Although the Dugu Family is powerful and has a heritage, there are still problems with their own cultivation.
Even though they have strong paths for Spirit Ring combinations, they mostly stick to the methods of ordinary Spirit Masters when exploring new Spirit Skills, in order to find ways to improve the toxicity backlash of the family's Martial Spirit.
Due to the significant flaws in their Martial Spirit, they don't seek help from other scholars to develop methods to detoxify it. Instead, they research on their own.
As a result, through generations, a family known for its expertise in toxins has accumulated considerable knowledge about Martial Spirits, especially Dugu Bo. With his high-level research on toxins, he has developed his own approach to studying Martial Spirits.
In the past, Dugu Yan was puzzled by her grandfather's decision to focus on theoretical books after achieving the rank of Titled Douluo.
Now she vaguely understood.
"Xiaowen, Teacher Xiao Zhan, my grandfather said that there are Stone Monsters in Sunset Forest that have been around for over fifty thousand years. It's also a gathering place for the Stone Monster Tribe. However, there are still many Stone Monsters living outside. Let's search around the outskirts."
"Fifty thousand years?" Su Wen exclaimed.
He hadn't come across any Stone Monster cases with such a high age limit in the many records he had seen.
The highest he had seen was a thirty-thousand-year-old Stone Monster discovered by a Spirit Master in the Star Dou Great Forest, as recorded in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect records.
"It seems we can't completely trust publicly available information in the future," Su Wen thought to himself.
It's not that there's an issue with the publicly available information, but rather that it might not be entirely comprehensive in its accounts.
"Fifty-thousand-year-old Stone Monsters are indeed rare," Xiao Zhan also remarked.
The birth of Stone Monsters is inherently difficult, and even though it's unrelated to Su Wen, for defensive-type Spirit Masters like him, Stone Monsters make excellent Spirit Rings.
Therefore, the number of Stone Monsters has always been small, and they rarely grow to maturity.
"Wait." Su Wen called out to Dugu Yan and Xiao Zhan, approaching a special rock beside a small hill.
He extended his Spiritual Power.
"There are remnants of Soul Power inside this rock, indicating that a Stone Monster has stayed here."
When Stone Monsters rest, they choose special rocks as their resting spots and blend with them to camouflage themselves.
After they leave, remnants of their Soul Power will remain inside the camouflaged rocks.
"The intensity of the Soul Power isn't high, but according to records, the Soul Power left by Stone Monsters in rocks is usually weak and will diminish over time."
From this, it can be inferred that this Stone Monster is at least over three thousand years old.
"How about it, does it meet your age requirements?" Xiao Zhan asked.
Three thousand years old already exceeded the absorption limit of a typical Level 30 Spirit Master for their third Spirit Ring.
And by a significant margin.
Su Wen had absorbed beyond his level before. How far his Spirit Ring's age could reach depended on his own estimation, as he was the one who truly understood himself.
"Let's take a closer look first," Su Wen prepared to examine the specific age of this Stone Monster.
Three thousand years old, to be honest, seemed a bit low.
However, factors such as the Stone Monster's control over its own Soul Power, the type of rock it merged with, and the passage of time could all affect the quality of its residual Soul Power.
So, this Stone Monster might not necessarily be only three thousand years old.
"Alright," Xiao Zhan nodded, and he, along with Su Wen and Dugu Yan, dispersed to search for traces of the Stone Monster.
Following the trail for three days straight, the trio finally stumbled upon another rock with residual Soul Power of a Stone Monster.
The Soul Power remnants within this rock were much stronger than the previous ones.
Su Wen began to feel a sense of anticipation.
Continuing their search, the trio finally caught up to their target half a month later.
"Xiaowen, the age of this Stone Monster is quite high," Xiao Zhan's expression turned solemn as he looked at the Stone Monster standing five meters tall, covered in purple veins, and addressed Su Wen.
"Over five thousand three hundred years," Su Wen stated the age of the Stone Monster.
However, he showed no signs of disappointment or despair.
From Su Wen's tone, Xiao Zhan sensed satisfaction.
"Xiaowen, absorbing Spirit Rings is not a joke!"
"Yeah, Xiaowen, absorbing a Spirit Ring that's over five thousand years old for your third Spirit Ring definitely won't work." Even Dugu Yan started to advise Su Wen.
Five thousand three hundred years.
What does that even mean?
For an ordinary Spirit Master, the limit for their third Spirit Ring is barely over one thousand seven hundred and sixty years. The theoretical limit for the fourth Spirit Ring is also five thousand years.
The age of this Stone Monster, over five thousand three hundred years, has already surpassed the limits of many Spirit Masters' fourth Spirit Rings!
The second ring merely absorbs the age limit of the third ring, and now Su Wen is considering absorbing an age limit that even fourth rings can't reach.
"Xiaowen, don't be reckless!"
Faced with the two's discouragement, Su Wen felt helpless.
"Uncle Zhan, Sister Yan, I'm well aware of my own constitution. My qualities are no less than any Level 40 Spirit Master's. Absorbing a Spirit Ring that's over five thousand years old poses no problem for me. As for the extra three hundred years beyond five thousand, I believe I can handle it."
Su Wen stated that the limit of a Spirit Ancestor's Spirit Ring is his normal level, and strictly speaking, only these three hundred years of excess fall into the category of him surpassing his level.
"It's impossible. How could your constitution compare to that of a Spirit Ancestor?" Xiao Zhan wasn't easily fooled.
"A Spirit Master's cultivation is the growth of both the Spirit Master themselves and their Martial Spirit. By the fourth ring stage, the Martial Spirit has already entered a true mature period, providing the greatest feedback to the Spirit Master.
Even though your Martial Spirit may evolve, the feedback to your body won't surpass that of a Level 40 Spirit Master, even though you've only added two Spirit Rings. Despite the evolution of your Martial Spirit, the feedback to your body won't surpass that of a Level 40 Spirit Master!
With such a disparity, how could you possibly elevate your physical qualities to the level of a Level 40 Spirit Master?"
"Uncle Zhan, your Fire Demon Style is very effective at tempering the whole body—"
"Don't try to confuse me. While Fire Demon Style is beneficial for enhancing the physique, have you really cultivated it to such a high level?" Xiao Zhan snorted.
Fire Demon Style certainly tempers the body, but what kind of effect does that tempering have? Did he think Xiao Zhan didn't know
The so-called tempering is also an improvement in the combat state of Fire Demon Style; the enhancement in the Spirit Master's body under normal circumstances is not so pronounced. Without practicing to a high level, you can't achieve a qualitative change.
"Uncle Zhan, you haven't checked my progress in training for a long time," Su Wen said helplessly.
Xiao Zhan blinked, recalling recent events.
It did seem like he hadn't checked Su Wen's training progress for a while.
Mainly because Su Wen's learning ability was so strong. When Su Wen learned the Spirit Fusion Method and Rings Fusion Technique on the spot, it was truly shocking to him. Even though he was happy for Su Wen, he also had some doubts about life.
Moreover, Su Wen's training progress had always been quite fast.
And there was the increasingly rapid rate of advancement in Soul Power cultivation.
He simply decided to stop checking Su Wen's training progress altogether to prevent himself from feeling hurt.
"Do you really feel like you can give it a try?" he asked, his tone somewhat uncertain.
Su Wen rolled his eyes.
Of course, he did.
If I'm not sure about it myself, why would I take this risk?
It's not just Fire Demon Style; Su Wen was also been training in External Strength, and the nurturing effects of Internal Strength on his meridians have started to improve.
'With all these factors combined, plus my mastery of the Martial Spirit Space, a mere five thousand three hundred years Spirit Ring is nothing.'
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