Not long after.
The waiter brought the food and drinks to the table.
Zhao Wuji, preoccupied with his thoughts, didn't say a word during the meal, burying his head in eating.
Shao Xin, however, was entirely focused on Oscar and didn't notice Zhao Wuji's unusual behavior.
Oscar, on the other hand, sensed the strange atmosphere at the table but, limited by his age and experience, didn't understand why.
The three of them finished their dinner in a hurry and returned to their hotel rooms to sleep.
...
The next day.
Lin Rong's group entered the Star Dou Great Forest within the Heaven Dou Empire, while Oscar and his companions entered the Star Dou Great Forest within the Barak Kingdom.
The Star Dou Great Forest was located to the south of the Heaven Dou Empire, and the Barak Kingdom was to the southeast.
The Heaven Dou Empire and the Barak Kingdom shared a border.
Therefore, the locations of Lin Rong's party and Oscar's party in the Star Dou Great Forest were generally in the same area.
However, even so, given the vastness of the Star Dou Great Forest, the distance between them was at least seven to eight hundred kilometers.
Under normal circumstances, Lin Rong's group would not have encountered Oscar's trio.
But the area where Oscar's group was happened to be a place that the hidden guards had searched less frequently.
Coincidentally, the search route Lin Rong had planned after unfolding the map led directly to the area where Oscar's group was located.
Walking through the Star Dou Great Forest.
The fresh air hit them, carrying the fragrance of grass and earth, making them subconsciously forget that this was a primeval forest inhabited by Spirit Beasts, thus inadvertently lowering their guard.
Even in the outer areas, none of the surrounding tall trees were shorter than twenty meters.
The dense forest was overgrown with weeds, with no paths for people to walk on; the ancient trees surrounding them blocked out the sun, their shadows dancing, making the entire forest environment appear dark and deep.
Among the group, half of the guards cleared the way in front, while the other half guarded the rear.
Lin Rong walked in the very center of the procession.
The old butler also stayed close to Lin Rong's side.
As for the hidden guards, they naturally went ahead to scout and gather intelligence.
As they walked, Lin Rong would occasionally take out his map to check, wondering how long it would take to achieve something on this trip.
Yes, it was about how long it would take to achieve something, not whether it was possible to achieve something.
This was because Lin Rong had no intention of returning from the Star Dou Great Forest until he obtained his second Spirit Ring.
The group was not large; including Lin Rong and the old butler, there were only fourteen people.
Among these fourteen people, excluding Lin Rong himself, everyone else was at least a four-ring Soul Ancestor.
Although Lin Rong's Soul Power was only at level twenty, with the old butler, a Soul Douluo, accompanying him, he would not be a burden to the group's progress.
In fact, it was the guards who were slowing down Lin Rong and the old butler.
Therefore, after only half a day of travel, Lin Rong decided to split the group into two.
The twelve guards formed one team, and Lin Rong and the old butler formed another.
The two teams searched separately.
The guard team, being slower, took the first half of the planned search route.
Lin Rong, led by the old butler, went directly to search the latter half of the planned route.
Without the burden of the guard team, the old butler took Lin Rong and traveled at full speed.
A few hours later, Lin Rong and the old butler arrived at the area where Oscar and his companions were.
...
"Xiao Ao, your first Spirit Skill is the Soul Power Recovery Sausage," Shao Xin said, placing a hand on Oscar's shoulder.
"But in battle, we not only face the problem of Soul Power consumption but also the opponent's various insidious and malicious methods, the most common being poison!"
"Therefore, your second Spirit Skill should ideally have both detoxification and healing effects."
"In nature, there is an herb called Wild Wormwood, which has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, dispersing stasis, and reducing swelling."
"When Wild Wormwood becomes a plant Spirit Beast, this effect will be even more potent, making it the best choice for your second Spirit Ring."
Having said this, Shao Xin turned his head to Zhao Wuji.
"Moreover, Old Zhao, Wild Wormwood prefers warm and humid environments. So, I'll have to trouble you to search more in such places, as it's highly likely to find Wild Wormwood Spirit Beasts there."
Zhao Wuji, walking ahead and clearing the path, replied without turning his head, "Got it! Got it! You old fellow have so many demands."
The three of them searched in this manner and indeed found quite a bit of Wild Wormwood, but their cultivation was not high, mostly below a hundred years, with only a few reaching just over a hundred years.
Shao Xin expected Oscar's second Spirit Ring to be around five hundred years old, so the three of them skipped those few Wild Wormwood plants that were over a hundred years old and looked for the next target.
Lin Rong was looking for mutated bamboo with spatial attributes and gourd vines, while Oscar was looking for Wild Wormwood around five hundred years old.
All three plants favored warm, humid environments, and they were located in the same area.
As a result, their distances from each other continued to decrease over time.
Two to three hours passed in the blink of an eye.
In a certain part of the Star Dou Great Forest, on the shore of a sizable lake, a large patch of Wild Wormwood grew.
This Wild Wormwood was tall and sturdy, resembling trees.
Oscar and the other two entered the patch of Wild Wormwood and disappeared from sight shortly after.
The Wild Wormwood on the outskirts of this patch were just over a hundred years old. As the three of them ventured further in, the age of the Wild Wormwood they encountered steadily increased.
One hundred years, two hundred years, three hundred years...
When they reached the center of the Wild Wormwood patch, they saw three stalks of Wild Wormwood, each around five hundred years old, entwined around a stalk of Azure Bamboo.
This bamboo stalk wasn't tall, only about a meter in length, while the surrounding Wild Wormwood were at least three to four meters tall.
The dense Wild Wormwood completely obscured the view of the area.
If one hadn't ventured into this Wild Wormwood patch, no one would have imagined that a bamboo stalk grew here.
Having lived a long life, Shao Xin knew that the world was full of wonders and paid no mind to why the bamboo grew there.
His only concern now was Oscar's second Spirit Ring, so he instructed the two beside him:
"Old Zhao, I'll trouble you to pull out one of the three stalks of Wild Wormwood entwined around that bamboo."
"Remember to be gentle, don't kill the Wild Wormwood."
"Xiao'ao, after Old Zhao pulls out the Wild Wormwood, quickly deliver the final blow before it completely loses its vitality. Do you understand?"
After Shao Xin finished speaking, Zhao Wuji walked directly towards where the bamboo was located.
Five meters, four meters, three meters...
The instant Zhao Wuji entered a one-meter radius of the bamboo, a dazzling silver light flashed.
The brilliant silver light made Zhao Wuji instinctively close his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, the bamboo stalk that was originally entwined by three stalks of Wild Wormwood had vanished.
"Space Spirit Beast! Space Spirit Skill!"
Zhao Wuji, being well-traveled and knowledgeable, quickly realized what had just happened.
"Its intelligence is so high that it actually used this patch of Wild Wormwood to hide its existence."
"However, the Soul Power fluctuation emanating from that bamboo earlier was very weak, only approaching the range of a thousand-year Spirit Beast."
"I've never heard of this kind of Spirit Beast before. Could it be a new mutated species?"
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