Inside Star Dou Forest, after Ma Yan finished fusing with his Spirit Ring and Soul Bone, Xiao Chen and the others immediately moved to a new location.
Ma Yan was so excited that he could hardly believe he had obtained a Head Soul Bone.
What delighted Ma Yan even more was that the moment he finished absorbing the Spirit Ring and Soul Bone, his Soul Power had reached Level 22.
"Ma Yan, how do you feel? Is anything bothering you?" Chu Ruolan asked.
Ma Yan answered at once, "Teacher Chu, I feel great—better than ever!"
"What skill does that Soul Bone have?" Chu Ruolan asked next.
"It's a mental attack skill that can stun an opponent!" Ma Yan replied.
"Try it on me!" Chu Ruolan wanted to see how powerful the Soul Bone Skill was.
Ma Yan nodded, then activated the Soul Bone Skill.
"Careful, Teacher Chu!" Ma Yan warned her, then said in a low voice, "Black Mane Devouring Thought!"
With that, Ma Yan focused his mind. A faint gray aura of Soul Power shimmered at his forehead as his mental energy instantly gathered and burst from the Soul Bone, shooting straight toward Chu Ruolan.
Chu Ruolan was already a Level 51 Soul King, with mental strength far beyond that of an ordinary Soul Master. She made no special effort to defend against a mental attack from a Level 20 Soul Master.
As far as she was concerned, no matter how powerful the Soul Skill was, it couldn't possibly affect her.
Yet the moment Ma Yan's mental assault struck, her body suddenly faltered.
Chu Ruolan's brows drew together slightly, and a brief dazed look and flash of pain crossed her eyes.
But she recovered in an instant, and an incredulous expression immediately appeared on her face.
A mental attack from a Level 22 Soul Grandmaster had actually affected her.
She had been careless, of course, but even so, this was terrifying.
She knew that if this move were used against a Level 30 Soul Elder, the opponent would probably be hit as long as they weren't a mental-type Soul Master.
Chu Ruolan exclaimed, "What a powerful skill!"
After marveling at it, she was immediately thrilled for Ma Yan.
She knew that with Ma Yan's current abilities, as long as his Soul Power kept up, he could definitely make it into Fabia Academy's top ranks.
They rested there for a while before setting off again to search for a Spirit Ring for Su Qing.
To test his strength, Ma Yan tried making a move against several low-level Soul Beasts they encountered. The beasts, which were around two hundred years old, were no match for him. Even without using his Soul Bone Skill, Ma Yan could easily defeat them.
Chu Ruolan had sound principles when it came to teaching. Since Ma Yan didn't need Spirit Rings from those Soul Beasts, he didn't kill them. He only drove them back and chased them away.
Xiao Chen also made a move once. He faced a Blazing Claw Porcupine that was around two hundred years old on his own.
Ma Yan and the others had been about to help Xiao Chen, but then they saw that his arrows were quite powerful and incredibly accurate.
After Xiao Chen hit the porcupine with seven or eight arrows in a row, it fled in a panic.
"Xiao Chen, I didn't know you were such a good shot!" Ma Yan said, sounding impressed.
Lin Feng and the others were also amazed by Xiao Chen's archery.
He can shoot arrows with this much power using a Ten-Year Spirit Ring. If his First Soul Ring had been a hundred-year ring, then at a distance, none of the kids except Ma Yan would be a match for him, Chu Ruolan thought.
By now, she was considering taking Xiao Chen back to Fabia Academy.
Just then, she suddenly sensed a surge of Soul Power spilling from Xiao Chen.
"Hm? He's leveled up!" Chu Ruolan hadn't expected Xiao Chen to level up right after a fight.
"That's good," Chu Ruolan murmured. "We can hunt down his Second Soul Ring while we're at it!"
Chu Ruolan's intentions were good, but just over ten minutes later, Xiao Chen's actions nearly made her die of anger.
After breaking through to Level 20, Xiao Chen wanted to find an excuse to part ways with Chu Ruolan and the others.
He needed to add a Spirit Ring to his Second Martial Soul, and he didn't want to reveal that he had Twin Martial Souls here.
As Xiao Chen wondered what excuse he could use to leave them, the system suddenly detected a suitable Soul Beast.
Following the system's directions, Xiao Chen spotted a Four-Eyed Cat Owl Hatchling clinging to a tree trunk nearby.
The system immediately displayed the information: Four-Eyed Cat Owl, nine years old—just right.
Without a second thought, Xiao Chen drew his Wooden Bow and fired, knocking it down with a single arrow.
Seeing Xiao Chen's sudden move, Chu Ruolan and the others thought he had spotted a Soul Beast. But when they looked closely, they realized it was a Ten-Year Spirit Beast.
"Xiao Chen, don't kill Soul Beasts recklessly when you don't need a Spirit Ring for your Martial Soul—" Chu Ruolan warned.
But before she could finish, Xiao Chen dashed forward and caught the Cat Owl in his hands. A white Spirit Ring rose from its body.
Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Chen released his Wooden Bow Martial Soul and immediately began absorbing the Spirit Ring.
Xiao Chen's actions left Chu Ruolan and the others dumbfounded. For a moment, they even forgot to stop him.
Only when Xiao Chen began absorbing the ring did Chu Ruolan come to her senses. But by then, it was too late to stop him.
Xiao Chen took just two and a half minutes to add the Second Soul Ring to his Wooden Bow. He had done it deliberately slowly; with his ability to absorb Spirit Rings with a hundred percent success rate, he could have added it in an instant.
"Xiao Chen, you... you... what are you doing?"
Chu Ruolan's expression was darker than ever. Usually as gentle as water, she now stood with her chest rising and falling, barely restraining herself from rushing over and giving Xiao Chen a thorough beating.
"This is the first time I've seen Teacher Chu this angry," Ma Yan muttered.
"Tell me about it. I'd only just started warming up to Xiao Chen, and then he goes and pulls something like this!" Lin Feng said.
"I can't imagine what he was thinking. Teacher Chu had agreed to help him hunt a Spirit Beast over three hundred years old, and he goes and gets another ten-year one!" Su Qing said helplessly.
"Alas..." Zhou Ming sighed, his face full of regret. "Xiao Chen's really ruined himself this time!"
All four of them felt sorry for Xiao Chen. They hurried over to hold Chu Ruolan back, afraid that in her fury she might actually kill him.
"Get lost, you good-for-nothing! Leave right now!" Chu Ruolan was truly furious.
Xiao Chen felt somewhat guilty, but he had to leave. He bowed to Chu Ruolan and said, "Thank you, Teacher Chu, for helping me hunt for a Spirit Ring. I'll wait for you in that town."
With that, Xiao Chen sprinted toward the edge of Star Dou Forest.
A long while later, Chu Ruolan was still angry, but she had begun to worry about Xiao Chen. After all, they had already ventured deep into the forest.
"Teacher, why don't we escort Xiao Chen out of Star Dou Forest first?" Su Qing had noticed Chu Ruolan's concern and knew she was too embarrassed to say it herself, so she suggested it.
The group then followed the direction Xiao Chen had gone.
Xiao Chen had expected they might turn back, so once he was out of their sight, he changed direction slightly.
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