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It was a Yuanqi Rat.
Compared to ordinary rats, the Yuanqi Rat's body was relatively large. This one, with two complete patterns on its body signifying a full two hundred years of cultivation, was nearly as big as Su Wen himself!
The Yuanqi Rat's characteristics were rather ordinary; it was simply able to store spirit power. Its total volume of spirit power was considered in the upper echelon among spirit beasts of the same cultivation level.
Such a characteristic was an extremely good match for Old Jack's Sweet Potato Spirit.
Of course, the most important factor was Su Wen's confidence in his ability to kill this Yuanqi Rat.
He wouldn't have been confident against other hundred-year spirit beasts, but the Yuanqi Rat was different.
Especially here in the outer perimeter of the Spirit Hunting Forest, he could fight with relative abandon.
Su Wen summoned his spirit. Pages separated from the book, folding themselves into small swords that revolved around his body, ready to shoot out and prevent the Yuanqi Rat from escaping.
Naturally, seeing the lineup of one child and one old man, the Yuanqi Rat had no intention of fleeing.
One thought: Fight!
Tightly gripping his staff, Su Wen rushed forward.
"That boy... his isn't a tool spirit. Using other weapons doesn't give him any boost!" Old Jack grew worried as he watched.
But he didn't need to worry for long.
A strike from Su Wen's staff, while it didn't send the Yuanqi Rat flying, met the beast in an even clash.
"He's that strong?" Old Jack's eyes widened.
Can just picking up a weapon make you this powerful after becoming a Spirit Master?
As for the paper swords rotating and floating around Su Wen, Old Jack paid them no mind.
After all, in that first collision, the paper swords hadn't done anything.
Su Wen's spirit power circulated within his body.
The human body had numerous meridians. Relying on his innate talent, Su Wen didn't need to slowly grope his way, using spirit power circulation to map out the location and pathways of these meridians.
He could explore, with utmost efficiency, the speed and effect of spirit power circulating through every meridian and every possible circuit.
In addition to mapping out a complete circulatory cycle to serve as his internal technique, Su Wen had also discovered several spirit power pathways that, when coordinated with specific attacks, could unleash even greater strength. This power could be stacked on top of the simple reinforcement his spirit power already provided to his body.
Spirit power enhancing physical strength to unleash a stronger blow—this was spirit power reinforcement.
Spirit power flowing through the meridians, synchronized with the body's movements, erupting in concert with the force of the Spirit Master's attack—this was another layer of power stacked on top.
Compounding this was Su Wen's own mastery of coordinating his entire body, where basically every single move and stance was an attempt to mobilize his full, coordinated strength, erupting with the maximum possible force.
With all these factors combined, the power Su Wen could unleash was not something an average Spirit Master could hope to match.
Of course, a Spirit Master's fundamental physical conditioning was still crucial, and it was a major factor that Su Wen had never once neglected this aspect of his training.
Wielding his iron staff, Su Wen's fight with the Yuanqi Rat grew increasingly fierce.
"This is the kind of fight that's truly satisfying!"
Su Wen discovered that he rather enjoyed this kind of close-quarters brawl.
A pity his spirit was a Book Spirit. He was destined to be unable to follow this path all the way to its end.
It simply wasn't rational.
As Su Wen fought, the paper swords revolving around him continuously stabbed at the Yuanqi Rat, leaving a multitude of wounds on its body.
With his close-quarters combat augmented by the damage from the paper swords, Su Wen clearly held the upper hand.
"This..."
Watching the scene of Su Wen battling the Yuanqi Rat while simultaneously controlling over a dozen small paper swords to attack it, Old Jack was completely dumbstruck.
Isn't Little Wen's spirit a Book Spirit?
And how is he controlling so many paper swords at the same time?
Plus, you're in close combat with a hundred-year spirit beast! Aren't you afraid one slip-up will let it find an opening?
The more Su Wen fought, the more excited he became.
A fight like this really got his blood pumping.
My spiritual power is much higher than an average Spirit Master's.
After advancing to Spirit Master, his spirit had derived a new characteristic, and Su Wen had confirmed that his spirit did indeed have a talent related to the spiritual attribute.
And that was indeed the case.
He was a transmigrator to begin with, possessing strong spiritual power, and his spirit provided an additional boost. As his body developed, his spiritual power grew rapidly.
As a Spirit Master's body develops and their spirit power is cultivated, their spiritual power also receives a certain amount of feedback, enhancing it.
Su Wen had brought strong spiritual power with him when he transmigrated. With the feedback from his physical development and spirit power cultivation, this already formidable spiritual power was growing even more rapidly.
Coupled with his own deliberate training—constantly practicing the fine control of numerous paper swords—his spiritual power was improving at a swift pace.
The Yuanqi Rat felt that this kid was just too bizarre.
It wanted to run.
Unfortunately, Su Wen's paper swords, shooting out from a distance, always managed to obstruct its escape.
"Grandpa, you have to be the one to end its life to absorb its spirit ring."
The Yuanqi Rat had already been worn down by Su Wen to the point of being on its last breath.
It wanted to kill itself, but Su Wen just so happened to be intimately familiar with the Yuanqi Rat's methods of suicide and used his paper swords to cut off that possibility.
Old Jack took the dagger from Su Wen and stabbed it into the Yuanqi Rat's exposed chest.
A yellow spirit ring slowly rose.
"Grandpa, absorb it quickly," Su Wen reminded him.
Old Jack took a deep breath, suppressed his surging emotions, and began to draw the spirit ring just as Su Wen had instructed.
"My strength is already comparable to many Grand Spirit Masters, but this is still not enough."
As Su Wen stood guard, he was also analyzing his own situation.
"The paper sword tactic won't be very effective after I reach the Spirit King level. It's only for my early-stage combat. I should probably start developing new tactics by the time I reach the Spirit Elder stage."
Spiritual power... this was another path Su Wen could think of that would allow him to temporarily stay ahead of others.
Once I'm strengthened in this area, I won't need to worry about my power during the Grand Spirit Master stage.
At the Spirit Elder level, I can consider shifting toward the 'magic book' direction. With my foundation, I won't have to worry about a lack of power.
"No matter what, my strength must increase rapidly. My spirit power cultivation can't fall behind, and my combat power can't fall behind either."
He was already two years older than Tang San. Because of the disparity in their innate spirits, Su Wen had wasted more than two years, becoming a Spirit Master much later than Tang San.
However, by relying on his intellect, on his theoretical research, and on his ability to transform knowledge into power, Su Wen had rapidly closed that gap, reaching level 20 at the exact same time as Tang San.
"Tang Hao must die, and I must be the one to kill him. That means my strength cannot be any weaker than Tang San's!"
Even if I take out Tang Hao by stealth, after my vengeance is complete, I must have the ability to withstand Tang San's retaliation.
Therefore, I absolutely cannot fall behind Tang San.
"It's not just about not falling behind. I am, after all, two years older than him."
For the time being, Su Wen had no plans to leverage Spirit Hall to hunt down Tang Hao.
Setting aside the intelligence source and the possibility of pulling it off, whether the goal itself could even be achieved was a question.
Does Bibi Dong want Tang Hao dead?
Is Tang Hao truly a spent force, an oil-less lamp?
In the original story, he lasted for decades. Tang Hao at this current stage could absolutely still erupt with terrifying strength.
Leaking his information to Spirit Hall would only result in a protracted tug-of-war. Tang Hao would be hiding everywhere, and Spirit Hall would be hunting everywhere.
The already tense situation on the continent would explode at the slightest spark.
How could Su Wen possibly develop in peace?
Stability was the only way forward.
The original plot was Su Wen's greatest ace in the hole.
"If the original plot changes, what if Tang San goes to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well earlier than in the original story?"
Without the immortal herbs, if Su Wen wanted to defy his fate, he would have to constantly scheme and scramble just to improve his own talent.
That would be far too time-consuming.
Until he obtained the immortal herbs, it was best to let everything develop according to the original plot.
"First, I'll set a small goal: in terms of spirit power cultivation, I will close that two-year gap!"
Reaching level 20 at the same time, just by virtue of being two years older?
That's not good enough.
"Spirit King. I'll aim for the Spirit King stage."
I will become a Spirit King two years before Tang San does!
This also meant that Su Wen would have to become a Spirit King before the Spirit Master Tournament.
Six years. Cultivating from level 20 to level 50... Su Wen had to be crazy.
"Knowledge is power. Therefore, I must find knowledge that can be rapidly put into practice and converted into cultivation speed!"
(End of this chapter)