Tang Wutong's quest for her own third Spirit Ring wasn't anything special. Void Sparrows were a spirit beast that were hyper specialized in their speed in literally using high-speed short-range teleports to evade larger predators.
With Dugu Bo who could gauge where they were going to teleport out of the void. All he had to do was leave some poison that would cripple the birds for a short time and Tang Wutong had the ability to find the Void Sparrow that fit her abilities to absorb even right now.
"A spirit ring aged over nine thousand years for the third slot. It's far beyond anything our generation has and will have access to. But I am going to have to push hard for my fourth to be around the twenty-five to thirty thousand year range!" Tang Wutong said firmly.
Dugu Bo let out a rather sharp tsking noise as he said flatly. "Not happy with an almost ten thousand year third spirit ring... How crazy the world has become! Because even my fourth spirit ring isn't even that high level."
Then Dugu Bo looked at me with a frown and said with annoyance. "And you, the even bigger monster. What monstrous actions are you aiming for your fourth spirit ring later on???"
I coughed and then said helplessly. "Well... Preferably, a forty to fifty thousand year spirit beast of a dragon bloodline to enhance my base body as much as possible further. Is there any even remotely pure-blooded dragons here in the Sunset Forest?" I asked curiously.
I mean... I REALLY would have wanted a beautiful waifu spirit beast with a spirit ring that had an age of over a Hundred Thousand Years to sacrifice to me. But the likelihood of that was damned near impossible.
Dugu Bo's face pinched before he said slowly. "There are a few earth dragons... And actually, I did find a poison dragon around the age of thirty thousand years a couple of years back."
But then Dugu Bo said almost childishly. "But you can't take that Tian Long! I was saving that one for my Yan'er for when she was getting her sixth soul ring!"
My face twitched before I said flatly. "Why the hell would you set that one for the sixth when she can just have it for her fifth after she evolves her martial soul!?"
Then I realized I got very heavily sidetracked and looked back to Tang Wutong, who raised an eyebrow as I said sheepishly. "Ahem... Sorry about that, so how is your new spirit ring? What does it do?"
Tang Wutong's butterfly wings shot out from her back, and with an elegant flourish, she shot through the air and then that dark purple almost black spirit ring flared with light.
And the blue-haired beauty flickered in the air before she seemingly stretched forward and she disappeared before coming back into view more than twenty meters head with her swinging her razor sharp butterfly wings.
She then twirled through the air and then quickly shot down the ground with another short rang teleport with her beating her butterfly wings hard to stop her inertia.
"If you dive to gain speed you can carry over that speed with your teleport." I remarked with a raised eyebrow of interest.
With Tang Wutong smiling as she said with clear content. "This spirit ring will definetly help me, even in the future when I get stronger spirit rings."
Then she took a breath before she said quietly. "Are you sure you are ready to get your own spirit ring?"
I nodded and said bluntly. "I been ready for almost a month. We can't keep waiting after all."
I then looked to Dugu Bo and said firmly. "Alright senior. Please bring us to those Emerald Sage Golems. It's time for me to make history."
And if anything with quickly we moved, it was like Dugu Bo himself was far more interested then I was in getting my third spirit ring.
With the poison master's flying speed it took us a half an hour to fly across the Sunset Forest to reach a collection of short mountains that had treacherously deep valley's and massive crevices that went into the ground.
And after putting us down. Dugu Bo said with a wry smile. "Those crevices are a dangerous no-man's land filled with darkness and dangerous insects and ambush predatory spirit beasts. Who knows, there could even possibly be a Hundred Thousand Year beast hiding in those tunnels as well. But I certainly won't go into complete darkness to look."
"Thankfully, the gem sage golems while primarily living underground, need to come up to the surface every week to recharge themselves with solar energy. So we merely need to wait here for possibly a few days." He finished before waving hand.
And with that motion, he dropped a thick white leather-like mat and a few chairs onto the mat. Which I realized the white mat was to allow someone to see if any bugs were crawing across the mat.
Then, without any airs, Dugu Bo just plopped himself down on the seat with a sigh of relaxation. A true sigh of relaxation that sounded all to much like an old man who popped his lame knee in a way that fixed it.
Which wasn't a wrong assumption for Dugu Bo anyway.
So with a shrug I also sat down a ways away from Dugu Bo and said. "I am going to make some lunch then."
As funny thing... I used my Dragon Tripod Cauldron as a cooking implement then an actual alchemy cauldron with how extremly convienent it was!
Tang Wutong, well used to my antics helpfully came over and she took out some pieces of preserved meat, spices, and rice that I then threw into my martial soul.
And then running both my first and second spirit rings. I turned my martial soul into basically a steam pressure cooker that quickly made up a thick porridge that filled everyone's belly.
Time quickly passed by as we just waited for the gem sage golems to come up from their sub-surface existance to recharge on solar energy apparently.
Until finally after five days soft rumbles rang out as from the deep crevices and craters came massive at least five meter tall rock like beings that could easily scale the rock walls to reach the surface.
"Well well... Look at that one just over there. The tribe leader of these things." Dugu Bo said with a cold chuckle as he gazed at the largest of this small tribe of gem sage golems.
"With it's rock composition, that one looks to be around fifteen thousand years of cultivation right?" I asked for confirmation.
And Dugu Bo nodded firmly before giving me a look and asking bluntly. "Are you sure about this Tian Long. I do not mind waiting for another week to check another couple tribes."
I shook my head and said firmly. "No, using the herbs from the Yin/Yang well I was able to enhance my physique a good bit more. I am just worried about the beasts spiritual impact at this point. Oh which I still have an elixer for anyway."
"I want that Gem Sage Golem." I said firmly.
Dugu Bo exhaled softly before saying with a helpless shrug. "Fine. It's not like I am your father or teacher. If you bite off more then you can chew, I will have no shame seeing you explode."
Though his words were heartles. I could tell he very much was just being a old tsundere which was disgusting. But... I appreciated the unspoken sentiment.
Dugu Bo let out a cold laugh before he shot up through the air and the Gem Sage Golem's let out rumbling roars that sounded like rocks roaring down a rocky slope.
For a moment I was worried about how Dugu Bo was actually going to weaken the spirit beast so I could be the one to kill it. But then his nine spirit rings floated out, and he activated his Martial Spirit Avatar which formed a massive, hundred-meter-long serpent.
Those 'worries' were shattered as Dugu Bo made his martial spirit avatar violently spin around with the massive tail smashing through boulder's tree, and hills alike with the tribe leader getting clipped and smashed through the air.
Then while the rest of the tribe fled back into the underground. Dugu Bo 'helpfully' smashed the tribe leader into the ground with the tail of the avatar several times with it's tail.
"Come down Tian Long. It's body is already broken and will be dying soon." Dugu Bo's bored voice rang out as he put away his avatar with a proud look towards the two of us as he floated above.
'Is... Is he trying to aura farm on us by flying over us like that? Fucking come down from your tower, you wanna be Piccolo. Your green armor doesn't make you an alien!' I mentally yelled.
I approached the Gem Sage Golem and hopped atop it's eight meter tall body that was literally smashed into the ground. And I idly realized that my knife woudn't actually be able to kill this rock creature.
So I put my hands together and said softly. "Sorry... Just, please head towards the light as soon as possible." And in the Gem Sage's single glowing cracked gem like eye I saw both hatred in confusion in my posture.
Then I pulled out my Dragon Tripod Cauldron and with my telekinetic control over it, I smashed it down onto the head of the Gem Sage Golem. "Go to sleep, go to... Please just die, please!" I hissed helplessly as I messed up what I meant to say between loud clangs of the metal-like exterior of my martial soul and this poor bastard's head.
Finally... After several minutes of using my cauldron martial spirit as a wrecking ball. The stone head gave way, and the poor beast finally died as a black spirit formed above its form.
And even as I sat down and took out my two elixers to consume. One to protect my meridians from the excessive energy of the age of this spirit ring. And the other to protect my mind and spirit.
Dugu Bo's voice 'helpfully' rang out. "Tian Long, beware when you absorb that spirit ring! That poor thing died with all the possible misery and hatred that it could and will be extra spicy, haha!"
"Real helpful, you useless old monster." I muttered to myself before tossing the pills into my mouth, and shuddering as they quickly broke down and began affecting my body.
The first felt like a film had filled all my veins and coated my organs, which, although weird on its own... It felt VERY weird as I could feel the film stretching with each heartbeat. Each breath I took stretched my lungs.
The mental and spiritual protection elixer, on the other hand, was a lot easier on the otherhand. It just felt like I had gotten some brain freeze with some minty flavor.
Then, with a mental flex, I pulled in that black spirit ring, which merged into me.
The moment the spirit ring mixed into my body. I let out a low groan and shuddered as the violent energy tore at my body as it rampaged through my meridians, even as I forced the spiritual energy through my cultivation method.
But that wasn't all. My consciousness was pulled inwards, and I saw my true mental sea, which was frozen over by the effects of the pill I had taken. Roaring on a flat plain of my frozen-over mental sea was a spiritual fragment of the Gem Sage which roared at seeing me.
The giant rushed towards me as it couldn't attack my mental sea, and with a flex of my will. I laughed and said loudly. "Fuck it! Let's ball and see what happens!"
I swung my hand outwards to see what would happen before I invoked the spiritual energy that made up the ice to freeze the beast's fragmented spiritual will, destroying it slowly.
And for the first time, I used my Mountain Martial Soul.
My Mountain Martial Soul in my hand all to quickly grew in size as I realized that it had the same innate ability as the Clear Sky Hammer in being able to grow in size and mass with just spirit energy. Without needing any spirit rings for that effect!
But... I realized something important as my expanding mountain rushed back as it grew in size.
I wasn't immune to a mountain being smashed into my own face either!
The pain of a massive rocky surface hitting me was purely mental in the way I took spiritual damage. But... Whereas I got blasted backwards by testing my Mountain Martial spirit for the first time in the 'safety' of my own mind.
The Gem Sage Golem was fully crushed by the mountain entirely and I could feel the soul imprint shatter under the force of the mountain and it's energy filling my mind with relief.
But as I settled in for the wonderful agony of absorbing a spirit ring that was normally far too powerful for the human body. I felt my head itching in a very weird way that let me know it wasn't something like an insect in my hair or something.
I would know... As I used my flame body to expel some flames around my body regularly to get rid of the bugs that were everywhere in the jungle, like Sunset Forest.