Chapter 153: Ring Replacement Begins

Su Wen was quite satisfied to obtain this information from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"To think there's a direct trace of a ten-thousand-year-old Three-Eyed Phantom Fox."

This was something Su Wen hadn't anticipated.

Although it was known that a significant portion of Phantom Foxes reaching the ten-thousand-year level were mutated, the proportion occupied by the variant branch of the Three-Eyed Phantom Fox was actually only around one-tenth or one-twelfth.

Since it was uncertain whether ordinary Phantom Foxes could help him complete the Ring Replacement, Su Wen still leaned towards selecting a new Three-Eyed Phantom Fox.

There's only information on a nine-thousand-year-old Starlight Fruit Tree, and it's still uncertain whether it was killed by another Spirit Master, but at least there's a direction.

"As for the Stone Monsters, there seem to be extremely old ones in the Sunset Forest." Su Wen remembered Dugu Bo mentioning encountering a thirty-thousand-year-old Stone Monster in the Sunset Forest, and there might be even older ones deeper inside, possibly over fifty thousand years old.

Before leaving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Su Wen also inquired about the cultivation of individuals of these three types of Spirit Beasts, roughly around a thousand years.

Back in Heaven Dou City, Su Wen informed Xiao Zhan and Dugu Bo of his plan to travel.

They didn't try to dissuade him.

They were aware of Su Wen's alternative mimicry cultivation method, and they understood that traveling at this time was more like a final push.

Of course, letting Su Wen go with peace of mind was also because Su Wen now had the power to protect himself.

Being a Spirit King already placed him in the middle to high tier of power across the continent, and coupled with Su Wen's strength, he could even withstand encounters with Spirit Emperors.

Moreover, he also mastered the fifth Spirit Skill, Void Shuttle, so even if he encountered unbeatable enemies, he could escape.

Upon leaving Heaven Dou City, Su Wen did not immediately head to the Sunset Forest.

Stone Monsters in the Sunset Forest live in groups, and Dugu Bo hadn't figured out why, so it was safer not to rush into the depths to search for ten-thousand-year-old Stone Monsters.

Su Wen didn't want others to know about the process of Ring Replacement for now.

So he had to try hunting Spirit Beasts on his own, and he estimated that the maximum age of Spirit Beasts he could hunt alone now was around twenty thousand years.

Departing from Heaven Dou City, he headed straight for the Star Dou Great Forest.

Half a month later, on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Su Wen entered the Star Dou Great Forest from Star Fall Village in the southeast direction of the forest.

"Let's try the Ring Replacement with lower-aged Spirit Beasts first."

On the outskirts, Su Wen searched for the location of the Starlight Fruit Tree he knew.

It was a two-thousand-year-old Starlight Fruit Tree.

When Su Wen found this Starlight Fruit Tree, he discovered three guarding Spirit Beasts around it, originally ordinary Iron Rhinos, but now they appeared completely different from regular Iron Rhinos.

"So, this is the effect of the Starlight Fruit."

The Starlight Fruit Tree absorbed the power of the stars, which, while ferocious, also had a tempering effect on the physique. However, directly absorbing this force into the body would cause severe damage, and even Spirit Beasts rarely absorbed the power of the stars directly for body tempering.

The role of the Starlight Fruit Tree was to store the absorbed stellar power in the Starlight Fruit, gradually refining it until the Starlight Fruit fell off.

Even if only the residual bits of stellar power remained, it still had a good effect on Spirit Beasts like the Iron Rhino.

So, they were willing to guard outside the Starlight Fruit Tree.

However, at this moment, the terrifying aura emanating from the detestable human across from them was too much.

The three Iron Rhinos still didn't possess true intelligence; they merely had a bit of spirituality while surviving on instinct, but they couldn't think independently.

Feeling the oppressive Soul Power from Su Wen, the three guarding Iron Rhinos fled directly.

Su Wen shook his head, paying no attention to them.

He looked at the Starlight Fruit Tree before him, his eyes reflecting the starlight emanating from it.

"When the first Spirit Ring absorbed the Starlight Fruit Tree, I was only concerned with enhancing my Martial Spirit as much as possible, and I didn't spare any extra energy to consider this stellar attribute."

Among Spirit Beasts, only top-tier Spirit Beasts could digest stellar power. Either their physical bodies were incredibly strong, allowing them to forcibly temper themselves with stellar power, or they possessed stellar attributes like the Starlight Fruit Tree, capable of attracting and slowly refining stellar power on their own.

"This Ring Replacement is my chance."

Su Wen only had nine opportunities for Spirit Rings.

And each time he absorbed a Spirit Ring, he also needed to make choices, selecting the most suitable direction for himself, guiding the Spirit Ring to transform his Martial Spirit in the most appropriate way.

However, with the Ring Replacement Method, Su Wen would have the opportunity to absorb more of the characteristics of the species of his nine major Spirit Rings in the future.

"Everything is for cultivation."

For the sake of cultivating, hunting Spirit Beasts was only natural. Su Wen had no feelings of guilt whatsoever.

He condensed a Rasengan and pressed it against the trunk of the Starlight Fruit Tree.

Feeling desperate, the Starlight Fruit Tree waved its branches to attack, but it was blocked by the wind barrier around Su Wen's body.

Bang!

The Rasengan erupted, piercing through the entire branch.

A ring of purple Spirit slowly floated out.

Su Wen sat cross-legged on the ground, pondering the essence of his Martial Spirit and Spirit Ring.

"The first Spirit Ring, explode!"

He detonated the first Spirit Ring, with its Soul Power merging into Su Wen's body, though the enhancement from the mere three-hundred-year-old first Spirit Ring wasn't very significant.

This time, it wasn't just the Spirit Ring exploding.

Su Wen used the most brute force method, without employing the techniques of the Ring Explosion Secret Technique; he even exploded the essence of the first Spirit Ring.

The Third Spirit Skill came into play.

This was the core of the Ring Replacement Method, something Su Wen could only achieve after developing the Third Spirit Skill to stabilize his Martial Spirit and Spirit Ring Essence.

The second, third, fourth, and fifth Spirit Rings were linked, supporting Su Wen's Martial Spirit from collapsing.

Since the first Spirit Ring was only a hundred years old, the damage to Su Wen's Martial Spirit after its explosion was minimal at this moment. Su Wen easily stabilized the collapse of his Martial Spirit.

Outside, the two-thousand-year-old Starlight Fruit Tree's Spirit Ring slowly enveloped Su Wen.

The Soul Power of the Spirit Ring surged within him, and a stream of Spirit Ring Essence rushed into his Martial Spirit Space.

Unlike the normal process of refining Spirit Rings, at this moment, this stream of Spirit Ring Essence didn't spontaneously start transforming Su Wen's Martial Spirit; instead, it seemed a bit "dazed" and unsure of what to do.

It looked clumsy.

Even though there is a vacant Spirit Ring position, it didn't automatically integrate itself into it at this time.

Even the vacant position left by Spirit Rings of the same species seemed unable to attract it to integrate again.

Su Wen wasn't in a hurry; he was experimenting as well.

Guiding the Spirit Ring Essence to merge into the vacant Spirit Ring position with the Source Soul Power, Su Wen also felt a sense of rejection. However, through his heightened perception, he could sense that while being rejected, the Spirit Ring Essence was slowly merging into the Spirit Ring position. It's just that the speed was painfully slow.

Even if he could mobilize the Source Soul Power within the Martial Spirit Space to apply his "external force" to urge its integration, it was estimated that he would have to sit like this for several months before there was hope of success.

Only Su Wen possessed the innate talent of heightened perception, and after absorbing the fifth Spirit Ring, he evolved to have a comprehensive perception of himself. Otherwise, a normal Spirit Master wouldn't be able to sense this slightest change.

"Indeed, it's not that simple."

However, Su Wen had a plan long ago.

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