Hunting Time! (Please Keep Reading!!!)

After resting, Xu Yuan went straight to find a pack of Soul Beasts.

Wind Wolves.

They were one of the most common pack-dwelling Soul Beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform. Each Wind Wolf had roughly thirty to forty years of cultivation, but their numbers made up for it. They usually moved in packs, and a group of more than ten Wind Wolves was perfectly normal.

Xu Yuan had found exactly such a pack.

At first, Xu Shengqun thought Xu Yuan had accidentally run into the Wind Wolves. But when Xu Yuan charged straight at the pack, Xu Shengqun's heart leaped into his throat. He realized Xu Yuan had not encountered them by accident—he had deliberately sought them out!

Holding the Heaven Origin Spear, Xu Yuan charged into the Wind Wolf pack.

The slaughter of battle made his blood boil. The feeling was utterly intoxicating.

After a year of spear training under Xu Shengqun's guidance, all manner of spear techniques came naturally to him. With the Five Elements Spear Spirit and the Heaven Origin Spear, Xu Yuan would even throw his spear in battle, using it to kill enemies from afar.

In this battle, he used every method at his disposal.

In just ten minutes.

The pack of seventeen Wind Wolves was completely slaughtered by Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan had three wounds on his body where he had carelessly been cut by the Wind Wolves' Wind Blades and claws.

The powers of the Water Element and Wood Element flowed over the wounds, nourishing the surrounding cells and rapidly healing the three injuries.

The Wind Wolf pack provided Xu Yuan with roughly fifty years of cultivation.

Though Xu Yuan used the Water and Wood Elements to heal his wounds, he did not stop. Instead, he continued onward with his spear in hand, searching for more prey.

Outside, Xu Shengqun's heart was already in his throat.

Xu Yuan's battle just now had been incredibly intense. Although there was an enormous gap between the individual strength of the Wind Wolves and Xu Yuan, to the point that they were no longer on the same level, a single sweeping strike from Xu Yuan could heavily injure a Wind Wolf, while a thrust combined with the Five Elements Spear Light could generally claim a Wind Wolf's life. Yet when facing seventeen opponents alone, opportunities to strike were far from easy to find.

And yet, Xu Yuan had forcibly seized every opportunity available in that battle and killed every Wind Wolf. He had suffered only three nonfatal wounds, injuries that could not even be considered serious.

"Xiao Yuan seems to be enjoying this kind of battle?" Xu Shengqun watched the screen, watching Xu Yuan continue searching for prey with his spear and seeing the expression on his face. His own expression was complicated.

I can reduce the consumption and injuries even further.

Xu Yuan reflected on every detail of the previous battle. He reviewed his Soul Power expenditure and the injuries that had seemed unavoidable at the time, simulating tactics that consumed less Soul Power while also predicting in advance situations that might force him to trade injuries.

Within the Spirit Ascension Platform, Xu Yuan began his hunting time.

On average, he went through one major battle every hour, recovering himself while searching for his next prey.

Each major battle brought him between thirty and seventy years of spiritual power, averaging roughly fifty years each time.

After ten hours, including the one hundred and thirty years he had gained from his initial encounter with the Three-Headed Flame Lion, he had added roughly six hundred years in total.

Six hundred years!

In just ten hours.

It was something many Soul Masters would not even dare imagine.

After all, gaining spiritual power in the Spirit Ascension Platform required killing Soul Beasts. How could ordinary Soul Masters possibly match Xu Yuan's hunting efficiency on their own? Even in a team, they had to divide up the finishing blows, leaving each Soul Master with very little spiritual power on average.

Perhaps only the major factions that specifically farmed Soul Ring years for their younger generation could compare with Xu Yuan's efficiency. That meant an invincible expert within the Spirit Ascension Platform personally leading junior Soul Masters around to hunt Soul Beasts, leaving all the finishing blows to the juniors.

The Five Elements Spear Spirit's original age had not been high. It had not even reached the maximum age for a normal Soul Master's First Soul Ring, standing at only three hundred years.

After this massive increase, it had already reached nine hundred years.

Xu Yuan could clearly feel the improvement of his Five Elements Spear Spirit.

The Spear Spirit was growing stronger, the Soul Ring was growing stronger, and the effects of his Soul Skills were gradually increasing as well.

Whether it was the effect of fighting in real combat or the improvement of his Soul Skills, Xu Yuan's understanding of spear techniques also rapidly deepened during this process.

"I wonder if I could beat a Thousand Year Soul Beast one-on-one now." With only one hundred years left to reach his goal, Xu Yuan naturally wanted to settle it in one go.

But after thinking it over, he gave up on the idea.

He still only had one Soul Ring. There were too many factors limiting his strength, and the gap between him and a Thousand Year Soul Beast was obvious.

A Thousand Year Soul Beast was not like those three hundred-year Flame Lions. Though they might provide the same amount of spiritual power, the difference in threat was like heaven and earth.

It was a qualitative change in every aspect—from attack and defense to speed. For Xu Yuan to break its defenses, he would first need to unleash an absolutely peak strike, and even then, he might not find a fatal weakness.

He could not possibly win such a battle.

Hundred Year Soul Beasts were still on the same level as Xu Yuan in terms of strength, though fighting them was difficult. Thousand Year Soul Beasts, however, were already on an entirely different level.

Not in terms of cultivation realms, but in the division of strength.

Xu Yuan was only a one-ring Soul Master. If compared directly to Soul Beasts, he definitely did not measure up to a Hundred Year Soul Beast. It was only because of his exceptional talent that he could display the strength of one.

"There should be a buffer zone deep within the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform, and there is usually a guardian there. The guardian deep within the Spirit Ascension Platform of Eastsea City's Spirit Pagoda is a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Killing it drops the Dark Gold Terrorclaw External Soul Bone. I wonder what kind of Soul Beast serves as the guardian here in Skysea City."

Thinking of fighting a Thousand Year Soul Beast alone, Xu Yuan naturally also thought of the guardian.

Although he understood the gap in strength and rationally had no intention of seeking it out to kill it right now, he could not help being curious.

Xu Yuan was quite tempted.

Mainly because, judging by Eastsea City's example, if this guardian could also drop an External Soul Bone, its value would be enormous.

"You little temptress, sooner or later I'll find you and kill you!"

For the final two hours, Xu Yuan honestly continued searching for ordinary Soul Beasts to hunt, raising his Soul Ring's age to roughly eleven hundred years.

After half a day of slaughter, his mind was thoroughly exhausted, and he voluntarily exited the Spirit Ascension Platform.

Watching his nephew slowly sit up in the instrument pod, Xu Shengqun wore a complicated expression.

"Xiao Yuan, I never expected you to complete the mission in just one day."

Xu Yuan was about to speak, but in the next instant, after the massive amount of spiritual power within him was absorbed, his body began to change. The Five Elements Spear Spirit within him entered a stage of transformation, and he nearly passed out as well.

Fortunately, his Spiritual Power was strong. Xu Yuan remained conscious and swiftly sat cross-legged to meditate, assisting the Spear Spirit's evolution.

Outside his body, the yellow Soul Ring rapidly changed. Its pale yellow glow brightened, then a trace of purple emerged and swiftly spread across the entire Soul Ring.

A Thousand Year Soul Ring!

As Xu Yuan's Soul Spirit evolved, Xu Shengqun watched from the side, deeply curious about what changes it would bring.

After all, Xu Yuan's Soul Spirit was a Spear Soul Spirit, a Weapon Soul Spirit. There had never been a case before of one reaching the thousand-year level after being absorbed by a Soul Master.