Chapter 17 - Almost Out of Breath

Although the old man was very curious, he managed to control his curiosity in the end. It's not that he couldn't push himself, but he knew he couldn't escape after all.

This was the old man's philosophy on how to conduct oneself in the world. Moreover, for a six-ring Spirit Emperor like him, the ten thousand-year spirit ring wasn't that important anymore. He already possessed a ten thousand-year spirit ring now.

And even after breaking through, the next spirit ring he would obtain had to be a ten thousand-year spirit ring.

There was time to investigate the origin of the boy's two ten thousand-year spirit rings, so it was better to focus on improving his level of spirit power. After all, it was more challenging to increase the level of spirit power at a later stage.

"Really?!"

Ning Rongrong stared blankly at the two black spirit rings on the young man's body and couldn't help but complain in her heart.

This world is too complicated, and it seemed like she was still dreaming and witnessing such a bizarre and unreal scene.

"Ah..."

"How did you manage to do it?" she asked the young man curiously, looking at him under the shade of the tree. She even reached out and lightly slapped Lu Yuan's arm, although he had already put away his martial spirit and spirit ring by then.

But Ning Rongrong was certain, absolutely certain!

"What do you mean?" Lu Yuan replied, looking at the boys and girls still being evaluated not far away without batting an eye.

To be honest, there were quite a few geniuses on the mainland. Among other things, those who dared to participate in the evaluation were mostly geniuses.

After all, no one would willingly pay ten gold spirit coins for an assessment if they knew they were unqualified. Once those ten golden spirit coins were paid, it would be challenging to get them back. Flender, the dean of Shrek Academy, was known for being frugal and stingy. The title of a penny-pinching miser suited him well.

"It's about your spirit rings," Ning Rongrong continued, still staring at the two black spirit rings. "How did you manage to absorb two ten thousand-year spirit rings?"

"It's easy," Lu Yuan said, making simple gestures in the air.

Ning Rongrong's eyes gleamed with cunning. She hadn't expected that this guy was such an easy target! Just a few words from her, and he revealed the secret of absorbing spirit rings across levels.

"First, you need to kill a ten thousand-year spirit beast," he explained. "Then, you have to absorb the spirit ring of that ten thousand-year spirit beast. In the end, you will have a ten thousand-year spirit ring."

Ning Rongrong struggled to maintain a smile on her face, while a whirlwind of thoughts raced through her mind.

Was it necessary for him to teach her about hunting a ten thousand-year spirit beast? Did she need his guidance after killing the spirit beast and absorbing its spirit ring? What about the process, the details, the textual descriptions? Did he just skip all of that?

Looking at Lu Yuan's unconcerned face, Ning Rongrong suspected that he didn't fully understand the situation. Suppressing her anger, she asked softly, "Then what are the specific steps?"

"Specifics..." Lu Yuan began excitedly, but Ning Rongrong interrupted him, trying to gather her thoughts.

"No more examples. What's next?" she asked.

"And then..." Lu Yuan hesitated, licking his slightly dry lips. "Do you have any water?"

Ning Rongrong struggled to maintain her smile, touched the bracelet on her wrist, and produced a bottle of water.

"Thank you," Lu Yuan said, unscrewing the bottle cap and drinking half of the water in one gulp. "Then it's time to hunt spirit beasts."

Hearing this, Ning Rongrong had an ominous feeling.

"Hunting spirit beasts should be divided into the following steps," Lu Yuan continued. "First step, hunting. Second step, cleaning up. By that, I mean checking the valuable body parts of the spirit beast, removing and storing them. The third step is to light a fire and roast the corpse! I mean, the corpses need to be destroyed to prevent other spirit beasts from being attracted by the smell of blood. Of course, I don't recommend starting a fire in the forest. If necessary, set up an isolated area first. But if a person dies... well, it's useless to say anything. It's up to you whether to start a fire or not."

"After discussing the three steps, we can delve into the specifics of the first step," Lu Yuan said, using phrases like "first," "secondly," "next," and "finally" to elaborate on each step.

Ning Rongrong's head was buzzing, and she abruptly shouted, "Stop!"

Lu Yuan pitifully shook the empty water bottle in his hand. "Is there any more water?"

"Are you kidding me?" Ning Rongrong glared at the cunning guy in front of her. In just ten minutes, he hadn't said a single useful word. While his explanations sounded reasonable, she realized they were just common knowledge for spirit masters. She pondered for a moment and realized that it was all nonsense!

Ning Rongrong glanced at the empty water bottle in Lu Yuan's hand and felt a surge of anger.

Fortunately, she initially believed that he was an honest person. She didn't expect that he would deceive her so effortlessly, even when faced with her cute, innocent, and naive questioning. She regretted paying the price.

Lu Yuan looked surprised. "You actually noticed?"

Ning Rongrong was so angry that she almost punched him.

"Stop!" A faint heat wave surged.

Luckily, Ma Hongjun, who had just brought Tang San and the others to the second stage, arrived in time and saw signs of conflict. He quickly intervened and stopped the situation from escalating.

Ma Hongjun scratched his head in confusion. "What's going on with you two?"

To be honest, if they hadn't known each other for a while, it could be considered fate that they were meeting for a fight.

Of course, the more likely scenario was an unfortunate fate.

Although Ma Hongjun had nothing to do with their strained relationship, he couldn't help but be curious.

Ning Rongrong pouted and angrily replied, "Ask him!"

Kicking a pebble away, Ning Rongrong walked in the direction Ma Hongjun came from. She no longer believed that she needed this guide to find her way. She definitely didn't want to stay with him for a second longer!

Lu Yuan shrugged and boredly shook the empty water bottle in his hand. "It's nothing. Besides being a spirit master, I also work part-time as a conversationalist."

"But the little girl can't afford the price, so she can only compensate me with a bottle of water," he added. "Her aggressive attitude is actually just a result of being embarrassed."

Ma Hongjun gave a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, buddy. There's nothing wrong with what you're doing. I fully support you!"

Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong, who was not far away, staggered and nearly fell. This guy was making up another lie! How could she believe such an easily debunked falsehood? It seemed like this little fatty had a low IQ.