The growl echoed from the depths of the cave.
Longyu tightened his grip on the Destruction Coiling Dragon Staff.
Around him, the others prepared themselves as well.
Jin Yue stepped forward almost instinctively.
Qianjun extended an arm and stopped her.
“Not yet.”
Jin Yue frowned.
“Didn’t you say we were going to find out how it fights?”
“Yes.”
“Then we have to fight it.”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Qianjun looked at the five children.
“I want you to learn the difference between fighting and hunting.”
Jin Yue tilted her head slightly.
“What’s the difference?”
“In a fight, you usually know what you’re fighting.” Qianjun pointed toward the cave entrance.
“In a hunt, you first have to find out.”
Longyu committed those words to memory.
Qianjun continued.
“So far, we know its appearance, an estimate of its age, and a few characteristics recorded more than three hundred years ago.
That doesn’t mean we know how it fights.”
Luoyue nodded.
It was exactly what they had discovered over the past two days.
Records could be useful.
They could also be incomplete.
“You five will face it.”
Jin Yue immediately smiled.
Renxue, however, looked at Qianjun.
“All five of us?”
“Yes.”
“None of us have Soul Rings yet.”
“I know.”
Qianjun raised his staff.
“And I’ll be here.”
Jiangmo smiled from behind them.
“Unfortunately for the lizard, so will I.”
Mu Qinghe remained close to Lingyu.
Qianjun pointed toward a rocky area in front of the cave.
“You will not try to kill it.
You will not pursue it if it retreats.
You will not enter the cave.
And if I tell you to withdraw, you will do so immediately.”
His gaze settled especially on Jin Yue.
“Immediately.”
“Understood.”
“Jin Yue.”
“Understood!”
Qianjun then looked at Longyu.
“Your goal isn’t to prove that this beast is suitable for you either.”
Longyu understood.
“Observe first.
Conclude afterward.”
“Good.”
A second growl came from the cave.
Closer this time.
Qianjun stepped back.
“Then observe.”
The Ruinclaw Dragon Lizard slowly emerged from the darkness.
In broad daylight, it appeared even more robust than before.
Its four front claws scraped against the rock as it advanced.
Scrrrch.
Its violet eyes swept over the group.
Then they stopped on Longyu.
Or, more precisely, on his staff.
The small dragon coiled around the weapon raised its head.
The Ruinclaw growled.
Longyu felt that strange vibration again.
But this time, he was prepared.
He did not try to interpret it.
He simply remembered it.
“It recognizes us,” Lingyu whispered.
“Or it recognizes the staff,” Longyu replied.
“Is there a difference?”
“A big one.”
The Ruinclaw advanced.
Jin Yue bent her knees.
Her Golden Crocodile appeared behind her.
She still had no Soul Rings.
None of them did.
But simply awakening a high-quality Martial Soul already altered the body and allowed them to use their innate Soul Power in basic ways.
“Jin Yue,” Renxue said.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.
You were about to run straight at it.”
Jin Yue remained silent.
Because that was exactly what she had been about to do.
Longyu almost smiled.
Then the Ruinclaw disappeared from where it stood.
Not literally.
It was simply too fast.
“Right!”
Luoyue was the first to react.
The creature propelled itself forward with its hind legs.
Jin Yue raised both arms.
“Come on!”
BOOM!
The claw struck.
Jin Yue was sent flying several meters.
“Jin Yue!”
Lingyu took a step forward.
“I’m fine.”
Jin Yue planted one foot against the ground and managed to remain standing.
Her expression was completely different now.
She was no longer smiling.
“That…”
She moved her arms.
“That was strong.”
Jiangmo burst out laughing from behind them.
“Excellent research.”
Jin Yue ignored him.
Longyu studied her arms.
“Just strength?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Jin Yue looked at her own hand.
“My Soul Power…”
Longyu stepped closer.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
She clenched her fist.
“When I blocked, I reinforced my arms.
But when its claws touched my Soul Power…”
She frowned.
“It felt like something weakened it.”
Longyu immediately looked toward the Ruinclaw.
The creature was already preparing to attack again.
“Did it pierce through it?”
“No.”
Jin Yue shook her head.
“It made it…
unstable.”
Longyu felt a spark of excitement.
But he suppressed it.
One observation.
Only one.
It wasn’t enough.
“We need to repeat it.”
Jin Yue stared at him.
“You want it to hit me again?”
“Preferably without sending you flying.”
“Let it hit you.”
“It probably will.”
Renxue interrupted them.
“You can argue later.”
The Ruinclaw charged.
This time, they worked together.
Luoyue remained in the rear.
She did not possess Jin Yue’s physical strength or the extraordinary quality of Renxue’s Six-Winged Seraph, but her eyes never stopped tracking the Soul Beast.
“Left!”
Longyu turned.
The claw passed centimeters from his chest.
He countered with his staff.
He used no technique.
Just a strike against the creature’s side.
Clang!
The impact sounded like metal striking metal.
Longyu’s hands trembled.
The Ruinclaw barely moved.
Longyu retreated.
“Extremely durable scales.”
“We already knew that!” Jin Yue shouted.
“Now we’ve confirmed it.”
“This isn’t the time to write a book!”
Luoyue replied from behind them.
“Actually, I’m writing it down.”
Jin Yue looked at her.
“You too?”
That moment of distraction nearly earned her another strike.
“Jin Yue!” Renxue shouted.
The girl reacted.
A claw swept past her face.
“Fine.
I’ll complain later.”
Renxue advanced.
A faint golden light appeared around her body.
The silhouette of the Six-Winged Seraph rose behind her.
Even without Soul Rings, her presence was completely different.
The Ruinclaw stopped.
For the first time, it took half a step backward.
Renxue smiled.
“It’s afraid of me.”
“Not necessarily,” Longyu said.
“Let me enjoy it.”
But Renxue did not attack.
Qianjun had forbidden her from relying solely on the superiority of her Martial Soul.
Instead, she observed her companions’ positions.
“Jin Yue, front.”
Jin Yue smiled.
“Now that I like.”
“Longyu, right.
I’ll take the left.
Luoyue, keep watching.
Lingyu…”
“I’ll monitor everyone’s condition,” Lingyu replied.
Renxue nodded.
For the first time, the five stopped looking like children attacking the same creature.
They began to look like a team.
The Ruinclaw attacked Jin Yue three times.
The first was frontal.
The second used its right claw.
The third did as well.
Luoyue narrowed her eyes.
“It favors the right.”
Longyu had noticed it too.
“We don’t know yet whether it’s a preference or a pattern.”
The creature attacked again.
Right.
Jin Yue dodged.
“Four!”
Luoyue continued watching.
The next attack came from the left.
Then right.
Then right again.
“Two attacks with the right, then it changes direction,” Luoyue said.
Longyu studied the creature.
It was possible.
The Ruinclaw turned.
First right.
Jin Yue blocked.
Longyu sensed the fluctuation of Soul Power.
Second right.
Renxue moved.
“Left next!”
The Ruinclaw planted its forelegs against the ground.
Its body twisted.
Longyu saw the tail too late.
“BACK!”
WHOOOSH!
The tail swept through the space Renxue had occupied an instant earlier.
But Jin Yue had no time.
A hand appeared in front of her.
BOOM!
The enormous tail stopped.
Qianjun stood there.
A single hand held the tail of a nearly six-hundred-year-old Soul Beast.
The Ruinclaw roared and pulled.
Qianjun did not move an inch.
The five children fell silent.
The difference was absurd.
Qianjun released the tail.
The creature immediately retreated.
He did not pursue it.
Instead, he looked at Luoyue.
“What did you learn?”
Luoyue lowered her head slightly.
“I was wrong.”
“We already know that.
What did you learn?”
She thought.
Longyu knew the answer.
But he did not speak.
Luoyue finally raised her gaze.
“That an observation repeated several times does not necessarily establish a rule.”
Qianjun nodded.
“Better.”
Longyu committed the sentence to memory.
Another thing he would need to write down.
Later.
The hunt continued.
This time, they were more careful.
Lingyu was the one who noticed the next problem.
“Jin Yue.”
“What?”
“Your right arm.”
Jin Yue moved it.
“It’s fine.”
“No.”
Lingyu approached.
Her Healing Angel appeared faintly behind her.
She still could not truly heal without a Soul Ring, but her sensitivity toward vitality was superior to the others’.
“Your circulation is different.”
Mu Qinghe watched from behind without interfering.
Jin Yue looked at Longyu.
“The claw.”
Longyu nodded.
“Probably.”
Two impacts.
Two similar observations.
It was still not enough to understand the mechanism.
But it was becoming harder to dismiss as coincidence.
“It isn’t simply breaking defenses through force,” Longyu said.
Renxue understood.
“It weakens them first.”
“Or simultaneously.”
Longyu studied the four claws.
“For now: erosive interference with Soul Power.”
Jin Yue frowned.
“That’s the name?”
“It’s a provisional description.”
“It’s too long.”
“I’m not trying to make it sound good.”
Jiangmo spoke from behind them.
“I’d call it ‘claws that break things.'”
Longyu looked at him.
“Surprisingly accurate.”
Jiangmo smiled.
Then it was Longyu’s turn.
The Ruinclaw charged directly at him.
There was no doubt about its target this time.
The staff.
Longyu breathed.
His hands shifted position.
Left foot forward.
Right foot back.
Hips.
Shoulders.
Arms.
He could not use a Soul Skill.
He did not have one yet.
But for generations, the wielders of the Coiling Dragon Staff had not depended exclusively on Soul Rings.
Qianjun and Jiangmo had begun teaching him the fundamentals shortly after his awakening.
The Nine Coiling Dragon Techniques.
Longyu could only execute the first one crudely.
But that would be enough.
The Ruinclaw leaped.
Longyu twisted his waist.
Soul Power flowed through his arms.
The dragon coiled around the staff opened its eyes.
“Dragon Shakes the Earth!”
The staff descended.
BOOM!
Pain.
That was the first thing he felt.
His arms nearly went numb.
The impact was too strong.
Longyu was forced backward.
But the Ruinclaw did not continue in a straight line either.
Its head had been knocked off course.
Only by a few centimeters.
Enough.
The creature landed beside him instead of on top of him.
Longyu rolled away.
Renxue immediately took his place.
Jin Yue struck the beast’s side.
Luoyue shouted:
“Fall back!”
All three obeyed.
Longyu stood.
His hands were trembling.
Qianjun was watching him.
He said nothing.
But Longyu could see a hint of approval in his eyes.
The technique had been incomplete.
His strength was insufficient.
His circulation still had flaws.
But it had worked.
Then Longyu looked at his staff.
The small dragon was restless.
More than before.
And the Ruinclaw…
was too.
The creature was no longer looking at Jin Yue.
Nor Renxue.
Only at him.
More precisely, at the dragon around his staff.
The Ruinclaw opened its mouth.
ROAR!
The small dragon responded.
Not with sound.
Not yet.
But faint violet energy traveled across the staff.
Qianjun narrowed his eyes.
Longyu felt something strange.
The Ruinclaw’s erosive energy and the Destruction within his Martial Soul were not the same.
He could feel that.
But neither were they completely unrelated.
Like two things that shared a principle without sharing the same origin.
Longyu had no better words for it.
Not yet.
“Grandfather.”
“I felt it,” Qianjun replied.
That was enough.
“It’s over.”
Qianjun’s voice changed completely.
The five children immediately retreated.
Even Jin Yue.
They had learned.
Qianjun walked forward.
The Ruinclaw roared.
The Coiling Dragon Staff appeared in his hand.
Longyu held his breath.
He had seen his grandfather’s Martial Soul many times.
But never like this.
Not as an enemy.
Not as a hunter.
Not with the intention of dominating something.
Pressure descended upon the area.
The stones trembled.
The Ruinclaw retreated.
For the first time since they had found it…
it looked terrified.
Qianjun raised his staff.
No Soul Ring appeared.
There was no need.
He struck.
Longyu barely saw the movement.
BOOOOOOM!
The Ruinclaw was sent flying.
It crashed through a rock formation.
Stone and dust exploded into the air.
Jin Yue’s mouth fell open.
“That…”
Jiangmo smiled.
“That is being strong.”
The Ruinclaw stood up.
Longyu was surprised.
It could still move.
Qianjun had perfectly controlled his strength.
The beast roared.
And attacked.
A Titled Douluo.
Longyu did not know whether to call it courage, instinct, or stupidity.
Its four claws struck the Soul Power surrounding Qianjun’s body.
For an instant…
nothing.
Then Qianjun raised an eyebrow.
A minuscule portion of his Soul Power fluctuated.
Minuscule.
Insignificant to him.
But it had happened.
Qianjun looked at the claws.
Then at Longyu.
“Now I understand why you want it.”
Longyu slowly shook his head.
“Now I understand why I want to study it.”
Jiangmo burst out laughing.
“Get the ring first.
Then you can fall in love with the scales.”
Longyu decided not to respond.
Qianjun moved again.
This time, he ended it quickly.
One strike to the legs.
Another to its side.
A final impact against the ground.
The Ruinclaw fell.
It was breathing.
But it could no longer fight.
Longyu stepped forward.
Then a voice stopped him.
“Wait.”
Luoyue.
Longyu turned.
She was not looking at the beast.
She was looking at the cave.
“What is it?”
Luoyue took several seconds to answer.
“What if it’s the last one?”
Longyu looked back at the Ruinclaw.
His excitement disappeared.
He had not thought enough about that.
A species Spirit Hall had considered extinct for more than three hundred years.
They had found one specimen.
Only one.
And their first reaction had been to evaluate whether he could turn it into a Soul Ring.
Longyu frowned.
“We can’t kill it yet.”
Jin Yue looked at him in surprise.
“After all this?”
“Not if it’s the last one.”
Longyu looked toward Luoyue.
She nodded.
Qianjun did not seem annoyed.
Quite the opposite.
“Then find out.”
They did not need to explore the entire cave system.
Jiangmo entered alongside Qianjun while Mu Qinghe remained with the children and the weakened Ruinclaw.
They returned nearly half an hour later.
Jiangmo carried something in his hand.
A scale.
Much smaller.
Longyu immediately understood.
“Juvenile.”
Qianjun nodded.
“We found tracks of at least four different sizes.”
Luoyue approached.
“How many?”
“We don’t know.”
“More than one?”
“Definitely.”
Jiangmo placed the small scale in her hand.
“And the cave system continues much deeper than we thought.”
Longyu looked toward the cave.
An isolated population.
Perhaps small.
Perhaps much larger.
They did not know.
And precisely because they did not know, they needed to protect it.
“We can’t make this public.”
Qianjun looked at him.
“Why?”
It was a question.
But Longyu suspected his grandfather already knew the answer.
“Because if we announce that we found a draconic species believed to be extinct, Soul Masters will come.”
Luoyue continued:
“For their Soul Rings.”
Lingyu added:
“Their bones.”
“Scales,” Jin Yue said.
“Blood,” Longyu finished.
Renxue looked toward the entrance.
“And in a few years, it really will be extinct.”
Longyu nodded.
“Spirit Hall should record the location.
But access needs to be restricted.”
Luoyue looked at her notebook.
Then she wrote a new word beside the species’ name.
RESTRICTED.
Longyu studied that word.
Someday, if they succeeded in creating the record system he was imagining, not all information should be public.
Knowledge did not mean an absence of responsibility.
Some things needed to be studied.
Others protected.
And some…
both.
Qianjun nodded.
“I’ll report it personally to Qian Daoliu.”
That settled the matter.
Longyu looked at the weakened Ruinclaw.
Now he could make his decision.
The creature was breathing with difficulty.
Its violet eyes remained open.
Longyu slowly approached.
No one spoke.
The Destruction Coiling Dragon Staff appeared in his hands.
This time, not involuntarily.
He had summoned it.
Longyu had read about this moment countless times.
Kill the Soul Beast.
Obtain the Soul Ring.
Absorb it.
Become stronger.
In a book, it was simple.
A sequence.
A mechanism of this world.
But now there was a living creature breathing in front of him.
A creature that had hunted.
That had defended its territory.
That had fought.
And that would die so he could advance.
Longyu would not pretend that meant nothing.
Nor would he pretend he could walk the path of a Soul Master without accepting it.
Qianjun remained behind him.
He did not rush him.
Jiangmo made no jokes either.
Longyu raised the staff.
The Ruinclaw looked at him.
Their violet eyes met.
“Thank you.”
He did not expect the creature to understand.
The words were for himself.
Longyu breathed.
His Soul Power began to circulate.
Feet.
Hips.
Shoulders.
Arms.
Staff.
The first of the Nine Coiling Dragon Techniques.
This time, there was no pressure.
He did not need to redirect an attack.
He only needed to execute it correctly.
“Dragon Shakes the Earth.”
The staff descended.
BOOM.
The Ruinclaw stopped breathing.
Silence.
Longyu did not look away.
Several seconds passed.
Then the light appeared.
Tiny yellow motes began rising from the body.
One.
Ten.
Hundreds.
They slowly gathered above the creature.
The light became brighter.
Deeper.
Denser.
Until it formed a circle.
A yellow Soul Ring.
Longyu immediately felt the pressure radiating from it.
Nearly six hundred years.
Perhaps slightly less.
Perhaps slightly more.
They would never know with absolute certainty.
But Mu Qinghe had considered the risk acceptable.
Qianjun had allowed them to continue.
And Longyu had made his decision.
Then something happened.
The Destruction Coiling Dragon Staff trembled.
Longyu lowered his gaze.
The dragon coiled around the staff raised its head.
Its eyes opened.
Fully.
Violet energy flowed across its scales.
And for the first time…
Longyu heard its voice.
ROOOOOAR!
The roar was not loud.
Perhaps no one outside that small group would have been able to hear it.
But to Longyu, it was as though it had echoed directly within his soul.
The Soul Ring trembled.
Qianjun stepped forward.
Jiangmo stopped smiling.
Mu Qinghe immediately appeared beside Longyu.
“Sit.”
Longyu obeyed.
Lingyu approached.
“What happened?”
“The staff reacted,” Longyu replied.
“Pain?”
“No.”
He looked at the Soul Ring.
“Recognition…
perhaps.”
Mu Qinghe shook his head.
“No theorizing right now.”
Longyu almost smiled.
Fair enough.
Mu Qinghe placed two fingers against his wrist.
“Pulse stable.
Circulation normal.”
Then he looked directly at him.
“This is your last chance.”
Longyu knew what he meant.
He could still withdraw.
They could allow the Soul Ring to disappear.
They could search for another Soul Beast.
No one would force him.
Longyu looked at the yellow ring floating above the Ruinclaw.
A species that should not have been there.
A beast that matched three of the main developmental axes he had chosen for his Martial Soul.
Power.
Dragon.
Breaking.
And a fourth property he still did not dare to name.
His first real investigation.
His first real risk.
His first Soul Ring.
Longyu closed his eyes.
“Let’s begin.”
Mu Qinghe stepped back.
Qianjun positioned himself to his right.
Jiangmo to his left.
Lingyu remained near Mu Qinghe.
Renxue, Jin Yue, and Luoyue watched in silence.
Longyu rested the Destruction Coiling Dragon Staff across his legs.
He extended his perception toward the Soul Ring.
The yellow energy responded.
The ring began to move.
Slowly.
Inch by inch.
Until it hovered above his head.
Longyu felt the weight of nearly six hundred years of energy descending toward him.
And he immediately understood one thing.
Evaluating risk on a sheet of paper…
and feeling that risk entering his body…
were completely different experiences.
The Soul Ring descended.
The energy exploded.
Longyu’s eyes snapped open.
“GH…!”
His meridians burned.
The dragon on the staff roared.
And from somewhere within that violent torrent of energy…
something roared back.
Qianjun took a step forward.
Mu Qinghe raised a hand.
“Not yet.”
Longyu gritted his teeth.
The true hunt was over.
But the true danger of his first Soul Ring…
had only just begun.