Suddenly, Chu Chengzhou's steps faltered, and his figure swiftly shifted several meters to the right. At the same time, a blue soul power aura radiated from his body, forming a translucent blue soul power shield.
What is the most obvious weakness of a sharpshooter? One, a lack of close combat skills; two, slow movement; three, weak defense.
Sharpshooters excel at long-range attacks. Close combat is something they might try, but it is not their forte. While they are skilled in many weapons, they are not as specialized as those who focus on one.
Chu Chengzhou had never considered improving his close combat abilities. Since he had chosen to be a sharpshooter, he didn't think about becoming a frontline warrior.
Moreover, he had the ability to freely choose his summoned spirits, so although this weakness existed, it wasn't a problem.
As for the slow movement and weak defense, these were issues he had to address.
For speed, he had upgraded his movement skills while grinding to make running and kite fighting easier.
As for weak defense, Chu Chengzhou knew that relying solely on his physical strength from body refinement skills was not enough, so he also upgraded his defense skills.
In the past, when his opponents were weaker, this skill was kept as a trump card. Now, in a dangerous situation, it was finally useful.
Of course, if he had a choice, Chu Chengzhou would prefer to never have to use this skill.
After all, using it meant that his role as a sharpshooter was in danger.
He dodged and activated his shield almost instantly.
The next second, the blazing fire of the Phoenix descended from the sky, covering the spot where Chu Chengzhou had been standing.
However, the fire of the great Phoenix, both in power and coverage, was far beyond what the smaller Phoenix could compare to.
Chu Chengzhou had dodged immediately, but he hadn't completely avoided it.
The searing fire of the Phoenix still engulfed half of his body.
The soul power shield around Chu Chengzhou, with a defensive strength comparable to a thousand-year defense soul skill, was torn apart by the Phoenix's flames.
However, the shield wasn't entirely useless. It bought him a brief moment, as even something as flimsy as paper could still block for a short time.
It was important to note that Chu Chengzhou was still using his movement skills!
Even though the shield only bought him a split second, it was enough for him to escape the range of the Phoenix's flames.
Just as the great Phoenix was about to launch another attack, a massive owl with an orange-golden shield around its body dove down like a meteor and crashed into the great Phoenix.
"Boom—!"
With a loud crash, the great Phoenix, already injured, was sent crashing to the ground.
The giant owl, after spinning in the air and flying back several meters, stabilized itself.
Then, with a powerful flap of its wings, the giant owl dove again, its talons reaching out to grab the fleeing Chu Chengzhou and the small Phoenix's corpse, lifting them into the air and flying rapidly toward the northwest.
By the time the dazed great Phoenix recovered and took to the sky again, the giant owl had long disappeared.
The soul rings that had not been absorbed by the soul master were attached to the soul beast's corpse. As long as the corpse was taken, the soul ring was also taken.
Now that the small Phoenix's soul ring was secured, the top priority was to find a safe place for Chu Chengzhou to absorb the soul ring and advance to a third-ring Soul Sovereign.
Since he didn't need the great Phoenix's soul ring, Flender naturally had no intention of continuing the battle or hunting the great Phoenix.
In his martial soul true form, Flender's speed was impressive, and since they hadn't ventured deep into the Star Dou Forest, it took less than twenty minutes for them to reach an area near the outskirts.
Sensing no high-level soul beasts nearby, Flender landed in the forest with Chu Chengzhou and the small Phoenix's corpse.
Then, the giant owl dissipated, revealing Flender's figure.
"Flender, are you okay?"
Seeing Flender's pale face, Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but ask.
The martial soul true form greatly enhances a soul master's strength, but it also has its drawbacks. Most soul masters experience a period of weakness after using their martial soul true form.
The duration and severity of this weakness depend on the soul master's level, the quality of their martial soul, and the age of their seventh soul ring.
For example, Zhao Wujie, a seven-ring soul master, would experience a 50% reduction in strength for seven days after using his Great Power Golden Bear true form.
Of course, this refers to regular soul masters. On the continent, there are always a few exceptions.
For instance, Tang San, at the seven-ring level, with his top-quality Blue Silver Emperor martial soul and a ten-thousand-year seventh soul ring, wouldn't experience any significant weakness after using his Blue Silver true form.
"I'm fine. You should absorb the soul ring first. I'll keep watch."
Flender waved his hand and pointed to the purple soul ring floating above the small Phoenix's corpse.
The martial soul true form's weakness period was nothing to Flender.
If they had ventured deeper into the Star Dou Forest or its core, Flender would have run as far as possible.
After all, there were powerful soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest, and even though he was a seven-ring Soul Saint, he wasn't invincible.
But this was the inner area, near the outskirts, where high-level soul beasts were rare. Even if he wasn't at full strength, safety wasn't a concern.
Nodding slightly, Chu Chengzhou summoned his True Spirit Flag martial soul and began absorbing the Fire Phoenix's soul ring.
As soon as the soul ring was drawn into the True Spirit Flag, it transformed into a purple light circle and enveloped Chu Chengzhou.
Perhaps because the Fire Phoenix was a fire-type, Chu Chengzhou's body was soon surrounded by a rich red glow.
At the same time, the immense energy contained in the soul ring surged through the True Spirit Flag and flooded into Chu Chengzhou's body.
Among soul rings of the same age, auxiliary and healing soul rings are easier to absorb, while bloodthirsty evil soul beasts and those with powerful bloodlines are harder to absorb.
The raging fire energy from the Fire Phoenix and its top-tier bloodline made this soul ring one of the more difficult ones to absorb.
Chu Chengzhou felt a vast flow of heat suddenly surge into his body. Before he could begin to refine it, the heat started to burn him like scorching flames.
The Fire Phoenix, with its ability to burn all things, made its soul ring energy extremely violent. However, Chu Chengzhou's strong physique from practicing body refinement skills allowed him to endure the intense test of absorbing the Fire Phoenix's soul ring.
Of course, it was bound to be painful.
After all, even a typical soul master at level 40 would struggle to absorb a soul ring of over 5,000 years, let alone Chu Chengzhou, who was only a 30th-level Soul Master.
However, every trial and hardship was part of the growth process for a true strong person!
Time passed unnoticed, and as the first rays of dawn broke through the darkness, Chu Chengzhou, sitting cross-legged and refining the Fire Phoenix's soul ring, felt his soul power surge.
Attributes Panel
Host: Chu Chengzhou
Soul Power: 33rd-level Soul Sovereign
Martial Soul: True Spirit Flag
Soul Rings: Purple, Purple, Purple
First Soul Skill: Summon: Heavenly Blue Tree
Second Soul Skill: Summon: Bright Lion
Third Soul Skill: Summon: Fire Phoenix
Skills: Meditation, Body Refinement, Spirit Refinement, Archery, Movement, Control, Defense, Forging
Slots: 1. Meditation, 2. Archery, 3. Movement, 4. Empty
Looking at the attributes panel, Chu Chengzhou felt a sense of satisfaction.
Usually, a 30th-level soul master would advance to Soul Sovereign after obtaining a third soul ring. However, the Fire Phoenix's soul ring, with its age of over 5,000 years, had directly pushed him from a 30th-level Soul Master to a 33rd-level Soul Sovereign.
After all, he didn't use the soul power compression method. A 1,000-year soul ring could push a soul master from level 30 to 31, so a 5,268-year soul ring would naturally bring him to a 33rd-level Soul Sovereign.
Looking at the third soul skill, Chu Chengzhou understood the Fire Phoenix's abilities.
Third Summon: Fire Phoenix
A powerful attack-type summon with the innate soul skills: Phoenix Fire and Rebirth from Flames.
Innate Soul Skill: Phoenix Fire
The signature ability of the Fire Phoenix, capable of burning all things.
Innate Soul Skill: Rebirth from Flames
A buff-type soul skill that enhances the power of the Phoenix Fire.
The Heavenly Blue Tree was a healing summon, and the Bright Lion was an auxiliary summon. Neither of them excelled in combat.
As the primary combat force among his three summons, the Fire Phoenix had two innate soul skills, but only one of them was offensive. Chu Chengzhou was somewhat dissatisfied.
However, once he understood that the Rebirth from Flames skill could enhance the Phoenix Fire, he was immediately satisfied. After all, in Chu Chengzhou's view, as long as his Fire Phoenix could unleash powerful flames, that was enough.
If you are a lone wolf, it is naturally not enough to know only one trick, as it is easy for others to find a way to restrain you.
But his summoning spirits are not lone wolves. As his soul power increases in rank, the various summoned spirits can form a team without obvious weaknesses.
For a team, unless one is the leader, it's clear that having a member who excels in one area is stronger than one who is good at everything.
Additionally, after advancing to the third-ring Soul Venerable, his auto-hanging feature quietly upgraded!
Not only did an extra auto-hang slot become available, but the efficiency of the auto-hanging was greatly improved.
Looking at the first three auto-hang slots for three seconds, Chu Chengzhou noticed that after the upgrade, the efficiency increase was the same as before.
The purple skill upgrading to black required 300 days of auto-hanging, but now only 100 days were needed, making it three times more efficient than before.
The meditation skill, which originally needed eight months to upgrade, now only needed 80 days to reach the red level.
The purple-level archery and agility skills, which were upgraded to black, would now take less than two months and less than 80 days, respectively.
The only unfortunate thing was that he didn't get any external soul bones?
Wasn't it said that when the protagonist reaches level 30 and hunts a year-class soul beast, they would get a rare external soul bone?
Why does everyone else get it, but he, the protagonist, doesn't?
His dream of having a flashy Phoenix Wing external soul bone was shattered.
Grumbling silently, Chu Chengzhou glanced at the attribute panel, which displayed his True Spirit Flag martial soul.
Staring at it for three seconds, his face darkened, and he silently moved his gaze away.
A divine-grade martial soul perhaps shouldn't even exist in this world. When he was at the second-ring level, the top-quality True Spirit Flag martial soul required a full 5,000 days of auto-hanging to evolve.
A time span of more than ten years was something Chu Chengzhou couldn't afford to wait, so he temporarily gave up on upgrading his martial soul.
However, upon advancing to the third-ring Soul Venerable, with the auto-hanging upgrade, the martial soul still required 2,500 days of auto-hanging.
Almost seven years of time. Although it was halved compared to before, Chu Chengzhou still felt he couldn't afford to wait.
Fortunately, the top-quality True Spirit Flag martial soul was enough for now. Only one person, Qian Renxue, could surpass him in this regard, so he wasn't in a hurry to pursue a divine-grade martial soul.
Afterward, without hesitation, Chu Chengzhou shifted his third soul ring into the fourth auto-hanging slot.
Now, the auto-hanging efficiency for soul rings was 40 years per day. His third soul ring, at 5,268 years, meant that in less than four months, his third summoning spirit, the Fire Phoenix, would have a 10,000-year age.
With a 10,000-year Fire Phoenix, its strength would undoubtedly be among the best of the five-ring Soul Kings.
Most importantly, the Fire Phoenix wasn't just a loyal fighter but also a flashy mount!
"Kid, how does it feel?"
Suddenly, Flender's voice rang out.
"Great, very powerful!"
Chu Chengzhou raised his hand and summoned his True Spirit Flag martial soul.
The flag, which originally depicted a tree and a lion, now had a new phoenix design.
With a shake of the flag, the third soul ring shone brightly, and as soul power surged, a slender Fire Phoenix, with fiery red feathers and golden-red tail feathers, appeared in mid-air, glowing under the morning sun.
"Tsk~. How does your Fire Phoenix compare to the little phoenix you had before?"
Flender looked at the Fire Phoenix and asked Chu Chengzhou.
"Strength-wise, it should be about the same. Plus, my summoning spirit is a soul skill product, so it doesn't fear death."
Chu Chengzhou spoke about the strongest feature of his summoning spirits.
Indeed, in Chu Chengzhou's view, the greatest advantage of his summoning spirits over the strongest soul beasts of the same age was that they didn't fear death.
Summoning spirits were products of his soul power combining with soul skills. If they were killed, he could simply summon a new one.
However, after a summoning spirit dies, it can't be instantly resummoned.
It's similar to Tang Hao using explosive rings—when a summoning spirit dies, the soul ring suffers some damage and needs time to recover.
However, unlike the explosive rings, if a soul ring isn't fully recovered and is exploded again, it risks being destroyed. But until the soul ring is fully recovered, Chu Chengzhou can't resummon the spirit, so there's no risk of the soul ring being destroyed.
Ten-thousand-year soul beasts are undoubtedly terrifying, and eight or nine of them are even more so, but there are many talented people in the continent. While the worst of them are rare, they are not invincible.
But if there are eight or nine immortal ten-thousand-year soul beasts that don't fear death, that would truly be a natural disaster. Even someone like Qian Daoliu, who is known as "invincible in the sky," would have a headache, right?
I wonder, could eight or nine immortal million-year soul beasts kill a god?
If the god had just inherited the divine position, it might be possible, right?
After all, in the original story, even before becoming a god, Tang San could severely injure Qian Renxue, who had already inherited the Angel God position. It's not unreasonable to think that a million-year summoning spirit could defeat a godless Tang San.
Soon, the two of them didn't stay in the Star Dou Forest for long. Chu Chengzhou invited Flender to ride on his new mount and returned to Shrek Academy.
The Fire Phoenix had a wingspan of one and a half meters, and it was no problem for two people to ride on its back.
Moreover, with soul power supporting them, the balance was much better than ordinary people, so there was no worry of falling off.
And the Fire Phoenix wasn't just flashy; it was also fast, even comparable to Flender, a flying-type Soul Sage.
The summoning spirit's body was made of soul power, not a real physical body. As long as Chu Chengzhou's soul power was sufficient, it didn't need rest and could maintain the fastest flying speed.
But Flender was different. He wasn't a machine, but a human. After flying for a while, he would get tired and couldn't maintain the fastest speed.
In the afternoon, Shrek Academy.
"Clang!"
Suddenly, a sharp phoenix cry echoed through the sky above Shrek Academy.
'Whoosh—'
A figure, not particularly tall but quite imposing, appeared on top of a wooden house in the academy.
"This phoenix has some guts! It dares to come to Shrek and cause trouble?"
Looking at the elegant and noble red figure in the distance, Zhao Wujie was utterly shocked.
Although Shrek Academy was located in the southwestern part of the Balak Kingdom, not far from the Star Dou Forest, a few hundred miles away, it was still unusual for a soul beast to appear here.
"Great Strength Titan Bear, possess!"
Without hesitation, Zhao Wujie activated his martial soul and prepared to deal with the bold red-feathered bird.
A wild soul beast appearing in the human world was undoubtedly a big threat. Just like that Fire Phoenix, if it got angry and set a village on fire, the villagers would suffer heavy casualties.
As the Fire Phoenix flew closer, Zhao Wujie was thinking about how he should position himself to strike it down with a single blow.
"Old Zhao, what are you doing?"
Suddenly, a head popped out from the Fire Phoenix's back, and Flender's familiar face appeared.
"Uh, Flender?"
Seeing that familiar face, Zhao Wujie was taken aback.
Wasn't this supposed to be a "soul beast invasion"? How come it's just this?
Soon, the Fire Phoenix landed in the academy's playground.
"Is this Fire Phoenix your summoning spirit, kid?"
Zhao Wujie asked Chu Chengzhou with some envy after carefully examining the Fire Phoenix.
It was a Phoenix!
If he could ride it and show it off to his friends and family, how much face would he get?
Looking at the envious expressions of his friends and family, his vanity would be instantly boosted!
"Teacher Zhao, do you think it's cool? How about I let Xiao Hong take you on a tour of Soto City?"
Chu Chengzhou smiled and said.
Xiao Hong was the name he gave to the Fire Phoenix summoning spirit. It was quite fitting, just like the names of his other summoning spirits.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Wujie rolled his eyes and said, "Forget it~!"
Although the offer was tempting, Zhao Wujie wasn't the kind of person to show off.
Of course, the main reason was that this Fire Phoenix wasn't his.
It was flashy, but riding someone else's mount to show off didn't feel right.
At that moment, the door of a nearby wooden house opened.
"Bro, you're back?"
Seeing Chu Chengzhou returning from the Star Dou Forest, Xiao Wu, who had come out to check on the commotion, hurriedly ran over with a joyful expression.
"Hmm, did you miss me?"
Chu Chengzhou smiled as he ruffled Xiao Wu's rabbit ears.
Since meeting Xiao Wu, they hadn't been apart for such a long time. Even though his trip to the Star Dou Forest only took eight or nine days.
"Hmph~ I didn't miss you! Is this Fire Phoenix your new summoning spirit?"
Xiao Wu pushed Chu Chengzhou's teasing hand away and was immediately captivated by the Fire Phoenix's noble and elegant appearance.
The Phoenix is the king of all birds, a top-tier flying soul beast, and it was rare even in the Star Dou Forest!
"Do you even need to ask? How about I take you for a ride?"
Chu Chengzhou raised his head proudly and smiled.
It's like buying a Lamborghini—if there's no girl in the passenger seat, it's a waste, right?
"Mm-hmm, take me flying!"
Xiao Wu nodded eagerly and jumped onto the Fire Phoenix.
"Hold on tight! Xiao Hong, take off!"
"Clang—!"
The Fire Phoenix spread its wings and soared into the sky, carrying Chu Chengzhou and Xiao Wu.
Flender: "…"
Zhao Wujie: "…"
The young people nowadays really don't know how to behave. Showing off their affection in front of the older single men?
"Flender, I think you're getting on in years. It's time to consider your life's big matters."
Zhao Wujie turned to Flender and said.
"Humph~ Shallow!"
Flender snorted coldly and left without looking back.
I, Flender, only love two dragons, not any other women! Red-skinned skeletons, that's all!
"Pah~! Lick-dogs don't end well!"
Looking at Flender's retreating figure, Zhao Wujie cursed silently.
After all these years, who didn't know that Flender was a big lick-dog?
Lick-dogs lick-dogs, but in the end, they end up with nothing!
T/N: I forgor to update, sorry