Of course, the subsequent missing spirit rings would all be filled in with God-bestowed Spirit Rings, but this could only apply to Shui Bing'er—Mu Yang didn't hold out much hope for himself.
The Icefire Immortal Ginseng Martial Soul still needed three more spirit rings to reach completion, and the Iceflame Saint Shadow Martial Soul required a full nine rings twelve God-bestowed Spirit Rings in total. Mu Yang didn't believe the Asura God could meet that need.
Perhaps the Asura God wasn't as stingy or miserly as the Rakshasa God, but he definitely wouldn't act as a caretaker. Otherwise, Tang Chen back then wouldn't have fallen victim to the Rakshasa God and become parasitized by the Blood-red Nine-headed Bat King.
As for the massive gap in spirit rings, this almighty being might sponsor a few, but the bulk of the burden would still have to be solved by Mu Yang himself.
As such, Mu Yang set his sights on the Titan Giant Ape and the Azure Bull Python located in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest targets that could both advance his spirit ring acquisition and potentially yield spirit bones.
After dinner, Mu Yang went to the Academy's administrative building and found Huo Lie to inform him of the soul hunting plan.
In the days that followed, aside from daily cultivation and rest, Mu Yang basically stayed in the forging chamber.
Although there were only four eight-ring Soul Douluos in the Academy, the soul-forged battle armor he needed to craft was not limited to just four sets.
Soul-forged battle armor was the predecessor of the Three-word Battle Armor in later generations. With the full set of three-word armor, a seven-ring Soul Sage possessing Domain Power could rival a nine-ring Title Douluo.
In other words, the upper limit of the three-word battle armor's boost could reach the level of a nine-ring Title Douluo.
Even a Title Douluo with nine rings could receive a decent enhancement from it especially someone like Feng Zhen, who had only been a Title Douluo for one year and had not yet broken through to level 92.
Moreover, since their hunting targets this time were 100,000-year soul beasts and not just any, but powerful ones like the Titan Giant Ape and Azure Bull Python it was absolutely necessary to equip Huo Lie and the others with three-word battle armor to increase their survival chances.
Even if the three-word armor couldn't enhance the strength of Huo Lie, a level 95 Title Douluo, it could still function as armor-type defensive soul tools.
Four for the four Title Douluos, four for the four eight-ring Soul Douluos, and one for Shui Bing'er nine sets of three-word battle armor in total, enough to keep Mu Yang occupied for quite some time.
The soul-forged spiritual metal required for crafting nine sets of three-word armor was simple under the principle of "strength creates miracles," he managed to finish that quickly.
But inscribing soul tool formation arrays onto all nine sets of three-word battle armor was not only a technical task it was also one that tested endurance and consumed a lot of time.
After all, only Mu Yang knew how to do it, and he had to inscribe them all by hand there was no way to speed that up.
More than a month later, under the night sky, eight black-robed, hooded figures left the Elemental Sacred Academy under the cover of darkness.
These eight people, aside from Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er, included the level 95 Tyrant Dragon Douluo Huo Lie, the level 93 Blazing Fire Douluo Mu Xiyue, the level 92 Ice Douluo Shui Yanyu, the level 91 Gale Douluo Feng Zhen, and also Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang.
A small complication arose. In addition to the original nine sets of three-word battle armor, Mu Yang ended up crafting two extra sets.
Over the course of that month, not only had Shui Bing'er broken through to the 70th level and become a quasi-Soul Sage, but both Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang also reached the 70th level and Huo Wushuang had even broken through a few days earlier than Shui Bing'er.
While all three had consumed immortal-grade herbs, it was undeniable that Shui Bing'er's cultivation talent was a notch higher than Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang's.
This wasn't because Shui Bing'er's innate talent had originally been better than theirs, but rather because the Heartbroken Red, known as the king of flowers, was of a higher grade than the herbs consumed by the other two, offering a greater potential ceiling for cultivation talent enhancement.
Originally, Shui Bing'er had reached the 60th level and become a quasi-Soul Emperor well ahead of the other two. Logically, she should have been the first to break through to the 70th level as well.
But thanks to refining the inner cores of the Flood Dragon Beast and the Ten-headed Blazing Sun Serpent, Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu not only awakened Domain Powers but also received a substantial boost in spirit power allowing them to catch up in level.
Of course, although Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang were also going to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt spirit rings, they would return directly to the Academy after obtaining their seventh spirit rings and advancing to seven-ring Soul Sages. They would not participate in the subsequent hunt for the Titan Giant Ape and the Azure Bull Python.
These two hundred-thousand-year Beast Kings, be it the Titan Giant Ape or the Azure Bull Python, possessed strength far beyond that of ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. Converted into the Title Douluo ranks of the continental soul master world, they were at least at the level of a Level 96 Title Douluo.
Although after Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang advanced to seven-ring Soul Sages, with the enhancement of Domain Power and soul-forged battle armor, their strength would be comparable to that of newly advanced nine-ring Title Douluos
when compared to the Titan Giant Ape and Azure Bull Python, whose strength was at least at level 96, it was clearly still not enough. A single careless move, and they could be instantly killed by the Beast Kings' innate soul skills.
Just like in the previous life's animation, Spirit Kite Douluo, who eager to earn merit ended up falling to the innate skills of the two Beast Kings due to one moment of carelessness.
Since their side's current lineup was already strong enough to handle the two Beast Kings, to be safe, Mu Yang and the four Title Douluos had no intention of letting the Huo siblings participate.
With battle armor wings, the group's travel speed was extremely fast.
In addition, all four Douluos had condensed soul cores, and their internal soul power recovery speed was faster than their consumption from flying. Each one carried another person, and by the afternoon of the second day, the group had crossed thousands of li and arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest.
Half a month later, relying on physical qualities and spiritual power not inferior to ordinary eight-ring Soul Douluos, Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang each successfully attached ninth-thousand-year-level seventh rings, advancing to seven-ring Soul Sages.
"Wushuang, Xiao Wu, you two should head back to the Academy now."
Huo Lie said to the two who had just advanced.
"Father, my brother and I now count as possessing Title Douluo-level strength too. Why don't we join in as support?"
Knowing the next phase of the six others' mission, and emboldened by her sharp rise in power, Huo Wu couldn't help but itch for action.
Hunting hundred-thousand-year soul beasts if she didn't have the strength, that would be one thing, but now that she, Huo Wu, could be considered a powerhouse in the soul master world, wouldn't it be a pity not to take part?
"Don't make trouble. Even with battle armor, the two of you might not be able to handle a ninety-thousand-year soul beast. Don't cause more problems head back to the Academy."
Before Huo Lie could object, Mu Xiyue waved her hand at Huo Wu with a face full of disdain.
The current targets were two hundred-thousand-year Beast Kings. With the addition of these two, the group's strength on paper would seem stronger two more Title-level combatants.
But in reality, because the two's strength was still far below that of the Beast Kings, if a real battle broke out, they'd have to be carefully looked after. Any mishap could split the team's attention and reduce overall effectiveness instead of increasing it.
Seeing her mother so bluntly shoot her down, Huo Wu's face turned awkward, and she pouted before finally nodding helplessly.
The authority of the Vice Dean mother could not be challenged by this little caramel.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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