Star Dou Great Forest, Thousand-Year Dragon Crocodile

Xiao Xian could not help taking two steps back.

At that moment, a pair of enormous wings spread from Flender's back. Dense feathers covered his entire body, his eyes turned orange-yellow, and seven spirit rings emerged around him.

The three black spirit rings in particular carried an overwhelming pressure.

In an instant, Flender seized Xiao Xian by the shoulder and flew southeast. Their destination was naturally the Star Dou Great Forest.

The Star Dou Great Forest shared a small stretch of border with the southeastern frontier of the Balak Kingdom. Suotuo City lay in the southeast of the Balak Kingdom as well, only a little over four hundred kilometers from the forest.

At Flender's speed, they were nearly there while the sun still hung high in the sky. From the air, Xiao Xian had long since spotted the endless expanse of green forest in the distance.

As they passed over a fairly large Spirit Master Town, Flender swiftly descended with Xiao Xian into an open clearing. He glanced at the sky and said in a deep voice, "There's still time. Let me see the map."

Xiao Xian brushed his hand across his waist, took out the small booklet Master had given him from his Soul Tool, opened it, and handed it to Flender.

"A type of Dragon Crocodile?"

"Traces were found in a lake in the northwestern part of the Star Dou Great Forest..."

Flender located the Spirit Master Town they had just passed on the map, narrowed his eyes slightly, and estimated the distance.

"It'll do. We can make it before dark. Let's go." Flender glanced at Xiao Xian. "Remember this: aside from Support System Spirit Masters, most Spirit Masters need to hunt their own spirit rings."

"That was how Mu Bai did it back then."

"I'll eliminate any outside interference for you, or give you a little assistance, but you must kill this spirit beast yourself."

"If you can't even fight it, there's no point talking about absorbing its spirit ring."

Xiao Xian nodded. "I understand, Martial Uncle."

There was naturally a reason behind the rule that Spirit Masters had to hunt their own spirit rings.

There was a limit to how much a spirit ring could be absorbed.

The limit for the First Spirit Ring was a little over four hundred years. The Second Spirit Ring was over seven hundred years, and the Third Spirit Ring was over one thousand seven hundred years. These figures had not been researched—they were records kept within Spirit Hall, data from generations of Spirit Masters who had successfully absorbed spirit rings.

Were they accurate? Of course, not entirely.

But for Spirit Masters with normal constitutions, following these limits would generally prevent any major mistakes.

Ten thousand years ago, a thousand years ago, or even on the present-day Douluo Continent.

Before Master announced the limits of spirit ring absorption, the vast majority of Spirit Masters had been unaware of them.

When faced with a spirit ring, how could they know whether they could absorb it, or whether absorbing it would make them explode and die?

Naturally, through battle.

Winning meant they could probably absorb it.

When they did not know the age limit they could endure, nor the exact age of the spirit beast before them, this was the simplest and most brutal method.

Originally, this data had been closely guarded secrets of the major powers. But Master had made it public many years ago.

For countless ordinary Spirit Masters, this was undoubtedly an immense blessing.

But for those great powers...

Xiao Xian sometimes maliciously wondered whether Spirit Hall had allowed Master to so freely consult its archives because they wanted him to publish this theoretical knowledge.

Spirit Hall's foundation came from countless commoner Spirit Masters.

The stronger commoner Spirit Masters became, the stronger Spirit Hall became.

Even if they possessed these theories, however, they had always found it difficult to release them openly due to the major sects and factions.

Master's surname was Yu, and he was the legitimate son of the sect master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects of the Douluo Continent.

Having him reveal them and attach his name to them was the most suitable arrangement.

After all, who would dare pick a fight with Master?

His father was Yu Yuanzhen, a level ninety-five old dragon and a Titled Douluo.

"Mm, then let's go." Flender did not waste any time. He put away the map, grabbed Xiao Xian by the shoulder, and took to the sky once more.

Not long after they officially entered the Star Dou Great Forest, even Flender became cautious. He lowered their altitude and weaved through enormous trees toward their destination, not daring to fly recklessly at high altitude.

After all, he was only a Spirit Saint. If he carelessly ran into a powerful Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast, he really could get himself killed.

The Star Dou Great Forest was simply too dense. After entering its depths, sunlight could not penetrate many areas, and Flender's speed slowed considerably as he darted through the tangled branches.

Just as the sun was nearly setting, they finally discovered a sizable lake.

Unfortunately.

After carefully inspecting it, Flender found no Dragon Crocodiles within.

Fortunately, there were quite a few lakes nearby.

After searching another dozen or so kilometers ahead, Xiao Xian finally found traces of a Dragon Crocodile.

"Martial Uncle, it should be nearby."

A faint purple gleam quietly flashed through Xiao Xian's eyes as he carefully stared at a black wolf spirit beast below, six or seven meters long and barely clinging to life in the undergrowth.

A distinct crocodilian bite mark covered its back. The punctured wound glimmered with a unique shade of purple.

Flender had naturally noticed it too.

He did not know much about Spirit Soul Theory, but he knew Master well.

Master's disciple naturally would not be lacking in Spirit Soul Theory.

Their current location was neither in the outermost region of the Star Dou Great Forest nor in its inner region. The strongest spirit beasts around were only thousand-year ones.

Flender circled around the black wolf spirit beast, boldly expanding his search outward in wider and wider circles.

Before long.

Flender flapped his enormous wings and landed on the branch of a giant tree.

"Is it that kind of spirit beast?" His orange-yellow eyes pierced through the cover of massive trees and bushes, locking tightly onto a spirit beast one kilometer away through a gap.

The instant he asked, he regretted it slightly.

He was the Cat Eagle Spirit Saint, so it was normal for him to see clearly. But Xiao Xian...

Xiao Xian steadied himself against the trunk, then nodded. "Yes, but it isn't old enough. It's less than a hundred years old, likely just born. The Dragon Crocodile I'm looking for has dark golden scales and is no longer than eleven meters."

A small lake lay one kilometer away. Beside it rested a tiny Dragon Crocodile, only one or two meters long.

A flicker of surprise appeared in Flender's eyes, but it vanished in an instant.

He nodded and said gravely, "If it may have just been born, then it's probably a whole family..."

Flender paused. His folded wings spread again, his hooked hands resembling claws as he grabbed Xiao Xian's shoulder once more.

He flapped his wings and flew back in the direction they had come from.

"I'll find you a quiet place, then capture one and bring it over."

"Whether you can kill it will depend on you."

"..."

Before long, Xiao Xian landed on the trunk of a giant tree dozens of kilometers away, while Flender vanished without a trace.

There was something Xiao Xian had not had time to say: Dragon Crocodiles with dark golden scales were also called Dark Gold Dragon Crocodiles. A five-thousand-year-old one could rival an ordinary Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast.

Xiao Xian only needed one around two thousand years old.

But they were a whole family, living in a lake. If their luck was poor, there might even be ones seven or eight thousand years old.

Killing one would be easy. Capturing one alive...

Xiao Xian did not hold much hope that Flender would return quickly.

He turned to look at the surrounding trees, each twenty or thirty meters tall. With a tap of his foot, he crossed several steps through the air and leaped onto an especially thick tree several hundred meters away, then took a chisel from his Soul Tool.

Not long afterward, Xiao Xian hollowed out a tree cavity large enough for him to sit cross-legged in. He tore off a piece of bark from a higher branch, climbed into the hollow, and blocked the entrance with it.

Then he waited silently.