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"I don't believe a word you say this time." Xiao Zhan shook his head, his expression extremely serious, his tone resolute. "You absolutely must get a check-up."
Advancing four levels in a year is 'normal'?
Alright, fine. A genius, coupled with Su Wen's current access to the academy's resources and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's medicinal baths... it was indeed possible to achieve such a feat.
But, those four levels included the bottleneck from level twenty-nine to level thirty!
"Little Wen, your situation really does need to be thoroughly examined." Xiao Zhan's tone left no room for negotiation; he was completely serious.
He had already repeated himself.
Su Wen could also sense his concern.
It wasn't that Xiao Zhan suspected Su Wen had some special method and wanted to steal it. Rather, Su Wen's current transformation required a reasonable explanation.
Otherwise, without a clear, authoritative figure's word, such a monstrous speed would put Su Wen in a very awkward position.
Even if few people knew his true situation, it would eventually arouse suspicion.
A check-up would, one, prevent any real damage to his body's potential by catching it early, and two, it would shut down outside speculation.
Su Wen felt rather helpless.
He understood his own situation best.
Is this even something that can be 'checked'?
His constantly circulating spirit power was one thing; those who knew he was researching circulation pathways wouldn't be too shocked.
But the speed of his spirit power advancement was simply not something an ordinary person could achieve.
Any Spirit Master capable of truly checking him thoroughly would definitely be able to sense that Su Wen was absorbing heaven-and-earth energy at every single moment.
They would also be able to sense his perverted 'digestion' speed.
"Uncle Zhan, it's fine. I know my own situation very well. Besides, I think my thousand-year second ring is a much bigger shock than this cultivation speed, isn't it?" Su Wen said.
Xiao Zhan thought about it... and figured that was true.
When you have enough debt, you stop worrying. When you have enough lice, you stop itching.
It was the same principle.
And besides, the number of people who truly knew Su Wen's cultivation speed, who clearly understood how he advanced every single level, was very small.
His teammates on the battle team, Qin Ming, and Xiao Zhan—they were the ones who knew most directly.
Whether anyone else knew depended on whether any of them had revealed it to an outsider.
In the end, Su Wen still refused to let anyone check his body.
"My third spirit ring... a spirit beast that can provide a foundation for 'formations'..." As a scholar, Su Wen hadn't neglected his research on spirit beasts.
At the very least, he had never stopped gathering information on them.
Descriptions of numerous spirit beasts flashed through his mind, and Su Wen finally pinpointed several targets that were most suitable for him.
"A 'combination attack' type spirit beast is the worst choice."
The concept of 'formations' didn't really exist on the Douluo Continent. What he needed was a foundation, a concept—the ability to unite multiple targets to unleash even greater power.
It was like his combination fireballs, augmented by wind control. Wind and fire fueled each other, achieving an effect where 1+1+1 was greater than 3.
Among the spirit skills with similar effects, 'combination attack' skills were the least suitable for Su Wen's requirements.
"Right now, the one that best fits my vision is the Stone Golem. But Stone Golems are too rare. It's one thing whether I can even find one, let alone one of the age I require."
The Stone Golem was a special-type spirit beast. Its form was like a collection of rocks pieced together. In battle, it could even disperse its body parts and could also aggregate more rocks to enhance its combat power.
Of course, it had a drawback: its compatibility with Su Wen's Book Spirit wasn't high.
Besides the Stone Golem, Su Wen naturally had many other targets.
"Even with the channels of Spirit Hall and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, finding these types of spirit beasts won't be easy."
Spirit Hall was far from being able to monitor the movements of all spirit beasts. At best, they collected information reported by Spirit Masters returning from hunts, recording the time and place where rarer spirit beasts had appeared.
"It's here."
It had been three days since Su Wen broke through to level thirty.
He had not rushed to depart during these three days.
A month ago, he had already begun to inquire about the spirit beasts he needed from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the 'Crown Prince'.
As it turned out, the 'Crown Prince's' network was vast.
The intelligence provided was far more specific.
"The Star Dou Great Forest has the highest distribution, but the danger there is also the highest, and searching is a hassle."
If he didn't have a specific target, going to the Star Dou Forest would be a good choice. The diversity of spirit beasts there was high; he'd always run into something suitable.
But Su Wen's requirements were too specific.
So specific that in a place like the Star Dou Forest, he could encounter a thousand spirit beasts and not one would be a match.
"So, it has to be the Sunset Forest." Su Wen made his decision.
Moreover, this time, he was also going to begin his 'strategy' for Dugu Bo.
Therefore—
"Sister Yan, I've heard that His Excellency, the Poison Douluo, often appears in the Sunset Forest. I was wondering if I could ask you about the situation there?"
Su Wen asked very directly.
Dugu Yan was still in a state of shock over Su Wen having reached level thirty.
Hearing his question, she didn't feel it was inappropriate. She frowned in thought for a moment before saying, "My family has indeed explored the Sunset Forest extensively. What do you want to know?"
Who wouldn't want to build a good relationship with such a rising star?
Even if she had the Poison Douluo backing her, did that mean she didn't need to befriend future powerhouses?
She was all too familiar with her family spirit's drawback.
The Poison Douluo was her grandfather. No matter how much she didn't want to think about it, she had to admit that her grandfather was also facing the threat of his own poison. The corrosive changes to his appearance couldn't be faked.
Outsiders thought this was an effect of his poison skills, but Dugu Yan knew it was the result of a backlash.
"The few spirit beasts you're looking for are really... special," Dugu Yan said, speechless, after hearing Su Wen's list.
She even needed Su Wen to explain what some of these spirit beasts were.
"But, you know..." Dugu Yan smiled. "If you're looking for a Stone Golem, the Sunset Forest is absolutely the right choice."
"Oh?"
Su Wen's heart skipped a beat.
Although the intelligence he'd gathered was excellent, it was still scattered and secondhand, not from a Spirit Hall expert going to search personally.
But the information from Dugu Yan's mouth was different.
Dugu Bo literally lived in the depths of the Sunset Forest.
"There is a clan of Stone Golems in the depths of the Sunset Forest," Dugu Yan said.
Su Wen was stunned. He looked at Dugu Yan, summoned his Book Spirit, and flipped to a blank page.
An image of a Stone Golem quickly appeared on the page.
"Sister Yan, are you sure it's this kind of Stone Golem? They can form a clan?"
Stone Golems were a very special race. It was very possible they were just rocks that had suddenly mutated, gained spirit power, and cultivated like plant-type beasts. Only after reaching a certain age and gaining the ability to move their rocky bodies could they be called true Stone Golems.
"Hehe, my grandpa discovered them himself," Dugu Yan said with a smile.
She clearly remembered her grandfather mentioning a "clan" of Stone Golems.
Seeing that Dugu Yan wasn't mistaken, Su Wen believed her and didn't question it further.
"If that's the case... then, barring any accidents, my third spirit ring will be a Stone Golem."
(End of this chapter)