Shrek Academy's seven-person Spirit hunting team chose to go directly into the Star Dou Great Forest's mixed zone because the five people who needed spirit rings all required 10,000-year spirit rings.
That's right, all 10,000-year spirit rings, including Huo Yuhao, who is a Spirit Ancestor.
Although Huo Yuhao was just a small Spirit Ancestor, the lowest cultivation in the preliminary team, and seemed inconspicuous, he was actually quite formidable. His spirit ring configuration, to some extent, was no less impressive than Zhu Ziyang's. His third spirit ring was a 10,000-year Purple Spirit Wolf, and when he absorbed it, Xuan Zi, who was leading them to hunt for spirit rings, was absolutely terrified.
Zhu Ziyang could only say, as expected of the Son of Destiny, truly extraordinary!
At night, the group of seven set up camp to rest.
"Why don't you all tell us what kind of Spirit Beast spirit ring you're looking for? That way, we'll have a reference," Zhang Lexuan said.
"Exactly, tell us. I can also help you evaluate," Zhu Ziyang added.
"Hehe, of course, I want a Spirit Beast related to the moon or a fast Spirit Beast!" Jiang Nannan said, sitting beside Zhu Ziyang and leaning intimately against him.
"Our Xu family has a complete spirit ring system, so my sixth spirit ring needs to be a plant-type Spirit Beast called Sky Star Vine," Princess Xu Jiujiu said, sitting next to Jiang Nannan. At nineteen, reaching the Spirit Emperor stage, she was considered outstanding even in Shrek Academy, which was full of geniuses. She smiled and continued, "If I can't find it in the Star Dou Great Forest, then I'll just have to go home first."
"Sky Star Vine!" Bei Bei's heart stirred, somewhat surprised, but he didn't dwell on it. He said, "As for me, Light Attribute is my first choice, and lightning attribute is my second."
Xu Sanshi immediately followed, "Mine is simple. Any Spirit Beast with high defense is suitable for me. Hehe, I'll take anything."
"Hmm, I want a mental force-type spirit ring," Huo Yuhao said last. Mu En's death had hit him hard, making him more silent. Even participating in this Spirit hunting operation was something Zhu Ziyang had forced him to do.
"Alright, understood!" Zhang Lexuan nodded and said, "Then let's rest tonight, and starting tomorrow, we'll search for Spirit Beasts!"
Everyone quickly entered a state of rest. According to the arrangement, Zhu Ziyang and Zhang Lexuan were responsible for night watch. Zhu Ziyang took the first half of the night, and Zhang Lexuan took the second half.
Time passed by, minute by minute. Soon, midnight arrived, and as the transition between the first and second halves of the night approached, Zhang Lexuan emerged from her tent and walked to Zhu Ziyang's side, saying, "Ziyang, you go rest. It's my turn."
"Sister Lexuan, haven't you slept?" Zhu Ziyang asked, looking at Zhang Lexuan's slightly tired face, concerned.
"Can't sleep!" Zhang Lexuan said with a helpless smile.
"You're still missing Elder Mu, aren't you?" Zhu Ziyang saw through Zhang Lexuan's thoughts instantly and said, "Actually, you don't need to dwell on it so much. If our teacher knew, he wouldn't want us to waste our mental force like this and betray his expectations."
"Hehe, that does sound like something Elder Mu would say," Zhang Lexuan replied, a smile appearing on her face.
"Rustle—" Just as the two were about to continue chatting, a movement occurred not far away. This instantly put them on alert, and their eyes sharply darted towards that direction.
"Ziyang, be careful!" Zhang Lexuan said, immediately unleashing a ray of moonlight that shot directly towards the source of the movement. After the moonlight landed, a black figure rushed out, charging towards the two of them.
Zhu Ziyang, holding the Pacifying Life-Reaping Scythe, charged forward without hesitation, swinging the blade towards the black figure.
The black figure was very agile, making a sharp turn to dodge the swing of the Pacifying Life-Reaping Scythe, then leaping to an open space a few meters from the two, revealing its true form.
It was a small beast covered in black fur, resembling a tiger but much smaller. Its front hooves were like a horse's, and its eyes were amber-brown, revealing a highly intelligent divine force. The small beast moved swiftly and stealthily. If it weren't for the moonlight tonight, Zhu Ziyang and Zhang Lexuan might not have discovered its tracks immediately.
"It's a Night Shadow Beast!" Zhu Ziyang immediately recognized the small beast's origin, a smile appearing on his face. He said, "It seems to be a mature Night Shadow Beast that just passed 10,000 years, perfectly suitable as Huo Yuhao's fourth spirit ring."
"Excellent, Ziyang, stand by and make sure it doesn't escape," Zhang Lexuan also smiled and said, "Leave it to me!"
As Zhang Lexuan spoke, a silver moon appeared behind her, followed by eight spirit rings flying out one by one. Her fourth spirit ring flashed rapidly, and a soft yet irresistible moonlight instantly poured down from the silver moon, gracefully flying towards the Night Shadow Beast.
The Night Shadow Beast is a dark attribute Spirit Beast, possessing exceptionally high mental force and intelligence. When it saw the moonlight it disliked, it instinctively dodged.
Although Zhang Lexuan's fourth Spirit Ability had a certain locking effect, its speed was somewhat slow. The Night Shadow Beast's small size and agile movements allowed it to easily evade. However, Zhang Lexuan naturally didn't place all her hopes on this fourth spirit ring. Seeing the Night Shadow Beast dodging the moonlight from her fourth Spirit Ability, she attacked again.
Her third spirit ring flew out, and the silver moon representing Zhang Lexuan's Spirit behind her instantly burst forth with dazzling light. Rays of silver-white light rained down like a torrential downpour, instantly filling all the space the Night Shadow Beast could have dodged in the short term, leaving it nowhere to escape. It could only let out mournful and regretful wails, curling its body as much as possible to minimize the damage received.
The battle was effectively over. Zhang Lexuan's third Spirit Ability was called 'Moon's Rain,' a wide-area attack Spirit Ability that could unleash at least twenty-seven rays of light in one second, each ray carrying the mark of moonlight.
"This is... so beautiful!" Such a commotion naturally woke up the others. Jiang Nannan, Princess Xu Jiujiu, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Huo Yuhao emerged from their tents and then witnessed Zhang Lexuan activating her third Spirit Ability. The moonlight dancing in the sky left those who saw Zhang Lexuan's Spirit Ability for the first time with expressions of awe.
"Brother, what kind of Spirit Beast is it?" Jiang Nannan asked, walking to Zhu Ziyang's side.
"It's a 10,000-year Night Shadow Beast, perfectly suitable as Yu Hao's fourth spirit ring," Zhu Ziyang replied.
"Night Shadow Beast? What kind of Spirit Beast is that?" Huo Yuhao asked, coming out of the effect of Zhang Lexuan's Spirit Ability, curious, as it was related to him.
"The Night Shadow Beast is a dark-type and mental force-type Spirit Beast. It has the ability to merge itself into the night and can also form a field around its body that can disrupt an opponent's mental force. It is indeed a very suitable Spirit Beast for you, Yu Hao," Bei Bei explained the information about the Night Shadow Beast.
"Really?" Huo Yuhao showed a hint of anticipation upon hearing this. According to Bei Bei, he might very well obtain a field-type Spirit Ability from this Spirit Beast called the Night Shadow Beast, which would definitely be a great thing for a control system Spirit Master.
Zhang Lexuan walked over, carrying the nearly dead Night Shadow Beast, and threw it on the ground, saying, "Yu Hao, finish it, then absorb the spirit ring. Everyone else, go back to rest. It's still early until dawn!"
"Okay!" Huo Yuhao began to deal with the Night Shadow Beast, while Jiang Nannan and the others obediently returned to their respective tents to rest again.
Zhu Ziyang did not leave. He also wanted to see what kind of Spirit Ability this Night Shadow Beast could provide Huo Yuhao. If it truly was a mental force-disrupting field-type Spirit Ability, as Bei Bei had said, that would be too uninteresting. The dignified Son of Destiny should be a bit more special!
"Ziyang, aren't you going to rest?" Zhang Lexuan asked.
"It's fine, I'll keep watch with you. It's also a good chance to see Yu Hao's new Spirit Ability," Zhu Ziyang said.
"Okay... okay!" Zhu Ziyang had no idea that the first half of his sentence had made Zhang Lexuan blush and feel shy.
Even though the actual emphasis of his sentence was on the latter half, how others interpreted it was not something Zhu Ziyang could control.
Huo Yuhao's absorption of the Night Shadow Beast's spirit ring went very smoothly, taking only half an hour.
His fourth Spirit Ability was called'Soul Eternal Night,' a single-target control-type Spirit Ability. Any selected enemy, as long as their mental force was weaker than Huo Yuhao's, would have their soul sucked into endless darkness, enduring the double torment of darkness and silence, until the Spirit Ability's effect ended three seconds later.
Well, this was within Zhu Ziyang's expectations, he supposed.
For a control system Spirit Master, Soul Eternal Night was definitely a powerful hard-control Spirit Ability. It could ignore all of the opponent's stats; as long as their mental force was not as strong as Huo Yuhao's, they could not be immune to the control effect of this Spirit Ability.
To possess such a Spirit Ability with only a fourth spirit ring, indeed, the Son of Destiny is truly extraordinary!