Xiao Yexuan couldn't stay holed up in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well forever, so he needed to grow stronger—fast.
He easily absorbed the left and right palm bones of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.
Next up was obtaining his second soul ring.
The system didn't reward him with one, but since he was already in the Sunset Forest, there were plenty of powerful ten-thousand-year soul beasts around.
Xiao Yexuan could simply use the Fragrant Immortal Orchid to lure those ten-thousand-year soul beasts over and slaughter them all.
What's more, Xiao Yexuan had obtained a Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
That thing was no joke—it could absorb souls and use them as weapons.
With that in mind, Xiao Yexuan patted Tang San on the butt, grabbed her twin ponytails, and directed her to head out.
Now that he had a little white pony like Tang San—one that could be both ridden and… ridden—Xiao Yexuan wasn't about to walk on his own two feet.
Tang San, tireless and obedient, now knew her father was the youngest on the entire continent to possess a rare hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
So she firmly believed that Tang Hao would eventually come to rescue her.
And at that time, Xiao Yexuan would be nothing more than a mutt under her boot.
Riding Tang San, Xiao Yexuan soon reached the outer edge of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The place was filled with poison arrays set up by Dugu Bo.
But those had zero effect on Xiao Yexuan and Tang San.
Xiao Yexuan brought out the Fragrant Immortal Orchid, and its scent wafted out for miles.
This was deep within Sunset Forest, where powerful soul beasts roamed freely.
Before long, over twenty soul beasts had gathered outside the poison array.
Among them, at least six or seven had surpassed the ten-thousand-year mark. One had even cultivated for nearly thirty thousand years.
The rest were mostly over three thousand years old.
There were especially durable thousand-year beasts like the Armored Scale Beast, the Man-Faced Demon Spider, and the Cave Demon Spider.
Xiao Yexuan was very pleased.
Without hesitation, he opened a gap in the poison array, and the soul beasts outside went berserk, rushing straight in.
After all, the allure of the Fragrant Immortal Orchid was far too strong.
Whoever consumed it could expect smooth cultivation in the future.
They might even ascend to the realm of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.
Xiao Yexuan smirked. Come on in. All of you.
With the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, all of these would become nothing but lingering spirits.
Once the beasts rushed into his controlled area, Xiao Yexuan gave a thought—and countless vines sprang forth, instantly binding them.
Even a Title Douluo-level Poison Douluo had been restrained by Xiao Yexuan before—these small fry were nothing.
Tang San quietly stood to the side. She had never doubted Xiao Yexuan's strength.
Catching these soul beasts—that was the true power of a Title Douluo.
Xiao Yexuan glanced over the beasts. The Cave Demon Spider may have been a ten-thousand-year soul beast, but it had only just crossed into that threshold.
Since Xiao Yexuan already had one ten-thousand-year soul ring, he figured he should aim for at least a twenty- or thirty-thousand-year one next.
So he didn't absorb the Cave Demon Spider's soul ring. Instead, he killed it easily and stored its soul in the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
The rest of the soul beasts were also fed into the banner.
But any beast under ten thousand years? Xiao Yexuan didn't even bother killing them.
Too weak. Not worth his time.
In total, he collected the souls of seven ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
As for their soul rings, Xiao Yexuan discovered that they had actually attached themselves to the souls within the banner.
A soul ring represented a beast's full cultivation, and since souls alone were quite weak, this addition doubled their strength.
Some of them could even release soul skills, just like a human soul master.
In terms of real combat power, they weren't much weaker than when they were alive.
That made Xiao Yexuan even more satisfied.
These ten-thousand-year soul beasts had strengths ranging from Soul King to Soul Sage level.
With them guarding him, Xiao Yexuan's safety while traveling had skyrocketed.
Naturally, after killing so many beasts, Xiao Yexuan also got his hands on two ten-thousand-year soul bones.
But he already had the Death Spider Emperor's Right Arm Bone, a hundred-thousand-year soul bone—so these two? Meh.
There were tons of soul beasts in Sunset Forest. Xiao Yexuan summoned the Cave Demon Spider, handed it the Fragrant Immortal Orchid, and sent it out to lure stronger prey.
By midday, it actually worked.
A solid target showed up—a ten-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider.
Smaller than the thousand-year version, but its cultivation was around thirty thousand years.
A thirty-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider was on par with a human Soul Douluo.
This was, without question, the strongest soul beast Xiao Yexuan had ever encountered.
He killed it right then and there and made it his second soul ring.
It must've been thanks to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—no harm could touch Xiao Yexuan.
So this thirty-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider became his second soul ring.
Now, both of Xiao Yexuan's Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul's rings were black.
In any faction, he'd be treated like a sacred young master.
After absorbing the Man-Faced Demon Spider's soul ring, something surprising (or not-so-surprising) happened—he also obtained the same soul bone as Tang San.
Eight Spider Lances.
At this point, Xiao Yexuan had four soul bones.
Three of them were external attachments.
Activate them all, and you've got yourself one hell of a humanoid monster.
With the Eight Spider Lances in hand, Xiao Yexuan thought of Tang San.
He'd been busy wrangling soul beasts lately and hadn't punished her much.
That wouldn't do. Punishing Tang San earned him way better rewards than soul beasts ever did.
Still, the soul beast hunt wasn't over.
Now that there were over twenty ten-thousand-year soul beasts inside the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, it was a breeze to use them to catch more prey.
Then, Xiao Yexuan returned to a small hut within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Tang San was inside, busily following Xiao Yexuan's previous orders.
When she saw him return, she was full of reluctant resentment inside…
But she quickly got down on the floor and crawled toward him from the room.
"Master… you're back!" came Tang San's nasal-sounding voice.
Xiao Yexuan raised his foot and planted it on Tang San's head, saying:
"Little San, did you finish what I told you to make?"
"Mmhmm! Master, the tail is finished."
Tang San, her head underfoot, showed no resistance at all.
"Show me."
Xiao Yexuan nodded.
Tang San crawled back inside and soon returned holding a fluffy, oversized tail.
Blue in color, it resembled a fox's tail.
And its purpose…?
Heh heh…
What kind of mount doesn't have a tail?
Twin ponytails are handholds—not the real deal!
(End of Chapter)