The wind howled past his ears as Wu Ling sprinted across the plain. His destination was still the Star Soul Forest ahead.
That was right. After a year and a half, with only one month left before his twelfth birthday, Wu Ling had reached level forty. twelve-year-old standing at the fourth-ring threshold.. Perhaps not unprecedented in all future history, but at least no one before him had reached such a thing, unless Aurelia Cross was counted.
In that year and a half, only two events had truly caught Wu Ling's interest.
The first happened more than half a year ago. Rose finally completed her research on Spirit Power Circuits and implemented them in Wu Ling's body.
As the beneficiary, Wu Ling could only describe the result as unexpectedly excellent. Right now, even though he had only just reached level forty, the total amount and quality of his Spirit Power were enough for him to face a Spirit Leader without fear. With the powerful recovery ability of his cultivation methods, he could even drag a weaker Spirit Leader to death.
The second matter was related to Ethan Drake.
A few months after the cultivation methods were released, Ethan Drake published another article: Cultivation Methods Belong to Spirit Masters. Spirit Hall Should Share Them.
When Wu Ling heard about it, he almost could not resist going over, beating Ethan Drake up, then pointing at his nose and cursing him.
Why do you not ask Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to share dragon transformation? Why not ask Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to share the Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart? Why not ask Clear Sky Sect to share Exploding Rings?
But compared to beating Ethan Drake, Wu Ling was more worried about Bibi Dong.
Perhaps one day, Ethan Drake would come to Bibi Dong for the cultivation method. Or in the future, he might ask her for both the twin Martial Soul cultivation method and the cultivation method on Tang San's behalf. Then Bibi Dong, his wonderful teacher, might chase him away on the surface while arrogantly bestowing them on Ethan Drake anyway.
Rose must have sensed Wu Ling's irritation through their connection. That very day, she came out of the room, asked Wu Ling for a few drops of blood, and said to leave the matter to her.
At the time, she even promised, "Do not worry, Main Body. From now on, Ethan Drake will never receive even a single copper Spirit Coin from Bibi Dong."
Afterward, however, Rose crossed her arms and protested, "Main Body actually wants to look at a little girl's memories. What a huge pervert!"
Because of that, Wu Ling had never again fused Rose's memories. He still did not know what Rose had done, but after everything they had been through, he trusted her to handle things properly.
After that, Wu Ling's frustration vanished, and even his cultivation seemed to speed up slightly. Now that his Spirit Power had reached level forty, he finally came out to hunt his fourth Spirit Ring.
Wu Ling was no longer weak. Not only could he fight a Spirit Leader head-on, but if he went all out, he could even contend with a Spirit Daoist. Since he had also not gone out in a long time, he chose to travel on foot this time, enjoying the scenery and local specialties of each city along the way. Ghost, of course, remained hidden in the dark to protect him.
The sun had reached the horizon. The green grassland was covered in golden light. After running at a steady speed for a while, Wu Ling stopped and took a bottle of water and a map from his storage ring.
He had originally planned his route in advance. But because he had heard that a certain large city was holding a food festival, he had veered off course halfway. Since he was already off route, he simply bought a map and continued toward Star Soul Forest while checking it along the way.
In the afterglow of sunset, Wu Ling drank some water and examined the map.
"Star Soul Forest is still half a day's travel away. But there is a village about a dozen kilometers ahead. I can spend the night there, then set out for Star Soul Forest tomorrow."
After confirming the direction, Wu Ling put away the bottle and map, then ran toward the village.
During that stretch, he deliberately slowed his pace. He needed to keep some Spirit Power in reserve at all times. A village located this close to Star Soul Forest was suspicious no matter how he looked at it.
For example, some Spirit Masters with unusual Martial Souls or unusual minds might refuse to join any faction and instead claim a hill near Star Soul Forest as their own. Perhaps they would not go as far as robbery, but charging tolls based on a traveler's strength was entirely possible.
Spirit Masters like that would not be too low in level, because if they were weak, they would not be able to collect tolls. But they would not be too high either, because a truly high-level Spirit Master would not be content collecting fees in one small village. Most such people would be between level thirty and level fifty.
With Wu Ling's strength, he was not afraid of a level-fifty Spirit Leader, but caution was still better.
As his pace slowed, Wu Ling began thinking about other matters, such as his target this time.
Among my first three Spirit Rings, two are Assassin-class and one is Caster-class.
For research, Rose alone is enough right now, so I do not need another Caster. There are also already too many Assassins, so no more Assassin either. As for Rider... forget it. Overall, I should focus on the Three Knight Classes or Berserker.
After so much training and Rose's potions, I can absorb a Spirit Ring above ten thousand years by myself. With Azure and the other two clones added in, absorbing a forty-thousand- or fifty-thousand-year Spirit Ring should be possible.
Let me think. Among four-star and lower Heroic Spirits, who is suitable?
If I find a dragon-type Soul Beast, I might draw out Siegfried, though the dragon girl is also possible. A boar or feline Soul Beast might draw Atalanta, but Diarmuid and other boar-related Heroic Spirits are also a problem.
For Uncle Herc, I would need something with divine bloodline. That is even harder to find. If I force it, I may summon some other Berserkers instead.
If I find a lotus-root Soul Beast and summon the Third Prince Nezha, that would also work. But even Spirit Hall's records do not mention ten-thousand-year lotus-root Soul Beasts.
Sunflower Gawain? If there is a Sunflower Emperor, maybe. Otherwise, the probability is low.
Do I have to use a higher-grade Soul Beast to summon a lower-star Heroic Spirit again, like Sasaki Kojiro and Medea?
Star rating only represents rarity, not absolute strength, but using a ring that can summon a four-star just to summon a three-star or two-star still feels a little hard to accept.
Wu Ling sank into thought, and the distance between him and the village steadily narrowed.
"Hm? The sun just went down. Why is the village completely dark?" Wu Ling looked at the village not far ahead and frowned.
As he drew closer, his nose twitched. His expression changed sharply, and he stopped in place.
"The smell of blood. And it is extremely strong."
Wu Ling looked toward the village ahead with a solemn expression. In the darkness, the village seemed like a beast hiding in shadow, waiting for him to fall into its bloody maw.
"Grandpa Ghost."
"Mm."
Receiving that response, Wu Ling's heart steadied. Then he laughed at himself.
"Looks like I have started relying on Grandpa Ghost after all."
Wu Ling calmed himself, then continued toward the village. When he reached the village edge, two corpses already lay there. Wu Ling looked ahead, and everywhere his gaze reached, the entire village was covered in fresh red blood.