The Child, Soul Guiding Left Arm

Chapter 75 The Child, Soul Guiding Left Arm

Chi Ping's plans for his sixth spirit ring have two directions: wind and space. The former is to gather earth, fire, water, and wind elements to study elemental combinations, while the latter is to increase his control over mycelium. Either way is fine and won't affect Chi Ping's future development.

The sudden arrival of the Nine Trials of Life helped Chi Ping make his decision. After traveling for four months and absorbing all the soul power produced by the mycelium along the way, as well as a small portion of the converted soul power, he could only barely meet one-tenth of the energy requirements of the Tree of Life. To make it sprout, it would conservatively take another three years, and this calculation does not even take into account the subsequent increase in difficulty.

Furthermore, once a seed germinates, it needs to grow, requiring an immeasurable amount of energy!

Obtaining the spatial attribute mushroom is urgent.

With spatial attributes, Chi Ping has a way to increase the range of control over the mycelium, and the efficiency of absorbing the mycelium's soul power will increase significantly.

In the Frozen Forest lives a spirit beast called the Silver Snowfern, a dual-attribute spirit beast of space and ice. Ten thousand years ago, this snowfern was primarily ice-attribute, and its entire body was snow-white. After ten thousand years, it can choose space as its primary attribute, and its fur turns silver. The signature ability of the ten-thousand-year-old space Silver Snowfern is teleportation; they have almost made teleportation an instinct.

This is Chi Ping's target for his sixth spirit ring.

……

Alcohol can numb the nerves and relieve negative emotions. Soul-hunting teams, who frequently teeter on the edge of life and death, often prefer to spend their free time in taverns. In the North, this habit is even more pronounced; they also frequent taverns when trouble arises.

They get drunk, and when they're drunk, they tend to talk nonsense.

Therefore, taverns are also one of the easiest places to gather information about the Soul Hunter Forest.

This was Chi Ping's fifth day in Hanlin Town, and also his fifth day spending time in the tavern. For the past five days, he had ordered a small cup of Qinglin wine every day, along with some meat, and sipped it slowly at the tavern window.

After five days, he had gathered enough information about the soul beasts. He was basically able to pinpoint the location of the Silver Ferret.

—The three places most likely to find the ancient silver ferret are: the icy lake two hundred miles to the northwest, the pine mountain one hundred miles to the northeast, and the snowfield three hundred miles to the north. We should search for them one by one, from the nearest to the furthest.

Having made his decision, Ikehira tapped the table, intending to pay the bill.

"Sir, are you going into the Frozen Forest?" A timid, soft voice came from the side.

Chi Ping turned his head.

The speaker was a child wrapped in fur like a ball, who looked no more than five or six years old. His cheeks were red from the cold, and there were ice crystals on his eyebrows. His eyes were almost covered by drooping eyelids, yet they were stubbornly opened to their maximum.

Chi Ping nodded.

The child's eyes seemed to be shining. "You must be a powerful Soul Master!"

Chi Ping smiled and accepted his compliment, then invited him to sit opposite him. "Waiter, please get this young lady some food. Put the cost on my tab."

The waiter called out loudly, "Alright!"

Between serving the dishes, Chi Ping initiated a conversation with the child. Perhaps it was the passive effect of the Tree of Life that made Chi Ping seem more approachable, or perhaps the child had learned about Chi Ping beforehand, or perhaps the child was already at their wit's end, but the child was not timid.

"What's your name?"

"Mickey".

Who lives in your family?

"Mom and Dad, and me."

Where are they?

"Mom is at home, Dad went to the Frozen Forest and hasn't come back yet..."

Chi Ping felt the gazes that had been fixed on him ever since Mi Qi appeared begin to dodge.

"Little Qi, what's wrong with your dad?"

Miki bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, and said firmly, "Soul Master brother, can you save my father!"

Those gazes no longer darted away.

Chi Ping glanced at it discreetly without making a sound.

They were all ordinary people without any cultivation.

"Tell your brother what happened to your father first, so he can decide how to help you."

Miki scratched her face haphazardly, trying to hold back her tears. "Dad is a guide for Soul Masters in the Frozen Forest. Fifteen days ago, Dad led a group of Soul Masters. He usually comes back in three days at most, but it's been half a month now, and Dad still hasn't returned..."

As she spoke, Miki's tears were about to fall again, but she quickly wiped them away. Adults have always said that crying children are the most annoying.

"Guest, your food is here!" The waiter brought over a bowl of meat soup.

Chi Ping stopped the waiter, "Excuse me, do you know about Xiaomiqi's family?"

The waiter immediately stopped, looked at Miki, and sighed. "The Frozen Forest is covered in snow all year round, and people without experience can easily get lost. Those who go into the forest to hunt souls always hire experienced hunters to guide them; that's how guides came about. Miki's father, Mi Lan, is a well-known guide in our town. He went into the forest half a month ago and hasn't come out yet. I don't know if he's gone or just got lost."

"Is the guide lacking in self-cultivation?"

"Sir, you must be joking. If you had cultivation, why would you do this kind of work?"

With a wave of his hand, Chi Ping dismissed the waiter.

Miki didn't touch the bowl of meat soup, but stared longingly at Chi Ping.

Chi Ping smiled and said, "Eat up. You'll have the energy to wait for Dad to come back, right? Besides, your dad will be sad if he sees you've gotten so thin when he gets back."

So Miki sipped the meat soup slowly.

"Little Qi, do you know which direction your dad went?"

Miki looked up excitedly and asked, "Brother, will you help me find my dad?"

Looking into that animal-like gaze, Chi Ping nodded. "Tell me where your father went, so I can go look for him. Otherwise, the Frozen Forest is so vast, finding someone won't be easy."

Miki gritted her teeth. "Brother, can you take me to the Frozen Forest?"

Chi Ping asked in confusion, "Why?"

Miki stretched out her small hand, her soul power surging, and a pointer appeared in the radiance of her soul power.

"This is my martial spirit, called the Life Pointer. It can designate one person, and the pointer will always point to him."

Chi Ping looked at Mi Qi's hand; the pointer was floating in her palm, pointing firmly in the direction of the Frozen Forest.

"Is this how you confirmed Dad was still alive?"

Miki nodded vigorously.

"Your father's martial spirit is the same as yours?"

"Yes."

—No wonder he dared to go to the frozen forest to be the guide.

Aren't you afraid?

"I'm not afraid as long as it saves my dad!"

"I'll be waiting for you at the city gate at 7 a.m. tomorrow."

"Thank you, brother!"

Neither Chi Ping nor Mi Qi mentioned payment. What reward could a family, similar to a hunter's household, possibly offer to a Soul King when their breadwinner has collapsed?

The watchful eyes were withdrawn, and they ordered a large glass of ale from the waiter.

……

One day later, the frozen forest.

Chi Ping dug through the thick snow to reveal the ground, laid out the firewood, stretched out his left arm, and lit a flame with his fingertips.

Before long, wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys.

"Little Qi, come warm yourself by the fire. Don't get cold!"

"Wow, that's amazing! Brother, is that your soul skill?"

Chi Ping smiled and said, "This isn't a soul skill; it's a soul tool."

Ikehira learned a part of the miniaturization technique for inscriptions researched by Master Liu Wenzhi.

Based on his own research on inscription classification, Chi Ping's left arm has become a special soul tool in a certain sense.

(End of this chapter)