Tang San was riding in a horse carriage for the first time. Despite some bumps, the novelty still piqued his interest, and he frequently pulled back the curtains to peer outside. Observing the bustling crowds and the various shops, he couldn't help but yearn for the world beyond. In this life, he was destined not to live as simply as in his past life. He wondered what it would be like to enter society later on.
"Xiaosan, this is for you," Master's calm voice awoke Tang San from his contemplations. When he turned his gaze toward the Master, he discovered that, at some point, a waist belt had appeared in the Master's hands. It was a rather beautiful belt.
The belt was entirely black, with dark patterns that were nearly indiscernible unless you looked closely. Embedded at equal intervals along the belt were twenty-four milky white jade stones, each no bigger than an adult's thumbnail and rounded in shape. The stones had a warm luster, clearly rare and exquisite pieces of jade.
"Thank you, Teacher." Tang San accepted it without hesitation—after all, one does not refuse a gift from an elder. He had seen something similar before at the Tang Sect, where the inner sect elders would give a gift when taking on a new disciple. The belt the Master was giving him must carry the same significance.
The Master said, "This belt has been with me for many years, and it's been neglected just as long. I hope in your hands it will shine with the luster it deserves."
As soon as Tang San took the belt, he felt its extraordinariness; there seemed to be faint streams of energy circling within the belt, with the belt itself acting as a bridge and the jade stones as storage.
"Thirty years ago, when I got it, I didn't even know its name. But from my years of study, it can be considered a top-tier soul tool. Its function is storage. You just need to infuse it with your own soul power, and each jade stone can provide a cubic meter of storage space. It's convenient for storing such items."
A soul tool was a completely new term to Tang San. Although he still didn't fully grasp what a soul tool entailed, the Master's explanation already sent shockwaves through him.
Twenty-four jade stones meant twenty-four cubic meters of storage space—for him, that was enough to store twenty-four different hidden weapons. Tang San's eyes ignited with fervor, his desire to improve his Mysterious Heaven Method grew uncontrollably. He wished he had enough inner strength right then to practice using various hidden weapons. With this belt, he no longer needed to worry about storing his hidden weapons.
Without waiting for Tang San to ask, the Master continued to explain, "A soul tool, as the name suggests, is a device used with the power of one's Martial Soul. Inherited soul tools are rare and mostly non-offensive. Soul Masters themselves don't require weapons. You could describe soul tools as cultural relics. As for how they came into being or how they are made, that knowledge has been lost to history. I got this belt from an adventure with a few friends, and it was given to me as part of my share of the spoils. It's not of much use to me, but you should find it handy. Give it a name."
Gazing at those twenty-four smooth jade stones, Tang San almost instinctively thought of a famous line from a poem of his previous life: "Twenty-four bridges in the moonlit night." "Let's call it 'Twenty-four Moonlit Bridges,' then."
The Master was slightly taken aback, his expressionless face betraying no emotion, but he nodded, "It's a pleasant name, though a bit long."
Tang San inwardly sighed. Perhaps this was also a way of remembering his past life.
The Master said, "Using it is simple. Infuse your soul power into one of the jade stones, and you'll be able to sense its space. If you are quick enough, the objects inside can seem to appear out of thin air. But to truly master its features, you'll need lots of practice. This will also be part of your future studies."
Tang San understood the importance of mastering the retrieval of items from the 'Twenty-four Moonlit Bridges' without the Master saying anything further. He immediately nodded his agreement.
Tang San had been wondering how the Master planned to carry all the purchases into the Soul Hunting Forest to hunt soul beasts, but with the 'Twenty-four Moonlit Bridges,' this was no longer a problem. With time to spare on the journey, he began practicing control over the storage and retrieval of items from the 'Twenty-four Moonlit Bridges' under the Master's guidance, using those white radishes as practice objects...
The four hundred li distance was neither particularly long nor short, but it wasn't until the following noon that they arrived at their destination: the Soul Hunting Forest.
When Tang San stepped down from the carriage, he found that the Soul Hunting Forest was nothing like what he had imagined.
In Tang San's mind, a forest should be imbued with the essence of nature—tranquil and serene, with fresh air and few human traces.
But this Soul Hunting Forest, at least on its outskirts, felt like a huge market.
Outside the forest, a plethora of buildings—or rather, shops—had been erected. Shouts for attention echoed non-stop, and makeshift dirt roads crisscrossed among them, the clamorous atmosphere causing Tang San to furrow his brow.
"Looking for tokens, forming a team to hunt power-type soul beasts, two slots left."
"Hunting agile-type soul beasts, seven in the team waiting for tokens. Ten golden soul coins."
Such cries were continuous; many of the crowded shops sold weapons, armor, and all sorts of food and supplies.
As the Master led Tang San through this market that could be described as a small town, he asked, "Do you know why I bought everything in Notting City already?"
Tang San shook his head.
The Master pointed at the prices listed in the shops, "Because here, the prices are at least doubled. Are you surprised by how bustling it is outside a forest? It's simple. Where there are soul beasts, there's profit—especially in these forests specially maintained by the country for soul beasts. Soul Masters are a wealthy group, and too many people want to make money off of them."
"Teacher, what did those people shouting about forming teams mean?" asked Tang San.