Chapter 21: Killing the Golden Spirit Cypress
In the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi was bewildered when he saw Lin Gong's report.
"Uncle Gu, didn't Yang Xiong absorb the soul ring of the Xuanming Turtle for his first ring? Didn't he want to follow the defensive path? Why would he suddenly want to absorb the Golden Spirit Cypress' soul ring?"
Gu Douluo's face darkened: "I thought Yang Xiong was a smart kid. Not only did he have a great opportunity for his first soul ring, but his training methods at home were also pretty good. I thought he was going to follow the defensive path, but now he's chosen the Golden Spirit Cypress? The Golden Spirit Cypress has already reached 980 years of age in our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. It wouldn't have been available to someone like him otherwise."
"I thought he was focused on body training and had great potential, but now it seems he's just someone who doesn't know his own limits."
Ning Fengzhi thought for a moment before speaking: "This doesn't make sense. We high-level soul masters all know that absorbing a soul ring isn't just about the years, it's more important to consider how powerful the soul beast itself is. While the Golden Spirit Cypress may not have reached a thousand years, its difficulty to absorb is certainly higher than that of ordinary thousand-year soul beasts."
"With all the books he's read, surely he understands this basic principle? Has the whale glue really improved his body to such an extent?"
Yang Xiong had been one of the main focuses in the class, especially since he had discovered the secret of the whale glue and reported it to the sect, which allowed him to choose such an excellent soul beast.
Gu Douluo snorted: "This kid is clever. Since entering the library, not only did he study my 'Way of Defense', but he's also been practicing Distraction Control. I don't understand what his plan is. I initially thought he was a good candidate for the defensive path. Now he chooses a plant soul ring? It really disappoints me."
Ning Fengzhi could tell there was some resentment in Gu Douluo's words. Finding a good candidate to specialize in the defensive path was rare, especially since it was a particularly painful path.
"Uncle Gu, would you like to go and take a look? You might be able to save him in a critical moment. I quite like this Yang Xiong."
...
After entering the Soul Beast Forest, Yang Xiong felt a drastic change in his surroundings. The entire forest was lush and green, with blue silver grass and other wild grasses covering most of the area, except for a small path.
The trees reached several dozen meters in height, many of them were soul beasts, and the entire forest was filled with a vibrant, life-giving atmosphere.
After entering the Soul Beast Forest, Yang Xiong felt like he had stepped into a paradise. The atmosphere of life was extremely pleasing.
Occasionally, small soul beasts would dart out. Although their years weren't high, they showed just how abundant the number of soul beasts in the forest was.
This was still just the soul beast forest of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, which probably didn't even cover one-tenth of the Sunset Forest, let alone the terrifying Star Dou Forest.
With the teacher and token, the group was led by special soul beast forest management personnel through the Soul Beast Forest.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had strict management over this forest, not only containing various soul beasts caught from the outside but also raising some soul beasts for trade.
The management personnel knew the types, numbers, and distribution of the soul beasts inside the forest like the back of their hand and could find the soul beast they were looking for at any time.
After walking for over half an hour, the group finally arrived at the core area of the Soul Beast Forest.
In front of them stood a massive cypress tree, nearly fifty meters tall, with a trunk three meters thick. The entire tree was golden, and even the leaves were golden. Amazingly, within a radius of one hundred meters around it, no other plants grew. This was the Golden Spirit Cypress.
Lin Gong looked at the Golden Spirit Cypress in awe: "The Golden Spirit Cypress is known as one of the top plant-type soul beasts in the soul beast world. Its vitality is incredibly strong. The entire trunk is as hard as iron, and even the leaves are tough. All the nutrients from the soil within a hundred meters around it have been absorbed, and no plants can grow here. Especially when it encounters an attack, its branches and leaves act like swords, and some can even wrap around enemies. Its power is so strong that even a thousand-year soul beast would have difficulty resisting it."
"Especially its terrifying survival ability—if it's cut in half, it can quickly regenerate. Its roots have spread dozens of meters underground, making it incredibly hard to kill."
Yang Xiong looked at the Golden Spirit Cypress with intense excitement. This was the rare, power-based plant-type soul beast he had been looking for, which he had found after searching through many books.
Plant-type soul beasts were much harder to kill than animal-type ones, and since the final strike needed to be delivered by Yang Xiong himself, the difficulty was even greater.
Both the soul hunting team and his father, Yang Lin, as well as Lin Gong, began to launch their attacks on the Golden Spirit Cypress. The group's combined strength from various angles led to a fierce assault.
Yang Lin swung his iron sword, his six soul rings glowing. After taking whale glue and years of hard training, Yang Lin had reached the Soul Emperor level, and his soul power was now at level 62.
Lin Gong summoned countless purple bamboo shoots, quickly wrapping the Golden Spirit Cypress. All of its branches were immobilized.
Within a few minutes, all the branches of the Golden Spirit Cypress were severed, and even a large portion of the trunk was cut through by Yang Lin. However, its vitality didn't decrease much. The trunk emitted a strong force, causing the ground to dry up, clearly attempting to absorb and utilize energy to recover.
Yang Xiong didn't care about this. He directly grabbed an iron sword and slashed with all his might. However, the sword clanged against the trunk, and even when it pierced, only golden liquid seeped out.
Yang Xiong gritted his teeth, summoned his Body Martial Soul, and a yellow soul ring appeared. He unleashed his full strength.
With one final strike, the trunk of the Golden Spirit Cypress was broken off, but it still showed no signs of dying.
Lin Gong shouted, "We can't kill the Golden Spirit Cypress like this. We need to force it into a corner!"
Lin Gong's soul rings flashed, and countless purple bamboo shoots shot up from the ground. The entire ground cracked open, and the massive Golden Spirit Cypress was lifted out by the bamboo shoots.
The Golden Spirit Cypress's golden roots, which were over ten meters long, looked terrifying, like huge tentacles. They even swayed in the air.
Yang Xiong withdrew his sword and instead held an enormous axe, slashing directly at those roots.
After countless strikes, all the roots were severed, and even the trunk was split. Golden liquid spread across the ground.
Finally, a yellow soul ring appeared, which seemed slightly deeper than a typical hundred-year soul ring. Yang Xiong finally sighed with relief, knowing that his second soul ring was secured.
(END CHAPTER)
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