Spirit Rings Assembled

After parting ways with them, Xiao Chen began testing the second spirit skill of his Wooden Bow martial soul.

Xiao Chen could clearly feel that his eyes had undergone a subtle transformation.

This second spirit ring had greatly enhanced his visual range and dynamic capture ability, extending the reach of his sight considerably, allowing him to take in even the slightest movements at a great distance.

It also carried a faint spiritual shock that could briefly disrupt the minds of low-level soul beasts and soul masters.

Especially in this dense forest, his vision grew even clearer and sharper, and he even vaguely developed an instinct for danger warnings.

This second spirit ring not only granted Xiao Chen an active spirit skill—Spiritual Shock—but also came with several passive abilities.

Vision Expansion, Dynamic Capture, Danger Warning, and Enhanced Night Vision—these effects could remain active at all times without needing to deliberately activate the skill.

Xiao Chen's current vision could reach up to eight hundred meters away. If not for the dense forest blocking the view, his sight under the night sky would definitely exceed a thousand meters.

For moving targets within five hundred meters, Xiao Chen could clearly track their trajectory.

His warning range was also around one hundred fifty meters.

"System, I love you!" Xiao Chen immediately hugged the System Spirit in his arms.

Before this, Xiao Chen still harbored some reservations about the Ten-Year Spirit Ring, but now, only uncontrollable surprise remained in his heart.

The boost this second spirit ring brought Xiao Chen was incredibly comprehensive, its effects far surpassing even a thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year spirit ring.

"Host, please restrain yourself!" The System Spirit hurriedly broke free from Xiao Chen's grasp.

It flickered half a step back, pulled out a small fragrant mist spray from somewhere, and sprayed itself vigorously.

Xiao Chen chuckled, patted it lightly on the head twice, and then began searching for a suitable soul beast for his second martial soul.

With the support of the second spirit ring, Xiao Chen no longer had to move as cautiously and gropingly as before.

Relying on his extraordinary long-range vision, he found a compatible soul beast in just a few minutes.

System scan result: Swift Shadow Weasel, age nine and a half years, speed-type, very compatible.

After locking onto the Swift Shadow Weasel's position, Xiao Chen quietly crept over.

His vision could now see very far, but his arrows had a limited range. Using only his first spirit skill, he could shoot at most about a hundred meters.

Of course, if he activated his second martial soul and used a combined skill, the range would at least double.

But there was no need to waste spirit power in the Star Dou Forest. For soul beasts under ten years, ordinary arrows could easily kill them.

The Swift Shadow Weasel's reaction speed was quite fast. When Xiao Chen crept to about fifty meters and fired his first arrow, the Swift Shadow Weasel actually dodged it.

In a dense forest, archers indeed had a hard time performing—there were too many things that could block arrows.

But the Swift Shadow Weasel was still just a soul beast under ten years. Once Xiao Chen got serious, it had no way to escape.

As Xiao Chen absorbed the spirit ring, the system also recycled the Swift Shadow Weasel's soul into the System Space.

Since no one was around, Xiao Chen completed the spirit ring attachment in an instant.

The Swift Shadow Weasel's spirit ring provided Xiao Chen with one spirit skill—Shadow Step Dash.

Xiao Chen immediately activated it to try it out.

As soon as he activated it, an indescribable lightness surged through his entire body. Xiao Chen immediately dashed forward, his form instantly leaving a blurry afterimage in place.

In the span of a breath, Xiao Chen's figure had already shifted several zhang away.

"So fast!" Xiao Chen marveled inwardly. The speed he had burst out with in that instant caught even him off guard.

He quickly adjusted his breathing, calmed his mind, and after getting into the right state, activated Shadow Step Dash again and charged forward.

Xiao Chen's entire body turned into a faint cyan afterimage, weaving rapidly through the dense forest.

Under the full activation of Shadow Step Dash, Xiao Chen's feet barely touched the ground. His form skimmed past tree branches and leaves, his clothes rustling softly, leaving only a few drifting leaves in his wake.

After a full minute of sprinting, Xiao Chen stopped.

In that short minute of rapid movement, he had already grasped the rhythm of Shadow Step Dash.

The system stated outright that the speed Xiao Chen had just burst out with could already rival a level forty speed-type Soul Ancestor!

Even better, the effect of the Shadow Step Dash spirit skill could also be applied to arrows.

This increased the speed of the arrows Xiao Chen shot by three to four times, and also boosted their range and attack power considerably.

While Xiao Chen was testing his spirit skills, Chu Ruolan's group unexpectedly encountered a five-hundred-year-old Ghost Vine.

Vine-type soul beasts were a very good match for Su Ting's martial soul, Twining Grass, and the age was also suitable, so they stopped to hunt this Ghost Vine.

With Chu Ruolan around, hunting a five-hundred-year soul beast was naturally no problem.

The only thing that took time was Su Qing absorbing the spirit ring.

Meanwhile, Xiao Chen had already found his second suitable soul beast—an eight-year-old Spiked Porcupine.

This little creature could shake its body and shoot out a dense barrage of spikes, giving off quite the feel of a 'rain of needles.'

Xiao Chen took it down with a single arrow, and a white spirit ring slowly rose, instantly absorbed by Xiao Chen.

This time, Xiao Chen gained another passive skill—Piercing Wound!

The penetrating power of the arrow he loosed had at least doubled, and along with its range, speed, and attack force, it received another wave of enhancement.

He also gained an active skill—Fierce Thorn Rain.

This spirit skill was a area-of-effect attack. Activating it required charging; the longer the charge, the larger the area the thorn rain would blanket.

Xiao Chen immediately drew his bow and nocked an arrow, attempting to channel this spirit skill.

He focused his mind and charged for about twenty breaths, then shot the arrow.

The arrow flew fifty meters ahead before abruptly disintegrating, unleashing a dense torrent of sharp bone thorns that cascaded down like a sudden storm, blanketing a ten-meter radius.

The thorn rain poured down, driving viciously into the trees.

Tree trunks were instantly pierced through by the rain of thorns, leaves and branches torn to shreds and sent flying. The once-upright trees let out a series of groaning cracks under the unbearable strain, then collapsed in swaths with a thunderous crash.

Dust and wood chips mingled with scattered remnants of bone thorns littered the ground. The once-pristine forest floor was now a scene of utter devastation.

"Such destructive power... it's beyond what I expected!" Xiao Chen couldn't help but exclaim.

With his spirit rings fully assembled, there was no need for Xiao Chen to remain in the Star Dou Forest.

But just as he was about to leave, he heard a roar from deep within the dense woods. The sound came from the direction where Chu Ruolan and the others were.

After a moment's thought, Xiao Chen activated Shadow Step Dash and rushed over.

On the other side, Chu Ruolan and the others had also heard that roar, but Su Qing was still absorbing her spirit ring, so they couldn't leave.

"Ma Yan, you guard Su Qing. I'll go ahead and see what's happening!" Chu Ruolan instructed, then crept toward the source of the sound.

Soon, Chu Ruolan spotted the origin of the roar.

"Damn, it's a Thunder Pattern Leopard!" Chu Ruolan's face changed drastically.

From the Thunder Pattern Leopard's size and the spirit power aura radiating from its body, she could instantly judge that this leopard's age was at least three thousand five hundred years.