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**
"Found it! Brother Lin, Little San, here is the Fluffy Cotton you were looking for."
Two and a half days later, Xiao Wu, acting as their guide, brought Tang San and Xiao Lin to a specific spot in the Outer Region. Suddenly, Xiao Wu caught sight of a vibrant Fluffy Cotton and shouted in excitement.
Heaven rewards those who are diligent! It's a good thing I have a great memory and remembered where this Fluffy Cotton lives.
At that moment, a half-person-tall Fluffy Cotton was resting its round, spherical body on the thin branch of a large tree.
The Fluffy Cotton looked much like a watermelon; its exterior was a green flower bud that encased its entire body, surrounded by a ring of rotating vines.
Its eyes were located on one side of the bud—small, black, beady eyes that weren't particularly sharp. Inside its body was a substance similar to cotton—fluffy, soft, and extremely lightweight.
Once it encountered an enemy, the Fluffy Cotton would open its green flower bud and take flight on the wind to escape. If a powerful enemy managed to knock off a piece of its body, it wouldn't stop due to pain.
It would simply regenerate its cotton-like flesh rapidly and continue its flight. If a Soul Beast were merely looking to fill its stomach, seeing the detached portion of the Fluffy Cotton's body would usually satisfy it, and it would cease the pursuit.
Gazing at the Fluffy Cotton resting on the tree, Tang San's eyes lit up.
A joyful expression crossed his face, replacing the "I am weak, I must cultivate harder" grimace he had been wearing.
It's about half a person tall. According to Brother Lin, its cultivation should be at least over a thousand years.
Tang San remembered Xiao Lin saying that to judge a Fluffy Cotton's cultivation, one had to look at the rings on its watermelon-like vines. For every five rings, the direction of the spiral would reset; each ring represented 200 years of cultivation.
Tang San looked closely at the rings on the vine.
There were about two and a half rings, meaning the Fluffy Cotton's cultivation was approximately 1,500 years. As for the possibility of it being 2,500 years—Tang San's eyesight wasn't that bad yet.
"Great, this is the one."
Tang San called out softly.
Activating Ghost Shadow Perplexing Steps, he quietly circled behind the Fluffy Cotton. Quickly, before the Fluffy Cotton could notice, Tang San summoned his Martial Soul.
"Blue Silver Binding!"
In an instant, Tang San completed the process of summoning his Blue Silver Grass and initiating control.
Although Binding wasn't technically a Soul Skill yet, Tang San's control ability far surpassed that of his counterpart in the original timeline who actually possessed the skill.
Resting on the branch, the Fluffy Cotton suddenly felt a strange movement beneath it.
Before it could even open its eyes, blades of grass with blue patterns had already swathed its body. Since these grasses were also woven around the surrounding branches, the Fluffy Cotton was essentially tethered to the tree.
The Fluffy Cotton couldn't move an inch.
Although it was a 1,500-year-old Soul Beast, its combat prowess was negligible; its only survival tactic was opening its flower bud to fly. Now, let alone opening the bud, even wiggling was an ordeal.
Tang San's Blue Silver Binding was essentially an enhanced version, lacking only the poison. His current Blue Silver Grass possessed immense vitality, allowing it to grow continuously and tighten its hold.
The Fluffy Cotton was like a crocodile with its jaws taped shut—its strength was rendered useless, and it could not escape Tang San's grasp.
Gradually, as the struggling inside the blue sphere weakened, Tang San began to pull the Fluffy Cotton down from the tree. Using the Blue Silver Grass as a tether, the ball descended like a spider lowering itself on a thread.
"Little San, it's best to kill it with one blow. If the Fluffy Cotton's terrifying regenerative abilities keep triggering, it might affect the quality of the Soul Ring."
Seeing Tang San prepare to strike, Xiao Lin gave one final piece of advice.
While there was no concrete theory in this world stating that "torturing" a Soul Beast lowered ring quality, Xiao Lin saw no reason not to end its suffering quickly.
Tang San nodded and pulled a 100-kilogram iron hammer from his storage Soul Tool.
This hammer was still a bit heavy for the current Tang San, but by utilizing Mysterious Heaven Skill and the techniques of the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique, he could manage a few swings.
A few swings were more than enough for a weak Fluffy Cotton.
Bang!
Tang San swung downward with all his might, striking the Fluffy Cotton inside the Blue Silver sphere. The force of the swing was so great that his body lurched forward following the weight of the hammer.
By the time he regained his footing and prepared for a second strike, a faint purple Soul Ring had already begun to drift toward him.
"Success!"
Tang San was overjoyed; he hadn't expected to kill it in a single blow.
Without stopping to share his thoughts on obtaining the ring, he sat down cross-legged with impatient excitement and began the process of absorbing the Fluffy Cotton's ring.
Maintaining a clear consciousness, Tang San summoned his Blue Silver Grass and let it float before him. He then began using his mental strength to guide the Soul Ring, absorbing its energy and nesting it into the Blue Silver Grass.
As time passed, Xiao Lin and Xiao Wu stood guard by his side.
Xiao Lin didn't personally believe they would encounter any danger here. Meanwhile, taking advantage of Xiao Lin being distracted, Xiao Wu secretly gathered her Soul Power, attempting to break through the Rank 20 bottleneck.
Crack!
Suddenly, while Tang San was still in the midst of the Soul Ring's energy impact, the sound of a breakthrough echoed from Xiao Wu.
It was the distinct sound of Soul Power surging and the body growing slightly as a result—a sound Xiao Lin knew all too well. Xiao Lin looked at Xiao Wu, only to find her scratching her head awkwardly, an unnatural expression on her face.
"Brother Lin... I think I just broke through too."
Xiao Wu's breakthrough caught Xiao Lin off guard.
Is she about to condense her own Soul Ring right now?
But before Xiao Lin's thoughts could spiral further, he felt a crushing weight of Soul Power, as heavy as a mountain, pressing down on the area.
In an instant, the sky seemed to darken.
By the time Xiao Lin looked up, Xiao Wu had already been snatched up into the massive hand of the Titan Giant Ape.
"Brother Lin, save me!"
Xiao Wu, the little drama queen, still had the heart to play the victim, but Xiao Lin suddenly found himself unsure of how to play his part.
Seeing the Titan Giant Ape take Xiao Wu away, Xiao Lin hesitated. On one side was Tang San, who was like a brother to him; on the other was a girl who might become his sister in the future.
For a moment, a whirlwind of complex emotions flickered across Xiao Lin's face.
Go save Xiao Wu? Forget it, she's with the Titan Giant Ape; she's safer there than anywhere else on earth.
Don't go save Xiao Wu? Forget it, she's the one who led you to your own perfect Soul Ring.
I don't know how to act this out! Xiao Lin screamed in his head.
He summoned his Horned Dragon Staff. Immediately, his second Soul Ring flared. Blue light erupted around his body, blindingly bright.
Swish!
When the light faded, only a blurry afterimage of Xiao Lin remained next to Tang San. His true self had already bolted in the direction the Titan Giant Ape had vanished.
"Let Xiao Wu go!"
Xiao Lin roared hysterically, secretly admiring his own acting skills.
As for Tang San, Xiao Lin wouldn't truly leave him defenseless. He was just "chasing" the Titan Giant Ape for a bit. Once it was clear he "couldn't catch up," he would find a way to back down gracefully and return to guard Tang San.
**
Hello everyone,
Thank you for your support! If you enjoy my work, you can check out my Patreon—there are 80+ early access and exclusive content. I update 5 advanced chapter from Monday-Saturday
www.patreon.com/c/FanficTranslator
I truly appreciate it!