Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin

The next day!

The Star Dou Great Forest!

"Finally, we're here!"

Li Jin jumped down from the carriage with the Snow Maiden in his arms and gazed at the unbroken expanse of primeval forest at the end of the road.

A gentle breeze stirred the ends of his hair and his clothes, carrying the scent of grass and rotting earth, along with the presence of countless Soul Beasts!

This was Li Jin's second visit to the Star Dou Great Forest.

The first time he came, he had encountered the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm offering himself as a sacrifice.

Li Jin was looking forward to this second visit.

The Ice Empress jumped down from the carriage behind him. Her little face was taut, and the face that normally had "I'm number one under heaven" written all over it had turned cautious.

This was the Star Dou Great Forest, a forbidden zone for living beings that surpassed even their Far North.

"Li Jin, once we enter the Star Dou Great Forest, stay behind me. I'll make sure to protect you."

"Deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, there are some big fellows stronger than me, even stronger than the Snow Empress. Running into one would mean life or death."

Li Jin glanced at the tense Ice Empress and reassured her with an easy smile:

"Don't be so nervous. Danger won't come looking for us. Come on, it's time to enter the forest."

With that, Li Jin took the lead and headed toward the forest.

The Ice Empress was exasperated. Li Jin always seemed so relaxed. He hadn't been the least bit nervous when he ventured into the Far North, and he still wasn't nervous in the slightest as he ventured into the Star Dou Great Forest.

He ventured into places that made human Soul Masters shrink back at a glance whenever he pleased.

Come to think of it, she herself was one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, feared by human Soul Masters, so why wasn't Li Jin afraid of her?

She must not have been fierce enough. Once they entered the Star Dou Great Forest, she would show him just how fierce she was.

They had just entered the forest when a noise came from nearby. It wasn't a Soul Beast, but two mercenaries covered in blood.

Their leather armor was in tatters, and they looked dejected as they supported each other and cursed their way out of the forest.

"This past half year, the Star Dou Great Forest has really gone to hell. Those Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts that used to stay in the mixed zone have all been driven into the outer zone. Who knows what happened deep in the Star Dou Great Forest? Could one of those legendary Ten-Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts have appeared?"

"Sigh, it's getting harder and harder to make a living in the Star Dou Great Forest. Five of us went in, and two came back. How about we go to a different Soul Beast forest from now on?"

Li Jin had excellent hearing and caught every word of the two mercenaries' conversation.

Looks like losing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm made Di Tian and his bunch of Ferocious Beasts furious. The whole Star Dou Great Forest is in turmoil.

That makes sense. After all, he was a blood pack a full million years old. The overall cultivation of that group of Ferocious Beasts will surely drop a level now.

They hadn't gone far before the smell of blood reached them from ahead.

Li Jin used the Purple Demon Eye. With his Purple Demon Eye at the Mustard Seed realm, he spotted a blood-soaked Soul Beast lying in the woods several hundred meters away at a glance.

The Soul Beast was five meters long and two meters tall at the shoulder. It had a lion's head and two horns, and yellow, cyan, blue, and red scales covered its body. It was imposing and domineering, radiating a formidable presence.

But now, a claw wound almost tore that imposing body apart. Through the constantly bleeding wound, stark white bones and throbbing organs were visible.

Li Jin recognized the Soul Beast.

"The Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin possesses the four attributes of earth, fire, water, and wind. It's a sacred beast of the qilin clan and an Auspicious Beast, known as the guardian of the forest. Vital Qi gathers more easily wherever it stays. Although it can't compare to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, it's still an auspicious beast."

"Judging by its size and presence, this Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin is at least fifteen thousand years old. If its presence has been weakened by its injuries, its cultivation could very well be close to twenty thousand years."

"This Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin is hurt so badly? Four-Spirit Sacred Qilins don't get along with Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears, which are known as destroyers of the earth. It was probably injured by one."

Li Jin knew that his Koi Physique had surely worked its magic again.

That was why this Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin, the one best suited to him, had been delivered right in front of him.

The Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin's cultivation was a little high, and it was very likely a twenty-thousand-year Soul Beast.

But Li Jin remained full of confidence. With his current physical constitution, absorbing a twenty-thousand-year Soul Ring as his Third Soul Ring would be more than manageable.

"First Soul Skill, Spiritual Telekinesis!"

Li Jin took out nine Three-Edged Ice Spikes and empowered them with Spiritual Telekinesis. The spikes floated around him.

"Go!"

In an instant, the nine Three-Edged Ice Spikes tore through the air!

They flew faster and faster, until only blurred afterimages remained, and the sound of them cutting through the air was barely audible.

The Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin was too weak. It had lost so much blood that its reactions had slowed. By the time it sensed something was wrong and let out a low growl, it only had time to cover its body in a layer of earthy-yellow rock armor.

Crack! Crack!

The rock armor couldn't stop the nine ice spikes at all. Amid a series of cracks, all nine Three-Edged Ice Spikes pierced through it.

The nine Three-Edged Ice Spikes, each fitted with barbs and blood grooves, plunged deep into the Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin's body.

"Aow..."

The Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin let out one final, anguished howl, then breathed no more. Its head sank to the ground, and with a terrifying surge of energy, a black Soul Ring floated out of its corpse.

Using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Li Jin quickly arrived in front of the Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin's corpse.

"Snow Maiden, Bingbing, I'm going to start absorbing the Soul Ring. Guard me, and don't let anyone disturb me."

The Snow Maiden left Li Jin's arms, floated to the side, and nodded emphatically.

"Big brother, don't worry. I'll protect you."

The Ice Empress quickly followed, looking at the Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin's corpse and then at Li Jin, a hint of hesitation in her eyes.

"Are you sure you want to absorb this Soul Ring?"

"You humans have to be at least Soul Kings to absorb Soul Rings over ten thousand years old. Aren't you afraid of the Soul Shock from a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring?"

Li Jin retrieved the nine Three-Edged Ice Spikes embedded in the Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin's corpse, then sat cross-legged in front of the Soul Ring.

"My Sea of Consciousness opened long ago. My spiritual power is at least as strong as that of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast now. It can shock me all it wants; it won't be able to shake my Sea of Consciousness anyway."

As soon as he finished speaking!

Li Jin summoned the black Soul Ring. It slowly floated over and settled around him, then quickly merged into his body.

In an instant, a surge of energy swept through Li Jin's meridians, at times heavy as earth, at times explosive as fire, at times gentle as water, and at times sharp as wind.

The four attributes of earth, fire, water, and wind battered him in turn. An ordinary Soul Saint would have exploded and died by now.

But this was Li Jin. He had eaten ice and fire Immortal Herbs to forge a golden body, fused with the Snow Empress to cultivate a Mysterious Jade Body, the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone constantly supplied him with vitality, and the Snow Empress's Soul Core rapidly absorbed and refined the energy.

The twenty-thousand-year Four-Spirit Sacred Qilin's Soul Ring had been suppressed before it had time to stir up wind and waves.

Once the energy had been completely refined, the Soul Ring absorption would be finished.