However, Wang Chuan knew this height was still far from his limit. He was only seventeen and still had plenty of room to grow.
That left Wang Chuan grumbling in frustration.
"Am I really going to grow toward an Admiral's three-meter build? This height is way too abnormal even on the Douluo Continent, and it's inconvenient to move around too."
With that concern in mind, Wang Chuan directly used Life Return to compress his height to 1.9 meters, making him as tall as Zhao Wuji, whose physique had undergone tremendous growth.
After thinking it over, Wang Chuan decided not to specifically go back and trouble Grandpa Wang Lie for this spirit hunt.
Overall, Wang Chuan considered himself someone who valued his life, so he had no intention of facing the Soul Shock of a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring before becoming a Spirit King.
Besides, the Spirit Master system could not increase his strength by much anyway. Why take such a risk for it?
More importantly, Wang Chuan currently had very little information on ten-thousand-year Sub-Dragons.
And based on their attributes alone, they did not match Golden Scale.
Otherwise, if there had been a suitable ten-thousand-year Sub-Dragon, Wang Chuan would have wanted to test the limits of his Mental Power.
After all, the strength of one's Haki was related to one's mental state. He could already fight Teacher Zephyr, so how formidable could the Soul Shock of a mere ten-thousand-year Sub-Dragon be?
And it was only a fragmentary soul. If he was afraid of even that, Wang Chuan figured he might as well give up.
Thus, over the following period, Wang Chuan searched one by one for the Sub-Dragons with suitable cultivation ages, based on the conclusions he had drawn from his hunts over the years.
As for why he had not had Golden Scale mark them in advance—
Wang Chuan could only sigh helplessly. He had not expected his mouth to be so prophetic.
It seemed that Golden Scale's ability to seek out missing origins would only activate when it needed a Spirit Ring.
Otherwise, after all these years, Wang Chuan had encountered at least a hundred Sub-Dragons of all kinds. It was impossible that none of them had triggered a reaction.
One month later—
Wang Chuan threw the notebook in his hand onto the ground. It was worth a million gold and contained all kinds of precious information about Sub-Dragons. Then he cursed irritably.
"Damn it, is heaven messing with me?
There isn't a single suitable one!"
Zhao Wuji, seated on a huge boulder nearby and panting heavily from exhaustion, also complained.
"Fate used to mess with me all the time too, but not like this.
But Boss, does Golden Scale really have the ability you described? How about that Golden Python with nine thousand years of cultivation from before?
Didn't you say Golden Scale's first Spirit Ring came from a Titan Golden Python?
Then this Golden Python, with its similar serpent-dragon bloodline, should work too. Why not choose it and give it a try? That's how I used to choose Spirit Rings—by hunting Spirit Beasts similar to my Martial Spirit."
Wang Chuan rolled his eyes.
A Spirit Ring was far too important to decide on so casually. Why ignore past successful experience and mess around instead?
He did not want to become a second Yu Xiaogang!
He still wanted to ride dragons in the future!
"Ying, ying, ying."
Golden Scale, looking dispirited beside him, responded to Wang Chuan's thoughts.
Wang Chuan nodded in complete agreement, then slung an arm around Golden Scale and said,
"You think so too, right, Golden Scale? Passing up the genuine Spirit Ring to absorb a knockoff instead.
What's the difference between wanting salt-baked chicken but ending up with white cut chicken?"
Zhao Wuji could only shrug helplessly at Wang Chuan's bizarre analogy and stopped offering random suggestions.
After all, he followed the Boss, so naturally he listened to the Boss.
After a brief bout of frustration, Wang Chuan pulled himself together again.
It was only failure. He had experienced it far too many times in his life for it to break his will.
Then Wang Chuan gazed into the distance.
Over the years, Wang Chuan had roamed between the outer regions of the Mixed Zone, mainly dealing with thousand-year Spirit Beasts and some lower-tier ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts.
Although that area was vast, with the speed of his and Zhao Wuji's Shave, they had explored more than half of this part of Sunset Forest.
In other words, the unexplored half would most likely yield the same fruitless result.
And because it was unexplored territory, it would take even more time to search.
"That's not worth it."
Wang Chuan muttered, and a dangerous idea swiftly surfaced in his mind.
Head deeper into the Mixed Zone!
The powerful bloodline Spirit Beasts in the outer regions had long since been nearly wiped out by Spirit Masters from all sides because they were easy prey.
Only the dangerous environment within the Mixed Zone allowed those powerful-bloodline Spirit Beasts, which could not initially stand against human experts, to survive and reproduce.
Wang Chuan narrowed his eyes and turned to Zhao Wuji beside him.
"Old Zhao, I'm planning to make a trip into the depths of the Mixed Zone. Are you willing to come with me?
I know it's dangerous, but given the current situation, that's probably the only place where I can find the Spirit Beast I need.
But I won't blame you if you refuse. You're still too weak, and it'll be extremely dangerous for you in there..."
The more Wang Chuan spoke, the less he wanted Zhao Wuji to come.
He even started trying to dissuade him. He did not want such a good brother to die in there. His earlier thoughts had been too rash; going back to find Grandpa Wang Lie was the best option.
But Zhao Wuji suddenly raised a hand and grinned.
"What stupid nonsense are you saying, Boss!
You accompanied me everywhere to find Spirit Rings back then. Now it's your turn. How could I abandon you over a little danger?
Would I even be human then?
And don't underestimate me, Boss!
After all these years, I'm not the same person I used to be!
Roar!"
As he finished speaking, Zhao Wuji let out a bear-like roar.
The phantom of a Vajra Bear flashed behind him before transforming into a set of golden True Body Armor that covered his upper body.
In an instant, a fierce aura erupted from Zhao Wuji's body.
Without hesitation, Zhao Wuji activated his third spirit skill, Gravity Control. His figure vanished from where he stood like a ghost, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared before a massive boulder some distance away.
Iron Body Fist Technique! Angry Bear Heavy Fist!!!
In an instant, the ten-meter-tall boulder was blasted with enormous cracks through its middle by Zhao Wuji's punch, then collapsed.
Wang Chuan watched the scene with satisfaction, because he had taught Zhao Wuji that!
That seemingly plain punch had first used Gravity Increase to rapidly accumulate the ground's reactive force needed for Shave.
Then Zhao Wuji had swiftly used Gravity Reduction, reducing the pressure on himself while also weakening resistance.
Finally, he had applied a lateral gravity boost to himself, pushing his speed to its utmost limit.
And at the very end, he used the Iron Body Fist Technique, powered by Iron Body hardening throughout his entire body, to concentrate all his strength at one point. That was how he produced such a shocking result.
Wang Chuan gave an objective assessment.
"This strike is enough to heavily injure most Spirit Beasts around twenty thousand years old."
But Wang Chuan still asked solemnly, "The enemies I'll face this time won't have just that much cultivation. Are you really coming with me?"
The answer was obvious.
The moment Zhao Wuji threw that punch, the answer had already been clear.
Before you continue