"Xiao Wu," Ye Yin said in a low voice, "you should condense your fourth spirit ring here on your own. When you're done, just come out and tell everyone that you accidentally discovered a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast that had forced its way in and was on its last breath. Just say it was perfectly suited for your fourth ring, so you absorbed it. Most importantly, remember not to touch any of the plants or flowers. Don't even let a leaf or a drop of dew brush against you. Use your Teleportation to move around. Everything here is extremely dangerous."
Xiao Wu nodded seriously. "Okay, Yin Ge. I've got it."
She sat down cross-legged, and the phantom of the Jade Rabbit slowly materialized behind her. The phantom held a giant pestle, but somehow, the usually dignified image now looked a bit goofy. It was said that a Spirit influences its master, but since Xiao Wu's Spirit was a manifestation of herself, her Spirit was just like her. A pink light flickered in Xiao Wu's eyes as a black, ten-thousand-year spirit ring slowly began to form behind her.
Ye Yin quickly located the Lustrous Silk Immortal Product. He carefully dug it out, taking the surrounding soil with it, and brought the immortal herb back to where the others were waiting.
"Huh? Yin Ge, where's Xiao Wu?" Ning Rongrong asked, looking around but seeing only Ye Yin and the purple flower in his hand.
"I accidentally discovered a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast that had managed to get inside," Ye Yin explained calmly. "It was poisoned and on its last breath, completely motionless. It just so happened to be a perfect fit for Xiao Wu's fourth spirit ring, so I let her stay behind to absorb it. She'll be out soon. I gave her a special antidote, so don't worry."
Hearing this, everyone relaxed. At that moment, Tang San's eyes were glued to the flower in Ye Yin's hand. He gasped inwardly.
Lustrous Silk Immortal Product! How can there be a Lustrous Silk Immortal Product here?! The treasure that grants immunity to all poisons is right there! What kind of treasure trove is Dugu Bo's herb garden?! It's a pity I don't have enough antidotes, otherwise breaking this poison array would be an easy task. When I get the chance in the future, I must go in and see what's inside!
Ye Yin placed the Lustrous Silk Immortal Product on the ground. He then took out a can of his enhanced surströmming and dripped a single drop of its juice onto the flower. Immediately, the herb's tightly contained fragrance began to rapidly diffuse outwards.
"The surströmming can be used like that?!" everyone exclaimed, stunned.
"The juice has a very strong spreading ability," Ye Yin explained. "It's perfect for spreading the fragrance of the Lustrous Silk Immortal Product. Any Spirit Beasts that smell it will naturally come over."
After setting up the bait, Ye Yin didn't stay with the group. Instead, he walked to the outer perimeter of their camp. To prevent weaker Spirit Beasts from disrupting their plan, he set up another layer of a poison array around them. It wasn't nearly as potent as Dugu Bo's, but it was enough to filter out any beasts below the thousand-year level. This would save them a lot of effort by ensuring only powerful beasts answered their call.
As the fragrance spread, the group grew vigilant. Oscar, Yu Xiaogang, Ning Rongrong, and Jiang Zhu, being the weakest, stood closest to the immortal herb in the center. The others formed a protective circle, carefully observing their surroundings.
Soon, a low roar and a faint, fishy smell wafted over. The trees to their left began to sway as if hit by a strong wind, and a striped, pitch-black tiger sprang out of the forest. Its fur was entirely black, save for a white 'King' character pattern on its forehead. It was over three meters long and stood one and a half meters tall at the shoulder. Despite its massive size, it moved with incredible agility. It was a five-thousand-year Ghost Tiger.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been a perfect fourth spirit ring for Zhu Zhuqing. But since she was aiming for a ten-thousand-year ring, this Ghost Tiger had to be dealt with.
"Stop him!" Ye Yin shouted from the edge of the clearing.
Hearing the shout, the Ghost Tiger changed its course and charged fiercely toward Ye Yin, not because it saw him as a threat, but because he was standing directly in its path to the Lustrous Silk Immortal Product.
"Yin Ge, be careful!" Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing shouted at the same time. "Get out of the way!" Two layers of amplification from Ning Rongrong's pagoda instantly enveloped Ye Yin.
"Beast, how dare you!" Liu Erlong roared and flew out, pouncing toward the Ghost Tiger, but she was still too far away. She could only watch in horror as the distance between the beast and Ye Yin rapidly closed.
"It's over!" Liu Erlong's heart sank.
Ye Yin, however, simply looked at the charging Ghost Tiger, raised his right fist, and threw a punch. The Ghost Tiger glanced at him with disdain. A mere Spirit Ancestor dared to challenge it? It didn't even bother to block the attack, likely thinking the punch would feel like being hit by a piece of fruit.
Ye Yin's fist landed squarely on the Ghost Tiger's body.
"Bang!"
The beast's massive body flew backward like a cannonball, crashing heavily into a distant tree trunk before falling to the ground with a heavy thud.
Everyone was stunned into silence. Liu Erlong rushed to Ye Yin's side and stared at him blankly. Is this something a Spirit Ancestor can do? Sending a five-thousand-year Spirit Beast flying with one punch? And he's a Support-type Soul Master!
"Ye Yin," she said, her voice filled with disbelief, "are you sure you're a Support-type Soul Master? Your physical strength is just too outrageous!"
The others looked at each other, equally bewildered. If that's what his punch did to a five-thousand-year beast, who among them could possibly withstand it? He could probably kill them with one punch if he used a little more force.
Ye Yin smiled sheepishly. "I just work out occasionally, you know, exercise."
Liu Erlong subconsciously asked, "How do you train?"
Everyone else immediately pricked up their ears, afraid of missing a single word.
"One hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run," Ye Yin said with a perfectly straight face. "Every single day."