Nine-Hundred-Year Second Soul Ring

On the third day, he discovered a patch of Blue Silver Grass on a sunny gentle slope. Its leaves were broad and thick, carrying a deep sheen. It was roughly four hundred years old.

It was about the same age as his first Soul Ring, not the target he was looking for.

On the fifth day, he found several scattered patches of Blue Silver Grass beside a stream. They were even younger, only two or three hundred years old, not even worth harvesting.

But he was not discouraged. He had plenty of time, and Sunset Forest was far larger than he had imagined. The peripheral regions alone were enough to keep him searching for ten days or half a month.

Moreover, he could gather medicinal herbs while searching. Chicken Blood Vine, Earth Marrow Root, Cold Fragrance Grass—these valuable things that could not be found in Soul Hunting Forest were surprisingly plentiful along the edges of Sunset Forest. He stuffed every plant he found into his medicine case.

On the afternoon of the seventh day, he arrived at a relatively open valley.

The land sloped slightly southward, and sunlight filtered through gaps in the sparse canopy, casting patches of mottled light across the ground.

The soil in the center of the valley was darker than the surrounding earth and looked especially fertile.

His gaze swept across it, then suddenly stopped.

Near a bluish-gray boulder in the center of the valley was a low-growing patch of Blue Silver Grass.

This patch of Blue Silver Grass was different from every one he had seen before.

Though the leaves retained the typical slender shape of Blue Silver Grass, their color was deep and rich, so green they were almost black. Fine golden patterns covered their surfaces, like ancient runes engraved upon every blade.

The stalks were thick and sturdy, more than three or four times thicker than ordinary Blue Silver Grass. The plants grew close to the ground, their roots buried deep in the rich soil, and the life aura they emitted was so dense that the surrounding air carried a trace of moist warmth.

Lan Tian slowly approached, crouched down, and examined it carefully. His heartbeat quickened involuntarily.

He remembered those golden vein patterns clearly. He had read records about high-year Blue Silver Grass in books.

For every hundred years Blue Silver Grass lived, another fine line would appear on its leaves. Once the golden color emerged, its age would increase even further.

The golden patterns on the Blue Silver Grass before him densely covered the entire leaf surface. It was definitely not young—at least eight hundred years old.

He summoned his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and a vine lightly touched the leaves of that patch of Blue Silver Grass. The sensation transmitted between the Martial Souls made his heart tremble.

The same origin, intimacy, gentleness.

The aura of that Blue Silver Grass was almost perfectly compatible with his own Martial Soul.

And its age was basically confirmed as well.

It was around nine hundred and fifty to nine hundred and eighty years old, only a step away from a thousand years, yet still below that threshold.

That number was practically tailor-made for him.

Lan Tian crouched beside the patch of Blue Silver Grass and gently stroked its thickest leaf, revealing a satisfied smile.

"I found you."

He did not harvest it immediately. Instead, he stood and stepped back a few paces, carefully observing the surrounding environment and any movement.

The valley was exceptionally quiet. There were no obvious traces of large Soul Beasts, only a few small animal tracks on the ground, and no threatening aura nearby.

After confirming it was safe, he crouched down again, took out his short dagger, and carefully severed the Blue Silver Grass's main root.

A section of emerald-green root broke apart, and a dense life aura rushed toward him.

Immediately afterward, a deep yellow Soul Ring slowly rose, hovering about a foot above the ground.

Its color was much deeper than that of his four-hundred-year Soul Ring.

Lan Tian sat cross-legged, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. The Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul pulsed in his palm, drawing the Soul Ring slowly into his body.

The instant the Soul Ring entered his body, an immense surge of life energy poured into him like a waterfall, washing through his meridians, bones, and muscles.

There was indeed pain, far more intense than during his first absorption. Nine hundred years of Soul Power could not compare to four hundred years. The impact was nearly three times stronger. His meridians swelled with pain, and a tearing sensation spread from their edges.

But he did not panic. He activated Endless Life and began healing himself.

His first soul skill and the force of the absorption process formed a tug-of-war.

One side tore him apart while the other healed him. Under that repeated tempering, his meridians instead became even tougher.

Who knew how much time passed before the tearing sensation gradually weakened? The Soul Ring's energy steadily calmed and began deeply merging with his Martial Soul, like a gentle warm current flowing into his dantian.

The deep yellow Soul Ring completely fused into his Martial Soul. His second Soul Ring appeared steadily above the Blue Silver Grass vines, reflecting each other with the first yellow Soul Ring.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the two yellow Soul Rings in his palm, the curve of his lips growing wider and wider.

Two yellow rings. Standard configuration. Perfect.

His new soul skill entered his mind at that moment.

Spring of Vegetation.

Its effect was unbelievably powerful. No matter how serious his injuries were, as long as his head had not been cut off, he could recover in an extremely short time. It also greatly accelerated the recovery of Soul Power and physical strength.

This had practically upgraded Endless Life's single-target emergency healing into comprehensive battlefield endurance.

In addition, it could be used on plants to rapidly catalyze their growth.

This was indispensable for cultivating spiritual herbs.

As long as he cultivated enough spiritual herbs, whether he consumed them in combinations or used them in medicinal baths, he could accelerate the growth of his Soul Power.

He slowly rose to his feet and clenched his fist, feeling the surging power and endless vitality within him.

A two-ring Soul Grandmaster. He had made it.

His Soul Power Level had also reached Level 23 Soul Grandmaster!

After completely finishing the absorption of his second Soul Ring, Lan Tian remained seated for a while longer, fully stabilizing the surging Soul Power within his body.

His newly gained Soul Power was far more robust than before. He was quite satisfied with Level 23. The improvement brought by a nine-hundred-year Soul Ring of the same origin was even greater than he had expected.

He took the map from his chest, its edges worn frayed, spread it over his knees, then took out a charcoal pencil and drew a circle around the valley he had just searched.

Beside it, he added a line of small writing: "Southeast-facing valley, sunny gentle slope, nine-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass, harvested."

After finishing, he flipped forward through the map and marked each of the areas he had passed through in recent days without finding anything.

Sunset Forest was far larger than he had imagined. Simply organizing the search progress through the peripheral regions took him a quarter of an hour.

Without precise coordinates or a guide, finding the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in such a vast forest sea was no easier than finding a needle in a haystack.

All he could do for now was gradually narrow the area through elimination, remember the paths he had already traveled, and leave the unexplored regions for next time.

After drawing all the circles, he put away the map, stood up, brushed the dirt from his clothes, and looked back at the layered forest sea in the depths of the valley.

This time, he had limited time, and more than half his supplies had been consumed. Continuing deeper into the forest was not realistic.

Fortunately, he had made a start. He now understood the terrain and vegetation distribution around the edges of Sunset Forest. The next time he came, he could head directly deeper in.

But before leaving, there was still one thing he needed to do.

The setting sun sank beyond the western side of the forest, burning half the sky into golden-red silk.

Lan Tian shouldered his pack and slowly headed south along the route he had taken to get here. After passing through the last sparse stretch of woodland, he arrived at a fork in the official road.

The road to his left led back to Nuoding City, while the one to his right led to Heaven Dou City.

Sunset Forest was within Heaven Dou City's territory, but not entirely. Only a small part of it lay within Heaven Dou City, while most of the forest lay outside it.

The area where he currently stood, for example, was outside Heaven Dou City.

He stood at the fork for a moment, his gaze falling upon the broad official road to his right. A thought suddenly surfaced in his heart.

The imperial capital of the Tiandou Empire.

Since coming to this world, he had never once gone to see it.

Since he had already traveled far from home this time and still had supplies to spare, why not take this chance to visit the imperial capital?

He could see what the most prosperous city on the continent looked like. Perhaps he might even get lucky and find some good things that Nuoding City did not sell.

Once the thought arose, he did not hesitate again. He turned and stepped onto the official road leading to Heaven Dou City.