The number of soul Ferocious Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest was visibly far greater than in the Icebound Forest. The scenery also perfectly matched Ling Jing's fixed impression—lush vegetation, towering ancient trees blocking out the sky and sun, vines coiled around trunks like pythons, a layer of fallen leaves beneath his feet thick enough to cover his ankles, and unknown sounds occasionally echoing from the distance.
However, with Qian Daoliu, one of the three great Peerless Douluo, at his side, along with Golden Crocodile Douluo, a level ninety-eight Second Worship, Ling Jing found it difficult to feel any sense of urgency.
Before long, Qian Daoliu stopped beneath the canopy of a massive ancient tree and gestured for Ling Jing to look ahead.
In the clearing before them, seven or eight soul Ferocious Beasts resembling elk, their bodies covered in azure scales, were lowering their heads to graze. Faint azure currents swirled around their antlers, and every breath they exhaled from their nostrils produced tiny whirlwinds.
"Azure-Scaled Wind Deer. They are herd-dwelling soul Ferocious Beasts with mild temperaments and an affinity for the wind element," Qian Daoliu said quietly. "The leader, the one with three ring patterns on its antlers, is probably around two thousand three hundred years old. The more ring patterns there are, the greater its age."
Although it was not a soul Ferocious Beast suited to him, Ling Jing still nodded and committed it to memory.
Whether the knowledge was useful or not, he would remember it first.
As he watched, the leading Azure-Scaled Wind Deer suddenly raised its head alertly. Its ears stood straight up, and its nose twitched rapidly.
The next moment, the entire herd of Azure-Scaled Wind Deer bolted into the forest almost at once. They were astonishingly fast, vanishing into the depths of the woods within a few breaths.
Hmm?
Ling Jing's eyes narrowed slightly. In the next instant, a low roar drifted over from nearby, carrying a thick stench of blood.
Immediately afterward, a massive black tiger slowly emerged from the forest. Dark red light gleamed in its tiger eyes, and a smear of crimson blood still lingered around its mouth.
This black tiger's aura was clearly far more powerful than that herd of Azure-Scaled Wind Deer. Faint black mist curled around its body, and wherever it stepped, the vegetation beneath its paws rapidly withered.
"Dark Nightmare Demon Tiger, roughly four thousand years old." Qian Daoliu's voice remained calm. "It excels in spiritual attacks and dark-element abilities. It is a very troublesome opponent for most Soul Masters."
Dark Nightmare Demon Tiger?
It did look somewhat similar to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. He wondered whether it might be some variant of it.
Besides those two types of soul Ferocious Beasts, Ling Jing saw many others along the way. There were the Man Faced Demon Spiders that Bibi Dong would hunt at his level of cultivation, all kinds of draconic soul Ferocious Beasts, and even several of the relatively rare soul Ferocious Beasts he had just mentioned.
But their ages were all somewhat lacking.
They continued onward, stopping and going, and nearly two hours passed without them noticing.
Just as Ling Jing began to feel that they might not find a suitable soul Ferocious Beast today and would have to stay in the Star Dou Great Forest, Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo suddenly stopped. They looked toward the depths of the forest to the northwest almost simultaneously.
"I didn't expect it... our luck is quite good."
Qian Daoliu chuckled softly, the corners of his lips curving upward.
At the sound of his voice, Golden Crocodile Douluo's figure flashed away.
A moment later, Golden Crocodile Douluo returned, with an additional soul Ferocious Beast in his hand.
It was a fox-like soul Ferocious Beast, though it was slightly larger than an ordinary fox, about the size of a medium-sized dog. Its most eye-catching feature was its fur. Its entire body was a color somewhere between silver-white and crystal, every strand of fur resembling a carefully polished shard of mirror. It trembled gently with its breathing, refracting dazzling, multicolored light.
A small diamond-shaped mark sat on its forehead, like a miniature mirror, faintly emitting a ghostly glow.
Looking at the soul Ferocious Beast struggling desperately to escape, Ling Jing furrowed his brow, then revealed a delighted expression. "This is actually an Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox?"
"An Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox?"
Bibi Dong raised her brows. Although she had taught Ling Jing many martial soul theories on Qian Xunji's behalf, Ling Jing also normally read ancient texts on his own to learn various theories concerning martial souls.
Even she had never heard of a soul Ferocious Beast called the Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox.
"The Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox is a variant of the Mirror Fox, an exceedingly rare kind of soul Ferocious Beast. It is born with the ability to create mirror images and illusions, using illusory clones realistic enough to pass for the real thing to hunt. Furthermore, when creating mirror images, it can even use illusions to make its enemies unable to distinguish its true body at all."
Ling Jing gave a brief explanation.
The reason he had not listed the Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox earlier was because it was even rarer than the Ice-Pattern Mirror Beast and the Mirror Beast. In that ancient Spirit Hall text, it had even been marked as "suspected extinct."
He had not expected to encounter such a rare soul Ferocious Beast on his very first day in the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Little Jing, this is no ordinary Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox. In my opinion, it has already mutated."
Golden Crocodile Douluo grinned and laughed. "Not only can this Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox create mirror images, but while I was chasing it, it could even switch positions with its mirror-image clones. If I had been careless for even a moment, this Ferocious Beast might really have escaped!"
It could switch positions with its own mirror-image clones?
Ling Jing's breathing immediately quickened.
"This Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox is around two thousand years old, right within the upper limit of what you can absorb." Qian Daoliu looked at Ling Jing with expectation in his eyes. "Little Jing, kill it and absorb its Soul Ring."
"Understood."
Ling Jing instantly understood Qian Daoliu's intent. The Mirror Beast Emperor Martial Soul possessed him in an instant, and a yellow Soul Ring rose beneath his feet.
Immediately afterward, that yellow Soul Ring began to flicker faintly.
The first soul skill of the Mirror Beast Emperor Martial Soul, Mirror Image Proliferation!
In the next instant, an identical Ling Jing suddenly appeared at Ling Jing's side—the original Ling Jing quietly transformed, completing the possession of the Seraphim Martial Soul in the blink of an eye, while the clone replicated the Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul.
Seeing this, Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo exchanged glances, each seeing the excitement in the other's eyes.
That's right!
Exactly like this!
This was the scene they had envisioned!
Ling Jing alone could combine the Seraphim Martial Soul with other top-tier martial souls!
And this was merely Ling Jing's most basic form... once his cultivation rose in the future, once the number of martial souls he could replicate gradually increased, once he replicated even more top-tier martial souls...
Ling Jing alone would be a powerful Soul Master team!
However, Bibi Dong curled her lips at the side, looking far from pleased.
Why had Little Jing chosen for his true body to replicate the Seraphim Martial Soul, while only allowing his clone to replicate her Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul!?
Noticing Qian Daoliu beside her, Bibi Dong bit her lip and ultimately suppressed the thought.
After a year and a half of cultivation, Ling Jing's training in the Heart Separation Control Method had already begun to show results. With only one clone at the moment, controlling it was completely effortless for him, and a faint smile could not help appearing at the corner of his lips.
Of course, if he had known what Bibi Dong was thinking right now, he might not have been able to smile.
Actually... he had not used his true body to replicate the Six-Winged Angel because Qian Daoliu was nearby. The most fundamental reason was that the Seraphim Martial Soul looked somewhat more handsome after possession, while the Death Spider Emperor after possession... looked truly rather frightening.
Even with Bibi Dong's appearance, possession by the Death Spider Emperor made her seem somewhat wicked and bewitching.
In comparison, the Angel Martial Soul was indeed more handsome.
The first Soul Rings beneath Ling Jing's true body and clone flickered almost at the same time.
The first soul skill of the Seraphim Martial Soul, Angel Thrust!
The first soul skill of the Death Spider Emperor Martial Soul, Death Entanglement!
Two utterly different martial souls were unleashed separately by Ling Jing's true body and clone, yet their timing was flawless.
The instant Golden Crocodile Douluo released his grip, the Death Spider Emperor's venom struck. It landed upon the Mutated Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox in an instant.
The corrosive venom immediately drew a miserable scream from the Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox. In the next moment, Ling Jing gripped the Angel Sacred Sword and descended sharply, piercing its body with precision.
After a brief cry of pain, the Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox's body collapsed limply to the ground.
A purple Soul Ring slowly rose from its corpse, casting mysterious and magnificent light through the dim forest.
Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo exchanged another glance.
Golden Crocodile Douluo was better off. He merely felt shocked and gratified, but Qian Daoliu had already begun making calculations in his heart.
With Bibi Dong's talent, she should be able to break through to nine rings and become a Titled Douluo within a few years.
At that time, he would directly have Qian Xunji yield his position to Bibi Dong. Bibi Dong would take over as Pope, and Ling Jing would be named the Holy Son of Spirit Hall.
Once Ling Jing broke through to nine rings, Bibi Dong could step down and enter Worship Hall, passing the position of Pope to Ling Jing. By then, Xiao Xue should have grown up as well...
Spirit Hall's future would be secure for at least three generations!
Judging by the timeline... Spirit Hall could flourish for at least another three hundred years!
Ling Jing did not notice Qian Daoliu indulging in his fantasies. He merely took a deep breath and sat cross-legged beside the Illusion-Covering Mirror Fox's corpse.
He extended his right hand, drawing the purple Soul Ring toward himself. As though summoned, the Soul Ring slowly drifted toward his body, eventually hovering above his head before pouring into him.
When the Soul Ring completely enveloped his body, an enormous, pure surge of energy flooded into him like bursting waters from a collapsed dam.
Although a two-thousand-year Soul Ring had completely exceeded the absorption limit for a Soul Grandmaster, Ling Jing's physical constitution had long since been greatly enhanced. He did not feel much pain at all. Instead, he felt a wave of comfort.
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