The next day, the three of them packed their belongings and replenished their supplies. After showing the guards Grandmaster's token with its three engraved patterns, they entered the Soul Hunting Forest.
After walking for a while, once the surroundings were quiet and no other people were in sight, Flender suddenly called them to a stop.
"This pace is far too slow. Let me take you along for a while," Flender said.
As soon as he spoke, he released his Cat-Owl martial spirit. A pair of massive wings unfurled from his back, feathers spreading across his body. His eyes glowed a sharp orange-yellow, with vertical pupils gleaming like those of a predator.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black!
Seven spirit rings appeared beneath him, circling his body in a slow, majestic rhythm.
It was Qian Jue's first time seeing the black Ten-thousand-year Spirit Rings up close. Even though Flender wasn't deliberately releasing the full pressure of a Spirit Saint, the sheer oppressive force radiating from those Ten-thousand-year rings made Qian Jue's breath quicken.
Flender stepped forward, scooped Qian Jue up with one arm, grabbed Grandmaster's wrist with the other, and with a powerful flap of his wings, carried both of them straight into the sky, soaring several hundred meters in a single rise.
"Which way?" Flender shouted. At this altitude, the roaring wind lashed against them, whipping their clothes violently.
Qian Jue looked toward Grandmaster. Grandmaster's hand remained locked tightly around Flender's wrist, both of them suspended in the air. His other hand shielded his face against the rushing wind as he scanned the vast Soul Hunting Forest below.
"Head toward the river over there. Land at that fork in the river shaped like the character '几'," Grandmaster directed, pointing toward the winding waterway.
"Alright! Hold on tight!"
With a sharp call, Flender beat his wings again. Their bodies surged forward at incredible speed, the fierce wind forcing Qian Jue's eyes shut. Grandmaster, too, was blown nearly sideways, hanging tilted in the air. Yet he looked utterly unbothered—still holding on with one hand, using the other only to block the wind.
'The Golden Iron Triangle must have flown like this countless times before… They won't have any problems,' Qian Jue thought.
With that, he stopped worrying about Grandmaster. Instead, he willed his Kindred martial spirit to life. The Sheep Spirit merged with him, and the Kindred Mask appeared over his face.
Sure enough—though he still felt the rush of wind against his ears, the gales no longer battered his face. His vision, too, cleared, letting him see as if there were no wind at all.
"Heh-heh."
Qian Jue couldn't help grinning. Another hidden ability of the Kindred spirit had revealed itself. He had never noticed before, but the Kindred Spirit's mask was actually practical!
Suppressing his excitement, he fully indulged in the joy of flight, gazing down on the sweeping beauty of the Soul Hunting Forest below. The urge to shout out loud welled up in his chest. The sensation was worlds apart from when he shared the Wolf Spirit's perception. That only allowed him to rise dozens of meters—and at a speed that was nothing compared to Flender's.
After about half an hour, Flender gradually lowered their altitude. What would normally have been a day's journey on foot had been covered in just thirty minutes.
Once they landed, Grandmaster shook out his arm from being pulled along, then smoothed back his windblown hair.
"Let's move. From here on, we walk the rest of the way ourselves. If they sense Flender's Spirit Saint aura, we won't be able to track them."
After quickly orienting himself, Grandmaster prepared to lead them deeper into the forest.
"Teacher, while we were up there, I realized—my mask actually works like a real mask! Once I wear it, my face doesn't feel the wind at all," Qian Jue said excitedly, walking alongside him.
Grandmaster halted mid-step.
"Really? And you never noticed this before?"
Turning to him, Grandmaster said, "Release your spirit again. Let me see if your mask has defensive capabilities."
As he spoke, he pulled out an ornate short sword from his storage ring.
"Heh."
Flender grinned at the sight of the blade. "Isn't that the love token Erlong gave you?"
Grandmaster shot him a glance but didn't answer. Once Qian Jue released his martial spirit, Grandmaster carefully pressed the blade against the Kindred Mask.
As expected, the sword was stopped cold at the surface of the mask. The razor edge couldn't even leave a mark.
"Now hide the mask and let me try again," Grandmaster instructed.
Qian Jue activated the Mask's Concealment. Even though the mask vanished from sight, Grandmaster's blade was once again stopped by the invisible barrier.
"Tch… Let me try," Flender interjected, clicking his tongue in curiosity. Watching the mask in action gave him an eerie sense, sparking his interest.
Before Qian Jue could react, a sudden flash struck across his face. At once, he felt a jolt of soul power backlash.
Flender drew his hand back, rubbing his thumb across the edge of his fingernail. "Not bad for defense."
Qian Jue's eyes went wide.
'As expected of a Spirit Saint agility-type… I didn't even see what happened!' Only when he saw Flender fiddling with his fingernail did Qian Jue realize—Flender had just scraped the mask with his nail alone.
When he canceled the mask's concealment, the mask reappeared—bearing a faint scratch across its right side.
Grandmaster turned to Flender, who quickly clarified, "It should've been deeper. The mask deflected most of it."
Grandmaster nodded, leaning closer to study it. To his surprise, the scratch was already fading.
The Kindred Mask was repairing itself.
Sure enough, within about a minute, the mask was fully restored, without the slightest trace left behind.
Grandmaster nodded again, signaling Qian Jue to put away his martial spirit. He turned back to the trail, thoughts racing rapidly in his mind.
Even though Flender's strike was casual, with his speed, the destructive force couldn't possibly have been small. A normal Spirit Ancestor of level 40, unless they specialized in defense, wouldn't be able to block it. But the mask had. At the same level, no one would be able to break through this defense.
If that was the case, then his earlier plan—to add a defensive spirit ring to the Wolf Spirit—needed to be reconsidered.
If the mask's defense could grow stronger with Qian Jue's cultivation, then perhaps there was no need for a defensive ability. But if it didn't, at the very least, it could serve until after level 30. The decision could be postponed until then.
…
Qian Jue and Flender followed behind Grandmaster in silence. It was obvious Grandmaster was deep in thought, and neither of them dared disturb him.
Finally, Grandmaster spoke:
"Xiao Jue, your mask does have a degree of defense. For now, no one at the same level should be able to break it. But remember—this isn't absolute. You must never rely on it as bait. If it fails, your head will take the blow directly. I don't need to tell you what that means."
"Yes, Teacher." Qian Jue listened intently.
"Now summon the Wolf Spirit too. Let Flender test its mask."
Qian Jue called out the Wolf Spirit. Just as Grandmaster expected, the wolf's mask had the same defensive and self-repairing properties.
"Good. You should make use of the Wolf Spirit's mask more often. From now on, add a new course to your training—use the Wolf Mask to block different kinds of attacks. As for adding a defensive ability to the Wolf Spirit's spirit ring, we'll put that plan aside for now. Our current target remains the endurance of the Sheel Spirit and the toxins of the Wolf Spirit."
"Understood, Teacher," Qian Jue replied, committing it to memory.
"Train diligently. Four years from now, I'll have Tang San test you. By then, you must be able to block every one of his hidden weapons with the Wolf Mask. If you can do that, we can save the ring slot for other purposes."
"…"
'Seriously?! Tang San's hidden weapons aren't something you can just block that easily!!!'
…