What Kind of Bicycle Do You Want

The closest location to them was the Soul Splitting Forest, situated four hundred li northeast of Notting City in the Heaven Dou Empire.

That area was generally populated by ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts. He had initially considered it, but after some thought, he decided against it; the quality of soul beasts kept in captivity was generally not very good.

"Let's go, we're heading to the Star Dou Great Forest."

He had originally intended to follow the principle of proximity, as there was a gathering spot near the academy, but he ultimately decided that if one wanted the best, one shouldn't settle for less.

The Star Dou Great Forest was indeed quite far from the academy; the journey alone would take three or four days.

On the road, Zhu Zhuqing was somewhat puzzled.

"Master, why was it necessary for me to come along?"

She actually didn't mind staying behind at the academy to cultivate diligently.

It wasn't her first time hunting for a soul ring; she had been taken to hunt twice before, so it wasn't a novelty to her.

Chen An ruffled her little head, which immediately made her bristle.

"Master!"

She shouted indignantly, failing to maintain her cold, aloof persona.

Luo Xiaoshi, standing to the side, was also startled. He secretly thought to himself that when he eventually took a wife, he definitely wouldn't want someone like his senior sister.

But thinking of his broken home, he decided to let it go; being alone was fine.

After Chen An finished ruffling her hair, he showed no sign of embarrassment, nor did he offer an apology. Instead, he said:

"It is naturally necessary. I will be teaching you both something special when the time comes."

Once he said that, Zhu Zhuqing stopped fussing. Having seen the cultivation library and witnessed Chen An's martial soul, her imagination ran wild, and she was very curious.

Luo Xiaoshi, who had just been thinking about closing off his heart and locking away love, heard Chen An say this and his eyes lit up.

The two little ones immediately pestered Chen An, wanting to know in advance. Watching the two of them look so anxious and restless, he actually felt a bit of pleasure.

As the saying goes, I hate riddle-makers, but when I am the one being the riddle-maker, don't be in such a rush—it won't help anyway.

"Customer, we've arrived."

They had traveled the entire way by carriage.

Time is money, and besides, why suffer through walking for days when you can ride?

The distance wasn't short, so one should save where one can and spend where one must. By spending a little money, they had cut the travel time by nearly half.

"Very well."

After Chen An and his group disembarked, the driver drove to the parking area to wait; after all, Chen An had hired him for a round trip.

The Star Dou Great Forest spanned across both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, truly the number one gathering place for soul beasts on the continent.

The variety was incredibly rich, making Chen An feel a bit greedy.

Especially when he saw those ten-year soul beasts; with a little preparation, they would be both delicious and nourishing.

"Teacher, isn't this trip to help me obtain a soul ring?"

"Master, stop spacing out. Your drool is about to fall."

Hearing Zhu Zhuqing's voice, Chen An subconsciously wiped his mouth. Huh, there was no drool.

He realized instantly that this little girl was indeed holding a grudge; she had actually tricked him.

He wouldn't let this child eat too much when he cooked later.

"Ahem."

Chen An coughed twice to ease his embarrassment.

Seeing this, Luo Xiaoshi was very considerate and helped him out of the awkward situation at just the right moment.

"Teacher, are we searching in this area this time?"

They were currently on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, where one could still find traces of hundred-year soul beasts.

"We are going to the edge of the Mixed Zone this time."

The so-called edge of the Mixed Zone referred to the gathering place for hundred-year soul beasts and those that had just advanced to the thousand-year level.

Any hundred-year soul beast that could survive there was a tough character, or at the very least, a existence bordering on the thousand-year level.

"The Mixed Zone?"

Luo Xiaoshi was a bit blank; he didn't know much about the Star Dou Great Forest, nor was his knowledge detailed.

At the commoner school, lessons about the Star Dou Great Forest were always glossed over, as not many people there needed to hunt soul beasts.

Not to mention his previous scam of a school.

But Zhu Zhuqing was different; she knew the Star Dou Great Forest very well, so she was stunned when she heard they were going to the Mixed Zone.

"Master, I remember that the standard for the very edge of the Mixed Zone is thousand-year soul beasts, right? But isn't Junior Brother here for his second soul ring? Shouldn't the maximum limit be around 700 years?"

Chen An was not surprised by Zhu Zhuqing's question; he had anticipated she would ask.

"That's right. My initial thought was to get a thousand-year soul beast for your junior brother, but unfortunately, he can't handle it."

As they walked, Chen An explained.

"The common consensus on the continent right now is that nonsense spouted by that academic waste, isn't it? The 764-year limit for a second spirit ring."

Chen An described the facts with a tone of disdain. The two children could clearly sense his mood and listened silently, not daring to speak.

Initially, Chen An's impression of Yu Xiaogang was merely that of a scumbag and a freeloader.

But after arriving here, he realized that this guy was also an academic fraud.

He simply summarized a few things and then shamelessly branded himself a master, yet the conclusions he drew contained significant errors.

"Just treat that guy's theories as a joke."

Chen An still spoke with a playful chuckle, but his next sentence turned serious.

"In my view, the spirit ring limit boils down to three factors: whether you can kill the spirit beast, whether your body can withstand the scouring of the spirit ring, and whether your will can hold out while absorbing it."

Chen An briefly outlined his theory and explained the specific details of these three factors.

In short, while his words were blunt, they were sound. If this were made public, its credibility would certainly be higher than that so-called competitive theory.

"Oh, oh."

Listening to Chen An's narration, the two children were invigorated; it was the first time they had ever heard such a theory.

It was novel, and they couldn't find any flaws in the logic.

"Teacher, then what is my current limit?"

Luo Xiaoshi indicated that he understood, but felt it was better to ask about the age limit directly.

"If you didn't have my help, it would be about 660 years. With my help, you could push the limit to 1,000 years, but there is no need."

"1,000 years is too weak; spirit beasts usually have their thresholds at their respective age milestones."

The meaning behind these words was that century-level spirit beasts have their thresholds at the century mark, and millennium-level spirit beasts at the millennium mark.

This 1,000-year mark was effectively just a beast that had newly broken into the millennium level. Setting aside the massive effort required to absorb such a ring, it wasn't worth it for a second spirit ring.

Moreover, finding a spirit beast that had just broken through to the millennium level wasn't easy. You couldn't exactly grab a 999-year-old beast and force it, saying, "Are you going to level up or not? Are you going to level up?"

"Actually, there is another way to obtain them, but unfortunately, I haven't reached that realm yet."

Chen An muttered this softly, referring to the God-bestowed Spirit Ring method. The spirit rings on his own body were provided by the Library.

By the same logic, he could use this method to condense them for others. The Library did not object, but it required Chen An to condense them personally.

The Library was an inanimate object; its will was merely the will of the rules.

"Teacher, pursuing the limit must be very costly, right?"

Chen An nodded. Trying to pull off a millennium-level second spirit ring was just for show; being the tail of a phoenix rather than the head of a chicken was indeed costly.

"Then Teacher, what about pursuing 999 years or lower?"

Luo Xiaoshi was uncharacteristically sharp for once; this thought was identical to Chen An's own.

Thus, he looked at little Xiaoshi with appreciation, thinking that the boy had finally become enlightened.

"That would naturally cut the cost by more than half."

Hearing this, Luo Xiaoshi, who was used to being poor, acted as if he had been jolted awake from his deathbed. He didn't say he wouldn't dare spend a single cent, but instead said:

"Teacher, 900 years is great! This disciple wants that."

"Easily done, easily done."

The two hit it off immediately, while Zhu Zhuqing, standing to the side, was busy thinking about what she should do for her own third spirit ring.