Boom!
Jin Tianming's Radiant Golden Ancient Dragon possessed immense power; a mere hundred-year-old soul beast had no right to be arrogant before it.
The moment their fists collided, Jin Tianming remained unharmed, not even taking a step back, while the beast's fist exploded, crushing even its bones.
Tian Mucheng, seeing Jin Tianming's formidable combat power, couldn't help but swallow hard. How could this clone be stronger than his original body!
Wait, the word "feedback"—his original body's soul power and level could be fed back to the clone, so could the clone's martial soul itself, besides its soul power and soul bones, be fed back to him?
Tian Mucheng immediately clenched his fist, activating his powerful dragon soul power, layers of faint golden scales covering his fist.
"Just as I thought!"
Tian Mucheng looked at his fist covered in golden scales, inwardly marveling at the power of his martial soul. He had thought his dragon soul was useless, but it was unexpectedly powerful; he had been blind.
Jin Tianming naturally noticed his main body's movements. He didn't turn back out of curiosity, but instead looked at the soul beast that was preparing to flee. He clenched his golden-scaled fist and swiftly slammed it into the beast's head.
With a "crack," the ape's head exploded, blood splattering everywhere, including Jin Tianming's.
He wiped the blood from his face, grabbed a leg from the corpse, and said to Tian Mucheng behind him, "The main body is leaving. Let's find a safe place to absorb it."
Tian Mucheng, hearing this, removed the scales from his fist and immediately followed Jin Tianming.
Speaking of which, why didn't he find an absolutely safe place to absorb the soul beast's soul ring at that moment? The reason was simple: at that instant, his physical condition was already nearing its limit!
If he didn't quickly absorb the soul beast's soul ring and obtain the powerful strength and energy it contained, then surviving this vast and dangerous Star Dou Great Forest would be an almost impossible task.
After all, unknown dangers and ferocious spirit beasts lurked everywhere, and a slight mistake could lead to certain death. Therefore, despite the less-than-ideal surroundings, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and risk forcibly absorbing the spirit ring in order to survive.
The two quickly found a cave. Tian Mucheng prepared a fire source, while Jin Tianming sat cross-legged to absorb the spirit ring.
This beast was about 750 years old. Jin Tianming deduced the exact age of this spirit beast from his memories of spirit beasts. Although it wasn't quite satisfactory, his own body was too weak to risk choosing this spirit beast.
Tian Mucheng sat by the fire, skillfully preparing food. He was already extremely skilled at this. However, his gaze kept drifting to Jin Tianming, who was intently absorbing the spirit ring not far away.
Tian Mucheng pondered to himself, why he had followed him here.
The answer was actually quite simple: he was worried that when Jin Tianming successfully absorbed the spirit ring, the energy it generated might cause unexpected changes in his own body. If no one had witnessed this, the consequences of any unforeseen events would have been unimaginable.
In this world full of unknowns and dangers, there are very few people one can truly trust. Besides himself, perhaps only this clone of Jin Tianming remains. There seems to be a special tacit understanding and bond between them, making Tian Mucheng trust Jin Tianming without hesitation.
An hour passed, and after Jin Tianming finished absorbing the power, he slowly opened his eyes. The moment he opened them, a piece of roasted meat was thrown at him.
He immediately reached out and took the meat, biting into it without thinking. Using the power of the Radiant Golden Ancient Dragon Martial Soul, he hadn't consumed much soul power, but rather his stamina and physical energy, which was quite unexpected.
"How are you? Did anything happen to your body?" Jin Tianming took a bite of the roasted meat, then looked at Tian Mucheng, who was still roasting meat, and asked.
"Nothing happened. After you absorbed the soul ring, my stamina and physique improved a little, not much, but enough." Tian Mucheng replied, tossing the roasted meat back to Jin Tianming.
Jin Tianming caught the roasted meat that was tossed to him again and breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I was just afraid something might happen."
He had been worried that something might happen to his body after he absorbed the spirit ring, and that he would die not long after becoming a spirit master. It was really hard to bear.
Tian Mucheng ate the pieces of meat he had just grilled, then looked at Jin Tianming and asked curiously, "Has anything changed in your body?" He stared intently at Jin Tianming, seeking an answer.
"Changes?" Jin Tianming bit into a piece of meat, sensing the changes in his soul power and martial soul, and said, "My soul power has increased to level thirteen, my physical strength has improved further, my power hasn't changed, but my metal element has strengthened considerably."
"No wonder it's a King Kong Ape."
After hearing Jin Tianming's words, Tian Mucheng couldn't help but glance at the now unrecognizable King Kong Ape and sighed.
The book described King Kong Apes as having a trace of Titan blood, mixed with metal element blood, making them a very hybrid soul beast.
He and Jin Tianming were very lucky; they encountered such a soul beast not long after leaving the forest. If it weren't for Huo Yuhao, he would have thought he was a chosen one.
"By the way,"
Jin Tianming finished his roasted meat, then remembered something and looked at Tian Muchen, asking, "Should we go to Shrek City and check the timeline? If Huo Yuhao hasn't gone yet, we can plan something with Ilex and the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm."
"I'm afraid that's impossible," Tian Muchen shook his head, summoning his Martial Soul Dragon Soul. "This Dragon Soul seems to be a Spirit type; I feel it's very resistant to other Spirit type Soul Beasts."
Jin Tianming was somewhat surprised, observing Tian Muchen's Dragon Soul, and after a moment of silence, asked, "What about Ilex?"
"Not sure, let's go check first." Tian Muchen thought for a moment without giving his conclusion.
Jin Tianming stood up, stretched, and pulled his main body up. "Then let's get ready to go!"
One person extinguished the flames, while the other cut some meat and put it in the cloth bag he was carrying. The two then left the cave.
Shrek City and Shrek Academy are located around the Star Dou Great Forest. The Star Dou Great Forest is very close, but home is very far away.
The bustling streets of Shrek City came into view for Jin Tianming and Tian Mucheng. They couldn't help but marvel, "Shrek Academy has grown from a small village to such a powerful institution; it's truly impressive."
Whether he meant it sincerely or not, only he knew the answer.
"Where to go first?"
Jin Tianming communicated with his physical body using their minds. Since they were one entity and could use a mental link, they disliked having so many people around and opted for mental communication.
Tian Mucheng glanced around and mentally replied, "Let's find a hotel first."
"Okay!" Jin Tianming didn't refuse; solving the accommodation problem first was preferable.
(End of Chapter)