One day later.
"First Spirit Ability — Tsukuyomi!"
Deep within the forest, a jet-black Black Flame Demon Bird wreathed in dark flames let out a piercing cry as it dove toward Taichu. Its body resembled a crow, but the black flames burning across it made it look exceptionally sinister.
However—
A purple spirit ring rose from Taichu's body, glowing faintly as his gaze met the demon bird's eyes.
In the next instant, the Black Flame Demon Bird was struck by Tsukuyomi and dragged straight into the Tsukuyomi Realm.
In reality, only a single second passed.
The diving Black Flame Demon Bird suddenly screeched in agony, its body twisting midair before crashing heavily to the ground not far in front of Taichu. The black flames covering it gradually extinguished.
"I didn't expect my luck to improve this much after running into the Huangdou Team."
Taichu hadn't anticipated this at all.
Last time, after encountering the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's Huangdou Team, Yu Tianheng's sudden loss of control had exposed the fact that Taichu's first spirit ring was a thousand-year ring. He knew very clearly that he couldn't remain in the Sunset Forest for long.
After all, even though Dugu Yan had temporarily restrained the Huangdou Team from acting on their greed, once they returned to Heaven Dou City and informed their respective families, those families would undoubtedly dispatch people into the Sunset Forest to hunt him down on a large scale.
Fortunately—
He had worn a mask from the very beginning, precisely because he feared that if his thousand-year first spirit ring was ever exposed, at the very least, no one would know his true identity.
Looking at it now, that decision had been exceptionally wise.
Although his spirit—the Mangekyō Sharingan—was indeed extremely special, even if those families wanted to capture him, they would never do so openly. After all, who wouldn't want to monopolize such a secret? If it became public knowledge, would they even be able to protect it?
They would certainly act in secret.
If that were the case, the chances of them tracking him down through his spirit alone would be extremely low. However, he had revealed the Mangekyō Sharingan at the Spirit Fighting Arena in Nuoding City. If they traced things back there, it was still possible for them to find him.
But—
He had already taken this into account.
Originally, he planned to leave for the Star Luo Empire if he couldn't find a Black Flame Demon Bird here. Along the way, he would participate in matches at Spirit Fighting Arenas across various cities, deliberately leaving traces everywhere.
By scattering his movements across many locations, anyone trying to hunt him down would find it extremely difficult to pinpoint his true whereabouts.
Yet who would have thought—
The very next day, the Spirit Beast he had been searching for would appear right in front of him?
"Could it be that after beating up the protagonist and the supporting cast from the original story, I got some kind of luck bonus?"
Taichu felt puzzled.
But with the Black Flame Demon Bird lying right there, he immediately tossed that thought aside. Whatever—getting his second spirit ring came first.
He carefully examined the demon bird.
"Three of its purple tail feathers are fully formed with flame patterns, and the fourth is almost completely covered. That puts its age close to four thousand years."
The Black Flame Demon Bird possessed a total of nine tail feathers, each one changing with its age. White represented a ten-year Spirit Beast, yellow a hundred-year, purple a thousand-year, black a ten-thousand-year, and red signified a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast.
Within each stage, every additional ten years caused a black flame pattern to appear on one tail feather. The same rule applied to the hundred-year, thousand-year, and ten-thousand-year stages.
Thus—
With nearly four tail feathers covered in black flame patterns, this Black Flame Demon Bird was clearly close to four thousand years old.
"My first spirit ring was 1,100 years old. On top of that, I've consumed two ten-thousand-year Whale Gels over the past few months. My physical constitution has increased dramatically. Master Ma even said my body already far surpasses that of an ordinary Spirit Elder."
"My body should be able to withstand at least a three-thousand-year spirit ring… but this one is 3,900 years."
Taichu hesitated.
Still—
After spending over a month and a half in the Sunset Forest just to finally encounter this top-tier Spirit Beast, he was unwilling to give it up just because its age exceeded the limit by a few hundred years.
"Damn it. If I die, I die. If I live, I'll live for ten thousand years! I'm betting everything!"
With that thought, Taichu drew a dagger from his spirit tool and ended the Black Flame Demon Bird's life in a single strike.
Moments later, a purple spirit ring slowly rose above the beast's corpse.
Seeing this, Taichu scattered some medicinal powder around to repel nearby Spirit Beasts, then sat down cross-legged.
He activated his spirit and guided the absorption of the spirit ring.
Under his control, the ring descended and merged with his spirit, as if fusing directly with his body.
The energy contained within the spirit ring surged violently, slamming into him again and again.
Compared to when he absorbed his first spirit ring, the pain this time was far more intense.
However—
Whenever he felt he was on the verge of collapse, a warm current would suddenly emerge from somewhere deep within his body, repairing his seemingly torn flesh. That warmth felt exactly like the energy produced when he refined Whale Gel back then.
That mysterious warmth saved him again.
But he had no time to dwell on it.
All he could do was grit his teeth and focus on fully absorbing the spirit ring.
Time passed, second by second.
He had no idea how long it had been—
Until a tiger-type Spirit Beast appeared not far away, drawn by the scent of blood. The beast-repelling powder failed to scare it off. When it spotted Taichu, it opened its blood-soaked jaws and advanced step by step, clearly preparing to feast.
But at that exact moment—
The thousand-year spirit ring fully settled into his body.
The Rank 20 bottleneck shattered completely.
His spirit power surged upward.
Rank 21!
Rank 22!
Rank 23!
He advanced slightly further but ultimately failed to reach Rank 24. This was within Taichu's expectations. He had deliberately suppressed his spirit power, fearing that advancing too quickly would destabilize his foundation.
Otherwise—
A nearly four-thousand-year spirit ring could have pushed an ordinary Spirit Grandmaster straight to Rank 25.
He opened his eyes.
The black tiger was already close, its maw wide open.
"So the effect of this beast-repelling powder really isn't that great…"
The thought flashed through his mind.
"But you're perfect for testing my new second spirit ability."
Taichu's Mangekyō Sharingan met the black tiger's gaze.
His second spirit ring glowed with a deep purple light.
"Second Spirit Ability — Amaterasu!"
Black flames erupted instantly across the tiger's body.
The terrifying heat caused it unbearable agony. It rolled wildly on the ground, desperately trying to extinguish the flames—but to no avail. The black fire only burned more fiercely.
One minute later—
Under Taichu's calm gaze, the black tiger was reduced to ashes.
All that remained was a white spirit ring floating silently above the scorched ground.