All is Ready, Only the Soul Ring is Missing

The bitter taste in his mouth made Mo Li knit his brows.

It felt just like eating a piece of old mud; the texture was truly unpleasant.

Once he swallowed it completely, a wave of dry heat surged in his stomach, a subtle, burning sensation radiating from the inside out.

At the same time, streams of heat flowed along his meridians toward his limbs and bones.

Mo Li quietly circulated the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Art to dissolve this power.

In less than half an hour, Mo Li opened his eyes, slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, and felt the sense of power emanating from every part of his body.

This subtle feeling of his body being strengthened left him feeling incredibly fulfilled.

"Are you finished?" Liu Erlong, who had been waiting for a long time, asked from the side.

"I am."

Mo Li smiled. "Now, my second spirit ring can definitely reach over two thousand five hundred years."

A two-thousand-five-hundred-year second spirit ring!

This answer made Liu Erlong's expression tremble; she almost instinctively wanted to say it was impossible!

But she had just tried it herself; the refined Whale Glue truly had the effect of improving one's physical constitution.

Regardless, Mo Li was still only at his second spirit ring.

If Mo Li really intended to obtain a spirit ring over a thousand years old, it would absolutely cause a massive stir in the spirit master world!

After all, no one had ever seen a second spirit ring that was over a thousand years old, and once revealed, it would attract attention from many parties, perhaps even leading to covert actions.

Liu Erlong had roamed the continent for a long time; she might not be fastidious about many things, but she was not stupid.

"Do you know what kind of sensation a thousand-year second spirit ring will cause?" Liu Erlong asked, full of worry.

Mo Li looked at Liu Erlong and nodded helplessly.

"But the upper limit is right here; I can't exactly go out of my way to find a sub-thousand-year spirit ring to absorb. That would be too much of a loss."

"But it doesn't matter; I have other plans for later." Mo Li revealed a bit of his bottom line to prevent Liu Erlong from worrying too much.

Liu Erlong sighed. She found it increasingly difficult to understand Mo Li, but she had not forgotten the words he spoke earlier that had moved her so deeply.

Mo Li would never hurt her; this was something she believed in her heart without a doubt.

"Alright then."

"What do you plan to do with this ten-thousand-year Whale Glue?"

Liu Erlong looked at the last piece of ten-thousand-year Whale Glue remaining on the table.

"Whale Glue has the best effect the first time, and I don't really need it anymore. Take this piece and give it to Jiang Zhu; it will provide her with a significant boost when she obtains her third spirit ring."

Mo Li had long since planned how to use these two pieces of Whale Glue. Since Liu Erlong asked, he had no intention of hiding it.

"Mm." Liu Erlong did not ask further.

The matter of the Whale Glue was settled, yet the two remained seated at the table.

Mo Li picked up the other piece of ten-thousand-year Whale Glue and busied himself with refining it, while Liu Erlong watched him intently.

Her gaze did not linger on the Whale Glue being continuously melted and condensed by the black flames, but rather on Mo Li's focused face.

"How did you know Whale Glue had this effect?"

Liu Erlong suddenly asked.

"Hm?" Mo Li was focused on his work and responded subconsciously.

A moment later, he came to his senses. He had actually been prepared for this question, but the situation tonight had changed, and the excuses he had prepared felt difficult to voice.

"If I said I saw it in a book, would you believe me, Sister Erlong?" Mo Li said with a bitter smile.

Aside from using this cliché excuse to evade the question, Mo Li really couldn't think of a better answer for the time being.

But he had just sworn so much to Liu Erlong not long ago, and now he had to deceive her again. Even if he had his reasons, he still felt somewhat lacking in confidence.

"I believe you." Liu Erlong's voice didn't even have a ripple of doubt.

Mo Li looked up at Liu Erlong, and the earnest expression on her face left him stunned.

"Thank you," Mo Li said.

Silence.

After a long while, Liu Erlong chuckled softly. "Did you forget what I told you back in the Sunset Forest?"

Mo Li said sheepishly, "I didn't forget."

"Then why say that?"

"It won't happen again." Mo Li smiled.

"That's more like it."

Following this conversation, which might have seemed inexplicable to an outsider, the originally awkward atmosphere in the room vanished instantly.

As the flames in his hands died down, Mo Li took the opportunity to place the refined, transparent gelatinous substance onto the table.

He smiled at Liu Erlong and said, "It's done. Take it to Jiang Zhu tomorrow."

"Alright."

Since Liu Erlong was now fully aware of the effects of the Whale Glue, why not strike while the iron was hot and share his thoughts on monopolizing it?

Mo Li thought to himself, and without hesitation, he told Liu Erlong his idea about cornering the Whale Glue market.

"How long have you been considering this?" Liu Erlong's expression was grave.

Mo Li replied, "Ever since I learned about the effects of the Whale Glue, I've been thinking about it."

Although he didn't care much about wealth, such a golden opportunity was right in front of him; he had to at least try to seize it.

Liu Erlong's expression grew uneasy. After a long silence, she finally spoke, "Do you want to accumulate wealth?"

Mo Li was a bit confused. Making money was obviously beneficial; even without monopolizing the entire industry, securing just a fraction of it would be an unimaginable fortune.

After all, spirit masters were quite wealthy, and Whale Glue, which could increase the age limit of spirit rings one could absorb, was a treasure every spirit master dreamed of.

Mo Li instinctively wanted to nod, but he noticed that Liu Erlong's mood was off, so he asked in return, "Sister Erlong, are you worried about something, or is there another reason?"

Liu Erlong shook her head, her gaze fixed on the table as she said in a low voice, "I feel this matter involves too much. If the effects of the Whale Glue are exposed, we might not be able to live as peacefully as we do now. Besides, how can you think of so much when you're only eight years old?"

Seeing Liu Erlong's internal conflict, Mo Li couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy, so he said softly, "Sister Erlong, I respect your thoughts. Since you don't want to get involved, we can set this aside for later. Honestly, I don't care how much money I have. But with more money, couldn't the academy be run even better?" Mo Li smiled.

Liu Erlong lifted her face, looking at the smiling Mo Li, and felt a touch of emotion. "You don't need to worry about that; I can handle it myself. I won't stop you from doing these things, but I hope you will wait until you have the capability to handle the consequences before you proceed. Can you do that?"

"Alright, I promise you."

Mo Li knew what Liu Erlong was worried about; the Whale Glue matter wasn't that critical to him anyway.

"You refused to go look for your second spirit ring before, I suppose that was because of the Whale Glue, wasn't it?"

"That's right."

"Then why didn't you tell me? You kept it from me."

Liu Erlong's eyes narrowed, and Mo Li felt a cold sweat; how did they end up back on this topic?

"Didn't I tell you everything just now?" Mo Li said helplessly.

"Hmph, the nature of doing something beforehand versus afterward is completely different."

With that single huff, Liu Erlong successfully seized the initiative in the conversation.

Mo Li couldn't help but laugh bitterly, quickly steering the topic away. "Then we can go obtain my spirit ring tomorrow."

Everything was prepared, and the thought of reaching the Great Spirit Master realm tomorrow made Mo Li's heart surge with excitement.

After all, compared to the accumulation of wealth, the immediate improvement of his strength was what truly mattered.

"Then we leave tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll head back now."

With that, Mo Li left Liu Erlong's room and returned to his own.

Watching Mo Li leave, Liu Erlong remained seated at the table. She still needed to collect some information. Originally, by her estimates, there was already a high probability that Mo Li's second spirit ring would exceed a thousand years.

The appearance of the Whale Glue was enough to push the age of Mo Li's spirit ring to a terrifying new level.

A thousand-year second spirit ring, and one that was nearly two thousand five hundred years old at that.

Was Liu Erlong truly worried that Mo Li might be snatched away by Spirit Hall for research?

But things had reached this point; whether it was one thousand or two thousand five hundred years, they were both purple spirit rings, so worrying too much was useless.

After all, Mo Li's attitude was clear: he would absolutely not choose a spirit beast under a thousand years just for the sake of camouflage.