A month later, deep in the Sunset Forest!
Liu Erlong sat cross-legged beside a dead soul beast more than fifty thousand years old. Not far away, Su Ling also sat on the ground cultivating.
Guarding the two of them were the level seventy-nine Zhao Wuji and Flender, who had successfully absorbed his eighth soul ring half a month earlier.
Absorbing a soul ring over fifty thousand years old, combined with the remaining medicinal effects of the immortal herb, had raised his soul power to level eighty-two in one stroke.
After setting up the Intermediate Defensive Formation, Su Ling had nothing else to do, so he began cultivating as well.
His soul power had reached the peak of level forty-nine a month ago, and lately, he had not slacked off whenever he had time.
Whether at night or while Flender had been absorbing his soul ring, he had spent that time cultivating.
"System, give me all the goddess cultivation effect accumulated over this past month."
He needed only a spark to break through. A surge of energy flowed into his body, and as Su Ling circulated his cultivation method, his soul power began to increase.
"Huh? Is this kid leveling up again?" Flender asked in surprise.
"Wasn't Su Ling already level forty-nine? He's reaching level fifty this quickly?" Zhao Wuji exclaimed.
He had already been at the peak of level forty-nine, just one final step away. The goddess cultivation effect allowed Su Ling to break through that barrier and reach level fifty.
After his soul power increased, Su Ling did not stop. He continued cultivating to stabilize his cultivation.
Day turned to night, then the sun rose again. Sensing movement from Liu Erlong, Su Ling ended his cultivation.
As Su Ling rose, Liu Erlong stood up as well.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting," Liu Erlong said with a smile.
"Erlong, how did it go? What level is your soul power now?" Flender asked curiously.
Liu Erlong rolled her eyes at Flender. "Only level eighty-one. If I'd had more medicinal potency left in my body, I wouldn't have stalled at the peak of level seventy-nine in the first place."
"Level eighty-one is still pretty good," Flender said.
"Oh, right. Su Ling seems to have broken through too."
"Su Ling, did you break through? Are you level fifty now?" Liu Erlong asked curiously.
Su Ling nodded. "Yes. While you were absorbing your soul ring, Sister Liu, I spent some time cultivating too and happened to make the breakthrough."
"Good, good!" Liu Erlong was happy for Su Ling as well.
"Since Su Ling is level fifty, shouldn't we find him a soul ring while we're here?" Zhao Wuji reminded them from the side.
A soul ring?
"That's right, Su Ling. What do you want for your fifth soul ring? We'll definitely help you find one you're happy with," Liu Erlong said, looking at him.
"My fifth soul ring?"
Su Ling had considered absorbing an ice-attribute fifth soul ring and heading to the Far North to search for that heavenly treasure along the way. But right now, they were all in a forest of soul beasts.
"Let's have a look, then. But I don't want a soul beast belonging to the five elements. I want another attribute," Su Ling said.
"Su Ling, you're not joking, are you? You want to incorporate another new attribute with your fifth soul ring?" Flender asked.
"Yes. That's how my cultivation method works. I'll incorporate even more in the future," Su Ling said.
The cultivation method in the Supreme Primordial Chaos Scripture was unusual. Incorporating other attributes posed little difficulty, and the more he incorporated, the better.
Flender still somewhat disagreed, but this time, someone supported the idea.
"I support Su Ling. He already has the ice attribute, so he can absorb soul beasts with other attributes," Liu Erlong said.
"Su Ling, what age do you need?"
Su Ling thought for a moment. "At least twenty thousand years. With my body's current condition, I should be able to handle it. Anything under fifty thousand years will do."
"Wouldn't that be too risky?" Liu Erlong asked.
"Sister Liu, please trust me. I'm not stupid. I wouldn't gamble with my life," Su Ling said.
"All right. You have a point. I support you," Liu Erlong said.
"You two... sigh. Fine, have it your way," Flender said helplessly.
Zhao Wuji waved his hands as well, seemingly indicating that he had no say in this matter.
"Then let's search nearby. We should be able to find something over twenty thousand years old and under fifty thousand," Liu Erlong said.
Su Ling had chosen that age range because of his spiritual power and physique. His physical strength had reached the Soul Saint tier, while his spiritual power could only be considered Soul Emperor tier.
Normally, a twenty-thousand-year soul ring would already have been his limit. However, Su Ling also possessed an external soul bone, which greatly strengthened his body. That was his greatest assurance.
The group remained in the Sunset Forest.
However, most of the soul beasts they found afterward belonged to the five elements. After all, those types were the most numerous.
Occasionally, they discovered some outside the five elements, but those were under twenty thousand years old and did not meet Su Ling's needs.
And so, the four of them spent another ten days or so searching the Sunset Forest.
Fortunately, on the afternoon of the thirteenth day of their search for Su Ling, they finally found something.
As they passed through a canyon, Liu Erlong suddenly looked toward the cliff above it.
"Su Ling, look! Isn't that soul beast a mutated six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon?"
"Another mutated soul beast. Su Ling, your luck really is good. But this one seems fairly old-around thirty-five thousand years, I'd estimate," Flender said, adjusting his glasses.
Su Ling looked up as well. It was an enormous avian soul beast with three pairs of blue-green wings.
Ordinarily, a Wind-Thunder Falcon had only one pair of wings. The one before them was clearly a mutated variety, which Su Ling had also seen in books about soul beasts.
"This one's good. A soul beast with both wind and thunder attributes. Let's take it," Su Ling said.
The dual-attribute soul ring he had absorbed last time had incorporated metal and earth into the Five Elements War Bow. Now, the bow possessed the five elemental attributes as well as ice. Adding wind and thunder would make it absolutely perfect.
"I've heard Wind-Thunder Falcons are extremely difficult to kill. They fly incredibly fast. Once, a soul master team gathered ten Soul Kings capable of flight to hunt a Wind-Thunder Falcon just over four thousand years old, and they still failed."
"I can't fly either, so I'll have to leave it to you," Zhao Wuji said helplessly. He could not fly, and although Liu Erlong had some flight capability in her Martial Soul Avatar form, she was not particularly fast. This battle would mainly depend on Flender.
But hunting a thirty-five-thousand-year-old six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon with Flender alone would not be easy. As a mutated variety, it would only fly faster.
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
"Teacher Zhao, I think you're the key to this battle," Su Ling said.
"Huh?"
"How so?" Zhao Wuji asked, puzzled.
"I have an idea. Teacher Zhao can slowly approach first. You have Gravity Squeeze and Gravity Enhancement. Once you use those two soul skills, they'll definitely slow this six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon down," Su Ling said.
"As long as those two skills hit it, we can all attack together and kill it," Su Ling said.
Hearing this, Zhao Wuji suddenly understood. "Right! Why didn't I think of that? Su Ling, let's do it your way."
"So, Teacher Zhao, you're the key. You must approach without making a sound."
Zhao Wuji nodded. "Don't worry. I'll be careful. My Gravity Squeeze can now target a specific direction, and it has some effect anywhere within a hundred meters."
"We should be a little over three hundred meters from this six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon right now. Once we're within a hundred meters, we can strike," Zhao Wuji said.
"All right! Sorry for the trouble, Teacher Zhao," Su Ling said.
"Zhao Wuji, we're counting on you," Flender said.
Before long, after deciding on his approach route, Zhao Wuji set off.
He moved slowly, climbing up from the foot of the mountain.
The six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon was dozing at the moment, making this their best opportunity to hunt it.
Liu Erlong and Flender followed twenty meters behind Zhao Wuji, with Su Ling farther back.
All three moved extremely slowly. Once they were within two hundred meters, they might advance only a meter or two in a minute.
They grew even more cautious as they approached. A tiny sound might awaken the six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon.
That final hundred-odd meters took them two hours.
When he was just over eighty meters from the six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon, Zhao Wuji glanced back at Flender, Liu Erlong, and Su Ling.
All three nodded simultaneously. At that instant, Zhao Wuji moved.
He immediately released his martial soul and activated his skills. But an instant before he did so, several arrows had already shot out in unison.
At the same time, Flender and Liu Erlong released their martial souls, opening with their Martial Soul Avatars.
They led with their strongest moves, determined to keep the six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon from escaping.
The falcon reacted swiftly as well. The moment Su Ling and the others moved, it was alerted.
But as Su Ling's arrows approached, it saw that they were not aimed at it. Their main purpose was to seal off its other escape routes.
Every second they could buy mattered. Dodging Su Ling's attacks did indeed delay the falcon briefly, and in that interval, Zhao Wuji unleashed Gravity Squeeze and Gravity Enhancement.
Gravity Squeeze, in particular, subjected the falcon to immense pressure from every direction, forcing its body to hurtle uncontrollably toward Zhao Wuji.
That gave Liu Erlong and Flender enough time to bring their attacks down on it.
First, Flender's impact soul skill struck the falcon directly. Then Liu Erlong's attack knocked it off the cliff, more than two hundred meters above the ground.
Both carefully targeted their attacks, directing as much force as possible onto its wings.
Attacking its wings also meant they did not have to worry about accidentally killing it. Otherwise, they would ruin the soul ring, leaving Su Ling unable to use it.
With a boom, the six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon slammed into the ground.
It tried to take off, but its wings were damaged. It managed to get airborne, but its speed had fallen drastically.
The next second, however, lightning wreathed the falcon, forming a sphere two meters in diameter.
Crackling filled the air as electric arcs spread all around it. With their aid, the falcon's speed suddenly increased. When Zhao Wuji charged forward, an arc shot toward him.
Liu Erlong and Flender faced the same problem as Zhao Wuji. The electric arcs were not only fast but densely packed, making it difficult for either of them to approach. They would have to attack from a distance or withstand the arcs and charge straight through.
After launching several attacks in succession, the sphere of condensed lightning flew straight into the sky.
The six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon was protecting itself, apparently trying to escape.
"Let me handle it," Liu Erlong said, deciding to endure the electric arcs and intercept the falcon.
After all, this soul ring suited Su Ling. She would kill it even if she had to risk her life.
"Let me do it instead." How could Flender let Liu Erlong get hurt? Transformed into the Four-Eyed Cat Owl, he flew straight through the electric arcs.
Flender forced his way above the falcon and knocked it back down.
Meanwhile, Su Ling had not been idle either, and he certainly would not let the falcon escape.
Su Ling's eyes changed, allowing him to see the falcon inside the sphere with ease. He raised the Five Elements War Bow, drew a spinning arrow condensed from five-element soul power to full draw, and released it.
He could see the interior of the lightning sphere clearly.
Although this arrow was not aimed at a vital point either, it would still leave the falcon more than half dead.
Whoosh...
The sphere of condensed lightning possessed formidable defenses. Ordinary attacks would be blocked outside it, making it difficult to penetrate.
But Su Ling's arrow was condensed from five-element soul power and spinning at high speed. When it struck, the lightning sphere began to distort. The arrow pierced straight through it and emerged from the other side.
"Su Ling, well done! That was a fine shot," Zhao Wuji said, clapping.
When shooting birds, a bow and arrow really was the way to go.
"This mutated six-winged Wind-Thunder Falcon really is difficult to deal with. It's even stronger than the fifty- or sixty-thousand-year soul beasts we encountered earlier. Its lightning power is formidable too," Flender said.
His clothes had begun to give off a scorched smell, but he himself was uninjured.
After all, he was a Soul Douluo. He could still handle a thirty-five-thousand-year soul beast.
Their earlier attacks had already severely wounded the falcon. It was now in its death throes.
Thus, toward the end, neither he nor Liu Erlong attacked at full strength or used any soul skills.
It was not that they could not defeat it. They were afraid of accidentally killing it. If they did, where would they find Su Ling's fifth soul ring?
Before you continue