Chapter 6: First Glimpse of the Path

"Due to its innate strength and toxicity, the mandrake snake has few natural enemies. Before reaching a thousand years of cultivation, their bodies are dark green, growing one meter every hundred years. When they approach a thousand years of cultivation, their length can reach nearly ten meters. Once they break through the thousand-year mark, their power condenses, and they molt continuously. Not only does their body color change from dark green to pink, but their length also shrinks back to one meter, then grows one meter every hundred years. After two thousand years of cultivation, the pink color deepens as they shrink again. Judging by the color and length of the mandrake snake we just saw, it should have been cultivating for over 1,300 years. If not for your help, I would have had to pay a price to kill it."

Of course, what Bei Bei didn’t mention was that if Huo Yuhao wasn’t there, he and Tang Ya could still kill the mandrake snake without too much difficulty; otherwise, they wouldn’t have risked entering the Star Dou Great Forest.

Listening to Bei Bei’s explanation, Huo Yuhao gained more knowledge. "So, the mandrake snake is that amazing. If it reaches ten thousand years of cultivation, will it undergo another transformation?"

Bei Bei nodded and said, "A ten-thousand-year mandrake snake turns yellow, and it becomes a truly terrifying existence. Even a Soul Emperor at the 50th level would not dare to provoke a ten-thousand-year mandrake snake easily. At least a 60th-level Soul Emperor would be needed to ensure victory."

"Little Junior Brother, while Tang Ya absorbs the soul ring, tell me about your soul skills. What was the name of the soul skill you used just now, and how long can you maintain it? This is very important."

Huo Yuhao had already been warned by the Heavenly Dream Ice Silk Worm not to reveal its existence. After a moment of thought, he said, "Senior Brother, the skill I used just now is called Mental Detection Sharing. The range you felt is about thirty meters in diameter. As my soul power increases in the future, this range should also increase. I’m not sure how long I can maintain it, but it seems that the skill doesn’t consume much soul power."

"Really?" Bei Bei looked at him in amazement. "A skill with such a significant effect doesn’t consume much soul power? Your Spirit Eyes soul power seems incredibly powerful. Moreover, your soul ring comes from a ten-year soul beast, the mandrill. This is truly hard for me to understand. Our Douluo Continent has been studying soul powers for over ten thousand years, but I’ve never read about a case like yours in any book. It’s truly unimaginable."

Huo Yuhao lowered his head. "I don’t know what’s going on either."

After a moment of thought, Bei Bei smiled and said, "Little Junior Brother, you don’t need to worry too much. A powerful soul skill is always a good thing. With this soul skill, any soul master would be willing to cooperate with you in the future. However, Little Junior Brother, are you planning to become a support-type soul master or a control-type battle soul master?"

Huo Yuhao was taken aback. "I don’t know."

Bei Bei said, "Choosing your cultivation path is very important. It relates to your future choices of soul ring skills and cultivation tendencies. Although you have just obtained your first soul ring, your mental attribute has already shown its powerful potential. If it’s just for support, I think it would be a waste. Although I don’t know what other mental attribute skills you will gain in the future, I lean towards making you a control-type battle soul master. Focus more on mental control. If everything goes well, you might even become the core of a team in the future."

"Team? Do soul masters need to have a team?" Huo Yuhao asked curiously. From a young age, his cultivation had always relied on himself, and he had to figure everything out on his own. No one had ever taught him anything. Now that he had joined the Tang Sect, this senior brother was more important to him than a teacher, and in less than half a day, he had taught him a lot.

Bei Bei patiently explained, "Our soul master profession has developed for many years, and the team model was fully formed under the influence of the legendary founder of our Tang Sect thousands of years ago. At that time, he and his companions were known as the Seven Monsters of Shrek. Each of the seven had powerful abilities, and when combined, they could exponentially increase their combat power. Since then, cooperation among soul masters has become a necessary part of their development. After all, individual strength is always limited. For example, your cooperation with me in the battle made it much easier for me. Tang Ya and I also have some ways of cooperating. Generally, a soul master team does not exceed ten people. Among them, there are defensive battle soul masters, strong attack-type battle soul masters, and control-type battle soul masters, who play the most significant roles in the team. There are also support-type tool soul masters, support-type food soul masters, and agile attack-type soul masters, each with different roles in the team."

Huo Yuhao suddenly understood. "So, Senior Brother, you are a strong attack-type battle soul master?"

Bei Bei smiled and nodded. "My soul power is the Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon, which is relatively powerful among beast soul powers. I specialize in strong attacks. Tang Ya’s soul power, Blue Silver Grass, makes her a control-type battle soul master, just like the legendary ancestor of the Tang Sect. Her control mainly lies in the Blue Silver Grass. If you can also become a control-type battle soul master, with your mental control ability combined with Tang Ya’s Blue Silver Grass, you can even lead a powerful soul master team without a support-type tool soul master."

Huo Yuhao nodded seriously. "Senior Brother, I’ll follow your advice. I’ll strive to become a control-type battle soul master. However, my talent is not good, and my cultivation is very slow..." As he spoke, he couldn’t help but lower his head. Compared to Bei Bei and Tang Ya, he was already eleven years old but had just obtained his first soul ring, which was a sign of poor talent.

Bei Bei patted Huo Yuhao’s head and smiled. "Talent is just one part of success. You probably didn’t have anyone to guide you in cultivation before, and you didn’t have suitable cultivation methods. To reach this point through your own efforts is already quite impressive. Plus, your soul power itself is quite good, and your future development potential is also significant. So, you don’t need to be self-pitying. Use this time to cultivate more. If you can break through to level 30 before you turn twenty, you have a chance to become a powerful soul master. Both I and Tang Ya will try our best to help you."

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Huo Yuhao’s face was filled with gratitude.

Bei Bei gently patted his shoulder. "Meeting you might also be our luck. We quickly solved her advancement problem, and once she finishes absorbing the soul ring, we can return to the academy. This place is not suitable for cultivation. You can recall the cultivation method of the Xuantian Gong I taught you, and once we reach a safe place, you can start cultivating."

"Yes." Huo Yuhao respectfully responded. In his heart, he actually considered Bei Bei more of a teacher than Tang Ya.

"Oh, right, Little Junior Brother, you said you weren’t sure how long you could maintain your skill. Let’s do a test. This will help us cooperate better in future battles and also help you understand your own abilities and get familiar with your new skill."

At Bei Bei’s suggestion, Huo Yuhao once again released Mental Detection Sharing. A faint golden light flashed in his eyes, and a three-dimensional image within a thirty-meter diameter appeared in both his and Bei Bei’s minds.

Mental Detection is all-encompassing, even able to clearly distinguish subtle changes. Huo Yuhao was experiencing the subtleties of these two skills, and Bei Bei was also feeling the benefits of his mental enhancement.

The more he felt, the more amazed Bei Bei became. Mental Detection Sharing was not just an auxiliary detection; it was like giving him an additional brain for judgment. Within a thirty-meter diameter, everything was clearly visible, with no blind spots. With this skill, it was like having countless eyes observing from all angles in the finest detail!

What surprised him even more was that Huo Yuhao, while using the soul skill, looked very relaxed, showing no signs of exhaustion. Through Mental Detection Sharing, they could even feel some of the changes in Tang Ya’s body as she absorbed the soul ring.

Tang Ya’s figure seemed to become more slender, her aura grew stronger at an astonishing rate, her skin became more lustrous, and her blood and qi became more vigorous.

In a moment, a quarter of an hour had passed, and Huo Yuhao’s face only slightly turned pale.

Bei Bei inwardly marveled. With such a long duration of mental detection, it would be sufficient for a battle. Moreover, Huo Yuhao’s mental detection ability could be used not only in battles but also in many other situations, such as during adventures or when searching for soul beasts. If the detection range could increase with cultivation as he claimed, it would truly be a divine skill.

Finally, after nearly half an hour of continuous skill use, Huo Yuhao could no longer hold on. His body swayed, and he ended Mental Detection Sharing. He felt intense pain in his brain and a strong dizziness that almost made him fall. He quickly sat down in a meditative position to recover his consumed soul power and mental energy.

This was the first time Huo Yuhao experienced the pain of mental exhaustion, and the feeling of a blank mind was far from comfortable.

Bei Bei had been silently observing him. When he saw Huo Yuhao not collapse after exhausting himself but instead sit down in a meditative position to meditate, a smile appeared on his face, and he nodded silently. Compared to talent, he valued character more. Undoubtedly, this little junior brother had passed his test in his heart.

Absorbing a thousand-year soul ring takes a considerable amount of time. Bei Bei scattered some soul beast repellent he carried with him around the perimeter. Their luck was also good. During Tang Ya’s cultivation, only a few ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts appeared, all of which were driven away by Bei Bei. They did not encounter any thousand-year soul beasts, and the situation was relatively safe.

"Ugh..." Tang Ya took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. Her bright eyes sparkled, and her overall spirit and vitality had greatly improved.

In the cultivation process of soul masters, level 30 is an important threshold. Crossing this threshold to enter the Soul Sage realm means becoming a true powerful soul master, with unlimited potential in the future. Many soul masters with poor talent spend their entire lives unable to break through the level 30 bottleneck.

"Success." Tang Ya excitedly leaped up from the ground. With the activation of her soul power, two yellow and one purple soul rings quickly rose from her feet. The most prominent was the thousand-year purple soul ring, which emitted a noble aura. From this moment on, Tang Ya’s strength had entered a completely new level.

Bei Bei smiled. "Congratulations, Tang Ya."

Tang Ya let out a cheer and threw herself into his arms, giving him a big hug. "Bei Bei, thank you."

Bei Bei held her delicate body, and his smile became more affectionate. "I promised to help you achieve your dream, and I will definitely do it."

Tang Ya leaned against Bei Bei’s chest but accidentally saw a pair of big eyes staring at her in surprise. She suddenly remembered that there was someone else there and quickly pulled herself out of Bei Bei’s embrace, feeling a bit embarrassed as she said to the spirit-eyed Huo Yuhao, "What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen a teacher-student relationship before?"

Huo Yuhao honestly replied, "I haven’t seen one before!" When he saw Bei Bei and Tang Ya hugging, he suddenly felt a strange sense of envy, but there was no jealousy at all. Senior Brother and Teacher Tang Ya were indeed a well-matched pair.

Bei Bei coughed and said, "Alright, since you have finished absorbing the soul ring, let’s leave this place quickly. In recent years, more and more incidents have occurred when soul masters enter the Star Dou Great Forest. Even the outer areas have thousand-year soul beasts, so it’s better to leave as soon as possible."

Tang Ya nodded. "Let’s go."

By this time, the sky had already darkened. However, camping in the Star Dou Great Forest was clearly not a good idea.