--- Chapter 22 ---
Star Dou Forest, Outer Area.
I was annoyed.
Liu Erlong, this wild female tyrannosaurus, is supposed to be rational and normal after I cleansed her madness. However, the surprising side-effect of my treatment made her more reliable as the dean of Blue Tyrant Academy.
She has asked me to join the academy seventy-five times in the last three hours. She also told me she would personally accept me as her disciple, to which I responded with a sneer.
Bitch, please. Your cultivation is a complete mess.
Liu Erlong reached the spirit saint at her, which is commendable, but her "Fire Dragon" martial soul was on the verge of controlling herself.
But she's not even a title douluo. Her knowledge about martial souls and their development is "certainly" based on Yu Xiaogang's weak, unreliable theoretical intellect.
What makes things worse for me is Liu Erlong even boasted the "Ten Great Core Spirit Competencies" as the standard model for cultivating commoner spirit masters. I couldn't imagine how spirit masters fucked their future because of those logic-sounded but messed theories.
Even though Ten Great Core Spirit Competencies can give commoners a basic outline for cultivating their martial souls, the part of the spirit ring's absorption limit already steers them to the wrong path.
Every physique is different. You can't equalize the physique of someone with beast-type martial souls to someone with tool-type and plant-type martial souls.
It's like comparing a steel and a sponge.
A 423-year-old spirit ring sounds fine until you realize a pitifully weak 10-level spirit master with low innate powers couldn't even absorb a 200-year-old spirit ring. Then, the "fatal" outburst happened.
It's the truth about the spirit master system in this era.
The theory also misled spirit masters of some "special" martial souls into absorbing incompatible spirit rings. This man allowed "Blue Silver Grass" to absorb spirit rings from poisonous, animal spirit beasts, disregarding the life and tenacious quality of Blue Silver Grass, which allowed it to thrive in any environment.
If his disciple weren't the protagonist, who possessed noble bloodlines from his parents, that "Blue Silver Grass" would be destroyed beyond repair due to the degradation of origins.
I can't imagine what would happen if weak spirit masters using "Blue Silver Grass" were allowed to absorb a poison-type spirit ring. Without Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill and the bloodline of the Blue Silver Emperor, they could end up poisoned and face death instead.
In fact, Tang San's path leads many generations of Tang Sect's leaders (they must have Blue Silver Grass Spirit) 10,000 years into the future to sabotage their cultivation as spirit masters because of this matter.
Allowing beast-type martial souls to absorb spirit rings from plant-type spirit beasts could create a complication, though not much because the beast-type spirit masters are inherently stronger.
Cow-like martial souls could absorb a spirit ring from a grass-like spirit beast because they were the natural food of cows, part of their diet and growth method.
Of course, first, we must consider the elemental attributes, the nature of martial souls, and compatibility.
Anyway, where am I again?
Oh, yeah, Liu Erlong's recruitments.
I rejected her flatly.
Liu Erlong's teaching ability is one thing, but the Blue Tyrant Academy's background is not it for me. After all, it's still considered part of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan's property. Liu Erlong doesn't know or pretends to ignore that land, facility, and money were 'originally' coming from her father.
Who knew if the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan would decide to take these back one day?
If I joined the Blue Lightning Tyrant Academy, I was bound to enter the eyes of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan, and they might become greedy because of my abnormal cultivation speed, prowess, and knowledge.
I have read enough cultivation novels to know something is going to be shit once I enter the eyes of "certain" people.
So, hell nah!
I can build my own damn academy if I want. I have enough money and knowledge to do so, but I don't.
Once again, I don't want to attract too much attention when my strength is still at the bottom of the Douluo Continent.
Then, we arrived at a valley.
Rumble!
A roar-like thunderclap echoed in the valley, making my heartbeat rise a few times. "We found it!"
Liu Erlong smirked, "Okay, follow my lead closely."
"We will hunt this spirit beast as efficiently as possible."
"No, you protect my sister and look out for 10,000-year-old spirit beasts that might come to this place," I ordered calmly. "I will hunt the plant-type spirit beast on my own."
"What?!" Liu Erlong was shocked.
"Are you crazy? We are talking about a plant-type spirit beast over 7,000 years old here!"
I gave her a confident look, "Then, observe well."
"I will show you that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."
"Do your best, Xiao Yuan!" Han Yue cheered for me. She had confidence in me because she witnessed my growth and fighting prowess after training together for months.
"You guys are crazy!" Liu Erlong was speechless.
Even then, Liu Erlong couldn't persuade me, and we entered the valley cautiously.
After crossing the wet ground, we finally spotted our target: a bamboo trunk over seven to eight meters tall and 30 cm in thickness. Its outer layer gleamed purple-silver hue, and its leaves flickered with white electricity, vibrating the surrounding air and producing a wailing-like sound.
As usual, the Eyes of Truth come in handy.
...
[Name: Fallen Lightning Bamboo]
[Race: Spirit Beast (Plant-type)]
[Cultivation Age: 8,100 years old]
[Description: A bamboo, blessed by the power of the Angel God, inherited her holiness but failed to inherit her fire and light elements, transforming them into holy lightning instead. This mutation made the bamboo seem "fallen" in the eyes of the devout believers of the late Angel God, leading to its exile to Star Dou Forest, where it had to survive alone despite its young age]
[Obtainable Spirit Skills: White Holy Lightning (85%), Wail of Thunderous (10%) Angel, Purple-Silver Spear of Holiness (3%), Angel's Descent (1.75%), Fallen Sacred Growth (0.25%)]
[Fallen Lightning Bamboo's weakness: The bamboo couldn't move its body, forever trapped in the muddy ground]
...
"Dayum!" I couldn't help but be amazed by this bamboo's history.
After all, who would have thought this bamboo had a connection with the late Angel God? However, this made me question the judgment of those devoid believers for throwing such a good spirit beast away.
This bamboo must be left for Angel God's inheritor because one of the obtainable skills is Angel's Descent, a skill Qian Renxue used!
I couldn't believe it. Then, again, I don't know enough about Spirit Hall's true religion. After all, Fallen Lightning Bamboo might be considered unorthodox for Angel God's followers.
Liu Erlong frowned because this bamboo gave her a dreadful sensation like a 10,000-year-old spirit beast. "Xiao Yuan, do you really want to hunt this spirit beast? I don't know what kind of bamboo this is, but I can guess the age based on the eight sections, meaning this bamboo is 8,000 years old or older."
"I don't think you're a Spirit Ancestor, so the spirit ring of this spirit beast is beyond your absorption limit."
"Oh, why do you think so?" I smiled at her teasingly.
Liu Erlong sighed, "From the Ten Great Core Spirit Competencies, I knew that the limit of the 4th spirit ring is less than 3,000 - 5,000 years."
"Do you really believe those theories as absolute?" I kept smiling at this silly female tyrannosaurus.
"Yes." Liu Erlong recalled a "certain" man." She continued, "You must be a half-step Spirit Elder, which means your limit is around 1,800 or 2,000 years."
"Haha, what makes you think Xiao Yuan is a half-step Spirit Elder?" Han Yue watched this conversation in amusement and couldn't help but comment.
Liu Erlong was baffled, "Aren't Xiao Yuan a half-step Spirit Elder? He's here to hunt his third spirit ring, right? It's hard to believe he's a Spirit Ancestor."
"Well, then, watch this, Senior Erlong!"
I laughed and slowly walked to the Fallen Lightning Bamboo. Purple Silver Grass appeared on my right palm, growing rapidly and wrapping me like a mummy.
Then, a strong electricity current started dressing me like armor, causing my hair to spike up.
"I will break your common sense..."
A bright, purple spirit ring of a 5,000-year-old rose from the ground and shone as bright as the sun in this dim valley.
"H-How could this be... O-One Spirit Ring?" Liu Erlong's eyes widened in disbelief.
"From how dark the spirit ring is, it's above 4,000 years old!"
Then, Liu Erlong realized something glaringly important. "No, wait! Xiao Yuan, you! You're a half-step Spirit Grandmaster!??"