Word Count: 2,848 Words
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The Three-Eyed Golden Lion savored the brain matter of the Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger with a blissful expression. Ling Bai stepped forward and knocked on the frozen, rigid body of this 100,000-year spirit beast. He then shook his head regretfully. This barbecue session would likely have to be canceled.
Although the Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger possessed a formidable bloodline, the Snow Empress's Ultimate Snow was a mutation of Ultimate Ice that strongly countered its fire attribute. Struck by the Empress' Palm: Snowless Glacier, amplified by Rank 60 spirit power and Rings Fusion, the Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger met its end on the spot.
Ling Bai sat cross-legged on the ground, focusing his energy to guide the blood-red 100,000-year spirit ring into his body. He had delayed acquiring his sixth spirit ring for over three months, but perseverance had paid off. With the guidance of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, he had finally found the most suitable spirit ring.
The spirit ring absorption process went smoothly. The Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger didn't cause any trouble. Two hours later, Ling Bai slowly opened his eyes as rings of spirit power rhythmically circled his body and rose from beneath his feet.
Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, Red, Red!
This was the true spirit ring configuration of the Seraphim. The two 100,000-year spirit rings were the newly absorbed Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger ring and the Scorching Sun Fire Dragon ring, which had evolved after absorbing Skydream's origin power.
Unlike the Death Abyss Spider Emperor that could freely change its spirit ring colors by relying on its identity as an Evil Spirit Master, the Seraphim couldn't arbitrarily reveal the changes in the Scorching Sun Fire Dragon's spirit ring. To avoid arousing suspicion, Ling Bai continued to use the Thousand Illusion Charming Appearance to disguise it as its original black color when in front of others.
With the spirit ring settled, the next routine task was opening the spirit bone blind box. Since Ling Bai, as the slayer, had already absorbed arm bones and a left leg bone, the Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger's spirit bone could only be a torso bone, skull bone, or right leg bone.
Out of these three options, a 100,000-year Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger torso bone ultimately dropped.
"Tsk..."
Ling Bai clicked his tongue, tossing the golden-red spirit bone up and catching it again.
Among the six major spirit bone positions, the torso bone and skull bone were the most crucial. For these two positions, he hoped to absorb bones from Great Beasts.
A 100,000-year spirit bone was a treasured dream of all Spirit Masters, but for him, the Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger's torso bone was slightly lacking. If it had been a right leg bone, there would be no problem.
'Never mind, there will be plenty of opportunities to hunt 100,000-year spirit beasts in the future. No need to rush.'
His Seraphim and Death Abyss Spider Emperor Twin Martial Spirits had six rings and four rings respectively. The future eight spirit rings for both would undoubtedly come from 100,000-year spirit beasts. With eight chances, even with terrible luck, he should be able to obtain the spirit bones he desired.
With this thought, Ling Bai stored the Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger's spirit bone into his Storage Spirit Guidance Device and called for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion to return the way they came.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion seemed to have tasted the sweetness of this cooperation. Wagging its tail excitedly along the way, it took the initiative to say to Ling Bai:
"Ling Bai, Ling Bai, I know the territory of a 30,000-year Heavenly Dragon Horse. Help me hunt it tomorrow!"
"Alright."
"There's also a 50,000-year Twin Cyclops. Help me hunt it the day after tomorrow!"
"...Alright."
"A 60,000-year White Armored Sacred Mastiff, an 80,000-year Golden Thread Heavenly Serpent, a 90,000-year Mystic Moon Jade Deer... blah blah blah..."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's eyes were filled with excitement. All of these were spirit beasts whose brains it had wanted to eat in the past but could never catch!
"Alright..."
Listening to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's continuous, non-repeating menu recitation, the expression on Ling Bai's face gradually became peculiar. He thought silently:
Light-attribute spirit beasts, you guys are in for a tough time!
...
One year and three months later, in the Core Region of Star Dou Forest.
Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear, Fifteen Ton Ant King, Sacred Illusion Demon Ape, Ice Blade Flood Dragon...
Ten spirit beasts, each emitting powerful auras with cultivation levels of at least 50,000 years, formed an encirclement and stared at the human figure in the center that was exceptionally small compared to them.
"Roar—"
A roar from the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear served as the charge horn. All ten spirit beasts attacked simultaneously!
Sky-rending Dark Gold Terror Claws, earth-shattering Earth Ant King Slash, Spiritual Sea-striking Sacred Illusion Demon Light, tornado-like Extreme Cold Ice Blades...
The ten spirit beasts unleashed their signature abilities all at once, every attack aimed at the tiny human figure. In the next instant, a brilliant golden domain erupted. The spirit beasts clearly saw that among the six spirit rings surrounding the human figure, the blood-red ring at the end blazed intensely!
An angel rose amidst the flames, golden feathers fluttering down. Ling Bai stepped through the air from the horizon like a deity from myth bringing light and heat. His dazzling angelic wings spread wide, their burning golden feathers covering the sky. A profound sun pattern appeared on his forehead. Under the illumination of the flames, his handsome face took on a faint reddish tint.
Seraphim's Sixth Spirit Skill, Great Sun Angel!
According to ancient records on the Douluo Continent, the Angel God was also known as the God of Light and Sun. The blazing sun hanging high in the sky was the power source of the Seraphim, while the Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger was the Sacred Beast of the Sun. Both their abilities were related to the sun, providing Ling Bai with a comprehensive enhancement spirit skill.
The sixth spirit skill, Great Sun Angel, tripled all attributes of the Seraphim. The Angelic Domain and Angel Sword were imbued with Sacred Sun Fire, greatly increasing destructive power and suppressing all cold-attribute Martial Spirits/spirit beasts such as evil, darkness, ice, and poison.
Great Sun Angel consumed a tremendous amount of spirit power and could only be maintained for fifteen minutes, but under sunlight, the Seraphim could absorb solar energy to double its duration.
Ling Bai stood proudly in the sky. His fourth spirit ring lit up, and the Ten Thousand Blades Radiant Glory, amplified by Great Sun Angel, descended. Countless holy blades fell, piercing through the innate spirit skills of the ten spirit beasts. Then, his sixth spirit ring shone brightly once more.
The Sacred Sun Fire became transparent like glazed glass, instantly purifying and reconstructing all elements within the Angelic Domain.
Sixth Spirit Ring's Second Spirit Skill, Divine Skyfire!
The Ice Blade Flood Dragon mustered all its strength to change the tide of battle. Just as shimmering snowflakes appeared, they were evaporated by the high temperature of Divine Skyfire, leaving white mist drifting in the air.
The burning blade of the Angel Sword slashed out, sending flames soaring skyward. The dozens-of-meters-wide Sacred Sun Fire pierced through the sky like a colossal fiery pillar reaching from heaven to earth!
The fiery pillar transformed, its scorching heat slightly distorting and blurring the space around it. The Divine Skyfire morphed into a Sacred Sun Heaven Spirit Tiger that dove downward, its roar shaking the sky and rattling the forest!
An earth-shattering explosion resounded throughout the Star Dou Forest. Scorching shockwaves spread out like ripples. Trees were incinerated into charcoal, and the ground was repeatedly scorched, becoming like a smooth golden mirror.
Countless spirit beasts stared dumbfounded at the wildly spreading waves of fire. Even from hundreds or thousands of meters away, the power of the Divine Skyfire made them drip with sweat. The flames only gradually dissipated after extending several hundred meters outward.
At this moment, the ten great spirit beasts were in a terribly sorry state. The Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear, with its massive body and closest proximity to the explosion's epicenter, suffered the most intense impact. Its supposedly impenetrable dark gold fur was roasted black, and crimson blood seeped from beneath its skin, constantly dripping down.
The other spirit beasts also bore horrifying visible wounds, with stark white bones faintly discernible beneath torn flesh.
Thick, dark green tree branches coiled around the ten severely injured spirit beasts and carried them away. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion ran over. Ling Bai very naturally put his arm around it and began petting it. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion slightly narrowed its three eyes, occasionally letting out purring sounds.
From absolute rejection → to reluctant acceptance → to contented enjoyment.
Over the course of more than a year, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's attitude had done a complete 180-degree turn. The initial unpleasantness was long forgotten, and the Harmonious and Friendly Duo had established a deep friendship.
Of course, this friendship was entirely built upon the corpses of light-attribute spirit beasts.
The light-attribute spirit beasts in the Core Region of Star Dou Forest had suffered greatly. In the past, they could still escape when encountering the Emperor Destiny Beast hunting. But since a human with all-around combat abilities appeared beside the Emperor Destiny Beast, any light-attribute spirit beast that showed itself was instantly killed.
In just one short month, the Star Dou Core Region saw almost one 10,000-year light-attribute spirit beast die every day. This even attracted the attention of Di Tian. After some investigation, he discovered that the Emperor Destiny Beast had set its sights on their brains but couldn't catch them itself, so it had enlisted outside help.
Continuing this unrestrained killing would soon lead to the extinction of 10,000-year light-attribute spirit beasts in the Star Dou Forest. Di Tian quickly summoned the Three-Eyed Golden Lion back and lectured it for a full two hours, establishing a rule that it could only eat one 10,000-year spirit beast per week.
One night, Di Tian personally sought out Ling Bai for a conversation. He was practically beside himself with anger at that time because the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was experiencing its first rebellious phase in over 10,000 years of life. He had wanted to prevent it from associating with Ling Bai, but the Three-Eyed Golden Lion strongly objected and secretly snuck to Ling Bai's residence at night.
Di Tian was so furious he nearly suffered internal injuries. The Emperor Destiny Beast he had raised like his own daughter for over 10,000 years had run off with a human pretty boy!
And it even shouted, "Uncle Di Tian, you don't understand! He's not a bad person at all!"
Left with no choice, Di Tian could only privately warn Ling Bai not to go too far. He was not allowed to kill 100,000-year spirit beasts, disrupt the food chain of Star Dou Forest, or use the Three-Eyed Golden Lion as a tool!
Ling Bai agreed to all these conditions. His condition in return was for Di Tian to help him find sparring partners to hone his combat skills.
Di Tian consented. With a wave of his hand, he ordered all spirit beasts over 50,000 years in the Star Dou Forest to take turns fighting Ling Bai. Whoever could knock out two of his teeth would receive generous rewards from the Beast God!
And so, Ling Bai began a life of nonstop battles against a rotating roster of opponents.
Those spirit beasts truly fought with their lives on the line, using every trick in the book. He, on the other hand, had to hold back, as Di Tian had emphasized that the sparring partners could not be killed. After each battle, the Myriad Demon King was responsible for taking the injured spirit beasts to the Lake of Life, where the Emerald Swan Bi Ji would heal them.
These unfair daily battles led to Ling Bai's rapid progress over the past year. He fully integrated all the abilities of his two Martial Spirits, and his spirit power advanced from Rank 60 to Rank 67.
During the first month of hunting light-attribute spirit beasts, he obtained two spirit bones of excellent quality in addition to his improved combat abilities.
80,000-year Golden Thread Heavenly Serpent Left Arm Bone.
90,000-year Mystic Moon Jade Deer Right Leg Bone.
The higher a spirit beast's cultivation, the greater the probability of a spirit bone dropping. These two spirit beasts were top-level spirit beasts with exceptional bloodlines. Had they not died at Ling Bai's hands, they would have undoubtedly become 100,000-year spirit beasts in the future.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion leaned lazily against Ling Bai. It was like a well-behaved girl who had been protected by Di Tian for 10,000 years, but one day suddenly met a human pretty boy. The pretty boy took the good girl on his roaring motorcycle to do countless things it had only dreamed of.
Eating brains to its heart's content, delicious grilled meats and soups, all kinds of interesting stories from the human world...
The 'well-behaved girl' Three-Eyed Golden Lion naturally wanted to stick close to the 'pretty boy' Ling Bai, completely disregarding the feelings of its 'old father' Di Tian.
After a long while, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion suddenly nuzzled Ling Bai and asked in a clear voice, "You're going to leave, aren't you?"
"Why do you say that?" he asked.
"You've been petting me for longer and longer these past few days, as if you'll never be able to pet me again."
"You guessed it."
Ling Bai smiled. "The academy gave me a training period of one and a half years. Tomorrow, I have to leave the Star Dou Forest and return to Shrek Academy."
"Oh..."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion instinctively pressed closer to his body.
"Are you going to miss me?"
Ling Bai raised an eyebrow.
"As if!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion blurted out. Its eyes shifted slightly as it said a bit dejectedly, "Maybe... just a little."
Ling Bai gently stroked the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's head and said softly, "Thank you for keeping me company this past year. With you around, this otherwise tedious training became much more enjoyable."
The high-intensity battles had been physically and mentally exhausting. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's companionship and its incredibly pettable body had been a wonderful remedy.
"Let me ask you one more thing."
Ling Bai's eyes gleamed. There was still one final goal from this training period that he hadn't achieved.
"Go ahead."
"Where is the habitat of the Tortoise Clan?"
"Why are you looking for tortoises?"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was suspicious. "Your two Martial Spirits, one holy and one evil, have nothing to do with the water-earth dual-attribute tortoises, right?"
"Naturally, I have my reasons." Ling Bai said mysteriously.
"You can't kill them indiscriminately, okay?"
After Di Tian's painstaking education, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion understood that as the Emperor Destiny Beast, it couldn't act recklessly and needed to maintain the ecological balance of the Star Dou Forest.
"Don't worry, I won't kill a single one." Ling Bai raised four fingers in a promise.
"Alright, I'll take you there."
Considering Ling Bai's high credibility, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion agreed to lead the way. Man and beast officially set off toward the habitat of the Tortoise Clan.
As they drew closer to the Tortoise Clan's territory, the air became more humid. The temperature here was several degrees lower than the average in Star Dou Forest.
Tortoises actually belonged to the sea turtle family. This group of tortoises had migrated from the ocean to the Star Dou Forest, choosing a pond as their habitat. The pond water was crystal clear to the bottom, like an enormous sapphire. Surrounded by mountains with lush greenery layered upon layers, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
Tortoises were viewed as symbols of good fortune, endowed with auspicious meanings of longevity, warding off evil, and bringing blessings. The king of the Tortoise Clan was an auspicious creature second only to the Emperor Destiny Beast. Although it couldn't protect all the spirit beasts of the Star Dou Forest like the Three-Eyed Golden Lion could, it could at least guard the water and earth attribute spirit beasts.
The Tortoise Clan lived in groups. Their attack power was weak, but their defense was extremely strong. Few spirit beasts in the Star Dou Forest were willing to waste energy gnawing on such a hard shell, making tortoises among the rare spirit beasts with no natural predators.
One by one, tortoises lay leisurely by the pond, basking in the sunshine and enjoying its wonderful warmth. The crisp water vapor wafted over, and the moist air was refreshing to the heart.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion led Ling Bai to the pond. Ling Bai glanced around but didn't find the one he was looking for. He took a deep breath, gathered his spirit power, and his voice rolled out like thunder:
"Golden Tortoise, open the door to welcome guests!"