Chapter 175: The Twisted Tree
The next morning, Shi Lin and Shi An got up early. Although there was warm hot water, a comfortable bed, and a hearty breakfast in the city, this place was relatively remote and not as comfortable as Heaven Dou City.
Therefore, Shi Lin and his companion decided to hurry up and hunt down the spirit beasts before returning to Heaven Dou City.
More importantly, there are people in Heaven Dou City watching him, so he can't leave for too long.
If it takes too long, it will easily attract attention.
After washing up and having breakfast, the two tidied up briefly and then immediately left the town. They found a secluded spot, mounted their Wind-Riding Gu, and headed towards Sunset Forest.
It took Shi Lin and Shi An two hours to reach Sunset Forest.
The two had a clear goal: to find their target spirit beast, absorb its spirit ring as soon as possible, and then return to Heaven Dou City.
"Brother An, do you think that spirit beast from yesterday will still be chasing us? A 50,000-year-old scorpion, that's terrifying." Shi Lin looked around warily, then asked Shi An in a low voice.
"Probably not. A hegemon-level spirit beast staying on the outskirts of Sunset Forest will attract the attention of powerful spirit masters. It usually won't be long before it returns to its own territory," Shi An said to Shi Lin after thinking for a moment.
Hearing Shi An's words, Shi Lin nodded in relief and then walked deeper into the Sunset Forest.
The two hurried along, heading deeper into the Sunset Forest.
...
Two hours later, Shi Lin and Shi An arrived at their destination.
Shi An stopped and looked around, then took out a map and carefully examined it, confirming that this was the place.
"Young Master, we can't go any further. We're in the territory of the Twisted Tree ahead. This place is called the Twisted Forest. The surrounding space has been distorted by the Twisted Tree, and we two don't know how to distort the space back to normal." Shi An explained earnestly to Shi Lin.
"We're here so quickly? No problem, I've already thought of a solution. Let's go, let's move forward." Shi Lin smiled at Shi An and said.
Then, the two continued walking forward. Before they had gone a hundred meters, Shi Lin felt that the space in front of him was severely distorted, and the distortion felt as if it could tear everything apart.
This is equivalent to a strange force field, filled with distorted spatial forces.
Even more bizarrely, a scene appeared before Shi Lin.
The once straight trees have now turned into snakes, the lush green grass has clumped up and lay flat on the ground, and the stones have been twisted into the shape of human faces...
In short, this place is eerily strange, like a gloomy and terrifying ghost realm.
"Young Master, this... is too strange. Why don't we try absorbing a different spirit beast? Will there be any side effects after absorbing this?" Shi An said to Shi Lin with a slight frown.
"What's the big deal? We have to face the challenge head-on. Since it has a problem, we'll find a way to solve it!" Shi Lin shook his head slightly. Now that he's come all this way, how could he possibly back down?
Moreover, Shi Lin has a way to deal with this distorted space.
Shi Lin poured all his spirit power into his fingertips, and then gently drew a spatial rift in front of him.
Shi Lin's second soul skill is spatial cutting, which can cut a spatial rift out of thin air, allowing one to reach the other side through the spatial rift.
As for the distorted space around it, it doesn't have much of an impact on the spatial rift, since they're not on the same path.
The only drawback of this soul skill is that it consumes too much spirit power.
As a spatial rift one and a half meters high was torn open, eighty percent of the spirit power in Shi Lin's body was directly consumed.
"Hurry up, let's go over there," Shi Lin said to Shi An in a somewhat urgent tone.
Shi An nodded, then helped Shi Lin into the spatial rift.
The next second, the two of them appeared next to the Twisted Tree.
Although everything around it was affected, there was no distorted spatial force within two meters of the Twisted Tree, and the Twisted Tree was also unusually straight with emerald green leaves.
It was as if it had wreaked havoc all around him, yet nothing had happened to it.
If it weren't for the distorted environment, you wouldn't be able to tell that this is a tree with 20,000 years of cultivation.
The Twisted Tree only twisted other things and not itself...
More importantly, the Twisted Tree did not attack Shi Lin and Shi An.
When the Twisted Tree evolved, it put all its skill points into the Twisted Space, leaving it with no melee abilities or ranged attacks; it simply survived by relying on the Twisted Space.
"Young Master, hurry up and collect the spirit ring. This is Sunset Forest," Shi An reminded Shi Lin.
Shi Lin nodded, but did not start immediately. Instead, he took out more than a dozen spirit power crystals and began to absorb them until his spirit power was restored to 80%.
Next, Shi Lin took out a large bucket of second-tier swamp poison venom and poured it onto the roots of the Twisted Tree.
He quickly opened a spatial rift and took Shi An with him as they crawled out.
Just as the two appeared a hundred meters away, the Twisted Tree suddenly began to tremble violently, and the distorted space around it became even more distorted, even affecting the Twisted Tree itself.
The venom of the Swamp Poison Gu is extremely corrosive and is highly lethal to plant-type spirit beasts like the Twisted Tree.
That's why the Twisted Tree is so frenzied right now, not even sparing itself.
"Young Master, you really have foresight." Shi An looked at the distorted environment around the Twisted Tree, his mouth agape involuntarily, and asked Shi Lin with lingering fear.
"Brother An, I'll go there myself in a bit. I'll absorb the spirit ring as soon as possible, and then we'll leave Sunset Forest together." Shi Lin said earnestly to Shi An.
"Yes, young master!" Shi An replied, then became alert.
Half an hour later, the space around the Twisted Tree gradually calmed down, proving that the power of the Twisted Tree had been almost exhausted.
Shi Lin could clearly feel that the surrounding spatial energy was returning to normal.
Shi Lin carefully observed the state of the Twisted Tree and the degree of spatial distortion around it, and realized it was no longer as dangerous as it had been before.
To Shi An's astonishment, Shi Lin ran directly to the Twisted Tree, stretched out his hand, and an axe appeared in Shi Lin's hand.
"Bang!"
Shi Lin suddenly swung his axe, striking the deepest part of the area corroded by the venom.
As the axe struck the Twisted Tree, the tree, which was at least half a meter in diameter, was cut down by Shi Lin.
The enormous, Twisted Tree slowly collapsed to the ground.
"Brother An, you don't need to come over. This distortion force will continue for a while. You can't see the distribution of spatial power, so you're more likely to get injured," Shi Lin said to Shi An as he put away his axe.
Upon hearing Shi Lin's words, Shi An, who was about to rush out, stopped in his tracks.
Shi Lin sat cross-legged in front of the Twisted Tree, then circulated his spirit power to absorb the spirit power in the spirit power crystal, and adjusted his state to prepare for absorbing the spirit ring next.
At the same time, Shi Lin replaced everything on his body with a double-flavored wine gu, which was the source of his confidence in absorbing a 20,000-year spirit ring at level 30.
Half an hour later, Shi Lin slowly opened his eyes. At this moment, the Twisted Tree was completely dead, and the black spirit ring that had just been condensed was slowly floating on the trunk of the Twisted Tree.
Shi Lin took a deep breath, then summoned the Divine Wood King Cauldron and began absorbing the spirit ring in front of him.
Perhaps because it absorbed two spirit rings with spatial attributes, the Twisted Tree's spirit ring did not strongly repel the Divine Wood King Cauldron this time.
This greatly increased Shi Lin's speed in absorbing spirit rings.
It took Shi Lin twenty minutes to successfully absorb the spirit ring, and then he began to comprehend soul skills and stabilize his cultivation.
An hour later, Shi Lin slowly opened his eyes, and without saying a word, he put the trunk and roots of the Twisted Tree and all the leaves on the ground into his personal space. After checking the surrounding environment and finding nothing missing, he walked out of the Twisted Space.
At this moment, Shi Lin's complexion was not good; he was slightly pale, and his spirit power was somewhat weak.
Upon arriving at Shi An's side, Shi Lin took out the Wind-Riding Gu and rushed out.
Seeing Shi Lin's actions, Shi An quickly took out the Wind-Riding Gu and caught up with Shi Lin.
The two of them sped off towards the edge of Sunset Forest.
Less than ten minutes after the two left, the Black Venomous Armored Scorpion that had ambushed Shi Lin and Shi An yesterday appeared in the vicinity.
At the same time, a giant white python, a golden eagle, and a blue spider also appeared here.
The spirit beasts roared angrily twice, and then each went back to its own place.
...
Shi Lin and Shi An rushed out of Sunset Forest for more than ten kilometers before stopping.
As soon as the Wind-Riding Gu stopped, Shi Lin fell off the Wind-Riding Gu and then opened his mouth to spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Young Master! Young Master, what's wrong with you!" Shi An rushed to Shi Lin and asked him in a panic.
"It's nothing. My spirit power was a little out of control due to the turbulence. It's alright, I'll be fine after a rest. Don't worry about me." Shi Lin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, smiled at Shi An, and then sat down on the ground to stabilize his cultivation.
After leaving Sunset Forest, Shi Lin breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it was too dangerous for two Spirit Masters in their thirties to wander in the territory of a ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Beast.
Shi An sat not far from Shi Lin, holding the reins of two Wind-Riding Gu in his hands. Once Shi Lin had stabilized his cultivation, the two of them could set off at any time.
...
Two hours later, Shi Lin slowly opened his eyes.
At this moment, the turbulent spirit power in Shi Lin's body had calmed down, and Shi Lin's condition had improved a lot, with his complexion regaining its rosy hue.
"How is it, young master!" Shi An hurriedly came to Shi Lin's side and asked him with concern.
"I'm basically fine now, and my cultivation has stabilized. I just need to rest for a while and I'll be alright," Shi Lin said weakly to Shi An.
"That's good, that's good." Shi An also breathed a long sigh of relief. He was even more nervous than Shi Lin when Shi Lin coughed up blood.
"It's alright, don't worry about me, I won't die," Shi Lin said with a smile, patting Shi An's leg.
"Alright, I'm basically fine now. Let's rest in the city for the night and set off early tomorrow morning to return to Heaven Dou City," Shi Lin said to Shi An.
"Yes, young master!" Shi An bowed respectfully to Shi Lin and then said.
Shi An helped Shi Lin up, then took out the carriage that had been prepared in advance and helped Shi Lin sit inside.
After all, Shi Lin was already injured and could no longer continue traveling by riding the Wind-Riding Gu. That thing was fast, but it was just too bumpy.
...
Half an hour later, the two returned to the city. After a quick wash, they went back to their respective rooms to rest.
Back in his room, Shi Lin suddenly felt a sweet taste in his throat and spat out another mouthful of blood.
When absorbing the spirit ring, Shi Lin was in a hurry, so the spirit power of the Twisted Tree went out of control and caused Shi Lin considerable internal injuries.
However, his absorption of spirit rings and comprehension of soul skills were not affected; he only suffered from severe internal injuries. He coughed up blood twice, but after some adjustments, he was mostly recovered.
Shi Lin sat cross-legged on his bed, took out a few second-tier healing pills and put them in his mouth, then mobilized the spirit power in his body to begin healing the internal injuries in his body.
As a 20,000-year-old spirit ring, Shi Lin's third soul ring grants him an extremely powerful soul skill, which is the only skill of the Twisted Tree: Space Distortion!
That's right, it's the same ability as the Twisted Tree, but Shi Lin has just obtained this ability, and the distorted space is not as large as the range of the Twisted Tree.
Shi Lin could only distort the space in front of him, which was only one cubic meter in size, and the force of that distortion was not as strong as that of the Twisted Tree.
Space-type soul skills are generally very weak in the early stages, but have an extremely high potential.
Don't be fooled by the fact that this soul skill is only so-so now. As Shi Lin's spirit power level increases, the effect of this soul skill will become stronger and stronger. Until one day, Shi Lin can easily distort the space within a few hundred meters centered on himself. At that time, the space distortion will be able to exert its maximum effect.
Furthermore, Shi Lin can use spatial distortion in conjunction with spatial rifts to achieve a synergistic effect greater than the sum of its parts.
However, with Shi Lin's current spirit power level, he simply cannot unleash the full power of these two skills.
It wasn't until evening that Shi Lin slowly opened his eyes. By then, eighty percent of the internal injuries in Shi Lin's body had been healed, and he was able to move around normally.
"I've almost recovered. Next time I hunt spirit beasts, I must bring more people. My combat strength and that of Brother An are really lacking," Shi Lin said with a sigh.
This time, Shi Lin suffered a loss because he didn't bring anyone else along besides Shi An.
With other helpers by my side, I can confidently absorb spirit rings in Sunset Forest, since a 20,000-year-old spirit beast is already considered a high-level spirit beast within Sunset Forest.
After Shi Lin's injuries had almost healed, he took something to eat, then lay down on the bed and fell asleep shortly afterward.
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