In the Soul Hunting Forest outside of Nuoding City, Su Cheng didn't join any hunting teams. Instead, he rushed off alone in a certain direction.
Just half a day ago, he had successfully completed a transaction with Sol.
Although Nording City was just a border town, becoming one of the heads in the black market here certainly couldn't be achieved solely through the strength of a Great Soul Master.
The ability to judge people, handle affairs, and manage subordinates were all indispensable qualities.
Moreover, he clearly wouldn't suffer a loss in this deal.
Su Cheng's asking price was definitely not high. Fifty gold soul coins plus a hunting permit would be enough for him to make back his investment with interest within one or two years.
In fact, the market for these low-level potions was the largest.
The lowest-tier soul masters were the most numerous, and they often had to undertake dangerous tasks. Something that could potentially save their lives in critical moments would easily fetch twenty or thirty silver soul coins per bottle.
Su Cheng swiftly traversed through the forest.
Even in the rugged terrain of the Soul Hunting Forest, he moved with the ease of familiarity.
After all, he had already mapped out the area.
He knew the location of a soul beast, and he was quite certain that it was still there.
Two hours later, Su Cheng stood in a mountain hollow.
The scenery here was peculiar.
Surrounded by tall mounds, the depressed central area had no soul beasts inhabiting it. Not only were there no animal-type soul beasts, even plant-type soul beasts were absent.
Instead, dense thickets grew within, creating a damp atmosphere.
Clearly, this place wasn't frequented by people.
Su Cheng took a glance and understood the situation.
With the Martial Soul Eternal Sword in hand, he raised it, preparing to strike.
Strands of sword intent were carefully guided by him, slowly wrapping around the blade.
As the sword light flashed.
"Chi—"
The sword qi deeply pierced into the ground to an unknown depth.
"Roar—"
After a moment, a muffled roar echoed from below the ground.
Then, a massive soul beast suddenly burst out from the earth, with a clear and deep sword scar evident on its body, clearly the masterpiece of Su Cheng's previous strike.
The soul beast that appeared was none other than Su Cheng's target—a 900-year-old Mount Town dragon!
It was called a dragon, but in reality, it resembled a giant, bizarre earthworm.
However, it was far from harmless like ordinary earthworms. Even without considering its enormous size, the hard scales covering its body displayed its formidable defense.
Its long, sturdy body was a deep brown color, as if it could merge with the earth at any moment. Its sharp head lacked redundant organs and was covered with a thick layer of horn, exuding a strong deterrent.
Around its circumference, there were small, tough brown hairs, along with thorns on its abdomen, giving it extremely high mobility both on the ground and underground.
This soul beast, when suddenly awakened by Su Cheng from deep underground and then inexplicably wounded, became extremely irritable.
In the first moment it saw him, it launched an attack.
Actually, this type of soul beast didn't have a strong desire to attack. They usually slept deep underground, sometimes not moving at all for decades. But they detested being disturbed.
Back in the simulation, Su Cheng had spent a long time searching for it with his exceptional perception.
The earth trembled, and the ground began to shake. The Mount Town Dragon's massive body twisted into an arc and then shot towards Su Cheng, with sharp horns emitting a cold light, covered in a layer of yellow light.
In terms of raw strength, Su Cheng was actually evenly matched with this gifted earth-element soul beast.
But its straightforward attack method was something he wasn't afraid of.
He lifted his sword, and the sharp head of the Mount Town Dragon collided solidly with Su Cheng's.
"Clang—"
The sound of metal colliding with horns reverberated in the mountain hollow.
Su Cheng's body sank, releasing the force from his feet, causing the hard ground to sink more than a foot, with cracks spreading rapidly around.
Seeing that his prolonged attack was ineffective, the giant soul beast became even more irritable and attacked him in the same way once again.
Seeing this scene, Su Cheng calmed down instead, beginning to gather strength.
Engaging in a battle of attrition was not realistic.
This type of soul beast had extremely strong endurance and wasn't easy to kill. It might even run away directly after venting its anger.
So during this time, the key was to find an opportunity to inflict a fatal wound.
And that opportunity soon presented itself.
Seeing that his attacks were ineffective after a long time, the earthworm soul beast suddenly leaned back, raising its head high, and a deep yellow light began to gather at its head. The entire ground began to tremble.
It was obvious that its next attack would be earth-shattering.
But Su Cheng wouldn't give it that time.
Within the swirl of sword qi, the Martial Soul Eternal Sword in his hand emitted a faint cyan light, guiding the sword intent to enhance it.
With lightning speed, he thrust the sword, instantly piercing into the ring around its head.
Then, he exerted force with all his might.
The massive soul beast was instantly decapitated, and the yellow light on its head dissipated.
But even so, it didn't die immediately. Its body thrashed about, trying to escape from the scene.
Su Cheng shook his head, approached, and struck it a few more times before finally killing it.
A moment later, a deep yellow soul ring slowly emerged.
Before coming here, Su Cheng had already explored the surrounding area and found no one else present. Combined with the remote and uninhabited nature of this place, there was no delay, and he was ready to start absorbing the soul ring.
As usual, he took off his shirt and applied the prepared potion, then used a silver needle to pierce several acupoints on his body.
A familiar sensation of expansion came.
However, compared to the simulation, the burden on his body now was almost negligible, as his physical aptitude had improved significantly.
Actually, this Mount Town Earthworm was not his only choice; Su Cheng also knew the whereabouts of two other soul beasts with extreme earth attributes.
But undoubtedly, if he could absorb it, this soul beast would be the best choice.
The highest age limit was one aspect, and the soul skill it provided was most likely a state enhancement type, which was Su Cheng's favorite type.
After completing the absorption of the soul ring, Su Cheng temporarily didn't plan to register at the Martial Soul Hall.
The speed of his soul power improvement wasn't easy to explain.
It might be better to wait a few years. By then, he could go to the Advanced Soul Master Academy as a genius, and presumably, there wouldn't be too many people digging up old accounts.
Besides, he could withstand scrutiny.
He didn't have a soul bone, he hadn't ingested any immortal herbs, and he hadn't devoured anyone's soul power.
It was just that there had been a mistake during the awakening ceremony, and Master Su Yuntao had mistaken him for a genius with full innate soul power. It wasn't a big deal.
As for now, staying in one place didn't make much difference to him.
Nuoding City was a good foothold, after all, with a low danger level and the extremely familiar Soul Hunting Forest as his backyard.
As for his choice of academy, Su Cheng leaned towards the Royal Academy of Tian Dou.
After all, whether it wasThe Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan or the Tian Dou Royal City, he was quite familiar with both of them.
Moreover, he could also take the opportunity to see the current state of Qian Renxue. Perhaps he would have the chance to give her some guidance and try to prevent her from wasting her talent.
Little did Su Cheng know that at this moment, Qian Renxue was raging in her study because of him.