Chapter 71: Eight-Thousand-Year Soul-Locking Falcon!
Hearing this, Xiao Wu silently nodded. No one understood this principle better than she did.
To ease the heavy atmosphere, Lin Yuan changed the topic, his gaze falling on the battle armor covering Xiao Wu's body.
"So?" he asked with a smile. "Are you satisfied with the real combat performance of this one-word battle armor?"
The moment battle armor was mentioned, Xiao Wu's eyes instantly lit up, and the gloom from earlier vanished entirely.
She gestured excitedly. "Brother! You're amazing! This battle armor is practically divine!"
"Even though I can feel that my soul power still isn't enough to fully activate all its amplification circuits…"
"But just the boost to strength and speed alone—plus the defense from the metal—when that Soul Grandmaster slashed at me earlier, he didn't even leave a mark!"
Watching Xiao Wu speak with such animation, Lin Yuan smiled.
"As long as you're satisfied." He reached out and gently rubbed her head.
...
The next day.
Lin Yuan and Xiao Wu left the tavern and headed straight into the Star Dou Forest.
In the early morning, a thin mist shrouded the forest.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, scattering mottled shadows across the ground. The air was filled with the scent of damp earth and a faint trace of blood.
They didn't hire any mercenary group. Instead, the two moved nimbly through the jungle, swift yet silent.
"Brother."
Xiao Wu followed closely behind Lin Yuan, cautiously scanning their surroundings as she asked in a low voice, "The Star Dou Forest is huge. Do you have any idea where those two soul beasts you want might be?"
"If we just wander around blindly, we might not find them even after a whole month."
Lin Yuan stopped and confirmed their direction before nodding. "I know the general area. Both the Thousand-Eyed Demon Eagle and the Soul-Locking Falcon are flying-type predators, and they prefer living in groups."
"They usually build their nests on cliff faces or atop extremely tall ancient trees."
"If we head toward higher ground, we won't go wrong."
Xiao Wu nodded, then seemed to recall something and asked curiously, "By the way, brother—what age are you planning for your second soul ring?"
"Your first soul ring was already a thousand years old. What about this one?"
Once their relationship had reached a certain point, Lin Yuan no longer hid the truth about his first soul ring's age from her.
After all, they were already living together. There was really nothing left to conceal.
If circumstances allowed, Xiao Wu might've already gone from being a 'sworn little sister' to something much more.
As Lin Yuan used the God-Killing Spear to clear the thorny brush ahead, he replied casually, "At least seven or eight thousand years."
"Actually," he glanced back at Xiao Wu, "if possible, I even want to try seeing whether I can directly absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring."
"Ten thousand years?!"
Xiao Wu cried out in shock. Even her rabbit ears stood straight up as she shook her head frantically.
"No, no! Absolutely not!"
"Brother, are you crazy?!"
"Soul beasts above ten thousand years are fundamentally different from thousand-year ones!"
"After they die, their souls don't dissipate immediately. Instead, powerful resentment remains."
"That means when a soul master absorbs the soul ring, they not only have to withstand the energy impact but also resist a violent soul shock!"
Her expression turned solemn. "That's why a soul master must reach rank fifty, with sufficiently strong mental power, before being qualified to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring."
"You're only at rank twenty right now. Even if your body could handle it, your spiritual sea would be crushed by resentment and turn you into an idiot!"
Seeing how anxious Xiao Wu looked, Lin Yuan stopped and regarded her with an amused smile.
"Oh? Didn't expect this."
"My Xiao Wu usually looks so absent-minded—yet you're this knowledgeable about high-level soul master theory?"
"Even Master, that half-baked guy, might not know the term 'soul shock.'"
"Uh…"
Xiao Wu's expression instantly stiffened.
Crap!
She'd let something slip.
As a transformed hundred-thousand-year soul beast, this knowledge was common sense to her.
But in the human world, this was secret knowledge only high-level soul masters knew.
"Well… um…"
Her eyes darted around as she fidgeted with her fingers, stammering, "I… I heard my mom talk about it once..."
Fortunately, Lin Yuan didn't press the issue. After all, he already knew she was a transformed hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
Xiao Wu puffed out her cheeks slightly. He clearly knew why she knew all this, yet he still had to ask.
How was she supposed to answer that?!
After a moment, she asked softly, "Brother, are you really planning to absorb an eight-thousand-year-old one?"
"Even if you consumed ten-thousand-year whale rubber, that should only let you absorb up to five thousand years at most, right?"
Lin Yuan smiled. "That's because this time, I got lucky outside and obtained a hundred-thousand-year soul bone. After absorbing it, my physique improved again."
A hundred-thousand-year soul bone!
That was an absolute treasure in the soul master world!
"Brother… you… You're just saying that out loud like this?"
Xiao Wu lowered her voice in panic, glancing around nervously as if afraid someone might overhear.
"Do you have any idea how precious that thing is?"
"If others found out, even Titled Douluo wouldn't hesitate to kill for it!"
Seeing Xiao Wu even more nervous than himself, warmth filled Lin Yuan's heart.
He smiled and gently rubbed her head. "Between the two of us, who do you think we are?"
"You're my sister—someone I trust the most."
"Could it be that you'd betray me over a piece of bone and join forces with outsiders?"
Xiao Wu shook her head fiercely, swearing with utmost seriousness. "Never! Even if I died, I'd never reveal even a single word of my brother's secret!"
Lin Yuan nodded in satisfaction. "That's why I told you. I trust you."
Suddenly, he leaned close to her ear and whispered mischievously, "After all, we've been eating and living together for two years now. You could say we've already been… completely honest with each other."
"Is there any part of me you haven't seen?"
"Ah!"
Xiao Wu instantly turned red from head to toe, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Her mind flashed back to that humiliating scene after she accidentally consumed whale rubber—when she'd clung to Lin Yuan like an octopus.
"Y-You pervert!"
"I'm not talking to you anymore!"
She spat out a curse and ran ahead, clutching her burning cheeks.
Though she complained aloud, her heart felt warm and sweet.
That unconditional trust made her feel that, in this human world, she had finally found a true place to belong.
...
Three days later.
At the base of a sheer cliff.
Lin Yuan and Xiao Wu finally found their target.
"Shh—"
Lin Yuan pulled Xiao Wu behind a massive boulder and pointed toward the cliff above.
There, dozens of massive nests dotted the cliff face.
More than ten large birds with gray iron-colored feathers and blade-sharp gazes circled in the sky.
Soul-Locking Falcons!
A powerful soul beast species famed for its speed and mental-locking abilities!
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End of Chapter