Chapter 6: Soul Leaving the Body
Over four hundred li from Notting City lay the Spirit Hunting Forest.
It took Luo Ling five days to reach this place. Before heading to Heaven Dou City, he wanted to add a soul ring to his second martial soul—the Soul of Desire.
In Emperor Soul Village, Luo Ling hadn't waited for Xiao Wu to wake up. After paying respects at the old village chief's grave, he left immediately.
To him, Xiao Wu was insignificant. He had already planted the psychological suggestion—that was enough.
He wouldn't waste more time on her. After all, she was just a hundred-thousand-year transformed soul beast. If she still chose to follow the original story and fall for Tang San, he would simply kill her.
When his martial soul had still been the Scarecrow, Luo Ling might have lacked confidence. But after his second awakening, now possessing two powerful martial souls—and armed with knowledge of the entire story—he was determined to destroy both Yu Xiaogang and Tang San!
At the entrance of the Spirit Hunting Forest, Luo Ling surveyed the busy gathering area and easily found an inn to stay in.
Not long ago, he had been here before with Notting Academy's instructor.
"Got a permit! Looking for three more to hunt agile-type soul beasts!"
"Hunting plant-type soul beasts, seven members ready, ten gold soul coins reward!"
All around, calls like these rang out—a bustling marketplace of mercenary hunting teams.
A permit, issued by Spirit Hall, was required to enter the forest for soul ring hunting.
Luo Ling had no permit, nor did he plan to join a team.
Teams required verification from Spirit Hall, which he lacked—and he didn't intend to expose his martial soul either.
"Once night falls, I'll sneak in." His eyes scanned the guards near the entrance.
The forest was vast—impossible to guard completely. If he found a neglected section, slipping inside would be easy.
"I can explore the area first…"
A faintly sinister smile crossed his lips. Closing the window, Luo Ling sat cross-legged on his bed.
A crimson light flickered in his eyes. The next moment, his body felt light.
He looked—and saw himself sitting on the bed below.
"So this is the Soul of Desire's ability to leave the body?"
Luo Ling glanced at his own translucent, floating form and drifted through the room, marveling. In this out-of-body state, he could pass freely through solid matter.
His spectral form glided through the wooden wall and into the neighboring room.
There, a burly man sat counting his coins.
Luo Ling floated right before his face, waving a hand—but the man didn't react at all.
"He can't see me in this state." Luo Ling nodded slightly, then let his ethereal body sink into the man's form.
Possession—this was the Soul of Desire's natural skill while in astral projection.
As he merged deeper, Luo Ling began faintly regaining sensation—touch, movement, control.
Meanwhile, the man counting his money suddenly shivered. A chill ran down his spine, and to his horror, his hands no longer obeyed him!
With terrified eyes, he watched his body rise from the bed and walk toward the mirror.
In the reflection, his expression twisted unnaturally. A faint red glow flashed in his pupils, and behind him, a silver-haired phantom figure coiled around him like a ghost.
"Ah!" The man screamed and collapsed onto the ground, shaking violently.
After a few seconds, as sensation returned, he scrambled to his feet, grabbed his money pouch, and bolted from the room without looking back.
Floating in midair, Luo Ling watched his retreating form.
"So, possession lets me control others briefly—the duration depends on the difference in spiritual strength. Reasonable enough."
He turned to the mirror. Reflected there was a silver-haired, ghostly figure hovering silently.
"I didn't expect mirrors to reflect spirits in astral form… how amusing."
Shaking his head with a grin, Luo Ling couldn't help remembering horror films from his past life.
Just what kind of directors came up with the idea that ghosts appear in mirrors?
…
Outside the inn, Luo Ling drifted out into the street.
After confirming that no one could perceive him, he began investigating the forest boundaries in peace.
Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, a wandering ghost was gliding calmly among them.
Yet Luo Ling was unaware that from a nearby inn, a pair of sharp eyes was watching him with interest.
"How fascinating."
Inside a private dining room of another inn, a strikingly beautiful blond man sat by the window, gazing down.
It was Chrysanthemum Douluo—Yue Guan—who was accompanying Bibi Dong on her journey to Notting City.
"What is it, Elder Ju?" Bibi Dong looked up from across the table, following his gaze.
"Your Holiness, look there." Yue Guan pointed outside.
She leaned forward. When her eyes caught the faint, floating figure gliding over the crowd, she froze.
"That… is?"
"Likely a special type of martial soul," Yue Guan replied, smiling faintly.
"Teacher, what are you looking at?" Hu Liena asked, stepping curiously to the window.
But when she looked outside at the busy street, she saw nothing unusual.
"He looks about seven or eight years old, spirit power around the Soul Master level," said Yue Guan thoughtfully. "He resembles the nearly extinct Nightmare— a spiritual-type soul beast in human form. His invisibility must be extraordinary; even a level forty Soul Ancestor without spiritual aptitude wouldn't detect him."
"Your Holiness, this child's talent is exceptional. If trained properly, his stealth and assassination abilities might even surpass the Ghost Elder's."
As Yue Guan spoke, his immense spiritual power had already analyzed most of Luo Ling's spectral form.
"What do you think, Ghost Elder?" Bibi Dong turned toward the silent figure in the corner—Ghost Douluo.
"Remarkably stealthy," Ghost Douluo replied curtly.
"Then please keep an eye on him for now," Bibi Dong ordered, her gaze fixed on Luo Ling with growing interest.
Spirit Hall had always sought to recruit individuals with great potential. If they couldn't be persuaded to join… they were eliminated.
Such had been the rule since the former Pope's era.
"Teacher, what are you all talking about?" Hu Liena asked in confusion.
"We just spotted an interesting youngster," Bibi Dong said with a faint smile. "He might one day become your comrade."
"What?" Hu Liena blinked, baffled.
…
Down in the crowd, Luo Ling suddenly shivered.
A ghost feeling cold? The weather wasn't even chilly… He stopped, glancing around uneasily, but saw nothing out of place.
With a shrug, he continued on. Fifteen minutes later, he reached the forest's edge.
The boundary was blocked by ten-meter-tall iron fencing. Unlike the main entrance guarded by many soldiers, here only one stood watch every thousand meters.
"This should do nicely," Luo Ling murmured with satisfaction.
A low-level hunting forest didn't require heavy patrols. Once night fell, entry would be easy.
Satisfied, Luo Ling drifted upward, heading back toward his inn—unaware of the shadowed figure quietly observing him from a nearby corner.
(END CHAPTER)
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