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**
In those days, there were no such things as Soul Hunting Forests scattered across the continent.
While places regulated and supervised by human Soul Master Experts similar to Soul Hunting Forests did exist, they were few in number. Most importantly, they were not open to everyone; instead, they were the private property of individual Soul Master Clans.
At that time, only high-level Soul Master Clans possessing numerous experts had the capability to establish and maintain such Soul Hunting Forests to satisfy the needs of their young scions.
Soul Masters from small clans and those "grassroots" civilian Soul Masters could only head to wild soul beast gathering points to obtain soul rings, the danger of which could well be imagined.
This state of affairs persisted for a long time, only seeing improvement after the appearance of the Yun Clan of the Sword Sect, the perfection of the Fusion Stream, and the subsequent establishment of their sect.
Due to the Single-Attribute Integration Stream created by the Yun Clan, the Soul Master world underwent a period of immense development.
A large number of Soul Master Clans used their own foundations to create sects, absorbing Soul Masters with Martial Souls similar to their own on a massive scale. The population of the Soul Master world began to grow, and its overall visage was completely transformed.
At this juncture, Spirit Hall believed the time was ripe.
They united several extremely powerful sects and clans of that era to exert pressure on the two empires. They prohibited the nobles within the empires from continuing to oppress civilians under the guise of awakening Martial Souls or providing recommendations and guarantees.
This move was intended to stop nobles from controlling civilian Soul Masters and slowing the development of the Soul Master world.
Furthermore, they requisitioned the Awakening Stones held by the imperial nobility and the various sects and clans of the Soul Master world, leaving only enough for their own private use.
The rest were handed over to Spirit Hall, which then dispatched personnel to establish branch halls and provide free Martial Soul awakenings for civilians.
To further accelerate the development of the Soul Master world, the two great empires were required to provide a certain amount of funds as subsidies for low-level Soul Masters.
Spirit Hall provided the manpower and resources and took responsibility for the distribution.
Simultaneously, slavery was abolished, and it was strictly forbidden for Soul Masters to serve as the bondservants of secular nobles. These measures could be said to have severely provoked the noble classes of the two empires.
However, the Soul Master world was then in a period of high-speed development, and the cultivation world was active as never before. Spirit Hall had successfully persuaded the most powerful sects and clans of the time to unite and pressure the imperial nobility.
Additionally, the royal houses of the two empires were essentially not opposed to these proposals.
Before this, the nobles within their borders had used various means to amass wealth and absorb soul master power to strengthen themselves, which was seriously encroaching upon the authority of the Imperial Families.
By accepting Spirit Hall's proposal, they could not only weaken the internal nobility and strengthen their own rule but also ensure that their own ability to absorb Soul Masters on a national level to bolster the royal house remained unaffected.
Thus, the two great empires accepted Spirit Hall's proposal. Afterward, the Soul Master academies established within the two empires—with the exception of a few—no longer prohibited civilians from enrolling.
Of course, the prerequisite was meeting the admission criteria and being able to pay the tuition. Although the tuition was not cheap, civilians wishing to enroll at least no longer needed to spend money to buy those so-called recommendation letters or guarantee certificates.
Following that, Spirit Hall utilized its own power to establish Soul Hunting Forests near every Spirit Branch Hall for the use of the continent's low-level Soul Masters. However, it was stipulated that entry was only permitted when one needed a soul ring for advancement.
It was forbidden for Soul Masters to sneak in for large-scale poaching of soul beasts for profit. These "public version" Soul Hunting Forests were maintained daily by personnel dispatched by the empires.
Meanwhile, the resident Soul Masters of the Spirit Branch Halls would periodically clear out high-level soul beasts that reached the limit of the forest's restrictions and strictly guard against illegal infiltrators.
In this way, between the theoretical expansion of the Integration Stream led by the Yun family and the various measures jointly launched by Spirit Hall and the two empires, the development speed of the Soul Master world increased significantly, continuing to this day.
.....
On this day, as the sun dipped into the west and the sky gradually darkened, a stream flowed slowly within this Soul Hunting Forest to the east of Spirit City.
Suddenly, a crisp and pleasant voice rang out from the woods on the opposite side of the stream.
"Hey, Ling Xiao, look! There's a water source ahead. Let's rest here for a bit and grab something to eat. Mmm, you go prepare it."
Following the voice, two figures gradually emerged from the woods across the creek—a male and a female.
They were Ling Xiao and Hu Liena.
Hu Liena was dressed in a yellow robe, boasting a tall figure and short orange-gold hair; her entire being radiated a unique charm.
"My lady, you really know how to order people around."
Beside Hu Liena, Ling Xiao, dressed in white, spoke with a helpless smile.
Over half a month ago, under the lead of Chrysanthemum Douluo, he, Yan, and the siblings Xie Yue and Hu Liena had come to this Soul Hunting Forest for experience. However, considering that the strength of the four of them far surpassed their peers—
Although high-level thousand-year soul beasts that they couldn't handle did exist in this forest, they mostly lived in its deepest parts—the hundred-year soul beasts of the outskirts and the low-level thousand-year soul beasts slightly further in did not pose a massive direct threat.
Therefore, they did not stay together or enter as a group. Instead, the four of them entered through different entrances. Initially, they each faced dangers alone, only potentially meeting up after delving a bit deeper.
Just a few days ago, while deep in the Soul Hunting Forest, Ling Xiao had accidentally discovered Hu Liena, who had also ventured deep into the forest, and they had joined forces. However, although he had reunited with Hu Liena, it seemed his workload had actually increased.
Previously, Ling Xiao had survived alone in the Soul Hunting Forest for half a year.
After a great deal of experimentation, he had become quite skilled at roasting soul beast meat. After tasting it, Hu Liena had clapped her hands in approval and refused to cook for herself ever again, leaving the task of preparing meals entirely to him.
Hearing Ling Xiao's slightly helpless words, Hu Liena couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. Her clear eyes blinked as she said, "The capable should do more work. You'll have to work hard tonight."
Shaking his head speechlessly, Ling Xiao casually snapped off a tree branch and stepped forward.
With agile movements and a light leap, he jumped onto a rock in the middle of the stream. Ling Xiao looked down into the water, scanning around. His mental energy spread out to sense if there were any soul beasts with decent cultivation hiding beneath the surface.
However, he only found some ordinary fish and did not sense any life possessing soul power.
"It seems there are no soul beasts hiding here," Ling Xiao murmured softly.
He didn't force the issue; if he couldn't find soul beasts, ordinary fish would do just as well. Beside the stream, Hu Liena sat on a massive bluestone, a smile on her lips as she watched Ling Xiao catch fish.
A few flashes of light flickered.
As Ling Xiao exerted force with his wrist several times, the branch—which he had broken into several segments—flew out like daggers in succession, piercing and pinning several large fish.
Ling Xiao's technique looked somewhat similar to Tang San's hidden weapons, but it was actually different. Ling Xiao had never studied hidden weapons; this was merely achieved through his own control over power coordinated with his mental strength—it was just a small trick.
This kind of hidden-weapon-like method could be mastered by any Soul Master with a certain level of cultivation after a bit of practice; it wasn't anything extraordinary.
Ling Xiao hadn't even practiced it.
One day, he had played around with the idea and found he could do it quite decently, which had surprised him slightly. He hadn't expected the so-called hidden weapon techniques to be so shallow.
He wondered why, according to his understanding from his previous life, Tang San's hidden weapons—which would only be considered underhanded tricks in a low-martial world—could display such divine might here, to the point of almost slaying gods.
**
Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
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I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon. I will post 5 advanced chapter on Patreon everyday except Sunday