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Chapter 3: The Distorted Beginning of Soul Rings (The First Soul Ring)
The edge of the Soul Hunting Forest was shrouded in thick, viscous darkness.
Mo Bai held Xiao Wu's hand as they walked along a silent forest path. His palm was warm and dry, while Xiao Wu's hand was somewhat cold and trembling slightly.
"Teacher Mo Bai..." Xiao Wu's voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something. "Do we really have to come at night? Wang Sheng and the others said it's better to hunt souls during the day..."
"There are too many people during the day." Mo Bai's tone was as gentle as ever, yet it carried an indisputable weight. "Your situation is special, Xiao Wu. The first soul ring is too important for a Soul Master; we need absolute silence and privacy."
Xiao Wu nodded, her fingers unconsciously tightening a bit.
She was actually a little scared. The forest at night was too dark; the low growls of soul beasts occasionally drifted from the distance, and the rustling of leaves felt exceptionally eerie. But the warmth from Teacher Mo Bai's hand and that aura about him that made her feel inexplicably at ease helped her feel less panicked.
—That aura was like an invisible film wrapping around her. The dangers of the outside world seemed to be isolated, and she didn't even realize that the extremely faint fluctuations belonging to her status as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast were also perfectly masked by this film.
After walking for about half an hour, Mo Bai stopped.
They were already deep in the forest, where the tall trees blocked out the moonlight. Mo Bai released Xiao Wu's hand and pulled a silver, palm-sized soul tool from his robe. He injected a trace of soul power, and complex patterns lit up on the surface of the tool, followed by a transparent ripple that spread out with him as the center, enveloping a ten-meter radius.
The air seemed to freeze for an instant.
"Alright." Mo Bai turned around, a smile on his face. "Now nothing will disturb us."
Xiao Wu looked around curiously. She could feel that the soul beast auras and the sound of the night wind that made her nervous had become blurred and distant. In this small space, only she, Teacher Mo Bai, and a lump on the ground remained—
Her breath hitched.
It was a Soft-Bone Rabbit.
Its whole body was snow-white, its ears flopped softly, and it was curled up on the ground with its eyes tightly shut. Its abdomen rose and fell slightly; it was clearly alive but seemed to be in a deep sleep.
"This is... a hundred-year Soft-Bone Rabbit." Mo Bai's voice rang in her ear, very close. "The most suitable first soul ring for you. I have already made it lose consciousness; it won't resist, and it won't feel pain."
Xiao Wu stared at the rabbit.
As a transformed hundred-thousand-year Soft-Bone Rabbit, seeing a weak member of her own species stirred complex emotions within her. There was pity and the sorrow of seeing one's own kind suffer, but more than that, there was a... strange sense of calm.
Teacher Mo Bai was right. Soul Masters need soul rings, and soul beasts exist for that purpose.
"Come, Xiao Wu." Mo Bai's hand rested lightly on her shoulder, guiding her toward the rabbit. "Close your eyes and feel its aura. Connect your soul power with its."
Xiao Wu closed her eyes as instructed.
She could feel the weak soul power fluctuations within the Soft-Bone Rabbit. A hundred-year soul beast was pitifully weak to her. She mobilized the soul power she had accumulated after her transformation and probed toward the rabbit bit by bit. Although she could condense her own soul ring, in front of a human, she could use the soul ring of a soul beast to disguise the process of her own soul ring condensation.
Just as her soul power was about to touch the rabbit's core—
Mo Bai's voice drilled in.
It wasn't through her ears, but ringing directly from the depths of her mind. Low and slow, every word was like dripping honey, seeping into every crack of her consciousness.
"Relax... Xiao Wu... you are safe..."
Xiao Wu's breathing became long and slow. She felt as if she were soaking in warm water; her limbs felt soft, and her thoughts were light.
"Feel its power... that rabbit... what is it best at?"
Soft bone... flexibility... agility...
These words surfaced in Xiao Wu's subconscious.
"Yes... flexibility... agility..." Mo Bai's voice continued, like the softest touch. "But those aren't enough... Xiao Wu... those are just for combat... the soul skill you want should be something more special..."
Something more special?
Xiao Wu thought dizzily. Aren't soul skills just for fighting?
"No... combat is just a tool... the soul ring is a part of you... it's the bridge connecting you and me..."
Mo Bai's fingers pressed lightly against the back of her neck. The warm sensation traveled through her skin, reaching straight to her spinal cord.
Xiao Wu's body trembled slightly.
"Imagine... when you use this soul skill... your body will become more sensitive... softer... when my fingers touch your skin... what will you feel?"
Xiao Wu's breathing skipped a beat.
She didn't know. She had never thought about these things.
"It will be very happy... Xiao Wu... that is the pleasure of being touched... the pleasure of being noticed by me..."
Mo Bai's voice grew lower and closer, almost as if he were speaking right against her ear.
"Mold your soul ring... into a soul ring that can feel pleasure... let your skin remember my temperature... let your waist become softer in my hands... let your thighs... be able to feel more when I spread them..."
Xiao Wu's soul power suddenly fluctuated violently.
Faint yellow spots of light began to emerge from the unconscious Soft-Bone Rabbit. The spots gathered, gradually forming the silhouette of a ring.
A hundred-year soul ring, yellow.
But as Xiao Wu's soul power condensed the body of the ring, a strange distortion occurred.
The soul power that should have been evenly distributed across the ring began to gather toward specific nodes. Those nodes—if one looked closely—corresponded exactly to the most sensitive areas of the human body: the back of the neck, the sides of the waist, the inner thighs, the inner wrists...
And the color of the ring, within the pure yellow, became interlaced with traces of extremely faint pink.
Like the juice of a newly bloomed peach blossom dripping into clear water.
"Yes... just like that..." For the first time, Mo Bai's voice carried clear delight. "Feel that power... pull it into your body... let it become a part of you..."
Xiao Wu unconsciously raised her hand.
Her slender fingers touched the Soft-Bone Rabbit. At the moment of contact, the rabbit's body turned into spots of light that surged toward her fingertips. The yellow soul ring completely formed, hovering in front of her and rotating slowly.
On the ring, pink patterns flickered in and out of sight.
"Absorb it, Xiao Wu."
The command was concise and direct.
Xiao Wu opened her mouth and took a light breath. The soul ring turned into a streak of light and disappeared into her mouth.
The next second—
"Ugh..."
She let out a short groan, her legs giving way as she began to fall to her knees.
Mo Bai caught her in time.
No, it wasn't a catch. His arm wrapped around from behind, tightly encircling her waist. His other hand pressed against her lower abdomen, his palm scorching hot.
"Can you feel it?" His breath fanned behind her ear. "Your first soul skill... it has taken root in your body."
Xiao Wu couldn't speak.
She felt it.
A strange heat rose from her dantian, quickly spreading through her entire body. This wasn't the warmth felt during normal soul power absorption—this was a thicker, more private temperature. It felt alive, flowing through her blood vessels, finally gathering at...
Her skin began to burn.
Especially those areas marked by the pink patterns. The back of her neck, her waist, her inner thighs... the skin in these places became exceptionally sensitive. With Mo Bai's arm encircling her waist, the pressure and heat transmitted through her clothes were magnified several times over.
She couldn't help but squirm.