Ja Sun and Ah Yin walked with bleak expressions. Someone was speaking the entire time but it wasn't any of them. They traveled through the woods towards the Star Luo Empire's far eastern borders connected to the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Hmm, I don't understand. Why would you feel pleased if Ja Sun enter his penis into—"
"Not another word!" Ah Yin snorted, a tinge of blush on her usually stoic but pretty face as she waved her hands, and the Yin-Yang Petals' Spirit Soul was forcefully pulled back.
"Aw..." Petals whined but stayed inside like an obedient child while Ah Yin gave Ja Sun a sidelong glance who couldn't stop himself from smiling any longer.
"Go on. Get over with it," she grumbled.
"Man! I want a kid like Petals!" Ja Sun exclaimed. His words instantly sent Ah Yin into a daze for she may have expected some depraved pun or a knock-knock joke. However... this? She did not. It was as if a few days of watching her interaction with Petals had changed him somewhat.
"You do?" Ah Yin inquired and Ja Sun nodded, "Of course. I think... it will be a refreshing experience. Besides, I think that my kids will show all the other kids how to be awesome as kids. Like a slap across their faces as they would fly off to the next park. Insulting others about their fat moms over a swing ride... yeah. I think I'd be a good father..." Ja Sun continued but as he did, Ah Yin's expression turned more shocked until it couldn't anymore and she became numb to the sheer amount of degradation in his words against the sacred art of parenting.
"What do you think?" Ja Sun looked at Ah Yin as she almost slapped the innocent expression off of his face, "I think that if we do have a child, you're not taking him or her alone for a single second!"
"Say... Ah Yin," Ja Sun grew curious as he didn't mind her reaction. After all, it would take a sage-like mind to comprehend the wisdom behind his actions.
"What?"
"Let's say, if you were still a tree and we wanted a child... would it be like planting a seed taken from you and fertilizing it with... my dried ejacu—"
"That's it!" Ah Yin scowled, "We're traveling in without another word!"
"But I wanted to know, too..." Petals voice sounded as Ah Yin's voice boomed in her mental world as if heavens crashed onto the poor lass, "Don't make me come up there!" Ah Yin thundered.
*Crackle*
The duo finally saw the first hint of lightning far away from their location. It was only momentary but the two gazed at the situation and then nodded to one another before picking up their pace.
The duo soon entered the deeper regions of the eastern section of the forest with a tall mountain already in their view. This location was strange. The mountain had a narrow base and almost looked like a tower that pierced through the clouds to reach far above.
However, the two set up a camp on the base of the mountain and rested for the evening.
"It's called the Sky Piercing Mountain rightly," Ah Yin sighed in admiration.
"You know what else can pierce the skies?" Ja Sun inquired with a lewd grin. It hardly mattered to him that a naive spirit soul viewed him as such as the duo barely made any attempts to hide it in the first place. Not to mention, Ah Yin understood the implications of a Spirit Soul in such a manner and agreed to it because of her slowly nurtured and thicker skin.
Scoffing a smile at Ja Sun's words, she felt a bit humored but then gazed at the mountain once again.
"Can you sense it?"
"Sense it? I can see it. Four spirit beasts... all of them probably stronger than your previous strength." Ja Sun replied.
"I'm stronger now," Ah Yin replied confidently. Her words would shock others due to the implications but Ja Sun had already achieved such a task when he was a spirit king. Reaching the strength of a Titled Douluo before reaching its rank was doable despite the achievement's rarity.
"Well, good luck," Ja Sun shrugged.
"Yeah," Ah Yin nodded. She was pretty clear about the situation. Ja Sun helped her get the Spirit Soul because this was one thing she couldn't do i.e. form a spirit soul. However, she didn't wish to depend on Ja Sun for all her growth. She had used his assistance once and that was during the evolution of her martial soul. But this debt was almost cleared as it allowed Ja Sun and Ah Yin to conveniently join the Spirit Hall.
This was the second boon of that very nature. Ah Yin wasn't a hypocrite enough to even say that all her growth was dependent on her achievement but what she could say is that she wanted to make the best use of her growth and test her limits. If Ja Sun is present, that objective wouldn't be fulfilled easily.
So, while Ja Sun stayed around, Ah Yin would finally begin preparing for the treasure Qian Daoliu enticed Bibi Dong with.
A Spirit Bone!
*Crackle*
A loud crackling explosion of lightning echoed yet the bolt of lightning was not only extraordinarily short that it only lit the peak of the mountain, but it was also short-lived as it seemed to have disappeared.
"The 5th one," Ah Yin and Ja Sun spoke simultaneously.
But the lightning strike was simply one of the many lightning strikes that felt unending!
It was obnoxiously loud but the duo barely felt affected by the sound itself. Dark clouds were gathered around the tall mountain and threatened to drizzle at any moment while the two rested in their tent.
This is one of the many core sections of the giant Star Dou Great Forest. However, unlike the many usual core regions that have a chance of being the hunting grounds of a beast already at the level of a 100000-year-old spirit beast, or at least, closer to that level, this region was almost barren. There were many, many plant-based spirit beasts around. Almost every tree had a breath of spirit energy and was at least a 100-year-old spirit beast. This core section would easily be considered a paradise for beginner spirit masters yet Ah Yin's mind was focused on the top.
"Any idea why that particular spirit beast is able to reach the point of breakthrough?" Ah Yin questioned while Ja Sun shrugged.
"I'm not all-knowing. All I understand is that the life of a Thunder Hell Prison Vine almost never reaches higher than 50000 years but this one did and is surrounded by four other 100000-year-old spirit beasts. If I were a betting man, I would say that you need to be careful. Master already has his slots for spirit bones completed. That doesn't mean he would have easily let go of this spirit bone..."
"Which means that he can't possess it for some reason," Ah Yin narrowed her eyes but Ja Sun felt that it wasn't true. If he wasn't wrong then Qian Daoliu had reached the peak of the mortal realm in all the aspects except for his cores. The man had even understood a law of his own while Ja Sun barely began the task with so many things left to be accomplished even now. Qian Daoliu is the proper definition of accumulation in this scenario and he happened to be loyal to the Spirit Hall. After all, his act of simply recruiting these two talents when it is highly possible that they would have been chased if found without being members meant that now, Ah Yin and Ja Sun had no reason to go against the Spirit Hall.
Not to mention their intimate relationship with Bibi Dong.
Thinking for a moment, Ja Sun replied, "Instead of thinking why Master couldn't have the spirit bone... why don't you try and think of a reason that the four spirit beasts haven't attacked the Thunder Hell Prison Vine?"
Ah Yin grew silent. She realized how naive she was to simply get answers from Ja Sun but it was even better this way. She silently closed her eyes. Her future is only going to get harsher from now on so she might as well form a course of action and its relevant countermeasures to fix through before tomorrow morning so that she can finally act.
As Ah Yin concentrated on her own task, Ja Sun this time didn't take out the nine golden bracelets or the Evil Sage's Third Eye to try and comprehend the laws he was attributed with. Instead, he isolated his section of the tent with a few runes so as to not disturb Ah Yin and took out a strange sphere of purplish flesh. It almost looked like a tumor.
As he did so, Petals appeared around Ah Yin and sat next to her before quietly observing Ja Sun.
Just for the peace of his mind, Ja Sun pulled up his index finger against his lips, gesturing Petals to remain quiet and the 'young' girl nodded seriously.
This skull-sized purplish flesh tumor happened to be the 'spirit bone' Ja Sun gained from the corpse of the million-year-old Death Spider Emperor. This spirit bone was one of the reasons why Ja Sun wasn't too eager to try and hunt other spirit beasts up high in the mountain and let Ah Yin have her chance first. After all, even if she does get more Spirit Bones, Ja Sun could always trade for it. He had multiple spirit bones collecting dirt, after all.
Not to mention the fact that among the four spirit beasts, none of them were feline. Ja Sun only had two more slots for his spirit bones— his left leg and his torso. He felt that being a bit picky was natural.
What stumped Ja Sun was that even if he knew that this was a strange form of external spirit bone... he couldn't determine its use of which part of his body would gain the spirit bone. Using his trait didn't help either. His body was at the limits of this world by now according to human standards and could burden the pressure of the absorption of this spirit bone which led to a B-Ranked mission that failed to provide anything useful.
To be honest, Ja Sun did have a speculation. The tumor might just give him an irrecoverable disease that might give him an impossible mission to survive. Then again, there isn't any fun in dying of a disease. At least, a bullet to the head was much more snappy.
Still, Ja Sun silently stared at the unnerving ball of flesh for the entire night. He would have rather stared at other spheres of flesh...
"How long are you going to keep looking at it?" Petals finally couldn't help but speak after hours of silence. Years of loneliness had given her quite a level of patience but she was quite curious. After all, the level of energy held within that sphere of flesh was similar to her own strength but to think that Ja Su would still resist the temptation came as a slight surprise to her. Then again, what should she have expected from an individual that could take care of two weakened souls of divine beasts?
Looking up at her, Ja Sun shrugged and sighed, "I don't want to have a lump in my body, you know."
Petals tilted her head curiously and nodded, not speaking any further, and once again accompanied Ja Sun in observing the sphere of flesh without any specific thought in her mind.
Ah Yin soon opened her eyes during dawn and looked at Ja Sun and Petals before reigning in her urge to roll her eyes. Withdrawing Petals, she refrained from disturbing Ja Sun and walked towards the exit only for her to hear his slightly cheerful voice, "Good luck! Be sure to harvest some Spirit Bones!"
A sweet smile touched Ah Yin's lips as she nodded and whispered, "You know it."
---
Climbing this steep mountain was rather easy for Ah Yin. Although her body was strong by human standards, she didn't exert herself physically. Instead, a beautiful, almost gem-like sapphire blue vine coiled around her right wrist and pulled her up to one of the spots that had a higher base and was pierced with the other half of the vine.
In essence, Ah Yin was her own elevator.
'But... things are more troublesome than I expected. Did he notice it already?' Ah Yin thought as she looked higher. The sky was still gloomy and threatened to rain any moment while the lightning continued to crackle and disappear almost instantly. However, what troubled her was the increasingly lack of oxygen and the slight changes in the atmosphere that induced discomfort.
However, these two factors were mostly itching Ah Yin the bad way and nothing else. Her body had reached the same level as Bibi Dong if not higher and it was almost at the level of sustaining itself as Ja Sun's was. After all, how can a physical body continuously nurtured by the spirit and internal energy not take up the spirit energy as its source of sustenance later down the line? This was one of the major differences between a Titled Douluo and an ordinary spirit master. At this point, Bibi Dong and Ah Yin were Titled Douluo in all but spirit energy and rank.
*Swish*
Ah Yin quickly landed on a stone platform cut diagonally naturally and looked down. She was already quite above and could feel the surroundings holding a strange, electric energy. There was a strange reaction around her body as she continued to experience static 'tickles' even when standing still. Annoyed, she began to make a move once again.
"There is an attack incoming from your right," While Ah Yin was in the middle of her elevation, she heard Petals' warning and instantly looked to her right. The increasingly dense mist failed to hide the soft, zapping flash as Ah Yin scowled and spread her domain. She wanted to sneak around since her domain won't be that useful due to the sheer lack of plants but now it seemed like she had to stop hiding her abilities. Countless Blue Silver Emperors grew on the straight, steep surface of the mountain, interconnecting and forming a platform in an instant.
*Zap*
Ah Yin's expression turned severe the moment she was zapped out of nowhere. Even if ready, the white bolt of lightning struck her regardless but she wasn't harmed. Aside from the slight sensation of numbness, Ah Yin was mostly unscathed. Even her clothes weren't ruined.
"Walk away. As a spirit beast, I may understand your choice of becoming a human but do not interfere with the work of our king."
A cold, ruthless voice boomed. The platform of the blue silver vines trembled and Ah Yin narrowed her eyes.
Unlike humans, Spirit Beasts, especially above 100000 years of cultivation, can almost always single out a spirit beast turned human. This time was no different as Ah Yin continued to observe the strange flashes of white lightning.
"Can you make out what kind of spirit beast is that?" Ah Yin internally questioned Petals. This was the benefit of having a cooperative spirit soul. Unlike Ja Sun, whose spirit souls were either a newborn or a suicidal model, or Bibi Dong, whose spirit soul had its consciousness reconstructed, essentially having a newborn spirit soul again, Ah Yin's was an exception and could assist her aside from reducing the toll of skills and a greater control of them, too.
As a demi-divine Spirit Beast, Petals' consciousness was amazingly sturdy and her range of perception was something that could only be matched by Ja Sun before the augmentation of the Fiery Golden Pupils.
"It's a white-feathered Condor with black mane and a black lightning pattern on his head," Petals replied almost instantly and Ah Yin pondered for a moment.
"Did you not hear me?" the warning sounded again while Ah Yin coordinated with Petals to pinpoint the location of the Condor who thought he was safe.
*Drr*
The mountain's surface suddenly vibrated as multiple vines shot out from near the surface where the condor continued to fly around. Each flap of his wings generated a sparkle of white lightning around his wings.
*Kaaaaaaaa*
A loud screech sounded as Ah Yin's expression turned sadistic. Her martial soul had gotten extremely resistant to various elements due to the Yin-Yang Pure Core that nurtured her spirit and martial soul. The arcs of lightning did tear most of her vines but the sheer energy Ah Yin put into her domain and her first spirit skill— Growth made all the resistance futile. But this came at a cost of the expenditure of her own energy to almost her limits for she did not have seemingly unlimited storage of energy similar to Ja Sun.
The vines suddenly dug into the mountain, quickly forming a cave as Ah Yin shifted the skill from Growth to her fourth spirit skill— Solid Strike onto her domain. After all, every blade of grass can use one of her skills within the domain. With the solid strike, every vine turned sturdy and sharp, and given the sheer number of vines, Ah Yin dug out a cave large enough to—
"Wake up!"
Petals shriek sounded as Ah Yin's eyes snapped open. Her body was charred as she continued to plunge downwards at a quick pace.
"Huh?" Ah Yin's mind overworked.
An Illusion? How?
Ah Yin suddenly recalled the first 'warning' shot and quickly had her Blue Silver Goddess coil around her arms as she punched into the surface of the mountain, stopping her free fall.
"That's a... Ghost Lightning Condor," Ah Yin frowned. Even though cooked, her body was still functioning with how much vitality she proclaimed.
"Hehe, So easy! So Easy!" The mysterious beast cawed as bolts of white lightning began to arc around the mist as it surrounded Ah Yin from all the sides.
Ah Yin's expression turned gloomy. She discreetly glanced in one of the locations higher from here with baleful eyes.
What truly made Ah Yin feel annoyed was that her consumption of spirit energy was true yet her attacks never reached her opponent.
Scoffing, Ah Yin's left foot suddenly encased itself in a dark blue devil-like wooden leg guard. It extended to a sharp heel that Ah Yin stabbed into the mountain.
This was her first spirit bone gained from the Spirit Hall— The Devil's Bark Left Foot. Unlike other spirit bones that used a lot of spirit energy, this spirit bone was the opposite. It extracted spirit energy from her surroundings but for that, Ah Yin had to stay in the single location as the heel of the spirit bone would act like an actual root of a plant and intake nutrients from the surroundings.
The spirit energy extracted couldn't be kept within the body due to its low quality and lack of refinement and could only be used in battle yet with the Yin Yang Pure Core as her spirit core that boasts peak level refinement, this wasn't a problem for Ah Yin.
Now 'standing' on the mountain with her other leg held by Blue Silver Goddess, Ah Yin observed the arcs of lightning.
She wasn't quick enough to avoid these so Ah Yin's domain simply expanded while vines of blue silver emperor began to form a protective dome around her.
*Bzzzzt*
"Wake me up quickly!" Ah Yin roared internally as she was zapped many times yet after each zap, Ah Yin's mental world and consciousness would receive a painful impact from Petals. Though naive and sweet, Petals was still a spirit beast through and through. Understanding that it was not a time to feel suppressed, she did what was necessary and continued to keep Ah Yin conscious while the dome successfully covered her.
***
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