"Master, I succeeded." The moment she finished absorbing the ring, Wine Fox reported the good news.
"What Soul Skill did you get?"
"Master, my first Soul Skill is Afterimage of the Fading Wind. It gives me a 100% speed boost for five seconds. During that time, I can dash once and leave an afterimage behind, which can also block one targeted skill for me."
With that, Wine Fox began demonstrating it for him. After activating her Soul Skill, her speed nearly doubled. Then she dashed again, moving so fast it was almost indistinguishable from teleportation.
"Pretty good. You'll be able to dodge some targeted Soul Skills with that," Li Chen commented.
For a thousand-year Soul Skill to offer both a boost and a movement effect was already quite impressive.
"Are you confident you can absorb a ten-thousand-year ring as your second Soul Ring?"
Wine Fox thought for a moment. She was not sure whether she could withstand a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring either. "If Master wants Wine Fox's second Soul Ring to be ten thousand years old, then Wine Fox will do her best."
Li Chen gave it some thought. A ten-thousand-year second ring really was a little too hasty. One around five thousand years old would do.
Most of the Soul Beasts in the outer reaches of this canyon were only eight or nine hundred years old to just over a thousand, so they could only head farther in.
With the help of his second Soul Skill, he finally discovered a patch of reeds at a bend in the canyon river toward evening. The entire patch was a single fifty-five-hundred-year-old Soul Beast: a Gale-Tailed Reed, a wind-attribute Plant-type Soul Beast.
It thought it had hidden itself well. Although Li Chen had not detected its main body on his first attempt, the information carried by the other reeds it had spawned exposed it completely.
[Name]: Gale-Tailed Reed [Affiliation]: Soul Beast [Age]: 5534 [Skills]: Wind Reed Symbiosis, Wind Energy Accumulation, Reed Fluff Decoy, Reed Blade, Reed Blade Sea, Squall Tail, Wind Bind, Reed Fluff Storm [Preferences]: Windy weather, damp soil, collecting trophies, companionship of its own kind, order
"Wine Fox, that patch of reeds up ahead is a five-thousand-year Soul Beast. It'll be your second Soul Ring."
With that, he immediately used his fourth Soul Skill to suppress its age to zero. Large swaths of reeds withered because the Gale-Tailed Reed could no longer sustain them with Soul Power.
Realizing it had been discovered, the Gale-Tailed Reed tried to retaliate. But it found that the Soul Power it could summon was pitifully small, and could only watch helplessly as Wine Fox appeared before it in an instant and cut it down.
Wine Fox then tore it out by the roots. Without the powerful physique of other Soul Beasts, it had no ability to resist once it lost its Soul Power and its reed patch.
Moreover, as a Plant-type Soul Beast, even fleeing was difficult. In the end, it could only become another Thousand-Year Soul Ring, unwilling though it was.
"Take this and eat it first, then absorb the Soul Ring." Li Chen took out an Enchanted Golden Apple and gave it to Wine Fox so she could safely get through the most dangerous initial stage of absorbing the ring.
While Wine Fox absorbed the Soul Ring, he took out a netherite shovel and began digging around. After all, the creature had enjoyed collecting trophies.
After digging through the entire reed patch, he successfully unearthed two Thousand-Year Soul Bones, a Storage Soul Tool, and a pile of miscellaneous junk.
He would sell the Thousand-Year Soul Bones when they got back. As for the storage ring, it contained only some everyday supplies, and all the food had spoiled. After clearing everything out, he decided to keep the ring for his own use.
Meanwhile, Wine Fox successfully absorbed the five-thousand-year Soul Ring before the night grew late.
"What Soul Skill did you get?" Li Chen asked.
"Master, the Soul Skill I got this time is Wind Energy Accumulation, a special enhancement skill. After I use it, it increases the damage of my next attack by 50% to 1700%. The exact boost depends on how strong the wind is around me."
"Good. What level are you now?"
He had seen this Soul Skill in the Gale-Tailed Reed's skill pool. He did not know whether it had always been this powerful or whether it had been enhanced by her Whirlwind Man Martial Soul.
"Master, I'm already level 27."
"All right," Li Chen replied. He activated creative mode, took out a stack of Bottles o' Enchanting, and handed them to her. "Use them all and get to level 30."
For the remaining three items, he first took a stack of Monster Spawners, then a stack each of Villager Spawn Eggs and Iron Golem Spawn Eggs.
That way, once he returned, he could use the Monster Spawners to produce villagers and Iron Golems in an endless stream. He hoped it would go smoothly.
He and Wine Fox each kept watch for half the night. The next day, they continued deeper in. This time, he planned to have Wine Fox attempt a ten-thousand-year third Soul Ring.
In this canyon, where strong winds blew year-round, wind-attribute Soul Beasts were everywhere. The only issue was finding one of the right age.
The first Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast they encountered was a giant lizard, five meters long, crawling along the rock wall. Its scales closely resembled the patterns in the rock.
An inspection revealed that it was a Soul Beast with both wind and earth attributes. Although it was not purely wind-attributed, its skills were all quite good.
Li Chen struck first with "Reset to Zero," reducing its age to zero and leaving it capable of nothing but physical combat. Wine Fox quickly closed in with Afterimage of the Fading Wind, then pulled a netherite sword from her backpack and sliced it in half from head to tail as easily as chopping vegetables.
With the command block's few godlike skills, killing enemies above their level was as easy as drinking water. The real difficulty lay instead in the conditions Wine Fox faced while absorbing the Soul Ring.
As usual, he took out an Enchanted Golden Apple and handed it to Wine Fox. Since a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring also involved Soul Shock, he remained ready to activate creative mode at any moment and get a Totem of Undying and healing potions to save her.
After eating the Enchanted Golden Apple, Wine Fox sat cross-legged and drew the Soul Ring toward her. When the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring settled over her, she still reached her body's limits. Only the Enchanted Golden Apple's effects allowed her to force the absorption to continue.
At the same time, the second hurdle of absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring awaited within her Sea of Consciousness-Soul Shock.
As a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Roaring Rockwind Lizard had never imagined that it would one day die such an ignominious death. First, its Soul Power had inexplicably vanished, leaving it unable to use any of its abilities. Then a mere Soul Grandmaster had sliced it in half.
As it looked at the soul master before it, who was absorbing its Soul Ring, it let out a furious roar that sent the entire Sea of Consciousness shaking.
Wine Fox braved the impact and forced her way up to the Roaring Rockwind Lizard, raising the netherite sword in her hand. Having already experienced that sword's terrifying power once, the Roaring Rockwind Lizard was afraid and instinctively tried to dodge.
But this was Wine Fox's Sea of Consciousness. It had nowhere to hide and was cut in two by a single slash once again.
Without the lingering soul obstructing her, Wine Fox's absorption speed increased dramatically. All that remained was to wait for the Soul Ring to stabilize.
"Whew." Watching Wine Fox's expression gradually relax, Li Chen breathed a sigh of relief as well. He would not need to prepare a resurrection ritual for her.
This absorption took longer than the previous two, but fortunately, it ended with a scare rather than disaster.
"What Soul Skill did you get this time?"
"Master, my third Soul Ring's skill is Wind-Howl Strangulation. It controls air currents to form a gradually shrinking whirlwind vortex around the target. The vortex continuously damages any target it touches."
Judging by her tone as she explained it, Wine Fox did not seem particularly satisfied with this Soul Skill.
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