Lin Rong closed the ancient book in his hands and looked at the shadow guard waiting nearby, asking:
"How is the Thunderclap Nether Vine?"
"Reporting to you, my lord." The shadow guard replied quickly:
"The condition of the Thunderclap Nether Vine is very poor. The destructive aura it has been emitting these days is becoming increasingly violent; it's likely teetering on the brink of life and death."
"My subordinate estimates that in a day or two, the Thunderclap Nether Vine might not be able to hold on any longer."
Hearing this, Lin Rong was taken aback, thinking to himself:
"Has the situation become this serious?"
"Fortunately, we rushed here, or else if we had arrived a few days later, I would have lost my fourth Spirit Ring."
The urgency of the situation left no room for Lin Rong to ponder further.
Thus, he summoned his Dragon Soul and flew into Thunderclap Canyon with the Old Butler.
The Thunderclap Nether Vine was filled with destructive attributes; even though Lin Rong couldn't sense its life aura, he could pinpoint its location using Life Sense.
The reasoning was simple: among all the life auras in Thunderclap Canyon, the one with the strongest destructive attribute was undoubtedly it.
Thunderclap Canyon was vast.
Even with Life Sense, the Thunderclap Nether Vine was located on the outskirts of Thunderclap Canyon.
However, it took the Dragon Soul over half an hour to reach their destination.
Finally, Lin Rong witnessed what a Spirit Beast with the Thunder God Bloodline looked like, just as the legends described.
On a sheer cliff in the canyon, there was a protruding rock where a massive vine was growing.
The main body of the vine was a deep blue, almost black in hue.
Eight thick tendrils waved wildly, constantly striking the surrounding cliffs with the power of destruction and thunder.
Upon closer inspection, Lin Rong noticed that one of the tendrils was slightly shorter and thinner than the other seven.
"This Thunderclap Nether Vine has a cultivation age of eight thousand eight hundred sixty-four years, and it is continuously absorbing thunder power to enhance its cultivation."
As Lin Rong approached, he sensed the specific age and cultivation level of the Thunderclap Nether Vine.
With the soul power barrier created by the Old Butler, they easily drew near the Thunderclap Nether Vine.
"What a dense force of destruction!"
Even with the Old Butler's soul power barrier in place, the destructive energy emanating from the Thunderclap Nether Vine still left Lin Rong feeling a bit shaken.
Seeing the Thunderclap Nether Vine, which had fallen into a frenzied state, Lin Rong decisively released his Talent Domain.
A sky-blue halo spread from Lin Rong, quickly enveloping the entire Thunderclap Nether Vine.
Under Lin Rong's control, within the domain, countless faint blue dragon shadows flickered into existence.
These dragon shadows continuously flowed into the Thunderclap Nether Vine, gradually converting its overwhelmingly intense destructive power into life force.
This was the exclusive effect of the Vine Dragon Domain—Life Dragon Soul!
However, the intelligence of the Thunderclap Nether Vine had completely succumbed to madness and destruction.
Not only did it refuse to cooperate with the treatment, but it also began to resist.
"This is quite troublesome!"
Seeing this, Lin Rong reluctantly unleashed the Talent Spirit Skill awakened from his Talent Domain—Evil-Breaking Dragon's Roar!
A dragon's roar echoed between the cliffs.
The moment Evil-Breaking Dragon's Roar was released, it could eliminate all negative effects on targets within its range.
The Thunderclap Nether Vine, lost in madness and destruction, naturally regained its senses upon hearing the dragon's roar.
Now aware of the situation, the Thunderclap Nether Vine began to cooperate with the Life Dragon Soul's treatment.
With the Thunderclap Nether Vine's active cooperation, the efficiency of converting destructive power into life force significantly increased.
Two hours later.
After the Life Dragon Soul continuously transformed destructive power into life force, the destructive energy within the Thunderclap Nether Vine finally dropped back from the critical point to the safe threshold.
"Given this situation, compared to earlier, the Thunderclap Nether Vine should be able to hold on for another three to four days."
Lin Rong observed the Thunderclap Nether Vine, which had improved significantly, and muttered to himself:
"In that case, I'll treat it every three days."
"If I heal the Thunderclap Nether Vine too well, it might not suffer enough before death, reducing the probability of obtaining the Spirit Bone."
"Alright, that's the plan. I'll head back to the camp to cultivate and aim to break through to level forty soon, so I won't have to work this hard."
After muttering to himself, Lin Rong controlled the Dragon Soul and flew away from Thunderclap Canyon with the Old Butler.
"???"
On the cliff, the Thunderclap Nether Vine, which possessed innate intelligence, was left puzzled, wondering why it was treated and then the people just left.
It was the first time it had ever experienced such a comfortable feeling, and before it could fully enjoy it, how could it end?
If only Lin Rong's murmured voice hadn't been so quiet, and the Thunderclap Nether Vine hadn't been so absorbed in the healing of the Life Dragon Soul, it would have heard what he said earlier.
Otherwise, upon hearing the cause and effect, the Thunderclap Nether Vine might have immediately considered self-destruction.
Not far from Thunderclap Canyon, on a nearby hill, Lin Rong was training at the camp set up there, going to Thunderclap Canyon every three days to treat the Thunderclap Nether Vine.
Days passed.
Finally, on the day when Lin Rong was just three days shy of turning nine, his Soul Power broke through to level forty.
"Achievement unlocked, an eight-year-old prospective Soul Ancestor. Once I absorb the Thunderclap Nether Vine's Spirit Ring, I can drop the 'prospective' title."
Lin Rong had high hopes for the fourth Spirit Ring.
The first three Spirit Skills of the Nine Bend Vine Dragon were:
Dragon Soul Awakening, Green Leaf Mark, and Azure River Shines Upon Azure Sky.
Among these three major Spirit Skills, two were attribute amplification skills, one was a space skill, and none were offensive skills.
Although the Nine Bend Vine Dragon was powerful in its strikes due to the boosts from Dragon Soul Awakening and Azure River Shines Upon Azure Sky, Lin Rong still lacked an explosive offensive option.
To put it simply, the Nine Bend Vine Dragon had high basic attack damage, but it still needed a high-damage ultimate move.
Thunder was inherently the most destructive aspect of the wood attribute.
With the Thunder God Bloodline, the Thunderclap Nether Vine stood at the pinnacle among all lightning attribute Spirit Beasts.
Therefore, the Spirit Skills brought by the Thunderclap Nether Vine would surely not disappoint Lin Rong.
...
The Dragon Soul carried Lin Rong and the Old Butler once again to the sheer cliff.
Seeing Lin Rong approach, the Thunderclap Nether Vine felt a bit puzzled:
"Didn't we just have a treatment two days ago? It hasn't even been three days; why is he here again?"
"Who cares? It would be best if he could come every day; that way, I can absorb the power of thunder without restraint and grow."
The treatment every three days had led the Thunderclap Nether Vine to start engaging in reckless behavior.
Each time Lin Rong came for treatment, the destructive power within the Thunderclap Nether Vine was nearly uncontrollable.
But Lin Rong wouldn't change the frequency of the treatments; after all, the Thunderclap Nether Vine was intelligent enough to know how to manage its reckless tendencies.
Lin Rong stepped onto the Dragon Soul and approached the Thunderclap Nether Vine, then activated his Talent Domain.
The Thunderclap Nether Vine thought Lin Rong was about to start the treatment and, out of habit, relaxed its mind completely.
However, instead of receiving the healing from the Life Dragon Soul, it was met with the soul-shaking impact of the Evil-Breaking Dragon's Roar.
Caught completely off guard, the Thunderclap Nether Vine's consciousness was thrown into chaos, temporarily losing control over its body.
Seizing the opportunity, Lin Rong unleashed the Nine Bend Vine Dragon to end the life of the Thunderclap Nether Vine.
A deep purple Spirit Ring materialized, but Lin Rong didn't look at it; instead, he directed the Nine Bend Vine Dragon to search among the eight tendrils of the Thunderclap Nether Vine for any dropped Spirit Bones.
The eight tendrils of the Thunderclap Nether Vine were torn apart one by one.
The first six tendrils yielded no Spirit Bones, but when the seventh was halfway destroyed, the Nine Bend Vine Dragon controlled a root to pass Lin Rong something.
At the same time, the azure true dragon form of the main root leaned closer to Lin Rong, seemingly wanting to take credit.
"Well done."
Lin Rong praised, reaching out to take the item.
"This is a leg bone, the Left Leg Bone. Thankfully, it's not the Right Leg Bone."
The Spirit Bone in his hand was a deep blue color, completely transparent.
Despite being a millennium-old Spirit Bone, it was surprisingly intact, showing no difference in completeness from a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
"I wonder if this Spirit Bone can inherit the ability to absorb thunder and grow from the Thunderclap Nether Vine."
"Guess I'll find out."
Saying this, the Spirit Bone floated above the remains of the Thunderclap Nether Vine.
In Lin Rong's perception, the Spirit Bone gradually absorbed the power of thunder to enhance its age.
"Very good, the Thunderclap Nether Vine really didn't disappoint me."
A smile appeared on Lin Rong's face as he reached out, retrieving the Spirit Bone and placing it into the Dragon Pattern Jade Bead.
Then, his gaze fell on the deep purple Spirit Ring, wrapping it in Soul Power to take it with him.
This place was filled with thunder; it wasn't a good spot to absorb a Spirit Ring.
The Spirit Ring could exist for an hour after materializing.
That was enough time for the Dragon Soul to carry them back to the camp outside Thunderclap Canyon.
Half an hour later.
After Lin Rong returned to the camp, he sat down to rest for a while before immediately beginning to absorb the Spirit Ring from the Thunderclap Nether Vine.
Since the Thunderclap Nether Vine absorbed the destructive power of thunder for its growth, the energy contained within the Spirit Ring was extremely violent.
However, Lin Rong was no longer the same as before.
With three Spirit Rings that surpassed his limits and two growth-type Spirit Bones, he was able to withstand the power contained in the Thunderclap Nether Vine Spirit Ring with just his own strength.
On top of that, the Marrow Cleansing Scripture refined his power, and the Nine Bend Vine Dragon helped suppress and transform the energy of the Spirit Ring.
As a result, Lin Rong only felt a slight tingling sensation during the absorption process.
This Spirit Ring, over eight thousand eight hundred years old, was fully absorbed in less than half an hour.
"Absorbing this Spirit Ring felt like a full-body massage, all tingly and relaxing."
Lin Rong stood up, feeling the Soul Power within him.
"Peak level forty-two, just a bit more to reach level forty-five. Not too shabby."
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