"Damn it, you lousy system, are you trying to kill me?"
Yang Tian looked at the task issued by the system with a headache. He wouldn't be surprised if the Ancient Desolate Holy Body absorbed a thousand-year spirit ring for its first spirit ring, but the problem was that the Ancient Desolate Holy Body hadn't been fully activated yet.
Finally, Yang Tian focused his attention on the theft coupon: "It's a common-grade one. Can I get lucky just this once?"
"System, steal for me!"
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for stealing a no-name grunt's rocket launcher (with one armor-piercing round)."
Yang Tian stared at the rocket launcher and armor-piercing round lying in his backpack, and a smile immediately spread across his face. Well, the problem of firepower was solved!
So, the next step was to train his body, activate the potential of the Ancient Desolate Holy Body as much as possible, fuse the Green Lotus Core Flame with his Spirit, and initially activate the Ancient Desolate Holy Body. He didn't dare to hope for a thousand-year spirit ring, but he should at least get an eight-hundred-year one, right?
Just as Yang Tian was contemplating his next body-refining plan, Old Jack pulled Tang San over to Yang Tian's side: "Xiao Tian, you and Tang San both have innate full spirit power! This is great! Our Saint Spirit Village is finally going to have two more Spirit Masters!
Oh, and three months from now, Noting Academy will start. I'll find a way to send both of you there to study…"
Old Jack excitedly chattered on and on, but Yang Tian didn't find him annoying. He listened happily; after all, Old Jack had raised him for six years.
Tang San, following behind Old Jack, sighed at Yang Tian's ominous prediction. What he had awakened was indeed Blue Silver Grass, wasn't it?
It wasn't until Old Jack sent Tang San away that Yang Tian finalized his body-refining plan.
Push-ups, squats, frog jumps, sit-ups, weighted runs…
In the blink of an eye, only ten days remained until the three-month deadline.
Yang Tian woke up early, packed his luggage, left a letter, and departed.
He had already inquired about nearby mountains and forests that contained Spirit Beasts. The closest one was only a two-day journey away. As for its name… it was nameless, just called Soul Beast Forest, a wild one.
Yang Tian traveled, stopping and going, and finally arrived at the outskirts of the Soul Beast Forest on the evening of the second day.
He caught a Spirit Beast rabbit, probably ten years old, and directly built a fire to roast it, enjoying a big meal.
The next morning, Yang Tian began to venture deeper into the Soul Beast Forest. This forest was not dense, and the terrain was relatively dry. It was rumored that fires often occurred here.
He pushed five kilometers deeper in one go. The trees became sparser, replaced by a chaotic stone forest.
Yang Tian didn't hesitate and continued to go deeper. The Spirit Beasts he encountered along the way were too weak; they weren't even enough for him to fight bare-handed, let alone use a rocket launcher.
At the core of the chaotic stone forest, Yang Tian finally found a Spirit Beast that might meet his requirements: a fire-breathing lion.
The lion had red fur, and flames scattered from its breath. Most importantly, this lion looked to be over five hundred years old!
As for why it "looked" to be, it was because Yang Tian had no idea how to determine the age of a Spirit Beast!
"Damn system, you didn't even let me steal a Spirit Beast Encyclopedia."
Yang Tian complained, then stealthily moved forward, his movements light and agile. After more than two months of training, Yang Tian's arms could exert a force of a thousand jin with a shake. In terms of physical strength, he was confident he was no weaker than a Spirit Grandmaster!
"It's a gamble, go big or go home! At worst, the mission fails!" Yang Tian casually picked up a stone weighing dozens of jin and threw it fiercely at the flame lion.
Roar~
The flame lion was caught off guard and hit squarely. One of its hind legs was directly smashed, causing it to limp and almost unable to touch the ground.
But even with a lame leg, the speed and strength of a Spirit Beast were not something ordinary people could compare to.
Yang Tian leaped left and right through the stone forest, specifically darting into nooks and crannies, seizing opportunities to throw large stones from time to time, which provoked the flame lion to spew out streams of fire, almost burning Yang Tian's clothes.
"That's enough." Yang Tian suddenly jumped onto a large rock, took out the rocket launcher, loaded the armor-piercing round, and gritted his teeth as he aimed at the flame lion charging madly towards him.
Just as the flame lion leaped, mimicking a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, Yang Tian fiercely pulled the trigger.
Whoosh!
The armor-piercing round flew out, directly hitting the flame lion's wide-open mouth, which was about to spit fire!
With a thud, the five-meter-long flame lion flipped backward, falling directly to the ground on its back, its life extinguished.
Putting away the rocket launcher, Yang Tian grinned: "Good thing I didn't miss."
The purpose of enraging the flame lion was to make it rush at him recklessly, so he could seize the opportunity to aim at close range.
Fortunately, it succeeded!
A spirit ring, yellow with a hint of purple, condensed from the flame lion's body and floated in mid-air. Yang Tian's mouth twitched: "Damn it, this must be almost a thousand years old, right?"
Having no choice, Yang Tian directly sat cross-legged on the ground and summoned his small flame. At this time, the small flame had grown much larger, about the size of a thumb, and its color had also turned green. This was due to the fusion with the Green Lotus Core Flame, and the small flame Spirit had also become the Green Lotus Core Flame Spirit.
The process of absorbing the spirit ring was not as difficult as Yang Tian had imagined, but even so, by the time Yang Tian finished absorbing the spirit ring and woke up, it was already afternoon!
Summoning the Green Lotus Core Flame again, a spirit ring rose from beneath Yang Tian's feet. The thumb-sized flame grew a bit more, now about the size of a tennis ball.
Feeling the Spirit Ability brought by his first spirit ring, Yang Tian's mind stirred, and the first spirit ring flashed. Immediately, the Green Lotus Core Flame in Yang Tian's hand surged, and at the same time, Yang Tian casually flicked his hand, and a chain of fire was thrown out. Its temperature was incredibly hot, and the stones hit by the chain of fire showed signs of melting.
"Ultimate Fire, its power is just so-so… Hmm, I'll call this move 'Blaze Stream'." Yang Tian smugly put away his Spirit. Immediately, the system's notification sound rang in his mind.
"Ding! spirit ring acquisition mission complete. Reward: One Brave-grade Theft Coupon!"
"Ding! Mission issued: Complete Nuoding Academy's studies.
Mission reward: One epic theft coupon."
Yang Tian's eyes lit up. An epic theft coupon—this mission had to be done.
The rocket launcher had no more shells and couldn't be put back into his backpack, so Yang Tian simply abandoned it. Then, he hoisted the flame lion's corpse and grunted as he headed towards the nearest city.
Spirit Beast meat was rich in energy, a high-grade ingredient, and quite expensive.
Lanxiu City, this city was not far from Nuoding City, but carrying a flame lion weighing seven or eight hundred jin, it was always better to walk fewer steps.
At the entrance of a high-end hotel, Yang Tian let out a thump as he dropped the flame lion to the ground. Without needing to shout, the hotel owner happily ran out. Upon seeing Yang Tian's tender face and the massive flame lion, he was immediately astonished.
"Young brother, are you looking to sell this lion's corpse?" The hotel owner had seen some things before. Although he wondered why Yang Tian could carry such a large lion, he didn't ask further. He didn't think Yang Tian had killed it; it was probably being sold on someone else's behalf.
Yang Tian patted the dust off himself and nodded: "This thing's cultivation is almost a thousand years. Name your price."