Leng Xiyue thought it over. Storage Space was an indispensable beginner's essential, but the Simulation skill was rather interesting. It seemed designed specifically to help her conceal her abilities.
If she had no intention of risking her neck to hunt a ten-thousand-year soul beast, having a thousand-year first soul ring would be outrageous, but not outrageously so. She could bluff her way through with some story about a fortuitous encounter, and then this skill would be of little use.
The ability to copy someone else's aura, however, did tempt her. Copying the aura of some formidable figure and wearing it herself would certainly feel great.
Bibi Dong's distinctive air of authority, for instance, or the killing intent of an expert like Tang Hao-both were good choices.
That sort of presence was usually extremely difficult to cultivate. Without decades of rich experience, one could forget about it.
But when she remembered that the bonus mission actually wanted her to take on a ten-thousand-year soul beast, Leng Xiyue immediately began beating a retreat. She was a little rookie who did not even have a soul ring. Wasn't taking on a ten-thousand-year soul beast a pipe dream?
With the intention of settling for a thousand-year soul ring, Leng Xiyue closed the mission interface.
As for whether her first soul ring could be a thousand-year one, or even a ten-thousand-year one, that was certainly possible. From the sound of it, absorbing a soul ring with programmable skills had nothing to do with her personally, so she certainly would not be bound by the age limits imposed on normal soul masters.
Besides, given the purity of psionic energy, absorbing a yellow soul ring according to a normal soul master's age limits would leave her completely unable to bring out its full power. It would be like a giant using a toy knife shorter than his thumb to hack at people. That was why the system had not even mentioned the possibility of absorbing a hundred-year soul ring.
The skill output provided by a thousand-year soul ring should be about right.
As long as she was cautious during the hunt, Xiao Bai's assistance and that fairly high-level dagger made killing a thousand-year soul beast through a surprise attack possible. At worst, she could pick a weak plant-type beast-a soft persimmon to squeeze. It should not be much of a problem.
Having thought this through, Leng Xiyue said to Xie Yue, "All right, then. Take care of yourselves, Brother Xie Yue, Sister Nana. We'll meet again in Spirit City."
After saying that, Leng Xiyue replenished some more of his soul power.
"Let's hope your good wishes come true. Oh, and remember to stay wary of humans, especially those taking the trial alongside us. Many of them have already developed a taste for killing. No matter how kindly they seem, keep your distance." Still uneasy as he looked at Leng Xiyue, Xie Yue added a few more warnings.
"Yes, I understand." Leng Xiyue nodded and activated Martial Soul Possession. White light bloomed around her legs, and the next second, she shot off in the opposite direction from the one Xie Yue had indicated.
Xie Yue was just about to remind her of something, but Leng Xiyue had already vanished from sight.
Seeing Leng Xiyue take off, the figure watching from the shadows hurriedly notified his superior through a Communication Soul Tool, then followed close behind.
As its name suggested, the Hyper-Speed Component could be understood as a kind of thruster fitted to her leg armor. Increasing its psionic energy output could boost her speed enormously.
The armor was not slow during ordinary walking or running, putting her roughly on par with an agility-type soul master of the same rank.
With the Hyper-Speed Component activated at full speed using her current strength, even Soul Elders and low-level agility-type Soul Ancestors would probably be left staring at her dust.
Of course, with her current strength, she could not control that speed at all. It would be manageable in an open area like a plain, but in a forest...
After crashing into several large trees in succession, Leng Xiyue behaved herself and no longer dared activate the speed boost carelessly.
The armor's normal top speed was perhaps already the limit she could handle at her current level. Any faster, and her physical abilities could not keep up. Still, if she had a corresponding skill, it should provide a stable activation sequence, and perhaps she could gradually adapt then.
Just as Leng Xiyue was searching everywhere for a thousand-year soul beast, Xiao Bai suddenly said beside her, "I think the system's mission may be harsh on you, but it isn't impossible. In a sense, the age of these soul rings is linked to skill strength, and higher-level soul rings also use psionic energy more efficiently. Even setting the system's mission aside, you should look for a ten-thousand-year soul ring."
"Come on, that's a ten-thousand-year soul beast! Never mind whether I can absorb its ring-how do you expect me to kill it right now?" Leng Xiyue said helplessly.
If her armor were made of better material, she might actually dare charge in recklessly. But if it was only as strong as ordinary iron, wouldn't a single slap smash her to bits?
Just as Xiao Bai had said earlier, psionic energy converted from local energy was far weaker than psionic energy drawn directly from the void. Psionic weapons also lacked the penetration to ignore all armor; like physical weapons, they still encountered resistance. Against a thousand-year soul beast with an inferior bloodline that had only recently crossed that threshold, she might have some hope of piercing its armor. Against a ten-thousand-year soul beast, there was absolutely no chance.
Nor could she gamble on whether the dagger in her hand could pierce a ten-thousand-year soul beast's armor without knowing for certain.
"Doesn't your homeland have a stratagem called 'Drive the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf'? Look, there's someone following you whom you can't afford to provoke either. Unless something unexpected happens, you won't be able to escape without shaking him off."
As she spoke, Xiao Bai pointed a finger. A wisp of mental energy drifted out, marking the expert whose exact strength remained unknown.
He was a fairly handsome young man in his thirties, dressed in a Spirit Hall uniform. At that moment, he was cautiously following behind, secretly observing Leng Xiyue's every move. Pinned to his chest was a badge bearing three crossed golden swords.
Under Spirit Hall's system, each sword represented a rank. Leng Xiyue did not know what the golden swords meant, but around Spirit City, someone his age ought to be a Soul King.
An expert of that level was clearly beyond her ability to resist at present.
Hearing Xiao Bai's words, Leng Xiyue's eyes lit up. "You mean..."
"Go provoke a ten-thousand-year soul beast, then have him deal with it for you. If he can't, you'll have one less problem and can make a run for it. But if he can, you'll have struck gold." Xiao Bai smiled faintly. "No matter who kills it, I can help you absorb its soul ring into your soul space. Once it's in there, won't we be able to knead it into whatever shape we like? The Forge will handle the actual programming. Go find one without worrying."
"All right." Hearing that, Leng Xiyue hesitated no longer and sprinted straight into the depths of the forest.
Although the Martial Soul Forest had been established around Spirit City, the quality of its soul beasts was genuinely high. It had always served as Spirit Hall's exclusive hunting ground.
Spirit Hall had long since exterminated the more dangerous soul beast populations. Although plenty of powerful creatures remained, with that warning before them, they did not dare provoke Spirit Hall by attacking humans on the roads. They did not even dare kill other low-level soul beasts casually, for fear of disrupting this new ecosystem and drawing Spirit Hall's attention.
As for hundred-year and thousand-year soul beasts that lacked intelligence, if those coming to Spirit City to trade or pass through lacked even the strength to deal with such low-level creatures, how could they deserve to come to Spirit City?
After wandering a great circuit through the Martial Soul Forest and avoiding several thousand-year soul beasts, Leng Xiyue finally found a creature more than ten thousand years old.
It was a wolf of a species she did not recognize. At that moment, it was sprawled beside a lake, fast asleep and utterly unaware of her arrival. Rather than lacking vigilance, it was probably because Leng Xiyue was too weak to meet its threshold for alarm.
Leng Xiyue thought for a moment, found a large rock nearby, and hurled it at the wolf's head. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she turned and sprinted toward the Spirit Hall expert.
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