Tang San's Challenge

Although his First Spirit Ring showed no change after devouring the little scorpion's Spirit Ring.

Mo Bai guessed that its age had most likely increased.

It had only increased by one year, or perhaps less, because it might not have been able to devour it completely.

The increase was too slight, which was why he could not detect or feel it.

But if Mo Bai's guess was correct, and he could use this method to devour Spirit Rings and increase the age of his own Spirit Rings, it would be an enormous discovery.

Mo Bai had never seen any knowledge related to increasing a Spirit Ring's age. If it worked, he would become the first person in this field.

Moreover, others could not imitate it. No, it seemed Tang San could—but Mo Bai would definitely not let him learn the method.

There was no need to elaborate on the benefits of increasing a Spirit Ring's age.

More importantly, when selecting Spirit Rings in the future, he would not need to push himself to the limit to find one of just the right age, because he could increase its age himself.

This would also broaden the range of Spirit Beasts he could choose from. He could select Spirit Beasts with lower-aged Spirit Rings but the same traits and attributes.

For example, one trait Mo Bai would definitely seek in the future was the ability to break through defenses. The Ultimate Gold ability possessed by a Spirit Beast called the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had terrifying armor-piercing power.

But Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bears were too rare and too difficult to find. Even if he found one, its age might not be suitable.

Then the Gold Devouring Demon Bee, another Spirit Beast with armor-piercing traits but one that rarely reached a thousand years of age, could serve as a replacement.

Of course, if he could find a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, Mo Bai would definitely choose it, because its armor-piercing ability was stronger!

But if he could strengthen and increase his Spirit Ring's age himself, and its armor-piercing power could continuously improve as well, then there would be no problem.

Still, all of this depended on whether Mo Bai's guess was correct.

Mo Bai was ruthless enough to swallow even a scorpion alive, so naturally, he was not afraid to try.

A week later, on the outskirts outside Nuoding City, Mo Bai found an extremely tiny Spirit Beast with over a decade of Soul Power: an Ice Silk Silkworm.

Gulp~

Without hesitation, he knocked it out, cleaned it thoroughly, dipped it in peanut oil, and swallowed it in one bite.

Mo Bai had learned to be smarter this time. He had prepared peanut oil beforehand, making it easier to swallow!

And it was indeed much smoother as Mo Bai swallowed it in one bite.

Boom~

He then used Soul Power to crush it inside him. This Ice Silk Silkworm had much stronger Soul Power, however, and it took Mo Bai quite some time to finish it off.

Afterward, Mo Bai quickly sat cross-legged and waited for the Ice Silk Silkworm's Spirit Ring to appear.

Buzz~

Sure enough, the familiar scene appeared again. As soon as the Ice Silk Silkworm's Spirit Ring formed, it was frozen at the size it had just condensed into and confined within Mo Bai's body.

Without hesitation, Mo Bai once again controlled his First Spirit Ring and wrapped it around the Spirit Ring released by the Ice Silk Silkworm.

Gulp~

Like Mo Bai just moments earlier, his First Spirit Ring swallowed the Ice Silk Silkworm's Spirit Ring without the slightest obstruction.

Such a thing would have been impossible outside the body.

Mo Bai had tried it before. He killed a Spirit Beast outside his body, then wrapped his own Spirit Ring around it the instant the Spirit Beast's Spirit Ring appeared.

Unfortunately, the attempt failed. A Spirit Ring from a Spirit Beast killed outside the body, one that was not confined, could not be devoured or absorbed.

If it had worked, Mo Bai would not have needed to swallow Spirit Beasts alive, nor would he have needed to specifically search for extremely tiny Spirit Beasts. Such Spirit Beasts were not common either. There were more of them in the Spirit Beast Forest, but outside it, Mo Bai had only encountered two so far.

Now, both had entered his stomach!

Buzz~

The familiar scene appeared once more. Mo Bai's First Spirit Ring automatically emerged outside his body and trembled incessantly, as though it might explode and collapse at any moment.

Having gained experience already, Mo Bai hurriedly circulated his Startling Feather Art.

As Mo Bai circulated the Startling Feather Art, just as expected, each completed cycle produced a wisp of special Soul Power that flowed into the trembling First Spirit Ring.

A quarter of an hour later, the trembling stopped, and Mo Bai's First Spirit Ring was preserved once again.

"It increased by around six years. It really works!" Mo Bai opened his eyes, which were filled with delight.

Because every one of his guesses had been proven true.

Although it had not absorbed all of the Ice Silk Silkworm's age and had devoured only half of it, it was still an incomparably pleasant surprise for Mo Bai.

The greatest surprise was that he could strengthen his Spirit Rings and increase their age by devouring Spirit Rings.

From that day onward, Mo Bai spent every day cultivating his Jade Hand outside Nuoding City.

Because he was more likely to encounter Spirit Beasts outside Nuoding City. Encountering even one Spirit Beast within Nuoding Academy was already an extraordinary occurrence for Mo Bai.

Once was enough!

Even so, Mo Bai rarely encountered extremely tiny Spirit Beasts. Finding two or three in a month was already quite good, and most were ten-year Spirit Beasts below ten years of age.

Three months later, Mo Bai finally learned why Xiao Wu had been bothering him less often recently.

It turned out she had secretly been practicing some Hidden Weapon Techniques Tang San had taught her, along with the use of several mechanical Hidden Weapons.

Xiao Wu wanted to use them to defeat Mo Bai, but that was clearly impossible. His Blue Silver Grass leaves were less powerful than the Hidden Weapons Tang San forged, but he was far more proficient than Xiao Wu. He could calmly evade Xiao Wu's Hidden Weapon attacks, while she could not avoid his. Every challenge against Mo Bai ended in failure.

Whenever Xiao Wu lost, she would go back to Tang San and learn stronger Hidden Weapon Techniques.

However, Tang San only taught Xiao Wu Hidden Weapon Techniques from outside the Tang Sect. He did not teach her the Tang Sect's exclusive Hidden Weapon Techniques, because those could not be taught to anyone who was not a Tang Sect disciple.

He also asked Xiao Wu whether she wanted to join the Tang Sect, but Xiao Wu had only learned Hidden Weapons because she thought defeating Mo Bai with them would be fun. Naturally, she did not join.

Half a year later, when Xiao Wu realized that the Hidden Weapon Techniques and mechanical Hidden Weapons she had learned still could not defeat Mo Bai, she simply gave up and stopped learning them!

She even complained that Tang San's Hidden Weapon Techniques were useless and nowhere near as much stronger than Mo Bai's as he had claimed.

"Mo Bai, I want to have a Hidden Weapon contest with you!"

Wanting to prove himself to Xiao Wu, Tang San personally sought out Mo Bai and challenged him.

"Hidden Weapons? The things you taught Xiao Wu? You call those Hidden Weapons?"

Mo Bai knowingly asked, pretending not to understand.

Mo Bai feared exposing many things, so he had always been very cautious.

Just as when he had previously revealed his Hidden Weapon Technique, he claimed it was self-created and only began with the most basic aspects.

Otherwise, if he suddenly mastered something that had never appeared in this world before and was so powerful, Mo Bai feared it might bring trouble.

Tang San's initiative in revealing it, however, gave Mo Bai an excellent excuse.

In the future, he would no longer claim that his Hidden Weapon Technique was self-created. He would say he had learned it through sparring with Tang San, then improved upon it.

Thanks to reader [T_Sky] for the tip!