"Nan'er, let's rest here for a bit. We're almost at the outer zone, and there will be more and more Spirit Beasts ahead."
"Alright." Wang Nan stopped as he was told, took two deep breaths to calm himself, then walked to the side and sat down. While resting, he looked towards the boundless forest in the distance. That was the largest Spirit Beast habitat on the Douluo Continent—the Star Dou Great Forest.
The first time Wang Nan heard that name was in his previous life. He wasn't sure if he had Transmigrated or Reincarnated; after living a short twenty-odd years in his previous life, when his consciousness reawakened, he had already been born into this world.
Like most people in this world, he Awakened his Spirit at the age of six. As expected, his Spirit was the Coiling Dragon Rod, just like his father's, with Innate spirit power at Rank Seven.
Since then, besides meditating to cultivate spirit power every day, he also focused on strengthening his body and practicing rod techniques. Now, more than a year had passed in a flash, and it was time for him to acquire his first spirit ring.
"Here, eat something." Wang Xing pulled out some dry rations from his storage spirit tool and handed them over, just as he saw Wang Nan gazing towards the Star Dou Great Forest. "What, are you worried about the spirit ring?"
"A little." Wang Nan nodded. Although he had memories from his previous life and was not unfamiliar with Spirits and spirit rings, absorbing a spirit ring was still a first for him. Amidst the excitement and anticipation, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
"Haha, don't be nervous. I've already picked out a good one for you from my previous trips. Our target is in the outer zone, so we won't encounter too much danger on the way," Wang Xing chuckled and sat down next to Wang Nan.
"You don't need to worry about the rest. The process of acquiring a spirit ring is essentially a contest of strength between a Spirit Master and a Spirit Beast. With your current physique, plus your mental force, which far surpasses that of your peers, there's no reason for you not to succeed. Alright, don't overthink it. Meditate well to recover your spirit power and adjust your state."
"Understood," Wang Nan finished the dry rations in his hand in a few bites, then closed his eyes.
Feeling his body enter a meditative state, Wang Nan's consciousness arrived in another pure white space.
This was his Sea of Consciousness. Perhaps it was a benefit of him being a Transmigrator; although he wasn't a Spirit Master of the mental attribute, his mental force far exceeded that of Spirit Masters of the same Rank, which allowed him to divide his attention and come here during meditation.
He didn't need to specifically look; with just a thought, the entire scene within his Sea of Consciousness was grasped by Wang Nan. His consciousness-condensed body floated in mid-air, below him was a lake symbolizing mental force, and above his head was a ball of light that had appeared there when his Spirit Awakened.
Speaking of this ball of light, Wang Nan was excited for a long time when he first saw it, thinking that his "talent" had arrived. But after more than a year of being with it, he still hadn't figured out how to use it. He could only feel a faint connection between it and himself, and every time he tried to control it, his mental force would increase, but that was all.
Never mind, having it is better than not having it.
Meditating and exercising his mental force as usual, half an hour quickly passed.
"How was your rest?" Wang Xing had stood up at some point and was cautiously observing his surroundings not far away.
"I'm ready."
"Good, let's go."
As Wang Nan and his father delved deeper, the ground beneath their feet became moist, and vines and thorns grew increasingly abundant. Suddenly, a vine beneath Wang Nan's foot quickly began to slide.
"Be careful."
Wang Xing's warning had barely left his mouth when Wang Nan had already reacted. Spirit power flowed within his body, and a dark black rod appeared in Wang Nan's hand. As spirit power was injected, the rod grew longer and longer, until it was similar to his height, with faint patterns coiling around it, like a Dragon swimming upon it.
After releasing his Spirit, Wang Nan's heart settled. Looking down at his feet again, the "vine" had already transformed into a long, emerald-green snake, flicking its forked tongue.
A Ten-year Tree Snake. Having memories from his previous life had many benefits; although there were some differences, Wang Nan had learned the language and writing of this world very early on. At only seven years old, he had already read many books, so he recognized the Spirit Beast before him at a glance.
"How about it, want to try your hand?" Wang Xing had clearly also recognized this Spirit Beast, but he didn't act immediately. Instead, he looked at Wang Nan.
Wang Xing brought Wang Nan to the Star Dou Great Forest, naturally wanting to train Wang Nan's practical combat ability, and this Tree Snake before them was a good opponent.
"Alright!" Wang Nan was not polite, staring at the Tree Snake before him and raising his rod to attack.
The Tree Snake's movements were not slow. It opened its mouth, and two streams of venom shot out, heading straight for Wang Nan's face.
'It's a Spirit Beast after all; even its attacks are so… straightforward.'
Recalling his usual sparring sessions with his father, Wang Nan subtly dodged, easily evading the attack. Then, gripping the Coiling Dragon Rod with both hands, he brought it down with a powerful, sweeping strike.
The Tree Snake retracted its head, its body flexibly swaying to dodge the blow, and then moved to the base of a tree, coiling its body upwards around the trunk. Although it was only a Ten-year Spirit Beast, its combat awareness was not weak; it saw that Wang Nan was using a long weapon and thought to use the dense branches to block Wang Nan's attack.
Wang Nan's first strike missed. Using the residual force from the first blow, he spun around, swinging the rod from behind him, delivering another downward chop. The moment the Coiling Dragon Rod made contact with the branch, with a "crack," the branch snapped and fell onto the Tree Snake's head along with the Coiling Dragon Rod.
With just one hit, the Tree Snake's head was already battered beyond recognition, and its body lost the strength to coil around the tree. With a "thud," it fell to the ground, its headless body bouncing a few more times before finally becoming still. A moment later, a white spirit ring slowly rose.
Its tactics were indeed good, but unfortunately, it underestimated Wang Nan's strength. Although Wang Nan did not have a spirit ring, his Rank Ten spirit power was solid. With a full-strength blow from him, how could ordinary branches possibly stop him?
'Spirit Beasts are so fragile?' Wang Nan was a little surprised. This was his first real combat experience with a Spirit Beast, and he had taken it very seriously, having already thought of several follow-up attack methods. Who knew that after two rod strikes, the Spirit Beast was directly gone.
"Hmm, good, excellent," Wang Xing's voice sounded from the side.
Although he knew Wang Nan was much smarter and more precocious than his peers, for a seven-year-old child, daring to attack a Spirit Beast was already good enough. To be able to easily defeat it with just Rank Ten spirit power was somewhat beyond Wang Xing's expectations. While admiring him, he also thought of something else.
'Should Nan'er's combat training be adjusted?'