Lu Chen withdrew his Martial Soul and took one last look at the mangled Sun-Facing Flower, making sure he had missed nothing.
He returned to his pack, slung it onto his back, and chose a random direction to head deeper into Star Dou Forest, his voice carrying a hint of anticipation:
"Time to set off in search of my fourth Spirit Ring. My first Spirit Ring was a thousand years old, my second four thousand, and my third eight thousand. I should be able to absorb a fourth Spirit Ring between ten thousand and fifteen thousand years old."
"But when absorbing the Spirit Ring of a Spirit Beast over ten thousand years old, I'll also have to withstand the backlash of its soul's resentment. That Soul Shock is a real headache."
"My physique is strong enough, and my Soul Power is very deep, but whether my mental strength can withstand Soul Shock is still unknown..."
Lu Chen frowned in thought.
The shadows of the trees swayed, and sunlight pierced the treetops, leaving dappled patches of light and shadow on the ground.
A breeze blew past, and rustling rose all around him.
Lu Chen did not know whether it was his imagination, but as he walked through the forest, he kept feeling as though someone was watching him, yet also seemed to be paying him respects.
Puzzled, Lu Chen's gaze grew wary:
"What's going on? Is a Spirit Beast trying to ambush me?"
After searching the surroundings over and over, Lu Chen found no hidden Spirit Beasts, only patch upon patch of Blue Silver Grass.
Blue Silver Grass?!
Lu Chen's eyes widened at once. He bent down, and the damp scent of earth rushed into his nose, but his attention was entirely on the Blue Silver Grass on the ground.
He carefully brushed the Blue Silver Grass with his hand, and a sense of closeness immediately flowed from it.
Lu Chen was greatly amazed:
"It really is the Blue Silver Grass!"
"Is it because my Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul evolved, or because my mental strength increased? I can actually faintly sense the Blue Silver Grass's subtle emotions!"
Lu Chen felt both pleasantly surprised and puzzled.
His brow alternately furrowed and relaxed.
After some thought, Lu Chen let out a breath and said:
"Either way, this is a good thing."
"I've absorbed three Spirit Rings, and my Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul has undergone three rounds of evolution. No matter what, it's much stronger than ordinary Blue Silver Grass."
"Besides, absorbing Spirit Rings may have tempered my mental strength to some extent."
"Those two things together have allowed me to sense the Blue Silver Grass's emotions. There's endless Blue Silver Grass in Star Dou Forest. With this faint connection between us, finding a Spirit Beast that suits me will be much easier."
Lu Chen felt invigorated.
He then began communicating with the Blue Silver Grass beside the path as he traveled, soothing its emotions while asking about the surroundings.
Plant Spirit Beasts differed from animal Spirit Beasts. Because of their physical structures, animal Spirit Beasts developed intelligence more easily, while Plant Spirit Beasts mostly acted on instinct.
The Blue Silver Grass along the path could not describe anything to Lu Chen in detail. It lacked that kind of intelligence, but it could still respond to him about some simple matters.
Such as safety!
Such as danger!
Lu Chen was already quite satisfied to obtain this information. At least, with these eyes and ears in Star Dou Forest, he could assess danger ahead of time.
The fourth Spirit Ring Lu Chen wanted had to be at least between ten thousand and fifteen thousand years old, and to find a Plant Spirit Beast like that,
he had no choice but to leave the Outer Zone and head toward Star Dou Forest's Mixed Zone.
The Outer Zone was already so dangerous, while the Mixed Zone was packed with Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts, doubling the danger outright.
With this Blue Silver Grass serving as his eyes and ears, Lu Chen would not inadvertently wander into the territories of powerful Spirit Beasts even after entering the Mixed Zone.
It took three days!
Only then did Lu Chen enter the Mixed Zone from the Outer Zone. A vast, primeval air washed over him, carrying a little damp earthiness and a faint scent of decay.
To ensure his safety, Lu Chen immediately began communicating with the nearby Blue Silver Grass. Through its feedback, he gained a rough understanding of the area.
Danger!
That was the emotion all the nearby Blue Silver Grass conveyed to him!
Lu Chen immediately grew wary. He summoned his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and purple, purple, purple-three purple Spirit Rings rose beneath his feet.
"Blue Silver Shelter!"
As his third Spirit Ring lit up, his Soul Power surged into his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. It then blazed with light, raising a blue barrier around him.
This was Lu Chen's third Spirit Skill!
Blue Silver Shelter!
Lu Chen put a shield around himself before moving quietly through the surroundings to investigate.
Following the Blue Silver Grass's guidance, he came to the source of the danger to examine it.
In this area, a layer of turf had been torn from the ground. Countless flowers, grasses, vines, and thorns had all been ripped to shreds.
Many trees had even been snapped through the middle. Trees so thick that an adult would need to wrap their arms around them had been broken by the impact. One could imagine what an enormous creature had caused such destruction.
Not far ahead, Lu Chen saw several bloodstained scraps of cloth, along with some mangled flesh and shattered bones...
There was also a gleaming metal bracelet!
A trace of curiosity appeared on Lu Chen's otherwise solemn face.
He walked over, ignored the mangled flesh and shattered bones, and picked up the metal bracelet.
It was a silvery-white metal bracelet, heavy in his hand and surely made from an extraordinary material. Six pieces of jade were set into it, each lustrous and smooth, clearly no ordinary stones.
Lu Chen turned the metal bracelet over in his hands as a bold guess arose in his mind:
"Could this be a Storage Soul Guidance Device?"
Lu Chen immediately tested it, trying to inject a thread of Soul Power into one of the pieces of jade on the metal bracelet.
The next instant, his consciousness seemed to be drawn into a cramped space. It was small, only about two cubic meters.
There was no mistake now!
This was a Storage Soul Guidance Device!
If one piece of jade held two cubic meters of space, then the six pieces set into this metal bracelet held twelve cubic meters in total.
That was no small amount. A Storage Soul Guidance Device with twelve cubic meters of space could fetch an astronomical price of at least several hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins at an auction house.
And it was the kind of thing money alone could not buy!
Lu Chen quickly inspected all the spaces inside the Storage Soul Guidance Device. There were some loose Gold Soul Coins, Silver Soul Coins, and Copper Soul Coins, along with two black cards, some books, changes of clothing, a dagger, Snake Repellent Powder, Healing Potions...
Lu Chen leafed through the books and found a red diary. From its entries, he learned that its owner was the patriarch of a Spirit Master family in Gulei Kingdom.
He had invited several friends to Star Dou Forest this time to hunt the Spirit Beast he needed for his sixth Spirit Ring.
By now, they had probably been wiped out to the last man!
Only some scraps of flesh and shattered bones remained, along with a metal Storage Soul Guidance Device.
Although he had gained a Storage Soul Guidance Device for nothing, Lu Chen was not as happy as he had imagined he would be.
The scene before him reminded Lu Chen once again that this was Star Dou Forest, where danger lurked on every side. If he let his guard down, he too would meet his end in a beast's jaws.
He put the Storage Soul Guidance Device on his wrist. The metal bracelet automatically adjusted its size, fitting his wrist perfectly without feeling cumbersome at all.
Lu Chen naturally liked it immensely. He then dug a pit in the ground, gathered the scraps of flesh and shattered bones, placed them inside, and buried them.
Having taken someone's Storage Soul Guidance Device, he ought to at least lay them to rest in the earth.
Afterward, Lu Chen quickly left the area...