"Elder Song, where are we going to hunt the Spirit Beast? The Star Dou Forest?"
Su Yunlin asked the question casually. After all, aside from the three great Spirit Beast habitats on the Douluo Continent, there were still other Spirit Beast forests scattered around the land. However, after countless years of Spirit Masters hunting Spirit Beasts for Spirit Rings, most of those forests had already suffered ecological collapse.
Only the three great Spirit Beast regions still maintained a relatively balanced ecosystem.
Elder Song looked at Su Yunlin and asked, "Little Yunlin, what type of Spirit Beast are you looking for? And what age range?"
Su Yunlin pondered for a moment before replying, "A darkness-attributed Spirit Beast will do. As for the age… around seventy thousand years. As long as it doesn't exceed seventy-five thousand years, I should be fine."
Elder Song froze for a second.
A fifth Spirit Ring at that age?
Wasn't that absurd?
A seventy-five-thousand-year Spirit Ring was already qualified to serve as a Titled Douluo's ninth Spirit Ring.
"What a little monster," Elder Song muttered helplessly. "A darkness-attributed Spirit Beast, and over seventy thousand years at that. I do happen to know of one that suits you perfectly. However, it isn't in the Star Dou Forest, but elsewhere. I'll take you there personally."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"If that Spirit Beast has already been hunted, then I'll take you back to the Star Dou Forest instead. With my speed, a round trip won't take long anyway."
Elder Song tapped her staff lightly against the ground.
A gigantic azure phantom eagle materialized beneath them.
The next moment, she and Su Yunlin stepped onto its back and soared into the distance.
...
The Ming Dou Mountain Range. The Great Ming Dou Forest.
The Ming Dou Mountain Range had formed after the collision between the Sun Moon Continent and the Douluo Continent. Not only was the region rich in mineral resources, but it had also given birth to a massive Spirit Beast forest—the Great Ming Dou Forest.
This forest was famous for producing mutated Spirit Beasts.
Though its danger level could not compare to the Star Dou Forest, it was still an extremely perilous place.
The region also served as a battlefield between the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire. Dragons and snakes mixed together here, and one could easily encounter imperial forces from either side.
Still, Su Yunlin wasn't worried.
With Elder Song accompanying him, nothing should go wrong.
Along the way, Elder Song's flight path was exceptionally experienced and precise, weaving around countless defensive lines without attracting the attention of a single person.
Compared to Elder Xuan, she was incomparably more reliable.
"Elder Song, what Spirit Beast are we hunting this time?" Su Yunlin asked.
Elder Song smiled faintly.
"You finally couldn't hold back your curiosity, huh?"
"You're quite lucky. In all of Shrek Academy, I'm probably the only one who knows the exact location of this Spirit Beast."
"This trip, I'm taking you to hunt a Darknight Moth Emperor around seventy thousand years old."
"The Darknight Moth Emperor is the offspring of the Darknight Monarch Moth and the Dark Emperor Moth. Unfortunately, it failed to fully inherit the bloodlines of either supreme species, and its bloodline mutated slightly."
"But that doesn't matter."
"The Darknight Moth Emperor is extremely compatible with you. Your Martial Soul is the Darknight Monarch Moth. If you absorb its Spirit Ring, your Martial Soul will undergo an all-around enhancement."
"A Darknight Moth Emperor…"
Su Yunlin's eyes lit up with anticipation.
"That really is perfect for me."
Elder Song brought him deeper and deeper into the Great Ming Dou Forest until they arrived at the heart of the forest.
The environment here was incomparably dark.
Even in broad daylight, sunlight could barely penetrate the canopy overhead.
Elder Song glanced into the distance and nodded slightly.
"Looks like the Darknight Moth Emperor is still here."
"Little Yunlin, wait here. I'll go capture it for you."
"Alright."
Su Yunlin stayed where he was.
Elder Song had deliberately chosen a hidden and secure location for him. All he had to do was wait.
BOOM—
A piercing cry echoed through the forest.
Su Yunlin instantly recognized the cry of Elder Song's Azure Shadow Divine Eagle.
The battle had begun.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions rang out continuously.
Roughly thirty seconds later, an enormous black moth crashed down from the sky and slammed into the ground just two or three meters in front of Su Yunlin.
"So fast?"
Su Yunlin was stunned.
From the start of the battle to its end, less than a minute had passed.
As expected of Elder Song.
Absolutely terrifying.
Thud.
Elder Song descended from the sky.
Her aura remained calm and distant, as though the previous battle hadn't even qualified as a warm-up.
"It's on its last breath. Finish it."
Su Yunlin nodded.
He pulled out a Class 6 close-combat soul tool and plunged it into the Darknight Moth Emperor's head.
A deep black Spirit Ring slowly rose from the corpse.
"Oh?"
Elder Song glanced at the weapon in his hand.
"A Class 6 close-combat soul tool? Did you make this yourself?"
"Yes. I made it personally."
Elder Song extended her hand.
"May I take a look?"
Su Yunlin handed the soul tool over to her.
After examining it carefully, Elder Song nodded in approval.
"The quality is excellent."
Among the Sea God Pavilion elders, Elder Song was one of the few who supported soul tools.
Her daughter, Xian Lin'er, was the Dean of the Soul Tool Department. One could say Elder Song was one of the Soul Tool Department's strongest backers.
"Little Yunlin, would you be interested in studying soul tools under my daughter?" Elder Song asked warmly.
"Oh, right. My daughter is Xian Lin'er, the Dean of the Soul Tool Department."
Su Yunlin hesitated briefly before replying, "Elder Song, I think I'll pass on that. I learned soul tool crafting from my father. He's also an eighth-class soul engineer."
"Dean Xian's skill in soul tools is probably about the same as my father's, right?"
Elder Song paused, then smiled helplessly.
"It seems this old woman was too impatient."
"Go ahead and absorb your Spirit Ring."
"Yes!" Su Yunlin immediately sat down cross-legged and began drawing in the Spirit Ring.
"Hm?" Elder Song suddenly noticed black light flickering from the Darknight Moth Emperor's corpse.
She raised her hand and pulled.
A black crystal-like Skull Spirit Bone flew into her palm.
"What an unexpected bonus."
Elder Song chuckled softly.
"This Spirit Bone suits Little Yunlin perfectly. I may as well use it as a favor."
...
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Su Yunlin finally completed the absorption process.
Absorbing a seventy-thousand-year Spirit Ring had been quite difficult. Fortunately, after absorbing the left arm Spirit Bone earlier, his physical constitution had improved tremendously.
Otherwise, recklessly absorbing such a high-level Spirit Ring could easily have resulted in disaster.
"Haa…"
Su Yunlin exhaled slowly and opened his eyes.
"You're awake?" Elder Song looked at him and tossed over the Spirit Bone in her hand. "Take this."
"This is… a Skull Spirit Bone?"
Su Yunlin was startled.
"Yes. A Skull Spirit Bone."
"It suits you extremely well, so just accept it."
"When a Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone come from the same Spirit Beast, absorbing them together enhances the effects."
Su Yunlin immediately bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Elder Song."
This gratitude was genuine.
A Skull Spirit Bone was incredibly valuable.
Elder Song had been the one to defeat the Spirit Beast. She could easily have hidden the Spirit Bone away for herself, and Su Yunlin would never have known.
Yet she had handed it directly to him.
Of course Su Yunlin understood.
This was Elder Song showing goodwill toward him.
But wasn't this kind of temptation too much for any official to resist?
By now, he had already received favor after favor from Elder Mu and Elder Song.
Debts of gratitude were the hardest to repay.
Unless he completely threw away his dignity.
Su Yunlin was thick-skinned, sure—but he still hadn't reached the realm of being completely shameless.
He couldn't do that.
"Sigh… I owe the academy more and more now."
Elder Song merely smiled.
A genius like this was best kept within Shrek Academy forever.
A fifth Spirit Ring at seventy thousand years…
That alone was enough to warrant convening a Sea God Pavilion meeting.
At last, Elder Song understood why Elder Mu wanted Su Yunlin to inherit the position of Sea God Pavilion Master across generations.
His talent and temperament truly suited that position perfectly.
"Little Yunlin, let's go. Time to return to the academy."
"Alright!"
Elder Song once again summoned the Azure Shadow Divine Eagle.
The two of them mounted it and sped rapidly toward Shrek Academy.