Just as Lin Yuan was trying to figure out what had gone wrong, the God of Destruction woke up.
"This method won't work." After hearing Lin Yuan's report on what had happened, the God of Destruction shook his head and rejected the idea.
"Although your Martial Soul's bloodline is that of a rather low-ranking dragon, its attributes already give it the status of a top-tier Martial Soul."
"A Martial Soul of such a high rank can't be awakened through simple stimulation like this. And the intensity is too low."
"This is still too low?" Lin Yuan's expression was utterly astonished.
After all, he'd come close to death several times over the past few days.
More than once, he'd seen the parents of this life waving to him from the far bank of a river.
Just how much more intense did it have to get for his Martial Soul to undergo its Second Awakening?
"Anyway, you can forget about trying this trick until you reach a certain level of strength." The God of Destruction waved a hand helplessly.
"More importantly, have you found a Soul Beast for your Second Soul Ring? Which one are you planning to start with?"
"I've had one picked out for ages. When I was level twenty-nine, I had a Soul Saint from the sect assess me. I can safely absorb a Soul Ring from a Soul Beast under two thousand eight hundred years old. The ideal age is between three thousand five hundred and three thousand eight hundred years. Since the Soul Beast I'm absorbing is an Earth Cave Demon Dragon with an exceptionally strong dragon bloodline, we rounded down to an even three thousand two hundred years."
The God of Destruction nodded in approval. "A little low, but acceptable."
The Earth Cave Demon Dragon they'd chosen had been selected after weighing all the factors.
Among Soul Beasts between three and five thousand years old, those with stronger dragon bloodlines weren't as old as this one, while those older than it didn't have as strong a bloodline.
To avoid another incident like Nan Qiuqiu having her Soul Ring stolen, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had long ago arranged for a team to keep watch over the spot.
By the time Lin Yuan's consciousness returned to reality, all the preparations for departure had been made.
Lan Fozi floated on the surface of the water, watching Lin Yuan and the others with a somewhat forlorn look.
"Lan Fozi, we're leaving now. We'll come visit you again if we get the chance," Wu Feng said, reluctant to part as she said goodbye from the beach.
"Mm. I'll wait for you in that bay next time." Lan Fozi's huge face was full of reluctance too.
She really couldn't bear to see Lin Yuan and the others leave.
In this vast sea, most Soul Beasts that hadn't reached a hundred thousand years old were unintelligent.
And most of those that had reached a hundred thousand years old had little interest in playing with a huge whale whose mind was that of a four- or five-year-old child.
Besides, humans had such rich emotions. During the past few days together, Lan Fozi had heard Wu Feng tell her about all sorts of fascinating things in the human world.
It was a pity she wasn't human and couldn't go with them.
"This is truly an eye-opener," Du Busi said solemnly.
He'd never imagined that humans and Soul Beasts could get along so harmoniously. He'd only ever heard of such a thing in legends.
"It's a pity the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect can't make a Soul Tool that can pinpoint someone's location. Even if we reach the agreed-upon spot, it'll take our people ages to find Lan Fozi," Ning Tian said regretfully.
"...Yeah." Lin Yuan nodded.
Now they had to talk about Xuan Ziwen, far away in the Sun Moon Empire. They really would have to spend a fortune to poach him.
He was the future father of Soul Tool Battle Armor. Though most of the groundwork had been painstakingly developed by Mingde Hall, that didn't stop Lao Huo... No, he'd gotten it wrong again.
Whether it was Lao Dai or Lao Tang, they'd used their enormous influence to put the credit on Xuan Ziwen.
They'd forcibly tied that honor to an assassin sect. Anyone who didn't know better would think the Tang Sect had trained Xuan Ziwen from scratch and then invented Battle Armor.
Setting that aside, Xuan Ziwen's technical skills were still excellent.
Most importantly, among the high-ranking Soul Engineers in the Sun Moon Empire Lin Yuan knew about, Xuan Ziwen was the easiest to win over.
The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect only had to bring its money to bear, and Lin Yuan had to share a few technological ideas from Blue Star.
Xuan Ziwen would immediately remember the Heaven Dou bloodline in his veins and come trotting over to work for them.
Lin Yuan really did miss Blue Star's internet and all the conveniences of modern technology. Even after living here for seven years, he still sometimes struck a pose as if he were playing video games, just to remember them.
There was no way they could put together a video game in such a short time, but with highly skilled Soul Tool experts, he could bring an end to this era when the only way to communicate over a distance was to shout.
Lin Yuan and Du Busi arrived at Sunset Forest, located in the Heaven Dou Empire. The Soul Beast they were looking for lived near the forest's outer edge.
Farther in lay the Green Scale Flower Poison Barrier.
After greeting the Soul King team assigned to keep watch over the Earth Cave Demon Dragon, they pointed the way and left.
"Master, I just thought of something."
As they walked toward the Earth Cave Demon Dragon's lair, Lin Yuan suddenly felt a flash of inspiration.
"Go on. What is it?"
"Since your Body Martial Soul cultivates poison, Master, why don't you use the poison miasma in Sunset Forest to break through your limit?"
Du Busi stopped walking at Lin Yuan's question.
His expression shifted with inner conflict for a while, then he sighed. "Alas, it's not as if I never thought of that."
"Twenty years ago, when I first tried to break through my limit, I came here. I also wanted to see what was in Sunset Forest while I was at it."
Du Busi's expression grew visibly fearful.
"When I tried to absorb the Green Scale Seven Absolute Flower's poison from the Green Scale Poison Miasma, a terrible sense of danger came over me."
While Du Busi was lost in his memories, Lin Yuan wore an expression that said he'd expected as much.
So Buddha Ancestor Tang had made his move after all. He didn't want anyone meddling in his backyard, so he'd stepped in, right?
"When you reach my level, you'll understand. Even when you stand at the very peak of the world, you can still feel the terror of being crushed by some unfathomable existence. That was when I realized this place had a master. I never want to experience that again in my life."
Lin Yuan nodded in understanding. The God of Destruction had also warned him not to think about what was going on inside the poison miasma for now.
Following the markers along the way, Lin Yuan and Du Busi found the Earth Cave Demon Dragon's hiding place.
"I didn't expect it to be so close to the poison miasma," Du Busi said, surprised.
The Earth Cave Demon Dragon's lair was on a small mound. With a slight glance, they could see the poison miasma not far away.
That allowed the Earth Cave Demon Dragon to avoid many powerful natural enemies. The many Soul Beast skeletons visible within the poison miasma silently proved as much.
"Wait here. I'll be right back."
If the environment hadn't become so unpredictable this week, Du Busi would have told Lin Yuan to go down and take on the Earth Cave Demon Dragon himself.
Who knew whether the cave connected to the poison miasma? For Du Busi, going in would be a pleasure; for Lin Yuan, going in would be a pleasure too.
Lin Yuan had only just nodded when Du Busi stepped into the Earth Cave Demon Dragon's lair.
Before long, Du Busi dragged a yellow-brown Earth Dragon out of the lair by its tail.
It was sleeping peacefully, the very picture of someone getting a good night's rest.
It was even drooling (the white foam of someone unconscious).