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Tang San, fighting two opponents alone, ultimately achieved victory.
After getting dressed, Huo Wu lay on Tang San's back, blushing and softly saying, "I'm tired. Can you carry me out?"
Tang San confirmed that the Sun Goddess was not just a martial spirit but seemed like an energy embodiment of Huo Wu, reaching a state where the virtual becomes real.
One must admit, the Crystal Lotus, a parasitic plant living in the planet's bloodstream, is unexpectedly powerful.
Facing Huo Wu's request, if they hadn't been intimate, Tang San could have righteously refused. But now, as they were like husband and wife, he could only "compromise."
Carrying Huo Wu out of the crater, Tang San looked at the cave in the volcano's inner wall and the descending lava, saying, "It seems this place won't experience large-scale eruptions in the future. The periodic major eruptions in Lava City, happening every three hundred years, are likely over."
This might mean Lava City loses its once-every-three-centuries festival, but it also means the city no longer has to fear a massive eruption covering it in lava.
In the future, people here can develop without worry.
"Without the Crystal Lotus, will the volcanoes in the Lava Region gradually disappear?" Huo Wu suddenly asked. "Won't the soul beasts here go extinct?"
Huo Wu wasn't particularly concerned about the soul beasts' lives, but without the Lava Volcano, most soul beasts here might go extinct, reducing the areas for soul masters to hunt.
Though human development encroaches on soul beasts' habitats, soul beasts are crucial resources too!
"No," Tang San said firmly. "These volcanoes form a chain and won't extinguish for tens of thousands of years. Moreover, the planet's tectonic plates are moving, and these volcanoes act as vents."
As they chatted, they descended the volcano, heading towards the Lava Region's outskirts.
Along the way, they saw many soul beasts searching for and refining minerals, though fewer than before. People waiting at the outer edges still didn't dare approach, waiting for the soul beasts to leave.
Tang San and Huo Wu, however, were bold, venturing into the soul beasts' midst to pick precious minerals and metals.
Though the soul beasts were wild, they focused on finding minerals to increase their power, ignoring the food chain hierarchy, let alone humans.
As long as Tang San and Huo Wu didn't attack, the soul beasts wouldn't either.
After all, the minerals were embedded in semi-soft, semi-hard lava, and if disrupted, would sink into the lava, making them hard to extract.
This mineral feast lasted three days and nights. As the soul beasts began to disperse, people waiting outside ventured in with tools, collecting the high-quality metal-containing excrement left by the soul beasts.
Commonly known as: "fecal gold."
Perhaps this explains why soul beasts don't harm humans at such times. With so much waste, they benefit from people cleaning it up, sparing them the wait for the lava to cover it naturally, giving them more time to search for minerals.
Looking at a warm, silver piece of fecal gold, Huo Wu sighed, "Soul beasts are amazing, purifying metal like this. This silver is nearly a hundredfold refined."
"Nature's craftsmanship is indeed astonishing, but only human wisdom can perfect it," Tang San noted. For most blacksmiths, soul beasts' fecal gold's purity far exceeds what they achieve after countless hammerings.
But only humans can forge weapons, armor, and tools from metal.
Still, soul beasts' ability to digest minerals in this environment makes them natural "metal purifiers."
Unfortunately, humans can't harness this actively, only reaping passive benefits from these soul beasts.
After seven days, Tang San and Huo Wu collected numerous precious metals and planned to leave. The person Tang San had questioned earlier found them, asking, "Would you join the Lava City festival? We've had a bumper crop of minerals, and the city lord is throwing a grand feast!"
"Sure, tell us what events the feast includes," Tang San replied, interested not in the festivities but in understanding local customs and collecting information on the inhabitants' martial spirits. This would help him theorize about the evolution of martial spirits in Lava City, supporting his research and future publications.
Half a month later, Tang San and Huo Wu arrived at a small town outside the Star Dou Forest, meeting Xiao Wu at the agreed-upon inn.
"I knew it! You two did it!" Xiao Wu teased Huo Wu with a playful smile. "Aren't you glad you got what you wanted, little sister?"
In terms of appearance, Huo Wu seemed to be the oldest among them. But considering the sequence of events, and since Xiao Wu was a hundred-thousand-year-old soul beast, she was naturally the oldest.
"Hmph, what does it have to do with you?" Huo Wu retorted, unwilling to call Xiao Wu, Guang Ling, Ning Rongrong, and the others "sisters." However, she didn't argue about the "little sister" title.
After all, she was the last to join the group.
"Let's not talk about that," Tang San awkwardly changed the subject, asking Xiao Wu about her sixth soul ring. "How many years is your sixth soul ring, and what soul skill does it grant?"
Xiao Wu put one hand on her hip, her martial spirit naturally attaching to her. A pair of rabbit ears appeared on her head, and golden tufts like burning flames sprouted from her wrists. White fur resembling dragon scales covered her legs.
Six soul rings appeared around her, trembling slightly. The sixth soul ring was a blood-red hundred-thousand-year ring.
"Indeed, you're also at the hundred-thousand-year level," Huo Wu remarked, her own martial spirit attaching as she released her soul rings. The red hundred-thousand-year soul ring's aura matched Xiao Wu's.
"Why does your martial spirit attach to your body now?" Xiao Wu asked, curious. Previously, Huo Wu's martial spirit was detached. Now, she had golden sun patterns on her body and a golden crystal short skirt resembling a lotus at her waist.
"Has your martial spirit evolved again? How did you handle the hundred-thousand-year soul ring? And where did you get it from?"
"It can detach too." Huo Wu smirked as the Solar Goddess separated from her, embracing Tang San's back and resting its chin on his right shoulder, its golden eyes playfully winking at Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu immediately understood. Huo Wu's Solar Goddess had evolved again, and her consciousness could likely enter this martial spirit, as if she had an extra body.
"Impressive. What are your soul skills?" Xiao Wu asked.
"The first is Sunfire Lotus, a ranged explosion skill, but I haven't had a chance to test it." Huo Wu retracted the Sun Goddess, raising two fingers. "The second is Sun Seal, which can seal anything. On our way back, Tang San tested it on a naturally dead soul beast, and it can even seal soul rings. After unsealing, the ring can be absorbed by any soul master, bypassing the need to kill the soul beast themselves."
"Amazing," Xiao Wu blinked. "You could sell soul rings for a fortune!"
"Yeah, right!"
Huo Wu rolled her eyes, then remembered something. "Tang San has already told me about your identity. To avoid any awkwardness, I'll explain. My hundred-thousand-year soul ring comes from a Crystal Lotus that absorbed mantle magma energy. It had no sentience and fused naturally with my Sun Goddess, giving me my sixth soul ring."
"This Crystal Lotus has a cultivation close to a million years, meaning my seventh, eighth, and ninth soul rings can be self-generated with the Sun Goddess's help."
Xiao Wu sighed in relief and smiled, "You don't have to explain... but I'm really envious. You don't have to hunt for your last three soul rings. I'll tell you how to condense soul rings... but I'm stuck finding my eighth and ninth rings."
"Don't worry, we'll find a way," Tang San comforted her.
"Yes, I believe in you, Brother San," Xiao Wu nodded and then described her sixth soul skill. "My first soul skill is called Neural Network."
"As you predicted, the Lingkong Rabbit enhanced my entire nervous system. Not only can I control my blood and soul power with incredible precision, but my mental strength has also greatly increased. I can now walk on water as if on solid ground."
"I can even contend with weaker hundred-thousand-year soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest. With fusion rings, I can rival all but Di Tian's fiercest beasts!"
"While Neural Network doesn't grant direct attack power, it allows me to fully activate all my nerve tissues and sense every movement in my body."
This skill might seem insignificant, but Tang San, Xiao Wu, Huo Wu, and the others knew how powerful it was for Xiao Wu.
With it, Xiao Wu could perfectly control her body, maximizing every ounce of strength from her bones and muscles.
Moreover, she could sense her internal organs' movements, aiding her in practicing the Jade Bone and Gold Muscle Divine Cang Method and her research in human anatomy for medical purposes.
"Let's give it a try."
(End of chapter)