Night of Returning Souls

Dugu Bo could tell that eating the herb had made Su Wen immune to the spring water's harmful effects.

The herb that boy had picked was clearly a priceless treasure.

Still, Dugu Bo had no regrets. He'd guarded the place all this time, and the herb had been of no use to him. Besides, he, Dugu Bo, valued keeping his promises above all else.

"Don't worry. Come find me in half a month. I'll prepare an antidote for you, and I'll give you an Immortal Herb, too..."

Su Wen could tell that Dugu Bo was sensible, so he didn't mind giving him a chance to repay the favor.

After saying goodbye to Dugu Bo, Ye Yuan'er took Su Wen to search for Spirit Beasts in Sunset Forest.

According to Dugu Bo, a certain part of the forest was home to Spirit Beasts with dark attributes, including a Dark Demon Tiger.

"Aunt Ye, how many years old a Spirit Beast can I absorb right now?"

Under the cover of night, the two of them walked through the dark forest. Su Wen surveyed their surroundings as he asked about the state of his body.

"Anything under five thousand years old should be fine!"

Ye Yuan'er's heart pounded as she said it.

She actually felt that Xiao Wen could absorb a Spirit Beast at least six thousand years old.

But that was too frightening.

She thought it would be better to err on the side of caution.

Even so, a little sweat still beaded in Ye Yuan'er's palm.

This was only his Second Spirit Ring. In the history of Spirit Hall, she'd never seen anyone this outrageous.

"Under five thousand years, huh? That's a little less than I expected!"

Su Wen wasn't too disappointed. That age was already quite suitable.

Right now, he just wanted to get a Spirit Ring as soon as possible and see whether the second seal on the Oil-paper Umbrella would come off.

Night of Returning Souls

The two of them found the woods Dugu Bo had mentioned.

They wandered around for an hour.

Ye Yuan'er spotted quite a few Spirit Beasts with dark attributes, but there was no sign of the Dark Demon Tiger.

"Ah Yin!"

Su Wen revealed his Spirit Rings.

He'd just remembered something.

Ah Yin's true form was the Blue Silver Emperor, and she also had a Domain.

As the ruler of Blue Silver Grass,

she should be able to control the grass and use it as her eyes.

"Master?"

Ah Yin's appearance brought a faint blue glow to the dark space.

A delicate fragrance drifted from her, along with a pleasant aura of life.

After Su Wen underwent Ice and Fire Body Tempering, he had also been able to help her quite a bit.

"I can, but my power is too weak right now, so the area I can search is limited."

After learning what Su Wen wanted, Ah Yin closed her eyes and sensed the Blue Silver Grass around them, using its perspective to search for nearby Spirit Beasts.

Blue Silver Grass was incredibly tenacious, and it could be found almost anywhere.

After a careful search, Ah Yin soon found the tiger-like Spirit Beast Su Wen had described.

"I found it, but..." Ah Yin opened her beautiful eyes, a hint of worry between her brows. "Master, I found that it's already reached ten thousand years. I checked the area around us, and it's the only one nearby."

Ye Yuan'er was surprised that Ah Yin had really found it, even though she hadn't moved from where she stood.

Hearing that it was ten thousand years old, Ye Yuan'er wasn't disappointed. This was perfectly normal.

Finding a powerful Spirit Beast with just the right age took a lot of luck.

"Then let's pick another target!"

"There is a Plant Spirit Beast that would suit Master quite well."

As soon as Su Wen finished speaking, Ah Yin's lips curled into a pleased, almost self-congratulatory smile.

"There's a Qingming Ghost Flower nearby, nearly five thousand years old. I know this kind of Plant Spirit Beast. It's extremely powerful, a symbol of the realm of death. They survive only in darkness, using darkness to nourish themselves. You wouldn't be able to find one at all during the day."

Su Wen grew interested and motioned for Ah Yin to lead the way.

After walking through the woods for a quarter of an hour, Su Wen and Ye Yuan'er came upon a remarkably unusual flower.

Nothing grew within ten meters of it, and the soil looked damp.

It was made up of three tightly clustered petals, each a deep purple and shimmering with an eerie light. A sinister aura rose from its stamen, as if it contained the power of the netherworld.

Apparently sensing someone approaching, the Qingming Ghost Flower shook its leaves, releasing a purple-black poison.

Ah Yin spoke up. "Master, this is the Qingming Ghost Flower!"

"This one, Aunt Ye."

Su Wen had taken a liking to it the moment he saw it.

That sinister aura was naturally compatible with his Ghost Martial Soul.

"All right!"

Ye Yuan'er darted to the Qingming Ghost Flower. Flames sprang to life in her hand, burning away the poison drifting toward her.

When Ye Yuan'er reached out to grab it, the flower's leaves turned into vines and lashed at her. At the same time, a Ghost Hand rose from the ground and seized her ankle.

"It can even summon Ghostly Souls!"

Ye Yuan'er's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't stop. She grabbed its body, and as flames burned in her palm, the Qingming Ghost Flower caught fire as well.

"Xiao Wen!"

Su Wen immediately summoned the red Oil-paper Umbrella and thrust it into the Qingming Ghost Flower's stem.

The moment the Qingming Ghost Flower died, streams of light gathered in the air and quickly condensed into a purple Spirit Ring, which floated overhead.

"Xiao Wen, don't be nervous. Wait until you've steadied yourself before absorbing it."

"Aunt Ye, why do I feel like you're the one who's nervous?"

Ye Yuan'er's cheeks flushed slightly, but as she looked at the purple Spirit Ring, her expression turned serious. "If it really doesn't work, I'll stop you from absorbing it in time."

Su Wen nodded lightly, sat cross-legged, and drew the Spirit Ring toward himself with his Soul Power.

The moment the power of nearly five thousand years surged into his body, Su Wen felt a sharp pain, and his expression changed. This force was several times stronger than the first one he'd absorbed.

A tremendous force ruthlessly battered the meridians in Su Wen's body.

A muffled groan escaped his lips.

Fortunately, although the force came on fiercely, it soon steadied.

Once Su Wen adjusted to it, the pain faded as well.

Seeing this, Ye Yuan'er breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed there was no problem, and Xiao Wen would be able to absorb it without difficulty.

Then a look of pride spread across her stunning face.

The treasure she'd raised was about to make a name for himself.

She imagined the astonished looks on the faces of the people at Spirit Hall, especially the elders.

Ye Yuan'er's smile grew wider and wider.

As time passed, the moment the Spirit Ring fully fused with him, Su Wen's aura rose at a visible rate.

"I'm only level twenty-eight?"

Su Wen opened his eyes, looking a little disappointed.

As in the original story, the Immortal Herb hadn't increased his Soul Power.

"So greedy..."

Ye Yuan'er was happy, but at his words, her eyelid twitched.

She asked irritably, "What is your Spirit Skill? Is it still especially strange?"

"Night of Returning Souls!"

Su Wen carefully sensed what the Spirit Skill could do.

"Two Lantern Ghosts will appear, their flames scorching enemies; two Pipa Ghosts will use their bone instruments to unleash mental attacks; and two Ghost Dancers will perform a ghostly dance, laughing and singing opera as they spread ghost mist, making enemies lose their sense of direction and weakening their perception..."

"All the Ghostly Souls will survive for twelve seconds. If it's night, their duration will double. After they disappear, all my attributes will increase by 110% for an hour."

Su Wen knew that his Spirit Skills couldn't escape being connected to ghosts.

He wondered whether he'd scare the people at the Soul Master Academy.

"Xiao Wen..."

Ye Yuan'er suddenly felt a chill run through her.

She could tell this Spirit Skill was powerful.

It was just a little frightening in the middle of the night.

She swallowed.

She pulled Su Wen into her arms, and at the sound of a phoenix's cry,

Ye Yuan'er carried Su Wen away from the area, standing atop her Martial Soul.

"Roar!"

Just then, a tiger's roar came from below.

Su Wen glanced down. A tiger-like Spirit Beast with black-and-white markings and a pair of wings on its back stood there.