The sky was just beginning to brighten.
In the far east, a faint streak of fish-belly white rose above the horizon. Liu Yuan sat cross-legged upon the roof, his eyes fixed intently on that distant glow. He drew air slowly through his nostrils and exhaled gently from his mouth, creating a seamless, rhythmic cycle of breath.
As a sliver of purple qi flickered in the dawn, Liu Yuan's concentration reached its peak. He stared unblinkingly, pulling that fleeting essence into his eyes.
Only when the morning sun fully crested the horizon and the purple mist vanished did Liu Yuan close his eyes, exhaling a long plume of turbid air.
"Hoo..."
The breath escaped like a white ribbon before slowly dissipating.
He sat in silence for a long moment before opening his eyes again. A faint purple luster shimmered within his pupils—the hallmark of his progress in the Purple Demon Eye.
Nearly a year had passed. During this time, he had poured the vast majority of his energy into cultivation, mastering every technique within the Tang Sect's secret arts without exception. Furthermore, he had passed the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record to his parents. Just as Rule 5 dictated, his father and mother accepted the techniques without the slightest suspicion regarding their origin, taking to them with decisive focus.
I wonder when the spirit beast will arrive?
After adjusting his state, Liu Yuan flipped nimbly off the roof.
Two months ago, he had successfully reached Rank 10, the threshold for his first spirit ring. To ensure he obtained the most suitable match, he had spent weeks researching various plant-type spirit beasts. Eventually, he settled on his target: the Golden-Top Poplar.
While this species wasn't considered top-tier—occupying a similar niche to the Demon-Eyed Maple—it possessed one trait that ordinary plant souls could not replicate: an incredibly developed root system. Because of this, the Golden-Top Poplar was the only plant-type spirit beast capable of thriving in the deep reaches of the desert, surpassing even Blue Silver Grass in sheer tenacity.
When Liu Yuan first proposed the idea to his father and asked to be taken into the desert, the elder Liu had refused flatly, citing the extreme danger of the deep dunes. Instead, his father offered a better solution: hiring a professional hunting squad to bring back a living specimen.
Since it was a plant and possessed limited offensive capabilities, and since Liu Yuan only required a hundred-year-level beast, it would have little to no sentient instinct to resist transport. Were it not for the treacherous environment it called home, such a beast might have been hunted to extinction long ago.
Liu Yuan had readily agreed. Now, all he could do was wait. Calculating the travel time from Star Luo City to the desert and back, two months felt like the right window.
With a thought, Liu Yuan opened the interface for the Multiverse Commission Platform. He scanned the ten new tasks for the day and hit refresh.
"Nothing interesting," he sighed helplessly.
His strength was simply too low. Over the past year, the number of tasks he could actually complete were few and far between, and the rewards were modest. However, he had discovered a way to maximize his gains.
He noticed that many timelines on the platform were set thousands or even tens of thousands of years before the era of the Peerless Tang Sect. In those ancient times, certain treasures hadn't yet been recognized for their true value.
Whale Gel was the perfect example. In his current era, Whale Gel was a priceless treasure used to strengthen the physical body. In the distant past, however, it was merely seen as a high-end aphrodisiac. While expensive, it was far from unobtainable.
Whenever he found a task from those eras with a "Negotiable" reward, Liu Yuan would request Whale Gel. Over the year, he had successfully secured four pieces of hundred-year Whale Gel and one piece of thousand-year Whale Gel. As for ten-thousand-year varieties, they remained too expensive even in the past, often exceeding the value of the commissions he could handle.
"Hah..."
Closing the platform with a sigh, Liu Yuan prepared to head inside when a voice called out from beyond the estate gates.
"Yuan'er!"
The heavy doors swung open, and his father stepped into the courtyard, a poplar tree balanced firmly on his shoulder.
At the sight of the tree with its crown shimmering like spun gold, Liu Yuan's eyes lit up. "A Golden-Top Poplar... looks to be about seven hundred years!"
"Exactly!" His father set the tree down and waved Liu Yuan over. "Hurry now, start the absorption. You've waited two months; I'm sure you're getting impatient." His voice carried a hint of playful teasing.
He knew Liu Yuan had already tempered his body with hundred and thousand-year Whale Gel. Absorbing a seven-hundred-year ring from a relatively non-aggressive plant beast would be well within his son's limits.
"I'm ready."
Liu Yuan stepped forward and inspected the tree. He tore away the cloth bag covering the base, revealing a root ball tightly packed in soil by the hunters. After clearing away the dirt, he didn't hesitate. He lit a torch.
The Golden-Top Poplar was a creature of immense vitality; ordinary methods wouldn't kill it quickly enough to manifest a ring. The surest way was to burn its roots to ash.
Fwoosh!
The flame took hold, roaring as it consumed the roots. Before long, the golden crown began to lose its luster. As the golden tips withered, a deep yellow spirit ring slowly materialized, rising into the air and pulsing with spirit power.
Liu Yuan stared at the glowing ring, his heart racing. Once he absorbed this, he would be a true Spirit Master. He sat cross-legged and used his spirit power to draw the ring toward him. It trembled slightly before hovering over his head.
"Sit tall. Focus your mind on your martial soul." His father's expression turned solemn. "Absorbing a ring is no small matter. No matter what, stay conscious."
"Yes."
Liu Yuan sank into his meditative state. With a flash of green light, the phantom of the Origin Willow swayed behind him.
As the ring descended, the overflowing yellow light found a vent and surged into Liu Yuan's meridians like a flood breaking through a dam. He immediately circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, guiding the mellow energy through his limbs and bones.
In the midst of this process, obscured by the shimmering phantom of the Origin Willow, the remains of the Golden-Top Poplar began to emit a soft, emerald glow. Without his father noticing, the green light was drawn into the leaves of the Origin Willow phantom and funneled into Liu Yuan's body.
The sensation caused Liu Yuan to relax instinctively. It felt as though he were consuming a potent tonic; something was constantly nourishing his body as the ring merged with him. The entire process of absorption became unexpectedly effortless.