64 Chapter 64: Sunset Forest
The only issue is that the attributes of the Stone Monster and the book don't really match.
What caught Su Wen's attention is the almost innate ability of recombination and aggregation.
The Stone Monster itself can fuse with rocks and separate from itself. Each separated piece of rock has the potential to become part of its body.
In battle, it aligns perfectly with Su Wen's requirements.
Manipulating rocks to form Combination Techniques, even significantly strengthening itself by merging with rocks, or forming joint attacks between multiple Stone Monsters.
After learning about the Stone Monster Tribe in the Sunset Forest from Dugu Yan, Su Wen also invited her to help hunt Spirit Beasts.
Dugu Yan didn't refuse.
"It just so happens that I haven't gone back to see my grandfather yet."
Su Wen felt secretly pleased.
"Good, good. I can accompany you to visit your grandfather when the time comes."
"By the way, Xiaowen, is it Teacher Xiao Zhan helping you hunt Spirit Beasts this time?" Dugu Yan asked.
Su Wen nodded.
Of course, it's Xiao Zhan who's helping with this kind of thing.
"Then let's set off tomorrow."
"Okay."
The next day.
Su Wen, Xiao Zhan, and Dugu Yan left the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
The academy was located on a mountain on the outskirts of Heaven Dou City, between the Sunset Forest and Heaven Dou City.
The distance between them was quite close.
They set off in the morning, and by evening, the three of them had arrived at the outermost part of the Sunset Forest.
"Sister Yan, is your home in the Sunset forest?"
"Of course not," Dugu Yan rolled her eyes.
Who lives inside the Sunset forest?
"My home is in Heaven Dou City. It's just that my grandfather usually practices cultivation in the Sunset Forest around this time, so when I need to find him, I come here."
Although it's inconvenient to settle down in the Sunset Forest, Dugu Bo's poison can still mark out an area. When he senses Dugu Yan approaching, he will stop his cultivation.
"Xiaowen, are you sure you want to choose the Stone Monster?" Xiao Zhan has asked Su Wen countless times.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"But, besides the Combination Technique you want, the Stone Monster doesn't match well with you in other aspects," Xiao Zhan advised. "If you want to obtain combination-type Spirit Skills, I still suggest you look for targets similar to the Flying Dragon Sword."
Scales like swords, even capable of being released, forming a sword domain.
Of course, the combination effect is even smaller.
"You also master the combat technique of folding paper into swords, right? With the Flying Dragon Sword, you can completely acquire Spirit Skills similar to Thousand Swords Return," Xiao Zhan suggested.
Su Wen shook his head.
"Uncle Zhan, Paper release was just a transitional technique for me at the beginning. Its ceiling is too low. The material of the pages themselves determines that paper swords can never compare to real swords."
What is the greatest advantage of a sword Martial Spirit?
Is it the sword itself?
No, it's the sword qi.
Su Wen's paper sword is just an imitation of a sword shape.
It's just a convenience, able to achieve the sharpness of a sword, but can never truly become a real sword.
Now, Su Wen's former Paper Release ability is mostly used by him to attach flames to attacks.
He engraves Fire Element Control patterns on the paper sword to assist him in remotely manipulating fire elements.
Or, simply use the paper sword to carry Fireballs, making it easier to control the trajectory of the Fireballs.
"Moreover, by absorbing the Stone Monster's Spirit Ring, there's a high probability that I can also gain abilities similar to Earth Element Control."
Apart from the Combination Technique, I might acquire the characteristics of the Stone Monster.
The Book Martial Spirit is very inclusive.
Su Wen's elemental control is based on his own elemental affinity, which is brought out by the Second Spirit Skill, rather than solely relying on the Second Spirit Skill like the Fire Element Control.
Therefore, if subsequent Spirit Rings can provide him with elemental affinities for certain attributes after absorption, he can also fully utilize the corresponding attributes through the Second Spirit Skill.
"Ah," Xiao Zhan sighed.
He could tell that Su Wen had made up his mind.
Even if he didn't truly understand, he respected Su Wen's thoughts.
"Since that's the case, pay attention to these aspects when you absorb the Spirit Ring."
He began to impart some experience to Su Wen about absorbing Spirit Rings with the Book Martial Spirit.
When a Spirit Ring from the same type of Spirit Beast is absorbed by the same type of Spirit Master, the obtained Spirit Skill may vary.
Apart from the emphasis on the origin of the Spirit Ring and the Spirit Master's own focus, the details during absorption also have an impact.
However, this influence is minimal.
Or rather, the experience hasn't circulated externally.
The Spirit Masters of the White Tiger Martial Spirit need to absorb specific types of Spirit Beasts and then use specific techniques during absorption to consistently obtain the same Spirit Skill.
Similarly, for Spirit Masters with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Spirit, absorbing Spirit Beasts of the thunder attribute dragon clan can also generally result in obtaining specific Spirit Skills.
Within the sect, inherited Spirit Skills among Spirit Masters are often overlapping because they have mastered these techniques.
Now, the points Xiao Zhan reminded Su Wen of are all summaries from his previous experiences of absorbing Spirit Rings.
"You can focus on sensing your Martial Spirit during absorption, actively merge with the Spirit Ring, and then try to accommodate it. With the development of your Book Martial Spirit recording ability, you should be able to achieve these."
This is Xiao Zhan's summary of what enables Martial Spirit quantification.
However, the difference is that Su Wen's Martial Spirit most likely won't gain an Evolution as a result.
"In this way, your Martial Spirit can also undergo Petrification. Due to the compatibility issue between rocks and books, it may not undergo complete Petrification, but rather acquire a certain state."
"Of course, this isn't the most important aspect. The most important thing is that this way, you might also gain the ability to control earth elements."
Even if the Third Spirit Skill isn't Earth Element Control, there's still a chance it could trigger a chain reaction with Su Wen's Second Spirit Skill.
In addition to Su Wen's development of the Second Spirit Skill and the inherent recording characteristics of the Book Martial Spirit, there's a complete opportunity.
This is also the reason why Xiao Zhan can understand why Su Wen insists on choosing the Stone Monster as the target for the third Spirit Ring.
Wind and fire elements no longer satisfy this kid. He wants to master more types of elements.
Seeing Su Wen's lack of surprise reaction, Dugu Yan secretly sighed, "Could Xiaowen have thought of this from the beginning? Well, it makes sense. After all, Teacher Xiao Zhan is just a 'half-baked' scholar due to the convenience of his Martial Spirit, while Su Wen is a genuine theoretical researcher."
"You theory researchers are indeed impressive," Dugu Yan couldn't help but feel amazed. Not fully understanding the fundamental principles, but logically, she could tell that Xiao Zhan's explanations were flawless.
So, these theoretical scholars can even consider mutating their previous Spirit Skills when attaching Spirit Rings to themselves?
Oh my goodness.
In the past, when I obtained Spirit Rings, I only ever thought about what type of Spirit Ring to choose.
I never even considered the possibility of guiding and influencing my Martial Spirit's Evolution through certain methods and techniques, or even causing mutations in my existing Spirit Skills by leveraging the Evolution of my Martial Spirit.
Though it's very idealistic, what if it's actually achievable?
Right from the initial planning and goals, the probability of success is definitely much higher than relying entirely on luck.
Dugu Yan couldn't help but feel awe towards the scholarly profession.
Having a good scholar to help plan and obtain Spirit Rings through luck and serendipity makes a huge difference.
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