Wu Qi himself was not sure whether his spirit bone of the spiritual type could be used for investigation.
Since he was already here, he might as well try.
"Old man, don't let anyone notice the spirit bone. Stay alert," Wu Qi reminded.
The Royal Knights were directly under the emperor's command and were extremely tight-lipped. They had already been pushed back two miles, and with Dugu Bo's soul power barrier in place, no one could spy on Wu Qi's methods.
After this period of nurturing, the spirit bone had recovered to about sixty percent, and its skill output would not be greatly weakened.
"Spirit bone skill—Illusion Domain, Illusory Link."
Both abilities were activated at once, pushing Wu Qi's mental power to its peak.
In the vision shared by him and Dugu Bo, the shattered carriage rapidly restored itself, and the dead escorts rose back to their feet.
"Kid, what kind of technique is this?"
Dugu Bo had little understanding of spiritual-type Spirit Masters and could not comprehend what he was seeing.
Wu Qi explained, "I just thought of it. Their bodies haven't fully decayed yet, so I can extract fragments of memory from their minds and reconstruct what happened."
This was the unique function of Illusion Domain.
To form an illusion indistinguishable from reality, one needed scenes drawn from the target's own memories.
This skill could extract partial memories from the dead, making the illusion nearly flawless.
Those killed by a spiritual-type Spirit Master still retained residual spiritual energy in their bodies, which provided the basis for reconstructing events.
In their vision, the carriage sped along the official road. From a thicket by the roadside, a pair of cold eyes watched them closely.
Suddenly, countless grotesque figures appeared in their field of view.
The horses panicked, the carriage overturned, and cargo and people were thrown out.
Before they could even get up, the creatures launched another attack.
Among the escorts, the strongest was a Spirit Emperor level cultivator, yet even he had no ability to resist. The attacker's strength was clearly far beyond theirs.
"They were trapped in an illusion," Dugu Bo said coldly. "It's Dream Soul, Shi Nian."
A normal Spirit Saint would not have been worth a titled Spirit Master's attention, but Shi Nian was different, his methods were too strange to ignore.
Wu Qi frowned.
After activating the spirit bone skill, he became extremely sensitive to mental fluctuations. He detected two residual spiritual signatures, one belonging to Shi Nian, and another extremely subtle one, likely from a second expert.
After hearing his explanation, Dugu Bo snorted. "Looks like a larger conspiracy. Shi Nian is the dean of Canghui Academy. They'll be participating in the tournament sooner or later."
"I'll definitely force him to reveal the whereabouts of the soul bone and his accomplices."
Wu Qi reminded him, "Shi Nian is the dean of Canghui Academy. As a registered participant, he is protected by the empire."
The tournament was originally established to promote peace.
During the event, no wars were permitted on the continent, and even the two empires maintained a temporary truce.
Killing a participant during this period would bring severe consequences.
"Old man, Shi Nian dared to attack a transport convoy, he's clearly not someone who follows the rules," Wu Qi said.
"Wait until he exposes a flaw. Whether he lives or dies will be up to you then. Just don't rush, and don't act recklessly."
In the past, Dugu Bo would have gone straight to Canghui Academy to kill him.
But after meeting Wu Qi, he had realized that strength alone was not everything, strategy was just as important for maximizing gain.
Thinking of this, he waved his hand. "Do as you say."
"But keep this quiet for now. If there's a chance later, I'd still like that soul bone for Yan."
Star Dou Great Forest
"Xiao San, have you lost your mind?"
Yu Xiaogang grabbed Tang San's arm, his expression extremely ugly.
Just moments earlier, Tang San had declared his intention to absorb a ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring.
Yu Xiaogang firmly believed in his own theory, and Tang San's idea was nothing short of courting death.
Tang San retorted, "But teacher, Wu Qi also has a ten-thousand-year fourth ring. If he can do it, why can't I?"
"And if I can't match him in spirit rings, how am I supposed to defeat him in the tournament?"
On the surface, Tang San was only the vice captain, but everyone knew he was the true leader of the Shrek Seven.
His concern was understandable.
As the leader, if his strength was inferior to Wu Qi's, it could decide the entire outcome of the competition.
Flender advised, "Xiao San, don't only look at appearances."
"Xiaogang's theory isn't wrong. Wu Qi likely used some unknown method to achieve it."
"We don't know the exact conditions he used. If you imitate him blindly, the consequences could be severe. And do you understand the fundamental difference between absorbing a ten-thousand-year ring and a thousand-year one?"
Tang San hesitated and looked at Yu Xiaogang.
Clearly, he did not know.
Back then, Yu Xiaogang had indeed said that ten-thousand-year rings were difficult to absorb, but as long as one endured the soul power impact, it was no different from absorbing a thousand-year ring.
However, that explanation was incomplete.
Yu Xiaogang himself had never absorbed a ten-thousand-year ring; his knowledge was only theoretical.
Liu Erlong added, "Ten-thousand-year spirit rings contain a soul shock that is fundamentally different from thousand-year rings. If a thousand-year ring fails, it can be interrupted in time to reduce damage. A ten-thousand-year ring cannot."
"Once the soul shock cannot be endured, the result is either madness or death. There is no way to interrupt it."
Tang San's eyes widened.
These were things he had never been told.
And Yu Xiaogang remained silent.
Now that he understood the situation, he immediately began acting as an "after-the-fact expert," patting Tang San on the shoulder and adding, "Xiao San, in the past your strength was far from sufficient to absorb a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring, which is why I didn't tell you everything."
"I can responsibly say that even at the peak of Spirit Ancestor level, absorbing a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring is still extremely difficult, let alone for you now."
After speaking, he quietly noted down the term "soul shock," planning to add it to his own theory later.
Dai Mubai spoke up. "Xiao San, I know you're eager to improve your strength, but you still need to stay within your limits."
Yu Tianheng snorted coldly. "No one knows what kind of forbidden method Wu Qi used. In any case, we cannot blindly imitate him."
Whether Wu Qi directly absorbed a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring or used some unknown method to enhance his Spirit Ring's age, they could not be certain.
Times had changed. In the original timeline, Tang San could use his third Spirit Ring exceeding standard limits as justification to convince Flender and the others.
But now, his third Spirit Ring did not exceed Yu Xiaogang's theoretical limit. Without the tempering effect of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, even if he were allowed to attempt it, the success rate would be extremely low.
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