Fu Yu gazed toward the distant forest, finding it very quiet, without the rustling sounds of any Spirit Beasts running around.
High-level Spirit Beasts have extremely strong territorial awareness; generally, no Spirit Beasts would intrude before the Crimson Flame Bird's Aura completely dissipated.
Sitting cross-legged before the spirit ring, spirit power flowed within his body, and his consciousness began guiding the spirit ring to envelop him.
Even though it had just entered the millennium rank, the spirit power contained within the spirit ring was still quite formidable.
The violent spirit power, akin to magma, rushed into his body like a wild horse that had broken free, wildly crashing everywhere, causing Fu Yu's Meridians and muscles to swell, ache, and feel a faint pain.
However, this current state was completely within Fu Yu's expectations, and in fact, it was much better than anticipated.
If a spirit ring of about 1,100 years was only this difficult, then Fu Yu might have underestimated himself; he could likely add at least two hundred years to his current estimate.
As the Sword Heart Art was silently recited in Fu Yu's heart, in just an instant, the spirit power within his body became orderly, like a disorganized army meeting an unparalleled general. The anomalous spirit power flooding in from the spirit ring could no longer cause any confusion, being digested bit by bit.
Under the catalysis of the spirit ring's spirit power, Fu Yu's body began to emit continuous crackling sounds of bones, his muscles gradually became defined, and his body was proportionally enlarged by several points.
This was like compressing a growth process that would normally take several years into mere moments, causing the entire person to mature rapidly.
"Hoo—"
As Fu Yu exhaled a long breath, his azure blue eyes opened, radiating divine light.
The spirit power Aura on his body began to climb steadily as the spirit ring absorption concluded.
Sounds of Breakthroughs, faint yet distinct, echoed in Fu Yu's ears and heart.
Rank 14!
A single 1,100-year spirit ring directly caused a significant increase in Fu Yu's spirit power.
Excluding the spirit power accumulated from Cultivating the Sword Heart Art for half a month, the Crimson Flame Bird's spirit ring allowed Fu Yu to Break through three ranks, saving him nearly half a year of Cultivation time.
Feeling the surging spirit power fluctuations within his body, Fu Yu let out a low shout.
"Martial Soul Possession!"
As his voice fell, an exceptionally dazzling golden-red divine bird appeared behind Fu Yu, circling and dancing around him, wreathed in fiercely burning crimson-gold flames.
Following the Martial Soul Possession, magnificent golden-red vambraces extended from his palms up to his elbows, and golden-red patterns appeared on his clothes.
The only other unusual changes were Fu Yu's eyes and hair.
His originally azure blue eyes turned crimson red like blazing flames after releasing his Spirit, and his ear-length gray short hair transformed into waist-length hair with a white-to-red gradient.
Fu Yu carefully examined the gilded vambraces on his hands, then tugged at his white-and-red gradient long hair. The creation formed by spirit power didn't cause much pain.
"The vambraces look somewhat like the Collapsing Celestial Master, but they resemble the Chiling stance more. Perhaps the complete form will only manifest after I activate Artificial Collapse later on."
"But thankfully, I'm quite satisfied that it doesn't resemble the half-beast appearance of Beast Spirit Masters undergoing Martial Soul Possession here on the Douluo Continent."
After observing the changes to his body, his gaze shifted to the spirit ring.
To know the specific effect of the Spirit Ability, it was best to use it personally.
As Fu Yu's mind stirred, the faint purple first spirit ring floating before him instantly lit up.
Simultaneously, a surge of immense power began to flow within Fu Yu's body, and even hotter crimson-gold flames ignited on the gilded vambraces.
"Attack power, defense power, and speed are each increased by fifty percent, and fire power is doubled. The effect lasts for one hour."
"Not bad. I should choose enhancement-type Spirit Abilities for future spirit rings as well."
As for offensive and defensive Spirit Abilities, they were practically useless to Fu Yu.
The Sword Form of the Taixu Sword Qi has four forms: Guard, Transform, Initiate, and Open, totaling twenty-one Moves. The profound subtlety of these Moves is enough to encompass all martial arts.
Coupled with the Cun Xin Fist Technique summarized by Celestial Master Fu Hua, these things are enough for Fu Yu to study for countless years, making it completely unnecessary to acquire any other so-called offensive Spirit Abilities.
Fu Yu was extremely satisfied with this harvest. With a thought, he retracted his Spirit and spirit ring.
Having completed his task, Fu Yu should return to Heaven Dou City. Next, he would have to travel for several months to reach the Sun Moon Empire.
However, just as Fu Yu hadn't walked two steps, a cry from within his Sea of Consciousness stopped him.
With a shift of consciousness, a palm-sized, white-and-red Crimson Flame Bird appeared on Fu Yu's shoulder.
As soon as it appeared, the Crimson Flame Bird flapped its wings and darted toward Fu Yu's face.
Fu Yu could only watch this Life Qi little fellow with helplessness and amusement, casually blocking it with his hand.
This Crimson Flame Bird was the Soul previously collected by Fenghuang Down, which then used Fu Yu's own Crimson Flame Bird spirit ring as a link to manifest externally as a soul spirit body.
Without Fu Yu's spirit power supply, the Crimson Flame Bird soul spirit's attack power was about the same as an ordinary sparrow, and its autonomy was completely under Fu Yu's control.
As for indulging the Crimson Flame Bird's mischief, that was the result of Fu Yu's indulgence.
After all, having done such a thing to it, how could he not allow it to be upset?
"Alright, alright, my bad, my bad."
"Things are as they are. You'll follow me from now on."
The Crimson Flame Bird seemed to understand something. It looked at Fu Yu, pointed a wing towards its own corpse on the ground, and chirped twice.
"Okay, okay, you even know about cremation."
Fu Yu chuckled softly, crimson-gold flames spewing from his hand, turning into a searing stream of fire that burned the Crimson Flame Bird's corpse on the ground into ashes.
In fact, Fu Yu knew that the Crimson Flame Bird, with its three or four-year-old child-like mind, simply didn't want its corpse to become food for other Spirit Beasts, nothing more.
Of course, Fu Yu satisfied this simple request.
After watching Fu Yu complete everything, the Crimson Flame Bird let out a satisfied "chirp."
Then, it jumped from Fu Yu's shoulder onto the top of his gray short hair and settled down comfortably.
Fu Yu was happy to let it be; the soul spirit body was virtually weightless, so it wouldn't cause any trouble.
Having finished everything, Fu Yu began moving rapidly out of the Sunset Forest. After the significant increase in his Cultivation and physique, his speed was considerably faster.
"Say, what should I call you from now on? Crimson Flame Bird is a species name, not suitable for a personal name."
"How about Danzhu?"
"Chirp!"
"Never mind, I feel like you can't handle that name. How about Red Kite? That suits you well."
"Chirp, chirp, chirp!!!"
Ignoring Red Kite's slight resistance atop his head, Fu Yu directly decided on its name.
Next, he needed to return to Heaven Dou City to find a Chamber of Commerce that could take him to the Sun Moon Empire.
Although the three great Empires strictly guarded against the Sun Moon Empire, the advanced spirit tool technology of the latter was something the royal families could not abandon.
Therefore, some Chambers of Commerce seized this opportunity, flourished, bought spirit tools at low prices in the Sun Moon Empire, and then brought them back to the three kingdoms to sell at high prices.
The three great Empires tacitly allowed this practice; in the face of profit, many things could be conceded.
Among these, one Chamber of Commerce stood out the most, its reputation lasting ten thousand years.
Its name was the Nine Treasure Chamber of Commerce.
(Chiling)
(Collapsing Garuda)
(Red Kite, animated version)