After finishing the battle against three Spirit Meisters, Wu Ling calmly reviewed the gains and losses from the fight and returned to his courtyard without the slightest ripple in his heart.
"How impressive, Wu Ling. With only Spirit Adept cultivation, you easily won a one-against-three battle against Spirit Meisters, and you can still remain so calm." Yue Guan had been waiting for him for some time, sitting in the courtyard and drinking chrysanthemum tea he had grown himself. When he saw Wu Ling return, he praised him with a smile.
"Grandpa Yue is overpraising me. They were only three relatively weak Spirit Meisters. Slightly stronger Spirit Meisters could do the same." Wu Ling smiled.
Wu Ling stepped forward, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a small sip.
"Ah. Grandpa Yue's tea is still as good as ever."
Hearing Wu Ling's praise, Yue Guan gave an enchanting smile.
"You, child, are not only handsome. Your little mouth is especially sweet too. Drink as much as you like. I will leave another box for you later.
"But Wu Ling, you do not need to be so modest. You went from level twenty-three to level thirty in only a year and a half, and your combat ability has not fallen behind at all. You are not someone ordinary Spirit Meisters can compare to.
"Ever since you started learning from them, Ghost Leopard, Snake Spear, Demon Bear, and Porcupinefish have been praising you in front of Her Holiness almost every day. If Her Holiness had not already taken you as her disciple, the four of them might have fought over you.
"The current you can defeat three Spirit Meisters even without a third Spirit Ring. Once you obtain your third Spirit Ring, ordinary Spirit Leaders may not be your match.
"Right, you have been stuck at level thirty for a week already, haven't you? Have you decided what Soul Beast you want this time?"
When disciples of great clans chose Spirit Rings, the first few rings were usually fixed. Those paths had been tested by generations of family predecessors and were the most suitable Spirit Rings for the family's Martial Soul.
For disciples of great powers like Wu Ling, the choice was usually made by elders or teachers. They had lived longer, seen more, and possessed richer experience.
But in Wu Ling's case, he was allowed to choose for himself. His Martial Soul was too special, and the excellence of his first and second Spirit Skills had already proven his judgment.
Wu Ling pondered for a moment before saying, "For my third Spirit Ring, I have more or less decided over the past few days. I want a Soul Beast capable of controlling multiple elements.
"A Soul Beast like the Elemental Spirit Cat, which controls earth, water, fire, and wind, would be good. But an ordinary Elemental Spirit Cat cannot satisfy my requirements. At minimum, it would have to be something like a Cat King."
"Multiple elements? Are you planning to summon someone related to the elements? That makes sense. In low-level one-on-one combat, not many can beat you anymore. What you lack now is large-area attack skills or restriction skills.
"But are you preparing to change from agility-attack type to control type? Control the enemy yourself, then run over and cut them down yourself. I suppose we could call it agility-control type."
"What the hell is an agility-control type?" Wu Ling held back the urge to retort out loud, took another sip of tea, and began explaining.
"Grandpa Yue, rather than control, what I value is that person's research and support ability."
"Research and support? I understand support-type Spirit Masters. Was there such a thing as research-type Spirit Masters in the past?"
Wu Ling shook his head. Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly glanced behind him.
"It is fine. Ghostie is back. You can keep talking."
Thanks to Azure's philosopher-like thinking, Wu Ling's Mind's Eye, Vitrification, and Knowledge of the Sowa had all reached C rank. While possessed, they could even reach C+. That was why he sensed someone entering.
After learning it was Ghost, Wu Ling continued. "The support part is simple. It is because of my sword and Ember.
"My sword is part of my first Spirit Skill. It is almost equivalent to an auxiliary Martial Soul that cannot be given Spirit Rings. Because the first Spirit Ring is only a hundred-year ring, the sword's strength is already beginning to fall behind my ability.
"When I fought that mantis Martial Soul among those three Spirit Meisters just now, I could feel my sword trembling slightly. If it had taken a strike from the other man's staff, it probably would have cracked.
"So it is very important that the person summoned by my third Spirit Skill can enchant my sword.
"The second issue is Ember. Ember focuses on the body, but no matter how strong my current body is, it has only just touched the Spirit Meister threshold. If he cannot bring out that advantage in ordinary combat, he will definitely suffer.
"So that person's support ability must not only enchant my sword. It must also enchant Ember.
"As for research ability, it is exactly what it sounds like. Researching things like the difference between Spirit Power and magical energy."
"Magical energy? Enchanting?" Yue Guan and Ghost did not know those two terms, but because they understood the foundation of Wu Ling's Martial Soul, they could roughly guess what he meant.
"Here, Wu Ling. This is the map you wanted."
After Wu Ling finished speaking, Ghost walked out from the courtyard shadows and placed a map on the table in front of him.
This map was a map of the Star Soul Forest. It marked the Soul Beast distribution across most of the outer ring, part of the middle ring, and a small part of the inner ring.
The entire map had been explored step by step by countless Spirit Hall predecessors. The Soul Beasts marked on it had been revised and supplemented generation after generation.
Because of many different factors, the Soul Beast distribution could not possibly be one hundred percent accurate. Still, information from the past three years was relatively trustworthy. This was especially true after entering the middle ring. Every Soul Beast marked on the map represented a creature with its own territory, and such Soul Beasts were usually strong enough that their positions would not change drastically.
"All right. Thank you, Grandpa Ghost."
After thanking him, Wu Ling unfolded the map and carefully examined the edge of the middle ring.
"Let me see. Thousand-year Darkwater Tortoise, ten-thousand-year Tusked Boar, thousand-year Silver Lion, thousand-year Puppet Vine..."
Soon, after searching through the map, Wu Ling marked three locations.
"Grandpa Ghost, Grandpa Yue, I have decided. These three locations happen to form a line. At least one of the three should still be there, right?"
Yue Guan took the map and looked at the places Wu Ling had indicated. "Thousand-year Elemental Spirit Cat, thousand-year Elemental Vine, and thousand-year Silver Wolf. They are indeed all multi-element Soul Beasts. With your physical condition, they should all be acceptable.
"Then have you decided when you are going? This time, you will be entering the middle ring, so little Ghostie will still go with you. He needs to prepare his work in advance."
"All right. Thank you, Grandpa Ghost. Then tomorrow night. I also need to prepare during the day."
After Ghost nodded, Wu Ling's action plan was settled.
The next night, Wu Ling's second journey to the Star Soul Forest began.