Absorbing a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring

Tang Ya sat cross-legged on the ground, summoned her Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and used Soul Power to draw the purple Spirit Ring toward her and merge it into her body.

The sky gradually darkened as the evening glow spilled through the forest. The day passed quickly.

"The forest is dangerous at night. We may need to set up camp," Bei Bei said.

Huo Yuhao suggested, "I know where there's a lake. We can go there tonight."

By the time Tang Ya had absorbed her third Spirit Ring, the sky had gone completely dark.

After discussing it, they decided to head to the place Huo Yuhao had mentioned.

"You go on ahead. I need to find something," Wang Xiao said, activating his Sharingan to retrieve the Sealing Scroll.

During the earlier battle, once he had taken it out of his sea of consciousness, he had been unable to put it back. He had tossed it somewhere along the road.

Tang Ya was worried about leaving him alone, so she had Bei Bei take Little Yuhao ahead while she stayed to accompany her little brother.

She keeps calling me little brother. If I took it out, it'd scare her to death, Wang Xiao grumbled inwardly.

Not long afterward, he found the Sealing Scroll in a patch of bushes, slung it over his back, and headed toward the lake.

"Yuhao, your grilled fish skills have improved again," Bei Bei said with a smile.

"Grilled fish? There's grilled fish to eat!"

Tang Ya's eyes lit up. She smelled the aroma from far away and immediately ran over.

When Wang Xiao arrived at the lake, the three of them were gathered around the campfire, grilling fish.

Huo Yuhao was clutching the last grilled fish protectively, watching Tang Ya with vigilance.

"Brother Wang, hurry over. If you don't eat now, Sister Xiaoya will finish them all."

"Little Yuhao, I already told you. Little brother is allergic to fish. Why won't you believe me?"

Wang Xiao's eyelid twitched wildly. When had he ever said that?

Bei Bei shook her head and rose to walk toward the lake. "I'll catch a few more black carp for you."

After a round of noisy squabbling, Wang Xiao finally got some grilled fish. He had to admit that naturally raised, unpolluted fish was exceptionally delicious, even with only simple seasoning.

After dinner, they told one another about their identities.

Wang Xiao was essentially an undocumented nobody, with over a decade of blank history. He could only deceive the three of them, claiming that he was an orphan who had cultivated to Rank Ten before coming to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Soul Beasts.

Huo Yuhao empathized with him. He had never expected that they were both orphans, and he immediately felt closer to Wang Xiao.

"Brother Wang, I'll grill two more fish for you."

Tang Ya's sympathy overflowed as she felt deeply sorry for Wang Xiao's background.

"I've decided."

She suddenly stood up, planted her hands on her hips, and said, "Little brother, Little Yuhao, in my capacity as the Tang Sect's leader, I sincerely invite you to join the Tang Sect."

"Sister Xiaoya, I'm willing," Huo Yuhao answered without hesitation.

"What are the benefits of joining? Will you hunt Soul Beasts for disciples?" Wang Xiao probed indirectly.

Tang Ya smiled sweetly and tapped his forehead with one finger. "You little rascal. Even if you don't join, your sister will still hunt Soul Beasts for you."

"That sounds great." Warmth filled Wang Xiao's heart.

Just for those words alone, he would not let Tang Ya fall into becoming an Evil Soul Master in the future.

"I can join the Tang Sect, but I want to be its senior eldest disciple. Otherwise, forget it," Wang Xiao said firmly.

"Sure."

Without even thinking about it, Tang Ya said, "From now on, you'll be the Tang Sect's senior eldest disciple."

Wang Xiao was utterly stunned. She had agreed just like that? He had even prepared his arguments.

"Then Bei Bei will be promoted to elder. As for Little Yuhao..."

She paused. "How about Little Yuhao becoming the second senior brother?"

Pfft!

Wang Xiao could not hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Sorry, sorry. I really couldn't help it."

Huo Yuhao glared at him cross-eyed, wanting to say that he might as well not have apologized.

"Sister Xiaoya, I have no problem with that."

Though they called it a sect, there were really only four of them.

"Brother Wang, why do you want so badly to be the senior eldest disciple?" Huo Yuhao asked, genuinely curious.

"Children shouldn't ask about adult matters."

Wang Xiao refused to answer. Was he supposed to tell him that he had once been known as the Emperor Sovereign in nine out of ten novels?

"You sound so old-fashioned. You're not that much older than me," Huo Yuhao muttered quietly.

Bei Bei let out a soft sigh. "It's just a pity about Yuhao. He absorbed that Ten-Year Wind Baboon."

On their way here, they had already seen the dead Wind Baboon's remains.

Huo Yuhao's expression stiffened. Scratching the back of his head, he said, "It's fine. I think Wind Baboons are pretty good."

"Little Yuhao, hurry and show us your soul skill. Just don't let it be some trash soul skill," Tang Ya said worriedly.

"Alright."

"First soul skill, Spiritual Detection!"

Light shone from Huo Yuhao's brow as a golden vertical eye condensed there.

Tang Ya and Bei Bei both shuddered, their faces filled with disbelief.

Their field of vision had expanded. It was no longer limited to what their own eyes could see; instead, it extended three hundred and sixty degrees, with almost no blind spots.

They could see the texture of the trees behind them with perfect clarity.

Bei Bei sighed in admiration. "With Yuhao's soul skill supporting me, I could predict the Datura Snake's movements in advance."

After sensing it for himself, Wang Xiao silently assessed it. As expected of a million-year soul skill.

"This little brat's ability is somewhat like the Hyuga clan's Byakugan," Nine-Tails' voice sounded within his sea of consciousness.

"Wow, Little Yuhao, your ten-year soul skill is incredible! It's almost on par with a thousand-year soul skill," Tang Ya said, her face brimming with delight.

Bei Bei nodded. "Indeed. It's extremely rare for a ten-year Soul Beast to produce a soul skill like this."

Huo Yuhao gave an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his head.

Wang Xiao shot him a sidelong glance, seeing through everything but saying nothing.

"Brother Wang, why are you staring at me like that?" A chill crept into Huo Yuhao's heart.

A meaningful smile rose on Wang Xiao's lips. He patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder and whispered into his ear, "Nothing. Your acting still needs work."

Huo Yuhao's face froze, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

"What acting? Brother Wang, I don't know what you mean."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could no longer bear to watch and reminded him, "Little Yuhao, stop pretending. This kid watched me sacrifice myself."

"Ah! Brother Sky Dream, why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

Huo Yuhao was on the verge of collapse. The way he had tried so hard to hide it just now must have looked utterly ridiculous to Wang Xiao.

He wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the ground. It was far too embarrassing.

The night passed without incident, and before long, the next day arrived.

"Little Brother Wang, what kind of Soul Beast are you looking for?"

The two women had said the night before that they would help him hunt a Spirit Ring, and naturally, they would not go back on their word.

"A plant-type Soul Beast will do. The most important thing is that it must be at least a thousand years old," Wang Xiao said, listing several types of Soul Beasts.

"What? A thousand years?"

Tang Ya and Bei Bei were both shocked.

"Little Brother Wang, do you have a fever? Absorbing a Spirit Ring beyond your level can make you explode and die."

The two women assumed that he did not understand the basics of Soul Masters.

"Don't worry, Sister Xiaoya. I know what I'm doing."

Wang Xiao was full of confidence.

With Twin Martial Souls, Innate Full Soul Power, and the physique of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, if he could not withstand a thousand-year Spirit Ring, he might as well jump off a building.

"But you can't absorb a plant-type one either. We all have Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls, so we should absorb animal-type ones," Tang Ya said.

Wang Xiao wanted to roll his eyes, but since she was the one saying it, he held back. "Sister Xiaoya, who told you that?"

"Yu Xiaogang, a founding-level teacher of Shrek Academy."

"You may not know this, but Tang San, the first-generation leader of our Tang Sect, was his student," Tang Ya explained.

Bei Bei nodded. "That's right. He trained a god!"

"Ten thousand years ago, without Yu Xiaogang, there would have been no Tang God King. No one on the continent could rival his theories."

Wang Xiao felt like crying. He had seen Tang San fanboys and Huo Yuhao fanboys, but in all these years, this was his first time seeing a Yu Xiaogang fanboy.

If he was really that amazing, why didn't Tang San take Yu Xiaogang to the God Realm?

Clearly, Tang San realized Yu Xiaogang had fooled him and deliberately left him behind instead of taking him to the God Realm.

Wang Xiao desperately wanted to say it, but remembering that Bei Bei was also part of Yu Xiaogang's lineage, he held back to avoid an argument.

"As long as you're happy. I still want to look for healing-type, life-type, and recovery-type Soul Beasts."

He simply could not agree with Yu Xiaogang's theory. Why pass up perfectly good plant-type spirit beasts?

Why insist on absorbing animal-type ones? To show how clever you were?

Did he take everyone else for fools?