Lin Mo's understanding of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was not exaggerated in the slightest.
If he remembered correctly, twenty thousand years later, a thirty-thousand-year-old Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff had dealt a crushing blow to Tang Wulin, a Super Douluo with a cultivation rank of ninety-six.
It had even overpowered Tang Wulin in the area where he excelled most: strength.
One could glimpse the whole leopard from a single spot. The creature's numbers were clearly off the charts.
Unfortunately, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was nothing more than wishful thinking for him.
Besides, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was rather useless to Lin Mo.
When he wanted one, he couldn't kill it. By the time he could, any he could find would be too low in age to be suitable for absorbing its Soul Ring.
Hearing Lin Mo's words, Flender's expression turned wonderfully complicated. He let out a heavy sigh and reached up to rub his temples.
This was the first time he'd ever met a kid with such a huge appetite.
"You really don't hold back, do you?"
Flender lowered his hand and looked at Lin Mo, his tone carrying a trace of helplessness. "But what can I do? I already promised Xiaogang and you, didn't I?"
"Since I've promised, I'll certainly do my best to find one for you.
"But if we really can't find one, then I'm afraid you'll have to make do with a slightly inferior Soul Beast."
Flender was giving Lin Mo a warning in advance.
The Star Dou Great Forest was vast, but what Lin Mo wanted was simply too rare.
A thousand-year cultivation age and top-tier bloodline quality—Soul Beasts like that were rare no matter where you looked.
"I understand." Lin Mo smiled and nodded.
He naturally knew how high his demands were.
But the Second Soul Ring was too important. He didn't want to settle.
If they truly couldn't find one, he would have to settle for the next best thing. But before then, he still wanted to try his hardest.
Looking at Lin Mo's expression, Flender could only sigh inwardly.
Had this kid come to the Star Dou Great Forest and immediately let his true nature show?
Back at the academy, Lin Mo had always struck him as a quiet, sensible student. Overall, he'd been quite low-key.
Quite a few students at Notting Academy knew Lin Mo was strong, but very few knew just how strong he was.
He certainly didn't seem as well-behaved as he had at the academy.
Still, perhaps this was for the best.
Thinking this, Flender shook his head.
A good, pure-hearted child like a white lotus wouldn't suit Shrek Academy. Shrek Academy had never played by the rules.
The bit of sentiment in Flender's heart quickly faded, and his gaze returned to Lin Mo.
Ever since entering the Star Dou Great Forest, the kid seemed to have stayed in this all-white state without ever reverting.
"Lin Mo, you've been maintaining this special Martial Soul Possession state the whole time. Doesn't it consume too much energy?"
Flender voiced the question he'd been wondering about.
As far as Flender and Yu Xiaogang understood, Lin Mo's special Mutated Martial Soul Possession had two forms.
One was the state Lin Mo was in now, with his whole body turned white. The other was a genuine Martial Soul Possession state, with Soul Rings appearing on top of this form.
Without any Soul Rings visible, even Flender would have found it difficult to notice Lin Mo using the power of his Martial Soul, unless he knew him very well.
"Not really."
Lin Mo shook his head and explained, "This state uses very little of my Soul Power.
"As long as I don't use any extra energy—that is, as long as I don't use Soul Skills or fight anyone—I can just barely maintain a balance between Soul Power consumption and recovery in this state."
"That's an enviable ability," Flender remarked.
For the vast majority of Soul Masters, Martial Soul Possession was itself quite a burden.
Very few could maintain the state for a long time without giving it a second thought, as Lin Mo could.
Seeing Flender's expression, Lin Mo seemed entirely accustomed to it.
Inversion of Three used very little Soul Power to begin with, and Body Martial Souls were also naturally low-consumption.
Even with the two combined, the energy expenditure was still within a range Lin Mo could accept.
As long as he didn't actively channel Soul Power to fight or use a Soul Skill, his natural recovery rate would easily make up for the energy he spent.
For now, though, he could only just barely keep his consumption and recovery balanced.
One day, when his Soul Power recovered faster than he used it, he would be able to try maintaining the Inversion state around the clock, like Zuo Ruotong.
Lin Mo had already made plans.
After obtaining his Second Soul Ring, he wouldn't reveal his Soul Rings unless absolutely necessary.
This was also for his own safety.
A thousand-year Second Soul Ring attracted far too much attention.
The tallest tree catches the wind.
Until he had enough strength to protect himself, revealing it too early would only invite unnecessary trouble.
Unless he found a way to resolve the problem posed by his thousand-year Second Soul Ring, Lin Mo would never willingly let anyone know he had one.
Revealing it early would bring him nothing but trouble.
As for how to deal with that problem, Lin Mo already had an idea.
Only... putting that idea into practice would require a great deal of money.
After quickly settling on Lin Mo's plans for obtaining a Soul Ring, Flender led him deeper into the Star Dou Forest.
The reason was simple: the quality of the Soul Ring Lin Mo wanted was just too high.
Its age wasn't particularly high—just over a thousand years.
But age was only one of the conditions.
The Soul Beast's bloodline quality had to be extremely high, and such creatures were probably very hard to find in the outer reaches of the Star Dou Forest.
If they wanted to find one that met his requirements, they had no choice but to go deeper.
Even Flender was quite cautious as they continued farther in.
With his current strength at level seventy-seven, a Soul Saint, he could safely escort Lin Mo as long as they didn't encounter a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with a cultivation age above fifty thousand years.
Of course, that was assuming the Soul Beast's quality wasn't too outrageous.
If they ran into a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with a top-tier bloodline, such as a Titan Giant Ape, that would be another matter entirely.
But Soul Beasts of that level generally stayed in the very core of the Star Dou Great Forest and wouldn't normally come out to the outskirts.
The two continued onward, with Flender leading the way and Lin Mo close behind.
Not long after they had gone farther, Lin Mo and Flender suddenly came to a stop.
Lin Mo followed Flender's gaze and looked ahead.
In a clearing among the bushes not far away, a huge, muscular ape covered in black fur was crouching. It held a piece of meat from some unknown Soul Beast in its hands and tore into it with great, hungry bites.