Two days later, I headed to Qian Renxue's residence.
She was waiting for me, accompanied by two individuals.
"Finally, you're here. Why were you late?" Her tone carried a hint of annoyance.
I thought to myself that I wasn't late; she was just in a hurry.
After exchanging greetings with the two people, we boarded a carriage drawn by a tamed spirit beast. Shortly afterward, we arrived at Star Dou Forest.
We took a half-hour break because the ride had been uncomfortable, then entered the forest to begin our search. There was no danger; whenever a beast approached, Qian Renxue's guards either killed it or released spirit pressure, causing the beasts to flee. But they usually refrained from doing this to avoid scaring away the beasts we were after.
After a day of searching, we found a nine-thousand-year-old spirit ring suitable for Qian Renxue. Upon absorbing it, she gained a skill that could bind opponents. I figured this was similar to what she gained in the story, confirming my theory: high-level spirits transform the skills of lower beasts into abilities suited to the martial spirit. It reminded me of when I acquired my copying skill. The beast could copy movements as a secondary trait, not relying on its eyes, but I received a skill allowing me to copy using mine.
A few hours later, we encountered a seventeen-thousand-year-old fox. It could trap us in illusions, manipulate our senses, and emit a scent that bewitched people, arousing desire. This was the one. And don't get the wrong idea—I only wanted its illusion abilities. Anything else would just be luck.
After a Douluo weakened it, I killed it easily and began absorbing its spirit ring. As you know, rings over ten thousand years contain psychic attacks that can be deadly. So I asked Qian Renxue to absorb the nine-thousand-year-old one. I couldn't absorb a ten-thousand-year-old ring as my third without the Sharingan. Since the Sharingan specializes in psychic attacks, there was only a slight chance it would affect me.
As expected, I felt only slight discomfort before successfully absorbing the spirit ring. Spiritual power surged through me, and my spirit power level began to rise—31 to 38, an eight-level leap. I don't think anyone has surpassed that. Thanks to my meditation in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the prime age of the ring, the increase made sense.
After a rest, we continued searching for another spirit ring for Qian Renxue. Yes, another one. That year of meditation, combined with the legendary herbs, allowed her to reach spirit power level 50 right after absorbing her first ring.
We found a suitable beast, seventeen thousand years old, with fire and light attributes. She killed it, gaining a powerful skill called the Sacred Sword. I even envied her for it. The amazing part was that it acted like a spirit weapon, enabling her to fight like those with weapon spirits. Unfortunately, she wasn't skilled in swordsmanship, and I considered teaching her later.
Her spirit power rose to level 53—Spirit King. As for the two individuals with us, they stayed silent, stunned by our rapid power increases and the age of the spirit rings. Initially, they objected to the age of the beasts, but after witnessing our success, they held their tongues.
With that, we returned to the Spirit Hall. After a month of adapting to the new skills, we left for the empire's capital. Qian Renxue bid farewell to her grandfather, who spoke to me, asking me to take care of her.
He sent Snake Spear Douluo and another, Agouti Douluo, with us. The journey was safe, and we reached the capital quickly. We wandered a bit, and I thought about visiting the Ye family to check on the technique I'd given them, but I was too busy with the plan.
"The emperor has five sons, four princes, and one princess. His younger brother oversees Tian Dou Academy."
"I need to kill the eldest son, Xue Qinghe, and take his place using the Spirit Bone skill of Disguise. That's the plan. What do you think?"
I thought for a moment. "No problem."
If I activated the Mangekyō, I could control him directly, eliminating the need to kill him. But I'd heard from Uchiha Kagami that overusing the eye leads to blindness, so I kept quiet.
"According to the information, he'll go out into the city tomorrow. I'm thinking of waiting until he's alone to strike," she said.
"Leave it to me. I'm good at disguise." I showed her my face as it transformed into an ordinary young man.
Her eyes widened. "I didn't expect you to have such a skill. It's similar to mine."
"Do we have an agreement?" I asked, noticing that she assumed my skill came from a Spirit Bone. I chose not to correct her misunderstanding.
"Not so fast," she said, gesturing to Snake Spear Douluo to check my disguise.
"Miss, it's indistinguishable from your own," he said after a thorough look.
"I'll handle it, then come to you at night to switch places. Deal?" I asked.
"Alright, but don't take unnecessary risks."
I nodded and went to my room to sleep, the reason for my insistence on handling this myself was still a secret.