Douluo: AFK to Become a God

Suddenly, Su Nan stopped.

"Be careful, a soul beast is coming!"

He turned to remind Chu Chengzhou, who was following behind, and then focused his attention on the bushes ahead.

Although he was a Soul Master at the Fourth Ring, the Soul Hunting Forest was no ordinary place. If one were careless, it was entirely possible to fall into danger.

Moreover, he wasn't alone today; he had a child with him!

Soon, a rustling sound reached Chu Chengzhou's ears, and he could vaguely smell a hint of blood in the air, mixed with a faint sweet and tea-like fragrance.

"Poison-type soul beast?" Su Nan raised an eyebrow, and his soul power flared as he summoned his crimson-red spear martial soul, with four soul rings—yellow, yellow, yellow, and purple—glowing around him.

Chu Chengzhou could clearly see that his grandfather's first soul ring, although a hundred-year soul ring, had a very faint color, likely only around one or two hundred years old. The second soul ring was much darker, likely over 500 years old. The third soul ring should have been a purple, thousand-year soul ring, but unfortunately, due to his grandfather's lack of a powerful background, it had to be a substitute, a hundred-year soul ring with a deep yellow color tinged with purple. Chu Chengzhou knew this was a soul ring over 900 years old but had not reached a thousand years. As for the fourth soul ring, it was a pale purple, estimated to be around one or two thousand years old, not quite the best match for a Soul Master.

Not long after, the rustling stopped. Chu Chengzhou peeked ahead and saw a dark green triangular snake head rising from the bushes, with ruby-red eyes staring directly at them.

"Is that... a Mandala Snake?" Chu Chengzhou immediately recognized the intruder.

During his three years at Notting Academy, he hadn't been idle. Besides his training, he had read a lot of books about soul beasts. While he might not recognize mutated or rare soul beasts, he certainly knew common ones like the Mandala Snake, which could be found in the Soul Hunting Forest.

"Get lost!" Su Nan pointed his crimson spear at the Mandala Snake, releasing his powerful aura and shouting at the creature.

Soul beasts were considered renewable resources, but their growth cycles were long. Since the Mandala Snake hadn't caused any harm to the grandfather and grandson, Su Nan had no intention of killing it. He just wanted to drive it away.

Of course, the Mandala Snake, being of low intelligence, couldn't understand his words. However, lack of intelligence didn't mean it was mindless. When faced with a powerful "bipedal soul beast," most soul beasts—unless they were extremely bloodthirsty—would typically flee to avoid danger.

As expected, when Su Nan released his overwhelming aura, the Mandala Snake trembled, quickly retracting its head and slithering away.

"Huh? That Mandala Snake is nearly four meters long. Could it be the 'Mother's Bind' snake from the legend?" Chu Chengzhou thought to himself, remembering the famous technique from Tang San in Douluo Dalu.

"Chengzhou, were you scared by that Mandala Snake?" After scaring the snake away, Su Nan turned and teased Chu Chengzhou, who seemed a little dazed.

Chu Chengzhou: "..."

What, scared?

Well, maybe just a little. A nearly four-meter-long venomous snake, with its scales writhing as it moved—who wouldn't be scared?

After the brief encounter, the grandfather and grandson continued searching for their target in the Soul Hunting Forest.

Two hours later.

"Hey, Grandpa, is that the Sky Blue Tree over there?" Chu Chengzhou pointed to a sturdy tree about seven meters tall, with a crown of about 30 square meters, its branches covered in dense dark green leaves.

Indeed, it was a small tree. In the Soul Hunting Forest, where towering trees over fifty meters high were common, a seven-meter tree was considered a "small sapling."

"Yes, but judging by its aura, its age is probably under 600 years," Su Nan nodded.

Judging the age of a soul beast by its size wasn't always accurate. Just like humans have different body types, the same species of soul beasts can vary in size depending on their environment, the nutrients they absorb, and the food they consume. Even soul beasts of the same age can show significant size differences.

To accurately determine the age of a soul beast, one would need to sense the fluctuations in its soul power. Of course, if one's sensing ability was insufficient, size could still be a useful indicator, as it generally wouldn't have too much error.

After a moment of thought, Chu Chengzhou said, "Let's list it as a backup target. If we find something better in the next couple of days, we can skip this Sky Blue Tree. But if we don't find anything suitable, I can use it for my first soul ring."

"Alright!" Su Nan nodded.

Perhaps fate was smiling upon them, or perhaps it was heaven's mercy on Chu Chengzhou, the "super trash" who had managed to reach the 10th level of soul power in just three years. The next morning, they encountered a more suitable target.

A Sky Blue Tree over eight meters tall, with a crown nearly fifty square meters wide.

"Chengzhou, this Sky Blue Tree's age is around 650 years. This should be just right," Su Nan said.

"Yes, this one will do!" Chu Chengzhou nodded.

Then, the grandfather and grandson began collecting dry wood nearby.

Why? To kill the Sky Blue Tree.

On the Douluo Continent, there were many restrictions on how Soul Masters could absorb soul rings. One of the key rules was that the soul beast must be killed by the Soul Master, or at least, the soul beast's death must occur without any interference from other living beings' soul power. Otherwise, the soul ring would be contaminated and unusable.

For animal-type soul beasts, skilled hunters could subdue or severely injure the beast, leaving the final blow to the Soul Master who needed the soul ring to advance.

However, plant-type soul beasts were very different. Most Soul Masters couldn't tell if a plant soul beast was severely injured and on the brink of death. The next strike might kill it, or it might still have the strength to fight back. And unless the plant soul beast had a core like a "tree heart," there was no clear weak point.

For example, with the eight-meter-tall Sky Blue Tree in front of them, Chu Chengzhou knew that finishing it off wasn't going to be easy.

Fortunately, plant-type soul beasts generally had a significant weakness: they were immobile or very slow-moving.

By collecting some dry wood, pouring oil on it, and lighting it with a spark, Chu Chengzhou could sit back and wait for the soul ring to appear.

No need for axes or saws!

This mobility issue was one of the main reasons why plant-type Soul Masters with white first soul rings were much rarer than those from other types of soul beasts.