Compensating for Talent

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"The optimal age of the sixth spirit ring should be around 25000 years so we'll look for something higher. Since you haven't experienced a soul shock before, this time it will hit much harder but with my support, you can curb a lot of its effects," Ah Yin spoke up. The group was slowly traveling in the outer ring of one of the sections of the forest. Holding a tool spirit, Xie Xan's options were greater than other Beast Martial Souls so they couldn't be impatient.

If the Star Dou Great Forest didn't have a good enough of a Spirit Beast then Xie Xan planned to venture inside other great environments such as the Sunset Forest or the Extreme North, the latter of which was refused by Ja Sun instantly. Actions of the tribe of Heavenly Snow Women had shown that they could track any being inside the Extreme North even with his cloning and disguising abilities so for a single spirit ring, tackling with a group of chicks that called snow apocalypse with dance wasn't worth it in Ja Sun's records.

Not a black spirit ring, at least.

Once they found a good spot, surprising Xie Xan, Ja Sun, and Ah Yin began setting up a camp before they took out their favorite chairs and slumped down with relieved sighs.

"What's going on?" Xie Xan was stunned, unaware of the true purpose of the visits since the trio weren't told exactly what the group had done during their first trip.

"Aren't you bored doing the paperwork? Come on, enjoy a little," Ja Sun snickered as Xie Xan's expression brightened. Maybe going out wasn't a bad idea after all. No matter how much of an unpleasant/pleasant company the two of them were for each other, alcohol made everything better.

Since it was daytime and the group was much closer to the outer ring of the section of the forest, the trio had encountered two other groups of Spirit Masters who kept to themselves once feeling the strength of the group revealed by them for the very intention of remaining undisturbed.

"I thought you liked working behind the desk, Brother Xie," Ah Yin inquired, leaning back and sipping on a jug of juice as Xie Xan cackled, "Of course, not. I'm good at it, but I don't like it that much. Still, if I'm there, Nana will be there and I don't want her doing anything too dangerous until the baby arrives."

Ah Yin nodded and the group continued to chat idly. Their discussion was mostly centered around future competitors. Especially Ja Sun a little startled by his contact of Yu Xiaogang failing constantly. He held a great curiosity for the Enlightened Martial Souls and now he knew two of them who began differently. Ja Sun killed the poor dog, leading a dragon to rise from the ashes while he also guided Yuehua to awaken her Clear Phoenix by herself. And, to ensure that Yu Xiaogang feels like talking, Ja Sun wanted Yuehua to have a chat and discuss their innate differences.

However, he couldn't contact the youth. Trying to ask Qian Daoliu about the situation made things somewhat strange since even his master admitted that Yu Xiaogang couldn't be contacted temporarily. Curious, Ja Sun cornered each of Yu Xiaogang's teammates, much to their dissatisfaction but being a bully he was, Ja Sun cared less about his competitors.

None knew where Yu Xiaogang was... well, Qian Daoliu hinted that he knew but he wouldn't divulge it.

"Oh, I just remembered something," Xie Xan spoke up, "Sister Dong wants all of us to reach Spirit Emperor. Well, she specifically wanted me, Erlong, and you to reach the rank as quickly as possible."

He looked at Ja Sun while Ah Yin frowned, "Why?"

"I don't know."

"Well, let's find out then," Ja Sun smiled, "What's common between the three of us?"

His words made the remaining duo think about the situation. Bibi Dong had only commented this in the passing since only Xie Xan would have reached the rank of Spirit Emperor now.

"Our... skills?" Xie Xan questioned.

"You're over-reaching," Ja Sun snorted before frowning, "Do you mean the nature or our usage of spirit skills?"

"Usage... but that only makes me and Liu Erlong a little similar, including Jun'er since we all are assault-type masters."

"I wonder what Sister Dong is thinking," Ah Yin leaned back comfortably and closed her eyes.

---

Her hair had grown, Zhu Ning realized. Alone in her room, she silently viewed herself in the mirror. In recent years many things had changed for the Successor of the White Tiger Imperial Clan and for her own, too. As Dai Taiyin sent his only brother into exile as mandated by the rules of the clan, being the sister subordinate of the clan, the Hell Civets followed the same rule. Zhu Ning had sent her sister, too, to exile.

Zhu Ning had a brother who would lead the Hell Civets but now, Zhu Ning realized that things are fair at times. Dai Taiyin's brother and Zhu Ning's sisters had accepted their exile. They lived comfortably and would lead a life of prosperity, albeit, not a spiritual one. Their children will settle in the outer rings of the main clans and will support the Clan's reputation.

Touching her long, slightly curling locks as opposed to her sister's straight ones, Zhu Ning sighed deeply. After all, once her fiancee threw himself in arduous cultivation with his defeat at the infamous masked individual's hands, Zhu Ning herself was trained by the Imperial Queen herself— her Aunt.

But this temporary distance between the couple only ensured greater passion when they did get time to meet each other and unload their stress.

Zhu Ning's gaze flickered as she held a dagger against her locks.

*Knock*

*Knock*

"Ning'er, I'm coming in," Dai Taiyin's voice cautioned as he soon entered their room. Seeing Zhu Ning almost cutting her hair short once again, Taiyin couldn't help but sigh. His hair was fashioned in a mohawk with the sides not completely bald but only trimmed. However...

"You know, my princess, I enjoy seeing wearing your hair longer." Dai Taiyin still couldn't force it on her since he himself kept his hair short, unlike his father.

"It gets in the way," Zhu Ning smiled, her cold exterior melting in a rare moment of warmth as she was soon done with her grooming. Hell Civets had a simple rule. Never let anyone behind you with a razor for any reason. Thus, Zhu Ning cut her own hair just like the Imperial Queen and every other member of the Hell Civet Clan.

"Something great happened," Taiyin laughed as he sat on the edge of the bed. It wasn't just the defeat at Ja Sun's hand that had roused his spirits but also the invasion of the Beasttakens that served to refine his sense of fighting. Dai Taiyin was a warrior through and through, but he lacked the necessary cunning which allowed him to fall into Ja Sun's schemes and let more valuable treasures of the clan be robbed due to his misjudgments. This was developed in the invasions. He fought the members of the rumored Hint of Evil and Beasttakens. He suffered losses and victories until the Spirit City sent support.

With his active contributions, Dai Laohu had delegated multiple responsibilities to his son. This was a rare opportunity to groom the younger generation after all.

"What did?" Zhu Ning inquired her husband-to-be once they are finally given the 'seat.'

"Father allowed me to get tested in the Sage's Cave," Dai Taiyin spoke with a wild glimmer in his eyes.

If Tang Hao realized that his age could be used to his advantage then Dai Taiyin had also realized that to catch up with talents, he would have to use his heritage to his advantage. After all, reports suggest that the opponent he wished to defeat had clashed against a Titled Douluo and survived to tell the tale while the Titled Douluo had yet to resurface.

Taiyin realized that if he lost with the advantage of three greater rings, the chances of facing defeat are even higher now.

But with constant contributions opportunity finally knocked on his doors and he wished to share the joy with the one who stuck by his side every moment of his hardship.

"Sage's Cave..." Zhu Ning mumbled before nodding with a smile, even grinning, "Then you have to get better results. You would only get one chance this time."

Dai Taiyin nodded with a happy snicker.

Standing up, Zhu Ning came close to the man, whispering, "Want me to help you get started with the preparations?"

'Oh... tiger bones!' Taiyin blew as he felt Zhu Ning being quite honest with the meaning of her words.

---

"Do you know who I am?"

An archaic voice filled the world with crimson. It was empty. He stood on nothing but emptiness and gazed at the only sphere in the middle hued golden with crimson tinge still keeping true on its surface.

"Master explained to me, yes," Yu Xiaogang replied.

"Golden Crocodile indeed completed his trials. But he was at a rank where raw spirit energy would not be of use. Thus, I shared my essence, evolving his martial soul into what the golden crocodile is now.

And that is why he still lives. You understand that, don't you?"

Yu Xiaogang nodded once again.

"Is it worth it to risk your life?" The aged voice inquired yet again.

"To have my clan retract its judgment and to surpass that individual using my life as an opportunity... it is indeed worth it."

Yu Xiaogang's gaze flickered. Accepting his affirmation, a draconic totem appeared on his chest. It was white at first but soon, Yu Xiaogang revealed a pained expression. His body trembled and collapsed on 'nothing' while the mark on his chest began to change from white to yellow and then black. On the curve of the tattoo emerged 6 red dots and he soon disappeared from this location.

---

"Behold, my talent!" Ja Sun proclaimed.

Three days had gone by in a blink of an eye. They searched the inner rings of various sections of the forest in hopes of finding a compatible Spirit Beast. Again, they found many. For Xie Xan, maybe, his options were even wider than Oscar's. And his innate ability to activate two separate spirit skills on the blades differently made him a fierce opponent.

They would return after a few hours to enjoy their time and discuss the types of skills Xie Xan could gain. Currently, not a single possible skill stood out completely.

"What is that?" Ah Yin inquired as she saw a sleek and well-crafted holder that looked like a wallet. It fit snugly in Ja Sun's palm.

"Oh, this is just the case that I fashioned from Impure ores. Nothing fancy."

His skills proved otherwise. Ja Sun's two teammates grew curious and leaned forward from their chairs as Ja Sun flipped the small case open, revealing an item... extremely familiar to Xie Xan... and Ah Yin.

Their lips twitched, but they waited. As eccentric as Ja Sun was, even if this item looked ridiculous, him being excited about it must hold some significant value.

The item in between Ja Sun's index and thumb had a ring-shaped entrance light pink in color and it felt rubbery to touch. The entrance was coiled and looked thicker when compared to the extremely thin film covering one end of the item.

"Now, I understand what you're thinking but this is really amazing stuff," Ja Sun examined Ah Yin's and Xie Xan's expressions. After all, even he knew that holding a condom while claiming it to be a great item was a bit of... 'stretch.'

"In our last trip, we hunted a Humping Baboon and I had the idea of incorporating one of the Arrays I know into this item. This isn't formed of rubber or any other synthetic but jade. I processed crimson and warm jade pieces with the bones of the Humping Baboon and added the green rose oil for... obvious matter before shaping these. So naturally, it had aphrodisia that can make anyone last longer.

Now the item in itself is extremely durable and it will accommodate any size. Watch this."

With that, Ja Sun took out an extremely thin and small pen from his storage unit. Covering the pen with the condom through its butt, Ja Sun revealed that the condom was clearly oversized at the moment. But when the two saw Ja Sun using spirit energy on the item, the rubber surprisingly began to contract and shorten until it covered the pen perfectly. There were soft white marks glowing on the surface of the rubber that soon faded away.

"Huh? Amazing, right?" Ja Sun grinned, "Now check this out."

Ja Sun picked another processed rubber from the sleek box and took out a meter-long rod with a prominent curvature.

The duo's lips twitched thinking what kind of demographic key points Ja Sun had in mind while developing the item.

Stretching the entrance with both hands, Ja Sun barely stuck the entrance against the rob before he injected his spirit energy once again. The rubber began to grow at a breakneck pace and soon Ja Sun could cover the entire rod.

"Since this is a one-time item, I didn't use too many materials for the array. Once it fits snugly, use it and throw it away. Oh, and once the size is changed, it cannot easily be reverted but that doesn't mean it will tear apart. It will just get stuck.

So... what do you two think?"

"I won't use a condom that you have touched previously... that's what I think," Xie Xan traced his chin, "But you did solve one of the major problems. The size issue is removed. Does the array use a lot of spirit energy?"

"Nope, just a hint of it," Ja Sun smiled.

"Then it can be used by anyone. Every human has traces of spirit energy after they awaken their martial souls." Xie Xan admitted.

"And since it's made of jade and spirit beast's bones, the item is durable to many things and changes to a certain extent. I'd say that it won't rip apart easily even if used by stronger individuals."

His words made Ah Yin purse her lips. She officially liked raw better than rubber formed of corpses.

"Where are you going with the words— usable by stronger spirit masters?" Ah Yin revealed a slightly disgusted expression.

"Since my first creation was taken by Oscar, I wanted to prepare another gift for master. So behold, my second creation."

Ja Sun had indeed formed a few essence tools before and gained a lot of materials related to it through his trait but none of them were his design aside from the storage ring made of Diamond Essence Gold that was now worn by Jun'er and now this. The Bonerator 9000.

"You're really going to gift these to the Grandmaster?" Xie Xan paled slightly.

"I can see him using these," Ja Sun nodded but he instantly realized the trap he had dug for himself. A veteran by now, Ah Yin rolled her eyes, "You can visualize master wearing such a thing... ugh."

"Oh, my god," Xie Xan covered his lips, eyes wide in shock and Ja Sun was left alone to convince that it wasn't like that.

They began passing time and soon settled on a spirit beast for Xie Xan. He already had self-enhancement skills alongside attack and auxiliary skills that served to develop his combat stance. What Xie Xan felt he needed was a defense-type skill but it wasn't in line with the potential of his Martial Soul. His martial soul was purely meant for damage. And that's why Xie Xan also held the greatest need for support since spirit energy would expand quickly.

Finally, Xie Xan found himself attracted to a 41000-year-old Ravaging Blind Raven hunting an 8000-year-old Sky Peacock. He simply knew that this was the best for him. Just like Ah Yin and others, Xie Xan's ability to understand his needs had been augmented under Bibi Dong's tutoring. The Ravaging Blind Raven was good at dealing with opponents stronger than itself due to its bloodthirsty nature and the innate talent born of blindness.

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A/N: I quite like Xie Xan as a character so I'll probably up him a bit in the next chapter. After all, this will already be his sixth spirit ring and he needs a substantial ability like Bright World or Fantasy Clones.