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A short while later, Ye Lan, communicating through the surrounding flora, successfully pinpointed the location of a nearby 'Tourmaline Spirit Fox.'
When Ye Lan opened his eyes, he found Ning Rongrong had already moved close to him.
Ning Rongrong's large eyes were full of anticipation as she asked, "Teacher, what kind of spirit beast did you find for me?!"
"A Tourmaline Spirit Fox, a species of gemstone-type spirit beast. It possesses very little aggression and subsists on soul power and minerals. It is incredibly well-suited for you!" Ye Lan explained.
"Hooray! Then let's get going!!" Ning Rongrong exclaimed, excitedly leaping onto Bear Two's shoulder.
Seeing Ning Rongrong's eagerness, the rest of the group also mounted the enormous forms of Bear Two and Big Orange.
Bear Two shot a smug glance at Big Orange, showing off: The master and mistress are both riding on my back, while you're only carrying a few grown men.
Big Orange simply rolled its eyes at Bear Two and immediately began sprinting in the direction Ye Lan indicated.
Watching Big Orange dash away, Bear Two had no choice but to bellow and give chase.
However, a bear is ultimately no match for a tiger in speed. Every time Bear Two managed to catch up, Big Orange would instantly pull away again, clearly toying with the lumbering bear.
With one beast chasing and the other fleeing, the group of ten soon arrived in a quiet, dense forest.
The soil here was a distinct coppery-red color, and the otherwise flat ground was dotted with protruding, uneven mineral deposits.
Ye Lan made a series of hand signals to Bear Two and Big Orange.
The two massive beasts gradually slowed their pace, taking care not to startle the nearby Tourmaline Spirit Fox.
As the two beasts moved forward with deliberate slowness, a seven-colored light gradually became visible within a thicket not far away.
Hearing the commotion from outside, the Tourmaline Spirit Fox's blue, fox-like head instantly poked out from between the grasses.
Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but exclaim, "That little fox is so adorable!"
The Tourmaline Spirit Fox, however, saw the numerous humans perched atop a terrifying Bloodthirsty Demon Bear and a Vajra Bear.
It instantly concluded that these humans were terrifying beings who had managed to enslave such ferocious spirit beasts.
Although it felt a strong urge to get closer to one of the young women among the humans, it immediately chose to activate its 'Gem Illusion Domain.'
To an outside observer, it appeared as though the Tourmaline Spirit Fox was still nestled within the grassy patch, looking left and right.
In reality, however, it had already turned its body and started to flee!
Seeing the escaping Tourmaline Spirit Fox, Snake Lance Douluo, Pufferfish Douluo, Dugu Bo, and Silver Wolf all frowned slightly.
They had obviously detected that the Tourmaline Spirit Fox had cast an illusion, but none of them spoke up.
Only when faced with a spirit beast exceeding fifty thousand years of cultivation would they decisively intervene; otherwise, the entire experience would lose its value as a trial.
However, the Tourmaline Spirit Fox's illusion could not deceive Ye Lan's Golden Eyes. Ye Lan immediately called out, "Zhu Zhuqing, two o'clock direction! The Tourmaline Spirit Fox is getting away!"
Zhu Zhuqing didn't waste a single moment wondering why the Tourmaline Spirit Fox appeared to be in its original spot; she placed her unconditional faith in her teacher!
"Spirit Avatar: Sacred Lynx!"
"Sacred Lynx: Speed Form!"
A pair of black ears instantly sprouted from Zhu Zhuqing's head, a long cat's tail grew from her lower back, and her legs transformed into the slender, powerful hind limbs of the Sacred Lynx.
In a flash, Zhu Zhuqing became a phantom-like afterimage, hurtling toward the two o'clock position.
A moment later, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes locked onto a Tourmaline Spirit Fox whose entire body seemed to be composed of translucent blue sapphire.
Clang!
Zhu Zhuqing immediately drew her blade, Darknight, sending a shadowy strike toward the small, blue body.
Relying on its sixth sense, the Tourmaline Spirit Fox activated its 'Gem Illusion Domain' once more.
Within Zhu Zhuqing's field of vision, the Tourmaline Spirit Fox's body split into two identical copies, nimbly dodging the attack from Darknight.
Afterward, the two spirit foxes darted off in opposite directions, one to the left and one to the right.
"Zhuqing, the one on the left!" Ye Lan's voice transmitted directly to her through his soul power.
Following Ye Lan's guidance, Zhu Zhuqing twisted her body and pursued the real Tourmaline Spirit Fox.
At that exact moment, the 'Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda' materialized in Ning Rongrong's palm as she chanted quickly, "Second treasure, it is named: Speed!"
Zhu Zhuqing's velocity increased yet again!!
But it wasn't over!
A brilliant light flared from Zhu Zhuqing's first spirit ring.
Her speed doubled once more, and now Zhu Zhuqing's form was nothing more than a fleeting shadow on the landscape.
The Tourmaline Spirit Fox sensed the explosive increase in the human girl's speed behind it. Unable to even see her figure, it immediately deployed its 'Gemstone Shield.'
A brilliant, multifaceted polyhedron with sharp, regular angles instantly emerged from the Tourmaline Spirit Fox's gem-like body.
In the very instant that Zhu Zhuqing used Darknight to slash through the air, Ning Rongrong chanted again, "First treasure, it is named: Strength!"
CRACK!!
A gemstone-type spirit beast of around two thousand years, equivalent in power to a human Spirit Elder of rank thirty-three, stood absolutely no chance against the explosive power of the Sacred Lynx when augmented by Ning Rongrong's support.
Both the brilliant, angular polyhedron and the Tourmaline Spirit Fox were instantly cleaved in two, falling lifelessly onto the muddy ground.
"Ning Rongrong, now is your chance!!" Ye Lan called out decisively.
Ning Rongrong looked at the Tourmaline Spirit Fox struggling on the ground, her heart filled with a touch of pity, but she nevertheless retrieved a gemstone cone from her storage spirit tool. Ning Rongrong gripped the cone with both hands and, steeling her resolve, drove it forcefully toward the Tourmaline Spirit Fox's head!!
Pop! Crack!
The upper half of the Tourmaline Spirit Fox's body instantly shattered into a pile of blue sapphire fragments. A purple light began to emerge from within the sapphire remains. Ye Lengleng stepped forward and gently patted Ning Rongrong's head. Feeling Lengleng's comforting touch, Rongrong emerged from her sadness.
She extended both hands to touch the purple spirit ring.
After seeing Ning Rongrong begin to absorb the spirit ring, Zhu Zhuqing asked worriedly, "Teacher, can Rongrong really handle this? This is a two-thousand-year spirit ring!"
Ye Lan comforted her, saying, "Don't worry. Right now, all we need to do is believe in Rongrong!!"
Considering Ning Rongrong's innate talent, the effects of the immortal herb, the gentle nature of the Tourmaline Spirit Fox, and its high degree of compatibility as a gemstone-type beast, this was a perfect match.
If she couldn't absorb a ring beyond the typical age limit under these conditions, then Tang San's casual absorption of similarly advanced spirit rings would make no sense at all.
After a long while, Ning Rongrong slowly opened her eyes.
Sensing the fluctuation of soul power within her body, Ning Rongrong immediately exclaimed with joy, "Zhuqing! Ye Lan! I did it!!"
Overcome with happiness, Ning Rongrong threw herself into a hug with both Zhu Zhuqing and Ye Lan.
Ye Lan gently patted Ning Rongrong on the back and asked with curiosity, "Ning Rongrong, what is your current rank now?!"
"I'm already a rank thirty-five Spirit Elder!!" Ning Rongrong announced excitedly.
"So that means the 'Exquisite Gilded Tulip' raised Rongrong's soul power by six ranks, and the 'Tourmaline Spirit Fox' added another two ranks. This allowed Rongrong to jump directly from rank twenty-seven all the way to rank thirty-five!" Ye Lan calculated in an instant the reason for her significant improvement.
Dugu Yan offered a rare compliment, "Not too bad. You're almost catching up to me."
Feeling immensely pleased, Ning Rongrong selectively ignored the latter half of Dugu Yan's sentence.
Ning Rongrong said, "I have to thank Ye Lan for this! Teacher's theory was correct! During the process of absorbing the 'Tourmaline Spirit Fox' spirit ring, I didn't feel any discomfort at all."
"My absorption limit for the third spirit ring should be around twenty-eight hundred years, and this ring's age is about twenty-two hundred years. But even so, I am completely and utterly satisfied!"
Ning Rongrong was already beginning to fantasize about the moment she would return to her clan, bringing glory to her ancestors.
Xiao Xue asked, "Rongrong, what is your third spirit ability?"
"It's a soul power amplification. As of now, my first, second, and third spirit abilities all provide a forty percent boost!"
"Furthermore, because the 'Tourmaline Spirit Fox' was so highly compatible with my 'Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda,' this spirit ring has greatly increased my total soul power reserves. From now on, I can provide support to all of you for much longer periods!" Ning Rongrong shared all of her changes at once, a clear sign that she now completely trusted everyone present.
Dugu Yan hugged Ye Lengleng happily and said, "Since Rongrong had no problem absorbing a twenty-two-hundred-year 'Tourmaline Spirit Fox' spirit ring, that means you should be able to absorb an eight-thousand-year ring, Lengleng!!"
A smile graced Ye Lengleng's face. This way, she would be able to better assist Ye Lan and the Heaven Dou team!
Just then, Snake Lance Douluo sensed something, and his brow furrowed.
A moment later, his expression relaxed again.
Ye Lan noticed Bear Two's restlessness as well as the shift in Snake Lance Douluo's demeanor and asked curiously:
"Uncle Yu, did something happen?"
Snake Lance Douluo replied, "A few spirit beasts at the eighty to ninety-thousand-year level appeared nearby just now, but they left again after a short while."
Ye Lan rubbed Bear Two's head and summoned some Blue Silver Grass from his palm, feeding it to both Bear Two and the Vajra Tiger to calm them.
Ye Lan then said, "Let's continue searching for a spirit beast for Lengleng. The Star Dou Great Forest has an extremely wide variety of spirit beasts; we can find any type we need here."
Far away, a tiger, a wolf, and a bird were rapidly departing the area.
The eighty-thousand-year-old Flaming Terror Bird spoke in the language of beasts, "Tiger Boss, why are we leaving that place?"
"Aren't those detestable humans hunting spirit beasts? Why didn't we just kill them?"
The eighty-thousand-year-old Ice Azure Wolf also asked in confusion, "Didn't the Co-Lord instruct us to drive out all humans?"
The ninety-thousand-year-old Sky-Shaking Tiger glanced at the two idiots and retorted angrily, "The Co-Lord told us to kill Spirit Masters who slaughter indiscriminately. That group of humans gets along so well with those two spirit beasts; they are clearly not the type to kill innocent spirit beasts."
"Besides," the Sky-Shaking Tiger continued, "they have three Titled Douluo-level experts with them. If we had gone over there, we would have been serving ourselves up on a platter."
"Since these humans aren't causing any trouble, let's continue moving closer to the core region and strive to reach the one-hundred-thousand-year level as soon as possible."
The Ice Azure Wolf began to howl triumphantly, declaring, "The revival of the spirit beasts is at hand, it is at hand!!"
After using his 'Nature Domain' to perceive the location of the spirit beast they were looking for, Ye Lan mounted Bear Two and set off towards a distant area.
The spirit beast they were heading to hunt was called the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower,' a life-attribute, plant-type spirit beast.
If this particular spirit beast were not so exceptionally suited for Ye Lengleng, he could have absorbed it himself.
However, his goal was not the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower'; he had a much better option in mind for himself.
After all, by using 'Self-Selecting Spirit Skills,' he had already laid a solid foundation for his Blue Silver Grass with his first and second spirit rings.
To try and further enhance the quality of his martial soul with another spirit ring at this stage was somewhat unrealistic.
This was not only a matter of his martial soul's development but also related to the quality of the spirit beast itself.
Currently, the quality of Ye Lan's Blue Silver Grass was somewhere between a god-level and a god-king-level martial soul, having nearly reached the absolute peak of what a martial soul could be!
Ye Lan had realized this ahead of time when he absorbed his second spirit ring, the 'Blue God Prophet,' and felt the soul-tearing agony and the pain of every cell in his body rupturing.
Evolving into a martial soul with three ultimate attributes was already that painful; Ye Lan didn't dare to even imagine what evolving a soul with four ultimate attributes would be like.
He had personally experienced the power of the 'Twelve-Winged Angel of Origin'; beyond its basic abilities, all of its other skills required divine power to activate.
Although Ye Lan held no real expectation of evolving his 'Blue Silver Grass' into a four-attribute, god-king-level martial soul, it would be quite comical if he managed to do so but lacked the divine power to use its divine skills.
A short time later, the two spirit beasts brought the group of ten to a mountain spring.
Gurgle! Trickle!
The spring water flowed gently down the mountain stream, its impact against the rocks creating a soft and continuous sound.
Ye Lan took a deep, greedy breath of the fresh air. The air, mingled with a faint green mist, was drawn into his body.
Although the quality of this mist of life could not compare to the life force within his own body.
This green mist was exceptionally good at healing injured spirit beasts.
Ning Rongrong looked at the light green mist that filled the air and asked doubtfully, "Ye Lan, is the spirit beast Sister Lengleng needs here?!"
Ye Lan answered, "The Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower is very close. This mist is a small amount of life energy it exhales with each breath."
Using his Nature Domain, Ye Lan could completely lock onto the position of the plant-type spirit beast, the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower.'
The group stepped over the massive, dark green roots extending from countless towering ancient trees, arriving a few dozen meters in front of the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower.'
From a distance, the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower' had a very peculiar appearance. Its main trunk was as thick as an ancient tree, and its bark was covered in spiraling, silver-green patterns.
It had only a single trunk, at the top of which sat a colossal flower nearly five meters in diameter. The petals were layered one upon another; the outer layer was a gentle, jade-white, the middle layer glowed with a faint pink halo, and the innermost petals looked like crystals adorned with morning dew.
At the very center of the flower grew countless crystal-like stamens, and hovering above them were numerous bee-like spirit beasts, each several dozen centimeters long, diligently gathering nectar.
Ye Lengleng murmured, "It's so beautiful!!"
Looking at such a massive flower, even Dugu Bo felt a certain reluctance to harm it.
Based on its age, this 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower' had been growing for several thousand years.
The moment Ye Lan's group arrived, various spirit beasts resting beneath the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower' all rose to their feet, looking warily at the newcomers.
Most of these were injured spirit beasts that had come to the base of the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower' to heal their wounds.
Moreover, all the spirit beasts silently abided by an agreement: there was to be no fighting near the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower,' to avoid involving it in any conflict!
However, what none of these spirit beasts expected was what happened the instant Ye Lan appeared.
The 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower' slowly bent its trunk, attempting to show its submission to the 'King of Plants,' Ye Lan.
Seeing the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower' adopt such a posture, Ye Lan felt a momentary pang of guilt, as he had come to take the life of this very subject.
Ye Lengleng noticed the change in Ye Lan's expression and spoke up, "Ye Lan, let's find a different spirit beast. My spirit skills are fixed anyway, no matter what spirit ring I absorb!"
Warmed by her consideration, Ye Lan gently rubbed Ye Lengleng's head and said, "Let me try to communicate with it first!"
Ye Lan sat down cross-legged on a large tree root and closed his eyes.
A verdant green domain spread out with Ye Lan at its center, instantly enveloping the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower.'
The moment the 'Nature Domain' appeared, countless plants began to tremble with joy.
The 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower' brought its blossom into full bloom, and the green mist of life grew even more dense and vibrant.
The spirit beasts beneath the 'Thousand Stamen Healing Heart Flower' looked on in astonishment at the giant flower behind them, completely unsure of what the golden-haired human had just done.
(End of Chapter)