"What about the second stage?"
Quanyi asked curiously.
"The second stage is separation and maintenance. However, to complete this stage, you must complete the second stage. Only when your spiritual power reaches the Soul Saint stage can you begin cultivation.
For now, let's not be too ambitious and focus on completing the first stage."
Quan Li smiled gently and stroked Quanyi's head with his large hand.
The tutorial on the spiritual cultivation method concluded.
Quanyi entered the busy process of curing meat.
The massive mountain of meat took Quanyi a full week.
To accommodate the enormous weight,
Quanyi filled the Blazing Sun Heart and then took out the giant sack he had prepared in advance. The two of them carried the meat, weighing over tens of thousands of pounds in total, out of the forest.
Sunset Forest is located in the center of the empire.
Positionally, it is surrounded by several Provinces.
All the Soul Masters living in the empire come here to hunt for Soul Rings.
Therefore, no matter which direction you exit, there will be corresponding Soul hunting towns near the forest.
Because Quanyi and Quan Li were heading towards Heaven Dou City when they left the Soul Beast Forest, they arrived at the largest Soul hunting town near Sunset Forest—Tower Enshrouded Town.
Although called a town, its scale is comparable to a smaller city.
Although there are no tall city walls surrounding it, there are people patrolling around and inside the town.
These people are not soldiers of the empire, but patrol teams spontaneously formed by the town's members.
Although they are not regular troops, there are a considerable number of Soul Masters in the patrol teams, so their combat power is not inferior.
The purpose of these patrol teams is not to guard against humans, but to be vigilant against the invasion of Soul Beasts.
At night, a patrol team on the outskirts of Tower Enshrouded Town was sitting around a bonfire, taking a short break.
Among them, a burly middle-aged man with a slight stubble was the most eye-catching.
The man's eyes were full of arrogance, and when he glanced at the other members, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes.
Moreover, while the other team members were wearing some protective equipment and weapons, he was wearing only a leather coat.
He seemed out of place in the environment.
At this moment, a small team member, carrying a wine pot, approached the arrogant middle-aged man with a slight bow and said flatteringly, "Captain Zhao, your wine is warmed up."
The middle-aged man seemed to disdain speaking, rudely snatched the wine pot from the small team member's hand, and drank it himself.
Captain Zhao's rude behavior did not anger the other team members; on the contrary, it made them lower their heads even further.
Captain Zhao has such great prestige in this team only because he is the only Soul Master in the team.
However, even as a Soul Master, he is just a low-level Soul Master whose Soul Power level is stuck at the twenty-ninth level and unable to advance.
Captain Zhao poured a mouthful of hot wine into his mouth, and the heartwarming heat dispelled the biting mountain wind at night.
"Comfortable."
Captain Zhao's cold face finally softened.
"By the way, Ling Zi, what time is it now?" Captain Zhao asked.
"Captain, it's less than half an hour before the shift change."
The small team member immediately blurted out the answer to Captain Zhao's question.
Captain Zhao nodded slightly, "Finally, it's almost over."
The patrol mission seems tedious, but it is a stable and free job.
And, most importantly, the reward here is quite good.
For a Soul Master like him with no combat ability, the meager subsidies were simply not enough for his extravagant lifestyle.
Fortunately, this kind of patrol work not only allowed him to be flattered by the common people below, but also earned him a considerable reward.
Just as he was enjoying the leisurely moments of his work, a series of dull vibrations entered his ears.
Dong, dong, dong. At first, Captain Zhao thought it was his imagination, and besides, everyone else said they didn't hear anything.
But as the sound got closer and closer, the alcohol in his system instantly dissipated.
"Quick, quick, everyone be on guard."
Captain Zhao's face was flustered, and his voice became sharp due to the urgency.
The hurried shouts alarmed the resting team members.
They had never seen the arrogant Captain Zhao look so panicked.
The tense mood instantly infected the entire team.
Everyone picked up their weapons and equipment and consciously stood behind Captain Zhao.
"Captain, should we pull the signal?"
At this moment, Ling Zi took out a delicate bamboo tube from his arms, holding the tube in one hand and pulling on the thin rope at the bottom of the tube with the other.
This was the signaling device distributed to each patrol team.
If they encountered a powerful Soul Beast, or a large group of Soul Beasts approaching, pulling the signaling device would immediately bring support.
Just as Ling Zi was waiting anxiously for Captain Zhao's instructions, a deep voice echoed around them.
"Wait. We are not Soul Beasts."
This voice did not belong to any of the patrol team members.
But strangely, the voice seemed to surround them in a three-dimensional way, echoing around them.
The strange situation almost startled Ling Zi into pulling the signaling device.
"What a powerful Soul Power," Captain Zhao sighed inwardly.
At the same time, the panic on Captain Zhao's face gradually eased.
Unlike the panicked ordinary team members, Captain Zhao, as a Soul Master, knew that this was a method of transmitting sound using powerful Soul Power.
Therefore, the sound must have been made by a powerful Soul Master.
"Everyone, don't panic, put down your weapons, this is a powerful Soul Master."
Captain Zhao turned around to appease everyone's emotions and told them to put down their weapons.
Just then, two towering black shadows approached the crowd, accompanied by vibrations.
At this moment, under the light of the fire, everyone truly saw the true faces of the visitors.
These were two tall men carrying small mountains on their backs.
One looked older, while the other looked very young.
These two were Quanyi and Quan Li, who had come out of the Sunset Forest.
"Sss~, how heavy is that?"
One of the team members looked at the two men's backpacks and opened his mouth in surprise.
Captain Zhao was also surprised when he saw this.
His expression immediately changed, and he bowed slightly, cautiously approaching the two men, and said in a flattering tone: "Respected Soul Master, I am Zhao Jie, the captain of the patrol team of this town. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
At this moment, Captain Zhao's face did not have the slightest arrogance or disdain.
"Don't be nervous, we just came out of the Sunset Forest and want to rest in the town for a while."
Quanyi didn't expect that he and Quan Li almost alarmed the entire town.
"Then allow me to lead the way for you two. Seeing that you two are carrying a lot of supplies, I happen to know of a vacant warehouse in the town that you can use for storage."
Captain Zhao's suggestion just solved the needs of the two men.
Quanyi replied politely, "Then thank you very much, Captain Zhao."
"You guys stay here and continue patrolling. You can disband on your own after the shift."
Having said that, Captain Zhao left his team members and work behind, leading Quanyi and Quan Li into the town.
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