Wang Chuan then took out a Spirit Power Crystal and tested his level.
Because absorbing a Spirit Ring would put him into deep meditation, even if breaking through a level brought special sensations, Wang Chuan would not notice them at all. At a time like this, only a Spirit Power Crystal could confirm his level.
Looking at the feedback from the crystal ball, Wang Chuan raised his brows in surprise.
"No wonder it's a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring. The energy it contains is seriously abundant. It's practically pushed me to level 24 already."
For a moment, Wang Chuan even considered absorbing ten-thousand-year Spirit Rings every time he needed one in the future, saving himself the time spent on arduous cultivation.
But Wang Chuan quickly dismissed that idea.
While a Spirit Ring's age was important, what mattered most was whether Golden Scale was satisfied. Otherwise, if it stopped evolving toward a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon halfway through its development, he would have nowhere to cry.
After steadying himself, Wang Chuan intended to carefully examine his body and see just how much enhancement this ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring had granted him.
But the moment that thought arose, Wang Chuan discovered that his senses had undergone some subtle change.
At that moment, even without deliberately focusing his five senses, he could perceive every minute shift in his surroundings.
Understanding flashed through Wang Chuan's eyes. It seemed that the ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring had catalyzed some qualitative transformation in his Mental Power.
Then, Wang Chuan's attention was immediately drawn to the corpse of the dead Dragon-Headed Jackal King before him.
"An unusual fluctuation of Soul Power."
As soon as he spoke, Wang Chuan sliced open the Dragon-Headed Jackal King's abdomen with a hand chop.
In an instant, its intestines spilled all over the ground, making for a somewhat nauseating sight.
Yet Wang Chuan was not fooled by the gruesome scene. At a glance, he spotted a faint red glow within.
Ignoring the disgusting slime, Wang Chuan reached in and grabbed the source of the anomaly.
It was a completely red bone with the texture of jade. From its shape, it appeared to be a left arm bone.
"Spirit Bone!" The words exploded in Wang Chuan's mind, filling him with delight.
However, although this Spirit Bone had come from a top-tier Sub-Dragon Spirit Beast like the Dragon-Headed Jackal King,
Wang Chuan had no desire whatsoever to absorb it.
There was no other reason: its age was too low.
The reason Wang Chuan was happy was entirely because, over the past four years, he had hunted at least a thousand Spirit Beasts. While not all of them had been ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts, at least fifty ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts had gone into his stomach.
Yet not a single one had dropped a Spirit Bone!
Neither had the far more numerous thousand-year Spirit Beasts!
It was like Wang Chuan had been playing a game for four years without getting the equipment he wanted, only for it to suddenly drop now. Naturally, he felt happy at first.
But before Wang Chuan could decide what to do with the Spirit Bone, once he calmed down, he finally noticed unusual sounds from outside through Observation Haki.
"Hm? Old Zhao is fighting Spirit Beasts! And there's more than one!"
With that thought, Wang Chuan hurriedly put away the Spirit Bone, kicked aside the massive rock blocking the cave entrance, and rushed out to support Zhao Wuji.
The moment he reached the battlefield, Wang Chuan saw Zhao Wuji locked in battle with a group of Great Strength Apes.
Zhao Wuji was covered in blood, but the Great Strength Apes were not doing much better. What had originally been a group of thirty now had seven lying dead on the ground after being hammered to death by Zhao Wuji, purple thousand-year Spirit Rings floating above them.
However, anyone with even a little knowledge of Spirit Masters would not think Zhao Wuji held the upper hand.
The Great Strength Apes he had killed were merely the middle and lower ranks of the group. The five Great Strength Apes currently fighting Zhao Wuji were the true main force, each with cultivation of no less than ten thousand years.
Yet even with such severe injuries, Zhao Wuji did not retreat a single step.
Whenever a Great Strength Ape tried to break through his defense and enter the mountain where Wang Chuan was, Zhao Wuji would use the Gravity Control soul skill or employ Shave to intercept it at high speed.
Seeing this, Wang Chuan was touched, yet he also cursed Zhao Wuji for being stupid.
Wasn't Zhao Wuji's fighting style blatantly telling the enemy that he had something to protect behind him?
Especially when the enemies were ape-like Spirit Beasts with relatively intelligent minds. It would be a miracle if they failed to notice!
No wonder Zhao Wuji had been beaten so badly.
Otherwise, with Zhao Wuji's mobility and attack power comparable to a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast, how could he have ended up in such a state?
Before long, a vicious glint entered Wang Chuan's eyes.
Although Wang Chuan did not eat humanoid Spirit Beasts, these Great Strength Apes had clearly crossed his bottom line. They all deserved death!
Wang Chuan immediately roared, "Old Zhao! Drive them back! Then get behind me!"
Upon hearing Wang Chuan's voice, Zhao Wuji, whose swollen eyes could barely open after the beating, instantly showed obvious delight.
Then, while using Gravity Control, Zhao Wuji said viciously,
"You damn apes, you're finished! My boss is out now! Hahaha!"
In an instant, the Great Strength Apes were sent flying dozens of meters away by Zhao Wuji's invisible gravity, while Zhao Wuji tapped his feet in rapid succession, used Shave, and darted behind Wang Chuan.
Wang Chuan coldly watched the Great Strength Apes before him, but he did not attack immediately.
Soul Power surged around him, and the ten-meter-long Golden Scale made a domineering entrance, coiling around Wang Chuan like a serpent. It looked down at the Great Strength Apes and let out a somewhat youthful dragon roar.
"Roar!"
Yet this dragon roar, which was nothing more than a warning, seemed to awaken the fear carved into the Great Strength Apes' genes.
Their faces instantly filled with terror, and they instinctively turned to flee.
Wang Chuan merely snorted.
They had beaten his man and still wanted to run? They were dreaming!
Besides, these Spirit Beasts would make perfect test subjects for Golden Scale's soul skill.
Wang Chuan had discovered that although he could not directly use Golden Scale's soul skills, its second soul skill, Roaring Dragon Rage, was closely tied to his Mental Power. He could use it to gauge roughly how strong his Mental Power was.
With a thought from Wang Chuan, one purple and one black Spirit Ring immediately appeared around him.
A look of surprise crossed Wang Chuan's face.
The Spirit Rings, which had originally been merely purple and black, were now covered in different patterns.
The purple thousand-year Spirit Ring had formed five triangles. If connected, they would make the shape of a large star, while smaller purple stars decorated the spaces between them.
The black of the ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring had condensed into an enormous crescent moon, with several small white crescents outlined upon it.
Two wing-shaped patterns also adorned it, complementing the crescent moon and making the Spirit Ring appear noble and elegant.
Wang Chuan gave it a thoughtful look.
This seemed to be the Soul Ancestor Spirit Ring mentioned briefly in the manga, a spontaneous change that occurred in a Spirit Master's Spirit Rings upon breaking through to the Soul Ancestor level.
As for why this change occurred and what it did, Wang Chuan could not remember.
Before you continue