Any request?
Then can I ask not to go to Shrek Academy?
Gu Yang grumbled inwardly.
As for the Soul Bones Ning Fengzhi said the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect currently possessed, truthfully, Gu Yang did not really think much of them.
Or rather, the most precious one, the sixty-thousand-year mental-type skull bone, was already in Gu Yang's possession.
The other Soul Bones were merely some Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones.
Rather than obtain those Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, Gu Yang would be better off plotting to acquire Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.
Of course, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had no Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.
And it was not just the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, their fellow members of the Upper Three Sects, had no Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones in reserve either.
At least, not in Douluo I.
The Clear Sky Sect's three inherited Soul Bones and the three Soul Bones possessed by Yu Yuanzhen, the patriarch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, were all merely at the ten-thousand-year level.
So Ning Fengzhi's offer really held little appeal for Gu Yang.
As for asking the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to do something for him... hmm?
Gu Yang actually thought of something.
"Uncle Ning, now that you mention it, there really is something I need the sect's full support with."
Having just made his promise, Ning Fengzhi naturally had no objection.
"Go ahead, Gu Yang. As long as it's within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's power, Uncle Ning will agree to it all!"
With Ning Fengzhi's promise secured, Gu Yang promptly said, "Uncle Ning, I need to borrow the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's strength to obtain my fifth Soul Ring!"
Indeed, at this very moment, Gu Yang's Soul Power Level had already reached fifty.
Level fifty at twelve years old truly left both Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, and even Ning Fengzhi, immensely gratified.
Hearing this, Ning Fengzhi laughed instead. "That's all? Your request is for us to help you obtain your fifth Soul Ring? How does that count as a request? That's what the sect ought to do!"
Had the sect not helped Gu Yang obtain all four of his Soul Rings?
Bone Douluo belonged to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, so there was nothing wrong with saying that.
Gu Yang continued, "Uncle Ning, this time is different. For my fifth Soul Ring, I need a specific Soul Beast, so..."
"A specific Soul Beast? So you want the sect to track it down and surround it for the hunt?" Hearing that Gu Yang wanted a specific Soul Beast for his fifth Soul Ring, Ning Fengzhi actually grew somewhat interested. "Which Soul Beast do you want for your fifth Soul Ring?"
Gu Yang answered truthfully:
"The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger!"
At those words, the smile on Ning Fengzhi's face instantly froze.
With his breadth of knowledge, he had heard of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Of course, he had merely heard of it and read about it, but had never actually seen one.
"Gu Yang, are you certain you want a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger for your fifth Soul Ring? The strongest tiger-type Soul Beast, the one said to be capable of challenging a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast at just the ten-thousand-year level?"
Gu Yang nodded, his stance utterly firm.
At that moment, Ning Fengzhi even suspected Gu Yang was making fun of him, deliberately inventing a reason to make things difficult for him so he would not have to attend Shrek Academy. Where was he supposed to find a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger?
Ning Fengzhi smiled bitterly. "Gu Yang, it's not just me. I'm afraid even your Grandpa Gu and Grandpa Jian have never seen a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. It has only ever appeared in ancient texts. Whether this kind of Soul Beast even exists today is still unknown..."
"So, would you consider choosing a different Soul Beast for your fifth Soul Ring?"
Choose a different Soul Beast?
Gu Yang had given some thought to choosing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger for his fifth Soul Ring.
First, as his strength increased, his requirements for the age of his Soul Rings grew ever higher.
Of the Douluo Continent's seven basic attributes, he now only lacked wind, water, and space.
Of these, the most difficult was the space attribute.
There were simply too few Soul Beasts on the Douluo Continent that involved the space attribute. Or rather, Gu Yang only knew of so many.
The AI had analyzed quite a few possibilities, but most were extremely difficult.
For instance, the Thorn Dragon, a draconic subspecies Soul Beast, had Teleportation and the Spatial Thorn Domain as its core abilities. It could manipulate space to create an advantage in encirclement, and its Soul Bone also possessed spatial fluctuation traits.
But that was in Douluo IV!
With gaps spanning tens of thousands of years, how could making that connection be so easy?
Finding that one would be too difficult, too unrealistic.
The Worm of Space from the Dragon God's prime was even more impossible. There was no point even thinking about it.
There were also some other strange and unusual Soul Beasts, but those would be no less difficult.
As for something Gu Yang knew about and could potentially work with, all he could think of was the Wolf Ape with the space attribute from Douluo II.
But the Wolf Ape in the original Douluo II was only thirty thousand years old. Counting backward to the present, it would be less than twenty thousand years old.
Not only was its age on the low side, but who knew whether it was currently in the same region where it lived in Douluo II?
Over more than ten thousand years, blue seas could turn to mulberry fields, familiar things could remain while their people were gone. There were too many variables.
So, after thinking it over again and again, Gu Yang ultimately settled on the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's existence was certain, and its location was relatively clear.
As for its attributes...
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's official attributes were wind, lightning, and evil. There were simply other claims that it possessed the space attribute; after all, it did indeed have spatial abilities.
At worst, it at least possessed the wind attribute.
Moreover, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's cultivation was roughly sixty-five thousand years, just right for Gu Yang at his current stage.
And given the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's traits, as his fifth Soul Ring, it should grant him an extremely powerful Soul Skill.
"Uncle Ning, I'm choosing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger for my Fifth Soul Skill. I can confirm that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger does exist, and that it's in the Star Dou Great Forest. That's why I need the sect's strength."
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was indeed active in the Star Dou Great Forest, but the forest was simply too vast. Without an exact location, there was no way Gu Yang could find it alone.
Nor could Gu Yang place all his hopes on happening to run into it just by going out for a stroll.
That would be far too much plot armor.
Seeing that Gu Yang's eyes showed no hint of joking and that he was utterly serious, Ning Fengzhi simply could not refuse.
"All right. Since you're so certain, I'll spare no effort in mobilizing the sect's forces to search the Star Dou Great Forest for traces of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger!"
And so, the next day.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect launched a major operation, with large numbers of disciples entering the Star Dou Great Forest in batches to conduct a wide-ranging search.
It could be said that, aside from Spirit Hall and the two great empires, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was the power with the greatest number of Soul Master disciples.
After all, it had money.
Yet even with thousands of disciples mobilized, it still took over a month.
That day.
In the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's council hall.
Everyone was present.
Looking at the information sent back by the sect's disciples, Ning Fengzhi could not help glancing at Gu Yang.
"There really are traces of a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger..."
Although Ning Fengzhi was curious how Gu Yang had been so certain a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger lived in the Star Dou Great Forest, he did not press him. After all, everyone had their own secrets.
Taking out a map of the Star Dou Great Forest, Ning Fengzhi promptly circled an area.
"Uncle Jian, Uncle Gu, Gu Yang, the sect's disciples have sent word that they have indeed discovered traces of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, roughly within this area. However, given the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's formidable strength, I haven't dared rashly order the disciples to narrow the search further and surround it for the hunt, to avoid unnecessary casualties."
"Fengzhi, this area spans at least a hundred kilometers or so. Searching it will still be no easy task," Bone Douluo said as he, too, studied the area Ning Fengzhi had circled on the map of the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Uncle Gu has a point. Searching deep within this area would indeed be difficult, and it could easily stir the grass and startle the snake. So my suggestion is to abandon an active search and find a way to lure the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger out of this area."
"It would certainly be good if we could lure it out, but the key question is how?" Sword Douluo mused from the side.
Ning Fengzhi smiled. "To lure out the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, I'm afraid we'll have to rely on Gu Yang!"
Seeing everyone's puzzled expressions, Ning Fengzhi continued explaining, "As a tiger-type Soul Beast, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger is extremely territorial. It absolutely will not tolerate another tiger-type Soul Beast appearing within its territory. Gu Yang's fourth Soul Ring came from a Dark Devil Tiger, and he even fused with a Dark Devil Tiger's Soul Bone, so he naturally carries a strong Dark Devil Tiger presence. Once the presence of a Dark Devil Tiger appears in its territory, that will be an unmistakable challenge to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's authority!"
After all, one mountain could not hold two tigers!
Unless...