Continuous Surprises

Meanwhile.

Somewhere five li away from the wild wormwood thicket.

A vast patch of gourd vines grew here, with several of them having cultivation levels of over nine hundred years.

Lin Rong and Old Butler had just finished searching the area and were preparing to leave.

A silver flash suddenly appeared in the heart of the gourd vine patch.

The next moment, within Lin Rong's Life Sense, a life fluctuation from a plant Soul Beast with over nine hundred years of cultivation, nearing a thousand years, appeared.

"It appeared out of nowhere, so it must be related to a space attribute."

"And it's a plant Soul Beast with cultivation close to a thousand years. Heaven truly favors me!"

Lin Rong immediately stopped and said to Old Butler beside him, "Grandpa Yu, take me back to the center of the gourd vines. Quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Old Butler neither asked why nor replied. He immediately led the young master back.

The gourd vine patch was not large. With Old Butler's speed fully unleashed, Lin Rong and Old Butler returned to the center in five or six seconds.

The Azure Bamboo, less than a meter tall, had only just begun celebrating its escape from the wolves' den when it saw Lin Rong and Old Butler return.

Its swaying leaves instantly froze, and it stood there without moving.

"Oh? Your intelligence is quite high!"

Lin Rong stepped forward and continued closing in on the bamboo, with Old Butler following closely behind.

"Such dense and pure power of space, along with nine hundred and eighty-one years of cultivation."

"Tsk, tsk. It's practically a Soul Beast tailor-made for my Second Soul Ring."

As the Azure Bamboo watched the two of them draw closer, it felt like crying without tears.

The Space Spirit Skill it had used earlier could only be used once a month.

A few seconds ago, it had used that Space Spirit Skill to escape the wolves' den. Who would have thought there would be a tiger's jaws waiting here?

Its mutation had granted it extremely high intelligence and fostered tremendous ambition. It was determined to become a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Thus, for the past several hundred years, it had relied on this ability to hide from place to place. It had finally nearly reached a thousand years of cultivation.

As long as its cultivation broke through a thousand years, its Space Spirit Skill would evolve once more.

Not only would its teleportation range greatly increase, but it would also be usable more often each month, no longer limited to once per month.

Damn it. It was only nineteen years of cultivation away from becoming a thousand-year Soul Beast.

Why was it so unlucky today, encountering humans twice in a row?

Could it be that the humans it encountered both times were in the same group?

Mm, that had to be it.

Humans were so sinister and cunning. They had actually sent one group to exhaust its Space Spirit Skill first, then had this group lie in wait here for it.

If Lin Rong had known what the bamboo was thinking, he would have burst out laughing.

Even if he and Oscar were in the same group, they had no idea where the Space Spirit Skill would land. How could they possibly lie in wait for it?

Although Lin Rong did not know what the bamboo before him was thinking, he could still sense through Life Sense just how intense the emotional fluctuations it radiated were.

This gave him the urge to tease the bamboo, and he said, "With intelligence this high, you can't remain unknown."

"Since you'll be my Second Soul Ring, I'll give you a name."

"With your space attribute and azure appearance, how about calling you Kongqing Bamboo?"

Next, Lin Rong released the Nine Bend Vine Dragon. Countless Vine Dragon Tree Roots wrapped around the Kongqing Bamboo, slowly tightening as they strangled it to death.

"Don't fear death. Becoming my Second Soul Ring is your honor!"

Honor my ass! Why don't you go die instead?!

The Kongqing Bamboo cursed furiously in its heart, but its consciousness soon dissipated beneath the strangling force of the Vine Dragon Tree Roots.

Not long after his words fell, a deep yellow Soul Ring condensed in midair. On closer inspection, there was even a faint, almost imperceptible purple halo upon it.

Looking at the Soul Ring before him, Lin Rong could not help feeling exceptionally pleased.

For a moment, even the air he breathed seemed several times fresher, intoxicating him.

Lin Rong did not rush to absorb the Soul Ring. Instead, he turned his gaze to the Kongqing Bamboo.

"Logically speaking, a Soul Beast with such high intelligence should have a decent chance of dropping a head Soul Bone."

"Mm, let's look for it!"

Thus, Lin Rong controlled the Vine Dragon Tree Roots and crushed the Kongqing Bamboo, less than a meter long, section by section.

When he reached the section at the top of the Kongqing Bamboo, Lin Rong sensed a small hard object beneath the Vine Dragon Tree Roots.

Lin Rong's heart immediately leaped with joy, and he controlled the Vine Dragon Tree Roots to deliver the hard object into his hand.

It was a round bone, translucent as jade throughout, radiating faint azure and silver hues.

"As expected, it's a Skull Soul Bone. A Soul Bone dropped by such a top-tier soul beast—if only its age limit weren't so low..."

Lin Rong silently lamented. Just as he was about to put the Soul Bone away, he seemed to notice something and froze, his face filled with shock.

"This Soul Bone can evolve?"

Just moments ago, Lin Rong had sensed that the Soul Bone's age had increased from nine hundred and eighty-one years to nine hundred and eighty-two years.

With this discovery, Lin Rong calmed himself and carefully examined the Soul Bone's exact condition.

Then he discovered that this Skull Soul Bone dropped by the Kongqing Bamboo was actually slowly absorbing the life energy and spatial energy in the air, thereby increasing its age.

"It isn't an External Soul Bone, yet it possesses an External Soul Bone's ability to evolve."

"A soul beast like the Kongqing Bamboo can practically be mentioned in the same breath as the Thunderclap Nether Vine with its Thunder God Bloodline."

Not only had this Kongqing Bamboo Skull Soul Bone come from the same source as the Second Soul Ring Lin Rong was about to absorb, allowing their simultaneous absorption to produce the greatest effect—

It also possessed both life and spatial attributes. Lin Rong coveted it greatly. If its age had not been so low, there was no way he would have given up this Soul Bone.

But now that he knew this Soul Bone could evolve, its age was no longer a problem.

A soul master could absorb six Soul Bones.

In order of rarity, they were: Torso Bone, Skull Bone, Left Arm Bone, Right Arm Bone, Left Leg Bone, and Right Leg Bone.

As for the Skull Soul Bone, Lin Rong had already decided on the one produced by this Kongqing Bamboo.

With its ability to evolve, reaching one hundred thousand years in the future would not be a problem.

Lin Rong had also already set his sights on the Soul Bones for the remaining five slots.

However, obtaining one of them would require a certain amount of luck.

If he could not obtain it, Lin Rong could only think of another way.

After staring at the Soul Bone in his hand for a long while, Lin Rong finally put it away and shifted his gaze to the Soul Ring.

He had no idea how long absorbing a Soul Bone would take, but a Soul Ring could only exist for two hours.

After two hours, it would dissipate into heaven and earth.

For now, he should absorb the Soul Ring first before considering the Soul Bone.

Lin Rong walked over to the Soul Ring and sat down beside it, muttering to himself:

"I've already encountered enough surprises today, but I still want an even bigger one."

"I hope this Soul Ring can fulfill that wish!"