Chapter 45: The Third Spirit Ring

The Spirit of Zhi Lin, an education committee member of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, is the Azure Vine.

As a martial soul capable of growing to the eighty-third rank, the might of this plant is beyond doubt.

Its characteristics are excellent extensibility, rapid growth, and remarkable toughness.

It matches the attributes of Li Xun's second spirit ring, the Solitary Bamboo, quite well.

Both plants boast rapid growth and extreme toughness, with the only difference being that one possesses a recessive reproductive talent while the other has an extension talent.

"The Azure Vine? Not bad at all, actually," Dugu Bo nodded. "However, isn't it a bit too risky to choose a five-thousand-year-old spirit beast for your third spirit ring?"

He knew he could not judge Li Xun by the standards of ordinary spirit masters, but choosing a five-thousand-year-old beast for the third spirit ring was truly going a bit too far.

"Rest assured, Grandpa Dugu, I can handle it," Li Xun said with a cheerful smile.

"It's not that I'm worried; I just feel a sense of unfairness for other spirit masters." Seeing Li Xun grinning at him, Dugu Bo let out a soft huff.

Chatting and laughing, the two walked toward the outer perimeter of the Sunset Forest.

Their current location was the very center of the Sunset Forest. Although the geographical location was favorable, finding a suitable spirit beast for Li Xun in the vast, boundless forest was still extremely difficult.

After searching for a long time, the age of the beasts was either insufficient or far too high.

Finally, Dugu Bo grew somewhat impatient. He scooped Li Xun up, clamped him under his arm, and soared into the air.

"Grandpa Dugu, I'm really not in a hurry," Li Xun tried hard to tilt his head upward to keep the blood from rushing to his head.

"Hmph, now you're being picky."

A playful look appeared on Dugu Bo's face. "Brat, once you become a Titled Douro, even if you want me to carry you through the skies, I'll have to think twice about it."

He didn't even need to be carried now.

Li Xun rolled his eyes, feeling somewhat dizzy due to the blood rushing to his head. Just as he was contemplating whether to throw up on Dugu Bo, he suddenly noticed something.

Diagonally below them, a vine was slowly moving while wrapping around a mottled cat.

"Grandpa Dugu, stop for a moment!"

Li Xun wiped his mouth with his hand and patted Dugu Bo's shoulder.

"You brat, your luck is quite good."

Dugu Bo didn't mind Li Xun's little stunt. "This Azure Vine is collecting corpses as nourishment. If we follow this vine, we'll find its main body."

With that, Dugu Bo descended, carrying Li Xun with him.

The two did not immediately seek out the main body of the Azure Vine, choosing instead to follow the vine with great interest.

"The extensibility of this Azure Vine is indeed exceptional. This single section alone must be around thirty meters long."

Li Xun nodded as he watched the slowly moving vine.

The reason he chose the Azure Vine was precisely because of this attribute.

Although Wood Release possessed a similar effect, the wood itself was rigid and hard. Not only was its extension distance not far, but its speed was also slow, and it lacked sufficient flexibility.

It would be very easy for an agile spirit master to dodge.

Following the trail all the way, the two soon came upon the main body of the Azure Vine.

"Judging by its age, this Azure Vine is likely approaching six thousand years. I advise you to play it safe."

Upon seeing the Azure Vine, Dugu Bo couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Do you remember my self-healing ability, Grandpa Dugu?" Li Xun chuckled. "This spirit beast hasn't reached six thousand years yet; it won't be able to kill me."

He had intentionally displayed his self-healing ability while refining pills.

His purpose was to mentally prepare Dugu Bo, making it easier for him to agree to absorbing a spirit ring of a higher tier.

Dugu Bo was startled for a moment. Remembering Li Xun's self-healing ability, he nodded, "It seems your second spirit ring was also obtained using this kind of method, wasn't it?"

Li Xun chuckled without offering an explanation.

"Since you already have the experience, I won't stop you." Having said that, Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphor Serpent martial soul manifested, and nine spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and five black—appeared beneath his feet.

"Crimson-Refined Iron Python Annihilation."

As the second spirit ring lit up, Dugu Bo unleashed two streams of energy that transformed into a pair of dark green pythons, shooting straight toward the Azure Vine.

Perhaps sensing the danger, the ground surrounding the Azure Vine suddenly burst forth with dozens of vines, rushing toward the dark green pythons with the momentum of thunder to entangle them.

A shock ran through Li Xun's heart.

He hadn't expected that the seemingly unremarkable Azure Vine would conceal such a formidable move.

Judging solely by the overwhelming momentum of the vines, even a Spirit Elder would face certain death if ensnared by them.

Just as Li Xun was feeling astonished, the two giant energy pythons had already shattered the blockade of vines and charged directly at the main body of the Azure Vine.

With the strength of Dugu Bo as a Titled Douro, even a low-level spirit skill was not something a mere five-to-six-thousand-year-old spirit beast could resist.

Seeing that the spirit skill was about to strike the main body of the Azure Vine, Dugu Bo hurriedly reined in some of his power to avoid killing it in a single blow.

"Brat, you can go finish it off now." Dugu Bo lifted his chin slightly, standing with his hands behind his back.

Looking at the now-limp Azure Vine, Li Xun nodded.

"Thank you, Grandpa Dugu."

Instead of stepping forward, Li Xun summoned his martial soul right where he stood. "Wood Release: Birth of the Dense Forest."

A dozen trees erupted from the ground around the Azure Vine, instantly binding and wrapping tightly around it.

The main body of the Azure Vine trembled slightly.

In the past, it was always the one entangling others; who could have imagined that the roles would reverse today?

It continuously wriggled its main body, stretching outward, and a few more vines once again emerged from the ground to wrap around the branches on its surface, attempting to break free from the restraint.

A cold glade flashed in Li Xun's heart, and he increased the output of his technique.

As the trees wound around it tighter and tighter, the Azure Vine gradually lost its resistance, and the surrounding vines slowly slipped away.

A purple spirit ring floated up from above the Azure Vine.

Li Xun turned his head and glanced at Dugu Bo.

"Brat, what kind of look is that?"

Dugu Bo said with displeasure, "If I hadn't been mindful of you and sent a blast of Jade Phosphor Venom down, would it still be alive?"

"Grandpa Dugu, I didn't say anything at all!"

With clear eyes, Li Xun blinked innocently and calmly walked toward the Azure Vine.

This action made Dugu Bo's teeth itch with exasperation.

Arriving beneath the spirit ring, Li Xun summoned his martial soul, sat cross-legged, and guided the purple spirit ring with his spirit power.

Prompted by the guidance, the spirit ring drifted toward the top of Li Xun's head at an extremely fast speed.

Then it suddenly shrank, transforming into a small ring that drifted straight toward the thousand-handed giant Buddha.

When the purple spirit ring settled over the martial soul, a wave of pain instantly coursed through Li Xun's entire body.

This pain felt as though his entire body was being immersed in boiling water, or scalded by pouring hot oil.

Li Xun hurriedly sensed the condition within his body.

He discovered that a majestic torrent of energy was rampaging through him, continuously ravaging his flesh and meridians.

Fortunately, the age of this Azure Vine hadn't reached six thousand years; otherwise, my life might truly be in danger...

Beads of sweat broke out across Li Xun's forehead, and a closer look would reveal faint traces of blood within those sweat droplets.

The energy of the spirit ring continued to wreak havoc on his physical body.

This energy was far too majestic; his self-healing ability could no longer keep up with the rate at which his body was being damaged.

Left with no choice, Li Xun controlled his chakra to follow closely behind this energy, painstakingly carrying out repair work.

This wasn't because Wood Release's self-healing ability was weak, but rather because Li Xun's cultivation time was still too short, falling far short of the self-healing mastery of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.

After all, if you counted it fully, his cultivation time had not even reached two Kunkun years.

With Dugu Bo's cultivation, how could he fail to perceive Li Xun's current state? Yet no matter how anxious he felt, he could not intervene at this moment.

"Brat, you must hold on..." Dugu Bo's expression turned grave as he clenched one hand tightly.

*Crack—*

An extremely faint sound drifted over.

Dugu Bo's eyes narrowed instantly. He summoned his martial soul in a flash and looked behind him, shouting, "Who's there!"