At the border between the Sylvis Kingdom and the Star Luo Empire.
On the wide official road, a carriage was racing quickly, entering the Star Luo Empire.
This was a spacious and elegant four-horse carriage.
The carriage's chassis was made from fine steel, and underneath, there were sixteen large springs designed to absorb bumps.
This structure allowed the carriage to remain steady even on rugged mountain paths, let alone when traveling along the smooth official roads.
Its only drawback was that the carriage was very heavy, requiring at least four horses to pull it.
This kind of carriage was a proud creation of the Li clan, and it was quite popular among the aristocracy in Tiandou City.
Before the Li clan allied with Tang San to sell hidden weapons, the revenue from after-sales service of this kind of carriage accounted for more than 20% of the clan's annual income.
After Tang San provided the blueprints for making the hidden weapon parts, the disciples of the Li clan focused on forging those parts, and most of their previous business had been canceled.
Naturally, the four-horse carriages were no longer being made or sold.
However, they dared not cancel the after-sales service for these carriages.
Because the majority of the high-ranking officials in Tiandou City had purchased such four-horse carriages, canceling the after-sales service would offend nearly all of the city's powerful figures.
As the saying goes, "scarcity makes things precious."
Once the Li clan stopped producing the four-horse carriages, these carriages became a symbol of status in Tiandou City.
The customized versions were even rarer, and only the highest-ranking nobles and officials could afford them.
…
Leaving the official road, the carriage entered a rugged wilderness road.
Inside the carriage.
The cool breeze blew, lifting the curtains and tousling the strands of Lin Rong's hair. He gazed out of the window at the distant scenery, his expression relaxed and natural, seeming at ease and leisure.
At this moment, more than a month had passed since his second soul ring hunting trip in the Star Dou Forest.
Lin Rong's soul power level had reached the 23rd rank.
After absorbing the 981-year-old Sky Qing Bamboo soul ring, his soul power had been raised from level 20 to the peak of level 22.
So, just a few days ago, he smoothly broke through to the 23rd rank.
Additionally, Lin Rong had successfully absorbed the head soul bone dropped by the Sky Qing Bamboo, which could absorb both spatial and life energies from the air.
Before absorbing the soul bone, Lin Rong had made sure to follow the plan.
He had the old butler use the Star Power to purify the soul bone thoroughly.
Perhaps because Lin Rong had encountered unexpected events during his previous soul ring absorptions, the cautious old butler even used his Seventh Soul Skill: Star Body, to ensure the soul bone was completely purified.
After using Star Body, all soul skills except for the Seventh Soul Skill would have their power doubled, while the soul power consumption was reduced by 50%. However, it came with a seven-day cooldown.
The dense and pure Star Power almost instantly purified the residual soul power from the soul bone.
But the old butler remained cautious. Afraid there might still be remnants of the Sky Qing Bamboo's soul, he repeated the purification process several times, and only after confirming everything was safe did he give the soul bone to Lin Rong.
After the old butler finished purifying the soul bone, Lin Rong took it, summoned his Nine Curve Vine Dragon Martial Soul, and used the pure Life Force from the Dragon Domain to refine the soul bone completely.
After completing all these steps, Lin Rong felt at ease and began absorbing the head soul bone.
During this process, the old butler kept the Star Body active, ready to use his First Soul Skill, Falling Stars, at double strength to treat Lin Rong if anything went wrong.
Fortunately, there were no accidents during Lin Rong's absorption, which made the nervous old butler breathe a sigh of relief.
"Grandpa Yu, do you think everything will go smoothly with our journey to the Star Luo Empire?"
Inside the carriage, Lin Rong leaned against the window and turned his head to ask the old butler softly.
The old butler was sitting on a cushion on one side, peeling fruit with a small knife in hand.
On the nearby table, there was a fruit platter almost ready.
Upon hearing Lin Rong's question, the old butler continued peeling fruit with his usual gentle tone and answered:
"Although Bai He is arrogant and stingy, as the head of the Sensitive clan and having lived a long life, he is not someone who lacks insight."
"Moreover, the young master's sincerity is undeniable. A ginseng root that can only be passed down through a family, Bai He, that old fool, can't find any reason to refuse, whether for face or substance."
As he spoke, the old butler finished preparing the fruit platter and handed it to Lin Rong.
"Yes, I hope that old man will know how to be timely, or else..."
Lin Rong's eyes flickered coldly as he picked up a spoon and took a bite of fruit.
Although the Sharp-tailed Swift Martial Soul of the Sensitive clan was not lethal, Bai He was still a Soul Douluo.
Even though his soul rings and soul skills did not include any offensive abilities, his over 80th-level soul power would make it easy for him to overpower Lin Rong with one hand.
Moreover, Bai He's unrivaled speed meant that even with the old butler by Lin Rong's side, his safety could not be guaranteed.
The things Bai He held in his hands, as well as the subsequent matters related to the Breaking clan, were critical components of the plan and could not afford failure.
But life was fragile. Once dead, Lin Rong would passively trigger the external soul bone's "Heart of the Oak" skill, which would trigger the "Flower Changing Wood" technique and take a long cooldown before his second life could allow him to continue to fight.
During this period, if Lin Rong died, he would truly be gone.
That's why Lin Rong was so eager to gain spatial soul skills as a life-saving trump card.
Only with powerful spatial soul skills would he have the confidence to negotiate with Bai He.
As for encountering the Sky Qing Bamboo, that was completely an unexpected event.
Though the soul skill he obtained was quite fitting for Lin Rong, if given the chance to choose again, perhaps…
Well, knowing what the Sky Qing Bamboo's soul skill could offer, he would still absorb its soul ring, but he would have done more preparations beforehand.
After all, he cherished his own life, but he still dared to take risks.
Because the "Green Leaf Mark" life-saving skill not only gave Lin Rong the confidence to face Bai He but also the confidence to negotiate with Yang Wudi from the Breaking clan.
In the past, with only one life, Lin Rong had been cautious, and some plans were delayed indefinitely.
But now, with the Green Leaf Mark protecting his life and the "Flower Changing Wood" from the Heart of the Oak as a backup, there was nowhere in the world he couldn't go.
This journey to the Star Luo Empire had two main goals.
First, to obtain the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng from Bai He, which was essential for his future Seventh Soul Ring and Martial Soul True Body.
Second, to try to trade for the herbal compendium from Yang Wudi of the Breaking clan, which contained methods for harvesting immortal herbs.
However, if he couldn't obtain it, Lin Rong had other ways to achieve his goals.
The most important thing was that he needed the Breaking clan's help with another matter.