Two years later
During these two years, I have been focusing on mainly cultivation. I am still improving on my cooking and knowledge on herbs but they were secondary priority. I had also been conducting some regular body exercises such as 10km runs, 50 sit ups and push-ups. All of it was so that I could maintain my toned muscles. They weren't all that obvious like a macho-man but they were definitely still there.
My cultivation rank had risen yet again. It was now Rank 20. I could now calmly circulate the energy into my body like the flow of the water. My control over my strength and my flexibility had gone up a good few levels. Since I reached the rank of 20, I'll need another ring to proceed into Spirit Grandmaster.
My aim is a 1000 year old ring but if that's impossible then I'll just have to settle for another over 700 year old ring. It's actually not bad, I'm already pushing my body as it is by attempting to absorb a 1000 year old spirit ring despite only being a Spirit Grandmaster. The protagonist was just special being able to take in a Million year old beast and a 400,000 year old ring. He did go through half spirit beast body modification.
I trekked deeper into Star Dou forest because the deeper you go in, the stronger the spirit beast will be. If I want a good ring, I need to journey further into the forest.
"Lei, scout the area for beasts that are compatible with me."
[Understood.]
Lei went up into the air as I waited under a tree for him to return with the information. A few minutes later, Lei returned.
"Are there any 1000 year old beasts nearby?"
[Yes, there are. In fact, it's a 9200 year old Holy Transcendent Pheasant. It's actually a beast that specialize in speed and healing but not much in attacking. It should be good for your Yang dagger. There is also the option of Lightning Swallow and Datura snake but the swallow is barely 900 years old and the snake is actually thousands of years younger than the pheasant so it's effect probably isn't that strong compared to the pheasant's healing capabilities.]
"Is that so. Since you're recommending the pheasant, I'll do as you say. You are my mentor in this world so you can't be wrong."
[Fortunately, the said beast is already injured. It appears that it had just escaped from a fight. Do you wish for me to trap the pheasant?]
"Yes."
I followed Lei to a certain direction and saw a white pheasant that had golden linings and marks all over its feathers. They were currently glowing softly as a mysterious light covered the bird. It almost looked like a Phoenix. I noticed that there were traces of blood around it connected to the sides so I assumed that it injured wings which would explain the red that's contracting the white feathers. The spirit beast was probably trying to heal its wounds but it's taking time. I feel bad for attacking it when it's at its weakest.
[Master, don't feel such emotion. If you don't kill it now, it will be killed by another beast or spirit master sooner or later. This pheasant is actually a rare beast due to the fact that it doesn't appear all that often.Even if someone finds them, their speed and light manipulation prevents them from being caught.]
I hear Lei's voice inside my head.
"Lei? You can actually still communicate with me despite the long distance."
[Yes, we are contracted to each other after all. As long as the connection remains, I can teleport to you, pinpoint your location, send telepathic messages and merge with you.]
"In other words, you can be called one of my spirit essence. Does that mean that if I merge with you, I can control Lightning and fly?"
[That is correct.]
"This is practically me already possessing a 100,000 year old ring."
[...With all due respect, I feel offended for being called something as simplistic as a ring.]
"Sorry…"
Timeskip~
It didn't take long for me to obtain and absorb the Star Transcendent Pheasant's ring. The pheasant was injured and spiritually exhausted.
There was the lingering sadness of killing it and the seemingly endless suffering I had to go through when absorbing the ring but overall it went smoothly.
As a bonus, I don't know if it was a stroke of luck but I also obtained a spirit bone from the bird. It was a white gold colored left arm bone that was producing a warm and comfortable light. I could feel my fatigue going away. I questioned Lei on why this spirit beast was able to produce a spirit bone even though it wasn't a 10,000 year old beast. Lei told me that it is possible for spirit beasts nearing 10,000 years old to produce a bone early one but the percentage of that happening is less than 3.
As a result, not only do I have my second spirit ring now, I have a spirit bone within me. Absorbing a spirit bone was not in the least bit better than a ring. In fact, it was actually worse. It felt as if my left arm was going to melt..
The skill: 'Star's faith'. I can heal my allies and myself through using my Yang dagger as the medium to transfer the energy. This ability doesn't only heal flesh wounds but also cure illnesses and poisons. It takes a longer time to cure them because poisons and such travel constantly throughout the body. The process would take even longer depending on the type of wound, poison or illness. The more severe it is, the more time will be needed for it to heal.
This kind of effect may come in handy someday when my life or other's is in danger.
Moving on to the spirit bone, it had the power to decrease a spirit master's recovery time by 50%.
The second effect of this bone is Nullification, any abnormal status effect will have no effect on me, may it be poison, disease, paralysis or hypnosis. Despite it being only a 9200 year old bone and beast, it has such strong and unique skills. This can be counted as winning the lottery. I wonder if this was possible because the beast was nearing 10,000 years old. I'm right now the enemy of all poison spirit masters...
After analyzing my new skills, I checked my spirit rank and it seems like I went up another few ranks. I am now a rank 24, Spirit Grandmaster. I can be considered a monster for reaching such height at age 8 but this was all made possible because not only do I have talent in cultivation but also a guide that is equivalent to a over 500,000 year old spirit beast as my backing in case something goes wrong.
'I had one more skill in my Divine eyes but I'll leave that for later.'
I have four more years until Shrek Academy's entry date. I have to get even stronger before then. The events coming after the protagonist's admission into the school are not only dangerous but even life-threatening. I must be prepared for any situation.
Seeing as I'm already this deep in the forest, I might as well speed my time training here. The amount of stronger beasts are surely larger than in the outer section. I can improve my survival skills and combat through actual experience by fighting the beasts in the forest