Draconic Demon Bird (1)

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*Chiiii*

The loud chirp of Clear Phoenix was shrill, too, as her large body darted in speed, unlike others. Although she was a martial soul with a single skill— Clear— she was also a spirit beast of the same level as a 1000-year-old and above and had the same advantage as any other spirit beast, her tough body.

In fact, Ja Sun was sure after observing the recording of Yu Xiaogang's match with Liu Erlong that the Enlightened martial souls have another benefit aside from the obvious.

First, it isn't the spirit rings that determine their growth but the overall spirit rank of the user. For instance, Yuehua is a rank 30 Spirit Master and even if her own body or mental energy wouldn't have been up to the mark, it wouldn't have affected the Clear Phoenix as it displayed the top might of a phoenix in this relevant rank equivalent in terms of spirit beast's strength. And as a phoenix, Clear Sky had a greater advantage, too.

Next, the growth can be propelled in case the user themselves break past their limits and absorb stronger spirit rings. For instance, Yuehua's first spirit ring is yellow. Her second one, however, is a purple spirit ring. This allows Yuehua or Clear Phoenix to 'Clear' any element attack or the impact of physical attack upto the mark of the full strength a spirit beast of the age 10998 years can produce. (999+9999)

In other words, in terms of Spirit Elder, or Spirit King, Yuehua and Xiaogang could hold their own even if they don't have the usual advantage of the beast spirit masters as long as they are astute, and here lay the major difference in their growth.

Ja Sun was sure that Xiaogang's mentality was corrupted by the intelligence of his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. It wasn't even a question of how.

A spirit master's soul and body instinctively lock an Enlightened Martial Soul. Luo San Pao was the first form of the martial soul and had a moderate personality. If Xiaogang knew about the Enlightened Martial Souls as Ja Sun did, he could have focused on ways to develop his mental fortitude and constantly meditate on his martial soul to finally overcome its raging intention and create a form of balance that Ja Sun allowed Yuehua to achieve.

But he didn't. And the lock was forcefully broken once Ja Sun killed Luo San Pao, releasing the Lightning Tyrant Dragon. The Dragon wouldn't want anything bad for its master, of course. But it wasn't dependent on its intent. The foreign intelligence, of course, will have an effect on the domestic one and it led to Xiaogang being the slightly more impatient and irate version of himself.

This would lead him to make mistakes. And matching Erlong, with her evolved Martial Soul, and absolutely demonic bloodlust was not advisable since she would not let go of any mistakes at all.

On the other hand, Yuehua never lost her senses to the 'dignity' that the Clear Phoenix exuded. Ja Sun felt that had he killed her previous Clear Sky Swallow and released the Clear Phoenix forcefully, the Yuehua now would have been more arrogant. More wanton and demanding even if well-meaning in her actions. Clear Phoenix is the same, after all.

*Chhk*

The Phoenix's talons finally stabbed into the body of the Holy Deer. A light-attributed spirit beast with its beautiful golden fur now marred with viscous blood.

*Snort*

The deer struggled with indignation as Clear Phoenix calmly tightened the grip of her talons before raising her head proudly and calling out a loud chirp. Her glassy golden eyes and the golden circle on her forehead gave off a faint luster as the sudden surge of light from the Holy Deer... disappeared.

"That attack was similar took out 890 points," Yuehua gasped slightly. She found it troublesome to keep the unit of attack in 'years' so she iterated that the total value of attack she can 'clear' is 10998 points. It was simple and when communicating with others openly, it hid the truth of the matter that would keep others on their toes for they won't be able to know that these points are equivalent to an all-out attack of a spirit beast of the corresponding 'points.'

"Oh? It's already weakened to this state... that's a 7000-year-old Spirit Beast... how much do you have in your savings now?" Liu Erlong inquired curiously.

"After the last attack, there's still 4308 points worth of defense left," Yuehua sighed. Her ability was indeed amazing and that's why she quickly wanted to get a black ring because it would mean an instant addition of 99999 years! Even if the Spirit Beasts are of lower value, they are able to attack in their top state for more than once so it was imperative for her 'stock' of 'clear' to be simply disgustingly deep!

Clear Phoenix's talons dug deeper and the struggles of the deer soon ended as a glimmering purple ring rose from its body.

Seeing this, Yuehua sighed softly. She wasn't the least bit relieved that her martial soul killed instead of her and wasn't deluded enough to consider the notion that she wasn't indirectly affected by this. She had grown somewhat... used to blood. An unsettling thought to her yet she knew that these resistant ideas would soon be washed away as she experiences more of this side of the world.

However, as long as it wasn't for the spirit ring, Yuehua didn't let Clear Phoenix hunt. This was the compromise the two beings had come to after deeper, instinctive communication. To respect each other's bestial and human side simultaneously.

The Clear Phoenix stood around the corpse protectively and shook her body to dust off. Then she silently lay next to it, a little bit away from the blood while Yuehua walked over.

"Thank you," she whispered, not only to the Martial Soul but the corpse, too. She would be growing stronger... and as much as this thank you was hollow, it was simply in Yuehua's muscles to act more sensible.

Silently sitting down cross-legged, she began to absorb the spirit ring without any external assistance. Even in the situation where Yuehua might have asked for assistance, Ah Yin and Ja Sun wouldn't give any. It's not like she would be pushing her boundaries to the point of crossing them and this much pressure needed to be dealt with alone. So, it was a good thing that Yuehua herself was of the mind to take care of the breakthrough herself.

It took Yuehua three hours. In the middle, Clear Phoenix had returned to Yuehua as the ring began to scan through her status before beginning to get absorbed.

From rank 30, Yuehua broke through once more. Since the spirit ring wasn't too close to 10000 years either, there wasn't a great effect and her cultivation settled at rank 32 itself.

"Huff, we're lucky to find her spirit ring on the second day itself," Erlong mumbled while crossing her arms, her tone was laced with envy.

"Don't worry, didn't Bibi Dong say to not return until you get your spirit ring?" Ah Yin stated with a smile.

"Fire-attributed spirit beasts should be easier to find," Liu Erlong pouted.

"Not draconic ones," Ja Sun shrugged.

Yuehua finally came to be and exhaled deeply at this moment. Her eyes revealed gratification. To her, every improvement was worth more than others could imagine. Well, Ja Sun could somewhat understand since he had only started his cultivation much later, too. But his situation couldn't really be used as a measuring tool.

"Now, my stock of Clear has been raised to 20997 points," Yuehua stood up with a smile before looking at the corpse.

"There isn't any spirit bone," Ja Sun shook his head, "Now... if you don't mind, can I store the corpse? It might be useful later," he added eagerly.

Yuehua nodded and stepped aside as Ja Sun processed the corpse in front of them and stored it in his spirit ring. Although he was lacking the inspiration to move forward with his array and blacksmithing skills, it didn't stop him from storing materials. The body parts of the beasts can also be used to form medicines and other exotic uses of arrays and formations, too.

"Hmm? What is it?" The group had begun to explore the forest once again when Ja Sun felt Yuehua's stare on him. He was still in his transformed state and due to the irritation of fur and robes on him for a long time, Ja Sun now walked half-naked... well, relatively. His back and the sides of his torso and arms were completely layered with velvety silver fur that also carpeted his lower body. Only his chest was somewhat exposed and a little portion of his abdomen. Even his usually tame black hair grew out like a lion's mane and was surely hard to deal with as he had to pull it back and tie it into a pony... only for it to 'oomph' outwards past the rubber band.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that now I'm beginning to sense the same thing. It truly feels... different," Yuehua mumbled while tracing her chin, "So, when this feeling gets stronger, we can finally try out that technique?"

"Most likely," Ja Sun nodded, "But I wonder what the mix of our strengths can create."

"Maybe a giant phoenix?" Yuehua mumbled with a hopeful expression.

"I really hope not. The bigger the target, the easier it is to hit... remember how I took Yuanzhen's eyes?" Ja Sun shook his head and Yuehua's imagination crumbled at the thought of their eyes getting punctured.

Shuddering, she followed silently while Ja Sun moved closer to Ah Yin.

This left Yuehua silent and oddly depressed.

---

"What about a Fire Armed Golem? That's almost 50000 years." Ah Yin questioned.

"No! I already have too many attacks... I want to have a shot at mental attack or defense-type skills," Liu Erlong shook her head. She had wanted to become an all-rounder but Ja Sun stopped at this point.

Surrounded by beautiful yet poisonous plants, Ja Sun finally questioned Liu Erlong's line of thought and almost sweated.

Liu Erlong had attack-type skills, true. Too many of them. But she had been using them in a variety of situations that includes defense, too. So, Ja Sun could understand if she wanted to become an all-rounder using spirit ring skills if she was from somewhere else and he didn't know her or didn't experience that spirit rings were only a part of a true elite's might... sadly, he did know Liu Erlong, and he did know other ways.

He had offered Oscar his Gentle Tactics, too, for a price of course. Why couldn't he offer the same thing to Erlong?

Of course, he wouldn't share techniques like Fiery Golden Pupils that Ja Sun now suspected to be a part of a greater inheritance and Mental Acupuncture Technique that could ideally raise a lot of spirit masters with potent mental fortitude.

But he had too many techniques. Most of them were only used as a reference.

"Well, I understand now... aside from the probability of gaining a mental defensive technique that is also largely present in a skull bone, you should just dominate your configuration of spirit rings with attack-type skills including mental ones. For movements and as such... you can always come to me. Offer a good trade and I will definitely provide you with other techniques.

For reference, you can ask Oscar... or Xie Xan. One of them uses the Attack-type skill that I, too, generally use. And the other one has a pupil's technique in great affinity with him," Ja Sun pointed out as Liu Erlong fell silent.

"Don't you have any spirit techniques that can defend against mental attacks?" Liu Erlong inquired with a hopeful expression. She knew that Ja Sun had such a technique. In fact, it was an open secret. But even Liu Erlong was cautious right now because Ja Sun was proposing a great opportunity on his own— a very rare event.

"I do... you can join in on the Mental Acupuncture sessions. That's for free," Ja Sun shrugged. It didn't matter since Yuehua was already enjoying the benefits of heightened mental prowess.

"I see..." Liu Erlong muttered and closed her eyes, thinking deeply.

'It's not like I cannot try other types of spirit rings at all... Ka-ul does this himself. An enhancement type skill, flying skill, an escape skill, a poison skill, a clone skill, and a weird defense type skill... but his speed never lost out to others and his Gentle Tactics is definitely weird, too... and his eyes, too...

Compared to him, I can only rely on the Ultimate Fire and my spirit skills and spirit bones. Ah, I forgot to consider his spirit bones, tsk...'

"Still," opening her eyes, Liu Erlong stated with a strict expression, "I have enough attacking skills. Considering my spirit ring's slots, I only have four chances remaining and I want to find rare spirit beasts even if they provide attack skills in the end, however, they would also have a greater chance of providing other auxiliary support."

Ja Sun and others nodded. They could only provide advice but Erlong had experienced cultivation for more than a decade and those years were all bloody. She had enough capacity to think independently when it really mattered.

"Hmm... this is a little interesting," Ah Yin spoke a few hours later after they began their exploration once again.

She led the group in front of a corpse of a spirit beast. It was a giant turtle with its brown shell cracked and head now revealing a giant hole. The surrounding flesh had brain matter splashed over but the skull of the beast was empty.

"A brain-loving spirit beast. What's interesting about it? Before I joined the group, I sold quite a few spirit beasts of such nature," Liu Erlong stated proudly.

"You mean before I defeated you," Ja Sun pointed out.

"I feigned defeat," She crossed her arms.

"You almost peed your panties, Erlong," Ja Sun scoffed and rolled his eyes as the woman stomped her foot in anger with a heavy blush covering her face.

"No need to be angry, it's not like we're surrounded by outsiders," Yuehua tried to console the aggravated woman who was always objected to 'abuse' by Ja Sun.

"What I meant was... this is a dead zone. Even if this is one of the inner rings in the forest, almost every corpse is above 10000 years and I can sense even more of them hidden away.

But... the so-called overlord of the region that should be close to 100000 years in age isn't even moving which means that..."

"A super-strong 10000-year-old spirit beast! Probably an extremely rare one!" Liu Erlong's gaze shone.

"But it's no longer in this region," Ah Yin sighed.

"Then we'll track it! Too bad Jun'er isn't here but you will do just fine," Erlong patted Ah Yin's shoulder graciously as the blue-haired woman snorted in retort.

Ja Sun crouched to inspect the corpse thoroughly but aside from the hint of bloodlust, which he had grown even more sensitive to after absorbing the three domain eggs, Ja Sun found nothing of worth.

Silently, he claimed the corpse and other bodies, too, as they began to follow the trail.

The stronger corpses they found, the greater the hope Liu Erlong contained within her.

She'd really been hung dry without a breakthrough for too long!

A few hours of rest was necessary for Yuehua, something Erlong wanted to speed up by asking Ah Yin to enhance the rate of the woman's recovery only to be stopped by Ja Sun finally.

He wanted to take it easy, after all. And cultivate, too. This was prime time for that!

With every passing moment, Ja Sun felt himself edging closer to the breakthrough and when he cultivated with focus, the effects were 110% which helped quite a bit.