Seeing Zhou Sichen agree, Tang Ya almost jumped for joy.
With such a big handsome guy around, her journey wouldn’t be lonely at all.
After finishing the roasted fish, the group pitched their tents, preparing to set out early the next morning to hunt for soul rings.
Zhou Sichen blended in quickly.
Once the tents were set up, they chatted for a while before retreating to their respective tents.
Although Beibei and Tang Ya were a couple, they slept in separate tents.
Lying in his tent, Zhou Sichen silently pulled out a thick, blood-red fur blanket from his spatial ring.
It was custom-made from the pelt of a hundred-year Fire Lion—warm and very comfortable.
If he wasn’t trying to seem somewhat sociable, he wouldn’t even be sleeping in a tent.
Now that he was a Class 4 soul engineer, he had researched and crafted many essential travel soul devices.
After all, one must protect oneself when away from home; he wasn’t going to suffer unnecessarily.
Sitting cross-legged on the Fire Lion blanket, Zhou Sichen began to meditate and cultivate his soul power.
Outside, after confirming there was no danger, the Ice Jade Scorpion also found a spot and began cultivating.
Meanwhile, inside the second and third soul rings of Zhou Sichen’s Book of Contracts, two other powerful beasts—both at 9,999 years of cultivation—were doing the same.
Perhaps because the Book of Contracts was too powerful, Zhou Sichen’s cultivation speed had noticeably slowed down since he broke through rank thirty.
Fortunately, he now had three soul beasts stacking their cultivation speed with his, so the impact wasn’t too severe.
The night passed uneventfully.
By the time the sky was just starting to brighten, Huo Yuhao had already roasted some fish.
After each of them ate one, they set out to find soul rings for Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao.
Zhou Sichen sat cross-legged on the Ice Jade Scorpion’s back and smiled at the other three.
“Hop on.”
Beibei and Tang Ya hesitated for a moment but eventually jumped onto the scorpion’s back.
Huo Yuhao froze; he couldn’t climb up…
Sensing this, the Ice Jade Scorpion reached out one of its massive pincers.
As Huo Yuhao watched in shock, the scorpion grabbed him by the collar and gently placed him on its back.
Then, under Zhou Sichen’s command, the scorpion moved swiftly in a specific direction.
Thankfully, Ah Da hadn’t broken through to the ten-thousand-year level yet; otherwise, its body would shrink again, and four people might not fit.
Some soul beasts grew larger as they got stronger, but the Ice Jade Scorpion actually shrank.
For instance, the Ice Empress, with nearly four hundred thousand years of cultivation, was only about 1.5 meters long.
…
Sitting on the Ice Jade Scorpion, Beibei and the others were extremely nervous.
This was their first time using a soul beast as a vehicle.
The most amazing part was that they didn’t feel cold at all.
The chilling aura emitted by the scorpion was perfectly controlled, making them feel nothing but comfortable.
Once she felt safe, Tang Ya couldn’t help but ask, “Is this your soul skill?
What a unique skill!
I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Beibei nodded in agreement.
“A skill that summons soul beasts.
Truly a rare and miraculous ability.”
Zhou Sichen just smiled.
“We’ll be schoolmates once I enroll at Shrek Academy.
You’ll slowly get to know my abilities then.”
Seeing that Zhou Sichen didn’t want to elaborate, they didn’t pry.
Everyone had their own secrets.
And he was right; once they were schoolmates, there would be plenty of opportunities to learn more.
The scorpion’s back wasn’t huge, so the four of them fit just perfectly.
Enjoying this novel experience, Huo Yuhao inwardly marveled at the uniqueness of soul masters in this world.
Tang Ya looked at Huo Yuhao.
“Yuhao, have you thought about what kind of soul beast you want for your first soul ring?”
Huo Yuhao froze.
Although he knew about the soul master profession, he hadn’t had access to many books growing up, so he genuinely hadn’t planned anything for his soul ring.
His original thought was simply that getting any soul ring would be enough.
Who had the luxury to overthink it?
Huo Yuhao blushed and shook his head.
“N-no.”
Tang Ya was a bit surprised, but she quickly understood.
Huo Yuhao dressed simply and came here alone; he clearly didn’t have the money to hire help, and his family situation probably hadn’t afforded him the chance to study theory systematically.
After a pause, she said, “Your Spirit Eyes are a spiritual-type martial soul, so we should look for a spiritual-type soul beast.”
Beibei frowned slightly.
“The only issue is that spiritual-type soul beasts are incredibly rare.
Without a good deal of luck, finding your first soul ring might take quite some time.”
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao’s small face scrunched up.
He hadn’t thought that far ahead.
Only after hearing Big Brother Beibei and Sister Ya did he realize how difficult acquiring a soul ring could be.
Zhou Sichen suddenly asked, “Have you thought about what type of soul master you want to become in the future?”
Huo Yuhao froze again.
What type of soul master?
Fortunately, Tang Ya chimed in to explain the different categories: Assault System, Agility System…
After her explanation, Huo Yuhao still didn’t know what category suited him best.
Zhou Sichen thought for a moment.
“Since your Spirit Eyes are a spiritual-type, I suggest you develop towards the Control and Auxiliary systems.
You might reap unexpected rewards.”
Zhou Sichen made this recommendation based on Huo Yuhao’s performance in the original story.
Even without the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, his Spirit Eyes weren’t weak.
As long as his foundation was built up and he dual-cultivated with soul devices later on, he would still achieve great things.
Zhou Sichen didn’t have deep feelings for Huo Yuhao, but since he had essentially stolen his fortuitous encounter, offering some advice and minor help was a given.
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao nodded thoughtfully.
Tang Ya thought about it and wholeheartedly agreed with Zhou Sichen’s suggestion.
“I didn’t expect you to not only have great talent but also such a deep understanding of theory!”
Beibei rolled his eyes at Tang Ya’s lovestruck expression.
She was always like this—unable to walk properly when she saw a handsome guy, and the same went for beautiful girls.
He was already immune to jealousy; he knew that despite her fangirling, Tang Ya would never betray him.
But thinking it over, Beibei also found Zhou Sichen’s advice excellent.
Spiritual-type martial souls were extremely rare, and Body Martial Souls centered around the eyes even more so.
Yet Zhou Sichen could provide precise advice, showing just how extensive his experience and knowledge were.
They chatted back and forth, and soon they had traversed a large section of the forest.
Last night, Tang Ya had mentioned the type of soul beast she wanted for her third soul ring.
Regarding the future “Blue Silver Saintess,” Zhou Sichen wondered if he should offer her some advice.
Tang Ya’s martial soul was indeed just ordinary Blue Silver Grass.
Reaching rank thirty at her age was undeniably talented.
But the founder of their Tang Sect, Tang San, did not possess ordinary Blue Silver Grass; it was just that his bloodline hadn’t awakened early on.
Tang San’s true martial soul was the Blue Silver Emperor, an absolute top-tier plant martial soul.
That was why Tang San could absorb soul rings carelessly without ruining it.
But later on, Tang San rarely used his Blue Silver Emperor martial soul—perhaps he himself realized the drawbacks of randomly absorbing soul rings for it.
Currently, Tang Ya’s Blue Silver Grass had two soul rings, obtained from a Sky Blue Vine and a Ghost Vine.
The soul skills—Bind and Parasite—were the same as Tang San’s.
Tang Ya initially planned to follow her ancestor Tang San’s path for soul rings, so her primary targets for the third ring were the Datura Snake, Man-Faced Demon Spider, and Crypt Demon Spider.
But Zhou Sichen knew very well that the reason Tang Ya could break through to rank thirty at this age, apart from her innate talent, was that her first two soul ring choices were actually pretty good.
If she absorbed a beast-type soul ring later, her Blue Silver Grass might truly be ruined.
Unless she turned into the Blue Silver Saintess like in the original story and used cheat codes to power level, her future prospects would be severely limited.