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Ten days later.
Northern Tian Dou Empire, Ice-Sealed Forest.
Located in the north, the weather here was cold, quite close to the Extreme North.
Most of the people living around here were ice-attribute Spirit Masters or Spirit Masters who needed to hunt spirit beasts for rings.
Of course, there were also many spirit hunting teams making a living here.
Back in Nuoding City, Su Wen had actually considered hiring a spirit hunting team for his first ring.
It was only after meeting Su Yuntao that he abandoned his initial plan.
A real spirit hunting team was well-equipped, with at least multiple Spirit Ancestor-level combatants, and usually a Spirit King holding down the fort.
Some powerful teams might even have a Spirit Emperor.
With such a configuration, one job could feed them for a year, or even several years without worry.
In the small town outside the Ice-Sealed Forest, employees affiliated with various spirit hunting teams were shouting vigorously to attract customers.
Su Wen and Dugu Bo's appearance attracted many gazes.
However, Dugu Bo looked like someone not to be trifled with.
The discerning lackeys didn't dare to provoke them, at most smiling apologetically and asking if they needed help.
Su Wen naturally refused them one by one.
What a joke. With Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo, here, wouldn't hunting a ten-thousand-year spirit ring be like killing a chicken?
However, these lackeys were also useful. Su Wen picked one and asked, "What's your team's strength configuration?"
Speaking of this, the Grand Spirit Master, who looked like a waiter, puffed out his chest and proudly said, "Sir, to tell you the truth, our White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team is the biggest team within ten miles. Our captain is a genuine Spirit Emperor expert."
"Oh?" Hearing this, Su Wen continued to ask, "Does your team operate in the Ice-Sealed Forest year-round?"
Su Wen and Dugu Bo looked formidable, so the waiter didn't dare be presumptuous or impatient. "Of course. Our White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team has been rooted in this Ice-Sealed Forest for ten years."
Su Wen nodded.
"Does your team deal in intelligence?"
"Intelligence?" The waiter looked at Su Wen and Dugu Bo.
This kind of business did exist.
It was just that compared to leading a team to hunt spirit beasts, merely providing intelligence earned far less money.
However, the waiter showed no dissatisfaction, still smiling broadly. "I wonder what information you wish to know, sir?"
"I heard there are traces of a Mirror Image Beast in the Ice-Sealed Forest. Do you know anything about it?" Su Wen looked at the waiter, inquiring about the Mirror Image Beast.
The waiter sucked in a cold breath.
Mirror Image Beast.
My goodness.
That was a rare spirit beast with extremely strong combat power. Moreover, the rumors about the Mirror Image Beast in the Ice-Sealed Forest said it was at least ten thousand years old.
Did these two dare to hunt a Mirror Image Beast alone?
Seeing the man dazed, Su Wen called him back to reality and asked again.
"Ah, yes, yes, but I have to report this for specific information. My authority doesn't cover much."
Saying this, the waiter led Su Wen and Dugu Bo to the White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team's station.
Even if it wasn't a team-up job, information involving a Mirror Image Beast wouldn't be cheap. The profit he could earn wouldn't be bad, so he was naturally eager.
"Oh? Someone wants to know the whereabouts of the Mirror Image Beast?"
The deacon of the White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team looked at Su Wen and Dugu Bo after hearing the waiter's report.
His pupils visibly constricted when his gaze swept over Dugu Bo.
"Even I can't sense the slightest aura? This person is definitely unfathomable and not to be provoked."
The deacon withdrew his gaze, thought for a moment, and stated a number.
"Three thousand."
"Three thousand Gold Spirit Coins. Our White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team's intelligence will not disappoint you."
Seemingly confident in his team's intelligence, he directly quoted a price of three thousand Gold Spirit Coins.
This was naturally far less than the value of a ten-thousand-year-plus Mirror Image Beast, but it was just information that could be sold repeatedly.
"Three thousand Gold Spirit Coins?" Su Wen frowned.
He actually thought it was a bit high.
"It's not high. Our White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team has even launched hunting operations against the Mirror Image Beast and fought it at least three times. I believe our intelligence is worth this price," the deacon said unhurriedly.
Su Wen's eyes lit up.
In that case, it was indeed worth it.
It was just that three thousand Gold Spirit Coins...
"Speak quickly." Dugu Bo threw out a black card directly, his tone impatient.
The deacon took the black card, his eyes lighting up.
A black card... this not only required proof of assets over ten thousand Gold Spirit Coins but also required a cultivation of at least Spirit Emperor to obtain.
"Senior, it's like this..."
The deacon quickly told Su Wen and Dugu Bo the information he had on the Mirror Image Beast.
Leaving the White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team, Su Wen and Dugu Bo entered the Ice-Sealed Forest directly.
"Ice Crystal Valley..."
According to the White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team's information, this Mirror Image Beast lingered near the Ice Crystal Valley year-round. Even if it was hunted and driven away, it would sneak back after a period of time.
It had been a full year since they last hunted the Mirror Image Beast, so it should have returned to the Ice Crystal Valley.
"Little Wen, according to that deacon, this Mirror Image Beast is estimated to have nearly 20,000 years of cultivation. Are you sure you still want to absorb its spirit ring?"
Su Wen nodded firmly.
A spirit ring around 20,000 years old... he could absorb it!
He had enough confidence in himself now.
The increase in spiritual power was only one aspect. The illusion-breaking ability evolved by his Phantasmal Spirit Eye also gave Su Wen full confidence in dealing with the soul shock.
As for withstanding the impact of the spirit ring's power...
Su Wen expressed that after the Ice and Fire Body Tempering, his physical constitution was no longer what it used to be.
He hadn't just used the medicinal power for body tempering during that specific period.
In the following ten months, he had also cultivated near the spring, occasionally even jumping into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to absorb the spring water's power to temper his physique.
A few times, Dugu Bo was nearby and was almost scared to death by Su Wen's actions. Fortunately, Su Wen was fine.
Therefore, Su Wen wasn't worried about his physical constitution for absorbing a 20,000-year spirit ring.
"Good."
Dugu Bo wasted no more words and continued leading Su Wen toward the Ice Crystal Valley.
The third day.
Ice Crystal Valley.
In this massive valley spanning ten miles, Su Wen marveled at nature's craftsmanship.
He also understood why the Mirror Image Beast lingered here.
Mimicry cultivation.
Not only human Spirit Masters, but spirit beasts also selected their cultivation environments, choosing the most suitable place for themselves.
Many spirit beasts didn't live as many years as their cultivation suggested; mimicry cultivation was one reason.
Ice and snow had turned into sheets of ice mirrors on the valley walls, and large swathes of the ground looked like giant mirrors shattered into countless pieces.
"With such a large area, plus the light refraction from the ice mirrors, searching will be even more difficult."
"However, I have the Phantasmal Spirit Eye."
Su Wen activated the Phantasmal Spirit Eye. His eyes instantly became incredibly bright, with a brilliant light flowing within them. Piercing through the bewildering myriad of lights, he searched within the Ice Crystal Valley.
Three days later.
BOOM!
A thick, giant emerald-green serpent sprayed out a large cloud of poison gas.
The terrifying gas contained dreadful toxins, and the gas itself carried a violent energy impact.
Opposite it, a giant spirit beast covered in mirror-like scales was sent flying wildly by this mouthful of poison gas.
The Mirror Image Beast's scales emitted a splendid light, rapidly absorbing the poison on its body surface, and its original form instantly changed.
Two giant dark-green serpents suddenly appeared on the field.
"Hmph, your spirit skill effect can't be fully replicated to begin with, let alone with such a huge gap in our strength!" Dugu Bo snorted coldly and immediately went forward to pummel the other dark-green serpent.
Roar!
The Mirror Image Beast let out a miserable roar.
However, Dugu Bo was simply too strong for it. It quickly couldn't hold on and collapsed on the ground, dying, its body flowing with blood that was blue mixed with dark-green poison.
"Little Wen, it's up to you." Dugu Bo firmly bound the Mirror Image Beast with his snake tail, letting Su Wen come forward to deliver the final blow.
Su Wen had been waiting for a long time. At this moment, three fireballs, compressed to his limit, collided with each other driven by air currents and landed on the Mirror Image Beast's largest wound.
Dugu Bo released the Mirror Image Beast an instant before the three fireballs landed, turning into an afterimage and moving away.
At the same time, he also injected a large amount of nerve-paralyzing toxin into the beast's body.
The Mirror Image Beast, which had planned to use one last replication to escape this fatal blow—or at least not be killed in such a humiliating manner by a weak Spirit Master like Su Wen—instantly despaired.
It found it couldn't move.
It seemed to have lost control over the spirit power in its entire body, let alone use any spirit skills.
BOOM!
The fireballs exploded.
The already dying Mirror Image Beast perished on the spot. A pitch-black spirit ring slowly floated up from its corpse.
The pitch-black spirit ring seemed ready to swallow all light; it was profound and mysterious.
Su Wen took a deep breath, came to the beast's corpse, and prepared to absorb this spirit ring.
A brilliant ball of light instantly rushed into Su Wen's Sea of Consciousness.
After the medicinal power of the Autumn Water-Gazing Dew, Su Wen's Sea of Consciousness had become vast, like a giant lake.
The lake water formed by his spiritual power filled a full thirty percent of it.
After this brilliant light rushed into the Sea of Consciousness, an illusory Mirror Image Beast appeared in the sky above.
Su Wen's spiritual body condensed. Above it was the visualized scene of flying books within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
A giant, magnificent vertical eye emerged.
Mirror Image Beast's remnant soul: ???
It feels like the Spirit Master who killed me isn't so weak after all...
BOOM!
The Phantasmal Spirit Eye instantly mobilized the spiritual power within Su Wen's Sea of Consciousness and launched a counterattack on the Mirror Image Beast's remnant soul.
At the same time, the visualized object above Su Wen's spiritual body seemed to come alive, instantly suppressing downwards.
Bang!
The Mirror Image Beast's remnant soul dissipated...
Outside.
Dugu Bo watched Su Wen. Sensing the fluctuation of a remnant thought entering Su Wen's mind and the fluctuation of Su Wen's spiritual power, he immediately became nervous.
However, after only a moment, Su Wen's spiritual power fluctuations stabilized, leaving him dumbfounded.
"Is the effect of the Autumn Water-Gazing Dew that obvious?" Dugu Bo muttered.
But soon, Su Wen revealed a pained expression.
His entire body began to crack.
This shifted Dugu Bo's attention.
Carefully observing and sensing Su Wen's state, Dugu Bo breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's okay, it's okay. It's similar to the state when he absorbed the 5,300-year Stone Golem beyond his limit last time."
Without the trouble of soul shock, the other difficulties of exceeding the limit should result in the same reaction.
Although Dugu Bo thought this, he still carefully sensed Su Wen's condition.
Once something went wrong, he would do his best to save Su Wen's life.
Even if his path of Spirit Master cultivation might be ruined, at least he would still be alive. Su Wen's true talent in theory would still allow him to achieve greatness.
"So magical."
This was the most magical experience Su Wen had ever had absorbing a spirit ring.
The Mirror Image Beast's spirit ring origin transformed his spirit the most profoundly and thoroughly.
It permeated every corner of his spirit.
It couldn't be called a comprehensive improvement, but rather a comprehensive modification and adaptation, making Su Wen's spirit more convenient for using replication spirit skills.
The 'Paper Style' Su Wen had used in the past was, in itself, a simulation and alternative 'replication' of external objects.
The Mirror Image Beast's spirit ring origin began to strengthen Su Wen's spirit...
Su Wen also mobilized his Source Spirit Power and tried to ferry the spirit ring power from his meridians into his spirit space, investing it into the transformation of his spirit.
Time passed.
This time, Su Wen absorbed for a full ten hours.
The degree of transformation a ten-thousand-year ring brought to a spirit was indeed huge, as could be felt from the time it took.
As the absorption was completed, the pitch-black spirit ring settled outside Su Wen's three rings—one yellow and two purple—forming a rhythmic cycle with them.
Su Wen opened his eyes.
Dugu Bo finally relaxed completely.
Following that came an indescribable shock.
A ten-thousand-year fourth ring!
How incredible was this?
"It's a good thing you learned Xiao Zhan's unique technique, able to fight with your spirit and rings hidden," Dugu Bo said.
A thousand-year second ring, a ten-thousand-year fourth ring... from these two points, anyone would think Su Wen had found a way to absorb spirit rings beyond the limit.
Even if you sincerely told them this was also the result of coincidence and luck, no one would believe it.
"Since obtaining the fourth ring went so smoothly, we should head back," Dugu Bo said.
Obtaining the ten-thousand-year ring this time went far smoother than expected; it only took about half a month from start to finish.
It had to be said, the White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team's intelligence played a huge role.
Speaking of the White Wolf Spirit Hunting Team, Dugu Bo snorted coldly.
He had no goodwill towards this team.
If he weren't a Titled Douluo, but just a Spirit Saint, he probably would have been ambushed by that hunting team while fighting the Mirror Image Beast, right?
At that time, when his nine rings appeared, the rats in the shadows scurried away, thinking Dugu Bo and Su Wen hadn't noticed them. In reality, they just didn't care.
"Grandpa Dugu, I plan to return home for a trip, and by the way, bring my Grandpa Jack to Tian Dou City."
Old Jack was advanced in age and originally had no hope for cultivation.
But with the Earth Dragon Golden Melon, it was different.
At the very least, there was no need to worry about Old Jack's spirit quality.
And besides the Earth Dragon Golden Melon, Su Wen had other immortal herbs that could increase spirit power.
In short, it wouldn't be a problem for Old Jack to break through to level 30 or even 40 within a few years.
With the help of Su Wen's theory, Old Jack might even become a Spirit King within ten years.
Perhaps, in his lifetime, even Titled Douluo wasn't impossible.
Sweet Potato Douluo!
(End of this chapter)