Chapter 20: Golden Spirit Cypress
Time passed quickly, and Yang Xiong soon reached the age of eleven. Although there was some progress in his development of the Spiraling Sphere, his soul power and mental power were still too low for him to break the balloon.
However, with his practice of Distraction Control, and after years of training, Yang Xiong had reached the Four Apertures Constant Mind stage. He could now break the water balloon with just one hand, but he was still far from breaking the leather ball with soul power.
Yang Xiong believed that as long as he continued to train, he would be able to complete the next stage of the Spiraling Sphere's development once he reached the level of a Great Soul Master, and perhaps even discover other surprises.
After years of hard practice, Yang Xiong's soul power finally reached level 20. He wasn't the top student in the class, but he was at an upper-middle level, at least keeping up with the other martial soul practitioners' progress.
Especially after years of physical training, Yang Xiong's body had become extremely strong. He was no longer the weak six-year-old child, and his height had even reached 1.6 meters. His physical strength was on par with some beast martial soul soul masters.
Compared to before, his strength and speed had greatly increased, especially due to the long-term effect of running with weight. His speed and strength now surpassed that of his peers, and even compared to soul masters with beast martial souls of the same rank, he showed no disadvantage in terms of strength and speed.
One day, Yang Xiong approached his class teacher, Lin Gong, and informed him that he had reached level 20 and wanted to obtain his second soul ring.
Lin Gong looked at him in surprise: "Yang Xiong, your soul power has increased well. I didn't expect you to reach level 20 so quickly. You're the sixth in the class to reach this level. What are your thoughts on your second soul ring? Are you still considering a defensive-type soul beast?"
Lin Gong took out a book of soul beasts from the sect's archives, which recorded a number of soul beasts with ages around five or six hundred years, and even some powerful defensive soul beasts.
Yang Xiong didn't even glance at the book. "Teacher Lin, I don't want any of these soul beasts. I want the Golden Spirit Cypress from our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Soul Beast Forest."
Yang Xiong had already made up his mind about his second soul ring. He had already used the token Ning Fengzhi gave him to check the soul beasts in the sect's Soul Beast Forest.
The book Lin Gong showed contained soul beasts suitable for students to absorb, with ages all under seven hundred years. Yang Xiong had no interest in these beasts.
Lin Gong was immediately shocked. "Are you crazy? Do you know what kind of soul beast the Golden Spirit Cypress is? Do you know its exact age?"
"The Golden Spirit Cypress has been raised in our sect for many years. Its age has now reached 980 years. For soul masters, this is too high a soul ring age for the second ring, and since it hasn't reached a thousand years yet, it won't be chosen as the third soul ring. That's why it has been kept here."
"Many people in the sect are waiting for the Golden Spirit Cypress to reach a thousand years, at which point it will be an excellent third soul ring."
Yang Xiong murmured to himself that it would take at least 20 more years for the Golden Spirit Cypress to reach a thousand years, and by then, who knows who would get it?
In fact, Yang Xiong had thought long and hard about choosing the Golden Spirit Cypress. Since he wanted to collect all the attributes, a wood attribute soul beast was the hardest to find, and even the Star Dou Forest might not have many.
Gold, on the other hand, represented the ultimate strength and vitality. The Golden Spirit Cypress, with its golden body, flourishing branches, and even golden leaves, was a top-tier plant soul beast. If it weren't for its awkward age, it would probably not even be available to him.
Compared to animal-type soul beasts, plant-type soul beasts had more obvious characteristics. Whether it was the trunk, branches, leaves, height, or even the pattern on the leaves, they all indicated the soul beast's age, which was why the sect knew the Golden Spirit Cypress's age.
To put it bluntly, the Golden Spirit Cypress was so resilient and powerful that even if Yang Xiong tried to fight it, he might not be able to defeat it, because its vitality and recovery were too strong. The power of its branches was too great, far surpassing that of an ordinary thousand-year soul beast, which was one of the reasons why it had thrived in the Soul Beast Forest.
Yang Xiong had even read that the Golden Spirit Cypress seemed to have the bloodline of a golden tree, though he didn't know how it ended up growing in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Soul Beast Forest.
Lin Gong, seeing Yang Xiong's determined expression, fell silent for a long time before speaking, "Let's put aside the age issue. Have you considered what kind of path you will take as a soul master in the future? The Golden Spirit Cypress is indeed an excellent soul beast, even one of the finest plant-type soul beasts."
"But your martial soul is your body, and your first soul ring was an animal-type soul beast. I don't know what soul skill you gained from it, but it should be related to defense. Since you've already decided to follow the defense path, why would you choose a plant-type soul beast? Also, soul masters typically absorb soul rings that match their martial soul system. Your martial soul, although unique, should be considered an animal martial soul. Since you've already absorbed an animal-type soul ring, aren't you worried that absorbing a plant-type soul beast's soul ring might cause problems?"
Yang Xiong replied, "Teacher Lin, my Body Martial Soul isn't an animal martial soul, nor is it a tool or plant martial soul. Its greatest advantage is that it can absorb any soul ring, and I think the Golden Spirit Cypress is perfect for me. This is the result of much thought and analysis."
Lin Gong sighed. "Alright, you have a great deal of knowledge about being a soul master, perhaps even more than some of the teachers. Since you have your own training plan, I won't stop you. We'll go to the Soul Beast Forest in three days, but remember, your parents must come with us."
Yang Xiong left, overjoyed.
Lin Gong looked at Yang Xiong's back and couldn't help but shake his head. From a teaching perspective, he liked this top student in his class, who had worked so hard in his training.
But this child was troublesome. Every time he chose a soul ring, it was something that made no sense. However, his instincts were spot on.
When Yang Xiong chose his first soul ring, he immediately recognized the Golden Spirit Cypress, and now, though the age was somewhat awkward, it was definitely the soul beast with the highest bloodline in the Soul Beast Forest, even surpassing some higher-level thousand-year soul beasts.
Lin Gong didn't think too much about it. After reporting this to the Sect Leader, he decided to personally accompany Yang Xiong to obtain the soul ring.
Three days later, Yang Xiong, Yang Lin, Sun Yu, and Lin Gong set out for the sect's Soul Beast Forest.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Cortez10