--- Chapter 17 ---
A week later.
The cry of a thousand birds reverberated in the mountain range. I swiftly moved through complicated rocky terrains, dodging every illusory blade made of lunar forces that Han Yue launched from all sides and breaking every rock with cross-marked paint.
My vision blurred because of how fast I moved. However, it quickly went normal because of my strong spiritual power.
BOOM!
The last marked rock exploded as soon as my Chidori touched it.
"Done," I mumbled in satisfaction.
Han Yue walked out and clapped, "Xiao Yuan, you're so amazing! How did you dodge that attack of mine? I made sure to time it perfectly when you haven't even landed on the ground to hit your back."
"It feels like you have eyes on your back."
"Because I did." I smiled smugly.
"I have further explored the usage of spiritual power. Using it to enhance all my senses and increase my precognition ability."
"I call this Observation Haki!"
Han Yue tilted her head, "Observation... Haki?"
I nodded and explained, "Observation Haki is the appliance of spiritual power to observe our surroundings, creating a 360-degree spherical domain with you as the center."
"Of course, this is only possible when your spiritual power meets a certain condition."
"What condition?" Han Yue was eager to learn this new trick.
"Before that, do you still remember the classification of the spiritual power realm I taught you a few months ago?" I asked her back.
Han Yue nodded and answered, "The spiritual power realm is 'inherently' split into five realms. Spirit Origin Realm with numerical points of zero to ninety-nine, Spirit Connection Realm with numerical points of 100 to 499, Spirit Sea Realm with numerical points of 500 to 4,999, Spirit Abyss Realm with numerical points of 5,000 to 19,999, and lastly, Spirit Domain Realm with numerical points of 20,000 to 50,000."
"Each Spiritual Realm split into low, mid, and high."
"Spirit Origin Realm is the bottom floor of Spiritual Power, where most Spirit Masters are born with and stay their entire life."
"Spirit Connection Realm is when one's mind and heart can connect, achieving a control over "Spiritual Power" for various uses, the basics of spiritual power mastery."
"Spirit Sea Realm is only reached when one is cultivated to Spirit King Realm, which makes it possible to fend against the 10,000-year-old spirit ring's mental shock and absorb it."
"But you said most Spirit Kings in this era don't even know how to utilize their spiritual power."
"Yup, you found the answer there," I commented. "The Spirit Sea Realm is the condition one must meet to learn Observation Haki because, at this stage, one's spiritual sea has sublimed into clouds and is one step away from forming a Spiritual Sea."
"Wait, does that mean you have reached the Spirit Sea Realm?" Han Yue was dumbfounded.
I chuckled, "You can say it like this."
Even though I reached the Spirit Sea Realm, it was only the entry stage of this spiritual realm. I recently theorized and comprehended too many things, which triggered a natural growth of my spiritual power.
I'm still too far away to resist mental shock from the 10,000-year-old spirit ring, though I can purify the resentment away with Sky Poison Pearl. My cheat is just too good.
Even then, I didn't dare to put too much food on my plate. After all, I'm just a level 20, half-step Spirit Grandmaster.
Han Yue calculated in her mind and felt the state of her mental palace, realizing she was too far away from Spirit Sea Realm.
Thankfully, Han Yue's Glorious Moon is the ultimate yin, which means the growth speed of her spiritual power is naturally fast. She can reach Spirit Sea Realm in a few weeks if not a month or two.
Suddenly, a 100-year-old white sparrow appeared in the sky and perched on my shoulder. This spirit beast is the courier bird the Merchant Union tamed and used to exchange information.
It's not the fastest bird, but not even a thousand years spirit beast is as stealthy as this little fellow.
I rubbed the bird's head, fed it a few wild fruits, and took the letter from the compartment in its leg.
"Haha, they finally found it!" I couldn't help but laugh.
Han Yue snapped out of her thoughts because I laughed too hard and looked at my happy expression, "Xiao Yuan? Why did you suddenly laugh like this?"
I handed the letters to Han Yue, and she giggled, "Well, it seems we are getting your 2nd spirit ring soon."
In the letter, the lead manager of Merchant Union told me that they had discovered traces of an unknown plant-type spirit beast with lightning elements over 7,000 years old or higher.
When the agents of Merchant Union arrived at that place, the spirit beast was spotted killing and devouring a nearly 9,000-year-old Wind Baboon.
The spirit beast is said to reside at the edge of Star Dou Forest, near a soul-hunting town called Wind Prairie Town.
Wind Prairie Town is quite problematic, though.
"I didn't expect we would be visiting the Star Dou Forest soon. I heard it's dangerous, and even 100,000-year-old spirit beasts in the legend exist there." Huan Yue sighed in awe.
I assured her with logic, "We will only check the edge of Star Dou Forest, so we won't encounter or provoke any spirit beasts that are 100,000 years old. In fact, there won't even be any spirit beasts that are 10,000 years old at the edge."
"We should worry more about the humans than the spirit beasts."
"You're right." Han Yue nodded, easing her anxiety.
We have learned a lot from Silver Crow Mercenary.
"Alright, sister, let's get ready. We are heading to Wind Prairie Town at noon." After I said this, my sister instantly sprang into action, clearing our traces in the rocky mountain and the base we built in the rock formation.
At noon, I carried Han Yue like a princess before swiftly flying into the distance.
...
...
Wind Prairie Town is a "Soul Hunting Spot" famous in the Wuqin Province of the Tian Dou Empire because a 15,000-year-old spirit bone once dug out from the area.
Even though the 15,000-year-old spirit bone may not sound appealing to someone like me, who has become numb to such low-level treasure after reading about the protagonist of the Douluo Dalu series, who possesses rare and exceptional 100,000-year-old spirit bones, a 15,000-year-old spirit bone is still considered a highly precious treasure for ordinary Spirit Masters.
In fact, people fight to death for it.
Funnily, the 15,000-year-old spirit bone entered the eye of roaming Title Douluo in the end, and everyone's lives were in vain that day.
It's useless if you get treasure but can't protect it.
I kept Sky Poison Pearl's existence to myself, even telling my sister it was my innate ability to purify things. I'm not like a "certain" medical saint who got chased by countless greedy wolves after exposing treasure to help random people.
Swoosh!
A flicker of lightning illuminated the sky as we approached Wind Prairie Town. I went down and informed my sister we would continue on foot from here for the next mile.
I don't want to catch too much attention.
My sister pulled a black cloak and crescent moon-shaped mask, covering her body and beauty. She knew her beautiful appearance was bound to create trouble for me.
I also pulled a mask woven from my Purple Silver Grass, placed it over my handsome face, and looked like Zoro with a mask on with gleaming purple-silver light.
Then, we walked to the Wind Prairie Town.
A carriage passed on the way there, and someone suddenly called us.
"Hey, you two, wait!"
A black-haired woman in a bold, red battle dress stepped down from the carriage and approached us with her bold steps.
'No fucking way! How could it be her? What is the chance of us meeting her here!' I used the Eyes of Truth out of instinct and learned the identity of the red-dressed woman right away.
She is...