The Sacred Crown Eagle did not attack immediately.
That was the first thing Longyu noticed.
The Radiant Sunhawk had responded to Renxue like a territorial predator.
Aggression.
Warning.
Attack.
The eagle was different.
It remained on the rock.
Watching.
Its luminous aura expanded around it.
It did not seem afraid.
Nor particularly hostile.
Renxue fully manifested her Six-Winged Seraph.
Six wings of light appeared behind her.
The Sacred Crown Eagle tilted its head slightly.
“It is reacting to the Martial Soul,” Lingyu murmured.
Longyu nodded.
“But not like the Sunhawk.”
Luoyue was writing.
“No attack posture.”
Blue Luan added:
“Yet.”
Renxue took another step.
The eagle spread its wings.
White-golden light fell over the rock.
Longyu immediately felt something different.
“Purification.”
Lingyu felt it too.
“Yes.”
The air seemed cleaner.
Not physically.
Energetically.
Longyu manifested a tiny amount of destructive Soul Power over one finger.
The eagle’s light reacted.
His violet energy began to weaken.
Longyu immediately dismissed it.
Blue Luan looked at him.
“What did you learn?”
“That it is not only light.”
“We already knew that.”
Longyu smiled.
“Now we observed it.”
Blue Luan nodded.
The next hour was devoted to study.
The eagle eventually left the rock.
It did not flee.
It flew around its territory.
Luoyue followed every movement.
Longyu mentally compared it to the Sunhawk.
The Sunhawk was faster.
More aggressive.
It would likely provide a more directly offensive Soul Skill.
The Sacred Crown Eagle…
Was more balanced.
Light.
Purification.
Flight.
A pressure that vaguely resembled something sacred.
And obvious compatibility with the Seraph.
Renxue watched in silence.
That was unusual.
Normally, she would already have said she wanted to fight it.
“What do you think?” Longyu asked.
“I want it.”
There it was.
“Why?”
Renxue looked at him.
“Because it’s better.”
“That is not a reason.”
“It is.”
“Not scientifically.”
“Not everything needs a chart.”
Longyu considered arguing.
Blue Luan intervened.
“She is right.”
Longyu looked at him.
The old man pointed toward Renxue.
“A Soul Master must also feel their Martial Soul.”
Longyu became thoughtful.
That was difficult to measure.
But difficult to measure did not mean false.
“Does your Seraph react more strongly than with the Sunhawk?”
Renxue nodded.
“Much more.”
“How?”
She searched for words.
“It feels…”
She frowned.
“Right.”
Longyu almost objected to the lack of precision.
He did not.
Instead, he wrote:
Intuitive Martial Soul response: very high.
Renxue looked.
“Did you just turn ‘it feels right’ into a category?”
“Yes.”
“You’re impossible.”
Blue Luan decided to test the eagle.
He released the smallest amount of pressure.
The Soul Beast reacted immediately.
Light exploded from its body.
A circular field spread several meters outward.
Longyu felt his Soul Power become slightly uncomfortable.
Lingyu, on the other hand, took a deep breath.
“It feels pleasant.”
Longyu looked at her.
“For you.”
“Yes.”
Her Six-Winged Seraph even appeared brighter.
Blue Luan withdrew the pressure.
“It has an area purification ability.”
Longyu wrote.
Renxue spoke.
“Does that mean my first Soul Skill will be support?”
Her tone made it very clear that she did not like that possibility.
Longyu shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
Blue Luan agreed.
“The Soul Skill depends on the interaction between the beast, the Martial Soul, and the ring.
It does not copy the creature’s ability exactly.”
Longyu mentally added another future problem to his theory.
Predicting Soul Skills would be probabilistic.
Never absolute.
The final decision took another hour.
Compatibility.
Age.
Renxue’s physical condition.
Attributes.
Future direction.
Risk.
The Sacred Crown Eagle was approximately six hundred years old.
Older than Luoyue’s ring.
Comparable to Longyu’s.
But Renxue’s constitution and, more importantly, the natural protection of the Six-Winged Seraph made Mu Qinghe consider the risk acceptable.
Not low.
Acceptable.
Longyu asked:
“And the Sunhawk?”
Renxue looked at him as if he had just insulted her.
“You’re still asking?”
“We need to compare.”
Blue Luan answered:
“Sunhawk for pure offense.”
He pointed toward the eagle.
“Crown Eagle for more balanced development of light and purification.”
Longyu looked at Renxue.
“Your choice.”
She did not hesitate.
“Sacred Crown Eagle.”
Longyu nodded.
“Then this one.”
The hunt was short.
Not because the eagle was weak.
Because Blue Luan was there.
Even so, Renxue insisted on participating.
The Sacred Crown Eagle fired beams of light from its wings.
Renxue dodged one.
Blocked another.
Took part of a third and was pushed several meters back.
“Renxue!” Lingyu stepped forward.
“I’m fine.”
She was.
Her Seraph had absorbed much of the impact.
Longyu watched.
The affinity was even more obvious in combat.
When their energies collided, they did not violently reject each other.
They seemed to compete for dominance.
Blue Luan weakened the eagle.
Eventually he restrained it against the ground.
Renxue approached.
The beast looked at her.
For the first time, her smile disappeared.
Longyu understood what she was feeling.
They had spent years talking about Soul Beasts as resources.
Rings.
Abilities.
Compatibility.
Age.
But standing before a living creature…
was different.
Renxue placed one hand over its head.
“Thank you.”
Then she ended it quickly.
The yellow ring appeared.
The absorption lasted nearly an hour.
Longyu never stopped observing.
But this time, he also watched Lingyu.
She was paying attention to different things.
Skin color.
Breathing.
Pulse.
Muscle tension.
Meridian flow.
Mu Qinghe occasionally asked her questions.
Longyu smiled.
Lingyu was finding her path, just like Luoyue.
When Renxue began to sweat, Lingyu was the first to point it out.
“Body temperature rising.”
Mu Qinghe nodded.
“Normal.”
Ten minutes later:
“Breathing faster.”
“Still stable.”
Then:
“The circulation around her chest is changing.”
Mu Qinghe looked at her.
This time he took slightly longer.
“Good observation.”
Lingyu smiled.
Longyu returned his attention to Renxue.
Another system was forming beside him.
Finally…
Weng.
The Soul Ring stabilized.
Golden light erupted upward. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Longyu shielded his eyes.
When he looked again, Renxue stood upright.
The Six-Winged Seraph floated behind her.
The yellow ring surrounded her body.
And something had changed.
The wings looked more defined.
The light slightly purer.
Very slightly.
Longyu immediately felt the urge to write.
Renxue saw it.
“Don’t even think about it before asking how I am.”
Longyu stopped.
Put away the pen.
“How are you?”
Renxue smiled.
“Perfectly.”
“Pain?”
“Little.”
“Dizziness?”
“No.”
“Meridians?”
“Ask Lingyu.”
“Soul Power?”
“Longyu.”
“Fine.”
Renxue laughed.
After the examination came the Soul Skill.
Renxue walked toward a large rock.
Her ring lit up.
Light began to gather in front of her hand.
Not around the whole body.
At one point.
Longyu immediately focused.
“First Soul Skill.”
Renxue extended her hand.
“Sacred Light Spear.”
A white-golden spear of light appeared.
Then shot forward.
BOOM!
The rock exploded.
Not completely.
But a deep hole pierced through its center.
Longyu approached.
The edges were not merely broken.
There were traces of purifying energy.
Blue Luan observed.
“Concentrated attack.”
Renxue smiled.
“I told you.”
Longyu raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Attack.”
“It also has purification.”
“But attack first.”
Longyu sighed.
Renxue looked unbearably pleased.
They tested the ability several times.
Sacred Light Spear condensed light and Soul Power into a highly penetrating projectile.
It had range.
Speed.
Considerable power.
And a secondary purifying property.
Against dark, corrupt, or impure energy, it would probably be more effective.
They could not prove all of those categories yet.
Longyu refused to write them as facts.
But the potential was there.
Second Soul Ring acquired during the expedition.
Third case in the group.
Longyu looked at Luoyue.
Then Renxue.
Then his own ring.
Three.
Lingyu and Jin Yue remained.
During the journey back, Luoyue reviewed her records.
Suddenly she looked up.
“Grandpa.”
Blue Luan looked at her.
“Yes?”
“When we return, I want to organize all your archives.”
The old man went silent.
“All of them.”
Blue Luan looked toward Longyu.
Longyu immediately shook his head.
“Not me.”
Luoyue continued:
“And I want to copy the records from the other Worship Hall expeditions.”
Blue Luan sighed.
“Do you know how much work that is?”
“Yes.”
“No, you don’t.”
Luoyue looked toward the mountains.
“Then I’ll find out.”
Longyu smiled.
A thought appeared.
Not merely archives.
If Luoyue continued doing this for years…
she could create something far greater.
A systematic record of the continent’s Soul Beasts.
Habitats.
Attributes.
Age.
Behavior.
Compatibility.
Longyu stored the idea away.
It was too early.
But one day…
an encyclopedia.