.”
They did not kill it.
That surprised one of the Spirit Hall Soul Masters.
“We’re letting it go?”
Longyu looked at him.
“We still don’t know if it’s the best choice.”
“But it’s compatible.”
“Compatible does not mean optimal.”
Blue Luan added:
“And a four-hundred-year Soul Beast is not especially difficult to find again.”
The scout nodded.
Eventually, the Sunhawk flew away.
Renxue watched it leave.
“If we don’t find a better one, we come back for it.”
Longyu nodded.
“Yes.”
That was important too.
They did not need to turn every decision into an impossible search for perfection.
On the third day, they found Luoyue’s candidate.
A Blue Feather Gale Hawk.
Much older.
It was hunting.
Luoyue raised a hand before anyone spoke.
“Don’t interfere.”
Longyu watched her.
The hawk descended from high altitude toward a small terrestrial Soul Beast.
But it did not attack in a straight line.
It turned.
Used the wind.
Changed direction twice.
The prey attempted to hide among the trees.
The Gale Hawk reduced its speed.
Tilted one wing.
Entered between the trunks.
Luoyue held her breath.
It barely lost any speed.
“Maneuverability,” she murmured.
The hawk attacked.
Missed.
Instead of immediately climbing again, it used a lateral current and attacked from another angle.
Longyu watched Luoyue.
She was not looking at power.
She was watching movement.
Exactly what she needed.
After several minutes, Blue Luan asked:
“What do you think?”
Luoyue took some time.
“It’s better than the records suggest.”
“Why?”
“The books describe speed and wind.”
She pointed toward the bird.
“But that isn’t the most important part.”
“What is?”
“Control.”
Longyu smiled.
Luoyue continued:
“It doesn’t waste movement.
It can change direction without losing too much speed.
It uses the wind to correct its trajectory.”
Blue Luan nodded.
“Age.”
Luoyue observed carefully.
The bird was considerably older than the previous one.
“Between five hundred and six hundred.”
Blue Luan said nothing.
That meant she should continue.
Luoyue studied the feathers.
“The secondary color is fully developed.
Tail is complete.
The claws show wear, but not too much.”
Pause.
“Five hundred fifty?”
Blue Luan smiled.
“Close.”
Longyu looked toward Mu Qinghe.
The healer reviewed the data they had brought with them.
Luoyue had good circulation.
A weaker physical constitution than Jin Yue.
Innate Soul Power level nine.
“Elevated,” Mu Qinghe said.
Longyu nodded.
“But potentially acceptable.”
Luoyue looked at them.
Nor proud like Renxue.
She was focused.
“Compatibility?”
Longyu answered:
“Very high.”
“Risk?”
Mu Qinghe answered:
“Higher than a conventional ring.
Lower than the one Longyu absorbed, according to your current data.”
Luoyue looked back toward the hawk.
“I want this one.”
Blue Luan said nothing.
Neither did Longyu.
It was her choice.
But one thing remained.
“First,” Longyu said, “we need to test its abilities directly.”
Luoyue nodded.
“I know.”
This time, it was not five children fighting together against a beast like the Ruinclaw.
The future Soul Master needed to understand what she was about to absorb.
Blue Luan restricted the hawk.
He did not completely immobilize it.
He only prevented it from escaping.
Luoyue stepped forward.
Her Blue Luan appeared behind her.
The Gale Hawk reacted immediately.
Two birds.
Two different bloodlines.
Both of the wind.
Longyu observed their interaction.
The Gale Hawk attacked.
Luoyue dodged.
She could not truly fly yet.
But she used her Martial Soul to reduce her weight and enhance her movement.
First pass.
Miss.
Second.
Luoyue read the angle.
Moved earlier.
Jin Yue would have tried to hit it.
Renxue would have counterattacked.
Luoyue observed.
Third pass.
Fourth.
Longyu began to recognize the pattern.
Luoyue did too.
But then the hawk changed.
An unexpected turn.
Wind struck from the side.
Luoyue fell.
Blue Luan took one step forward.
She raised a hand.
“I’m fine.”
She stood.
Longyu smiled faintly.
They had learned the Ruinclaw’s lesson.
A repeated pattern was not a law.
The test lasted several minutes.
By the end, Luoyue was breathing heavily.
But her eyes remained sharp.
“I want it.”
Blue Luan watched her.
“Why?”
“Not because it’s strong.”
“Then?”
“Because I want to learn how to move like that.”
Silence.
Blue Luan smiled.
“Good.”
The decision was made.
They did not kill the Gale Hawk immediately.
Mu Qinghe first examined Luoyue again.
Longyu verified the estimates.
The adults discussed the risk.
Finally, Blue Luan nodded.
Luoyue delivered the final strike.
There was no celebration.
She bowed slightly.
“Thank you.”
Longyu looked at her.
He had done the same with the Ruinclaw.
He had never taught her that.
Perhaps he did not need to.
The yellow ring began to form.
Deeper in color than an ordinary one.
Close to the edge between shades.
Luoyue sat down.
Blue Luan immediately stood behind her.
Mu Qinghe at her side.
Longyu took out his notebook.
Renxue looked at him.
“You’re going to take notes while she absorbs it?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t you just worry like a normal person?”
Longyu thought.
“I can do both.”
Renxue shook her head.
The energy entered.
Luoyue tensed.
Longyu watched.
Breathing.
Flow.
Reaction.
Pain.
Adaptation.
It was not like his absorption.
The Gale Hawk’s energy was less brutal.
Faster.
It moved through the meridians like currents.
Luoyue had to keep it controlled.
Blue Luan remained motionless.
But Longyu saw his hand tighten.
Grandfather before Titled Douluo.
Twenty minutes passed.
Thirty.
Forty.
Luoyue’s breathing began to stabilize.
Lingyu smiled first.
“She’s improving.”
Mu Qinghe nodded.
Longyu finally allowed his shoulders to relax.
A short while later…
Weng.
The yellow ring stabilized.
Luoyue’s eyes opened.
For an instant, a current of blue wind swept across the ground.
The Blue Luan appeared behind her.
Its wings seemed slightly longer.
Longyu noticed immediately.
So did Blue Luan.
Luoyue slowly stood.
Renxue walked closer.
“Soul Skill?”
Luoyue looked at her hands.
Then smiled.
A small smile.
But genuine.
“I think you’re going to like it.”
Longyu closed his notebook.
For now.
They had obtained the group’s second Soul Ring.
And much more importantly…
they had a second case.
His theory was still far from proven.
But for the first time, Longyu could do something he could not before.
Compare.
And that was exactly how serious research began.