Chapter 25: Thousand Jin Ant, Su Yuan Explodes, Terrifying Strength
The crackling flames illuminated the faces of the four people by the campfire, turning them a deep red.
At this moment, an iron pot had been set up over the campfire, with boiling water rolling inside, cooking a plucked Soft Bones Rabbit.
A faint meaty aroma gradually wafted from the pot.
Su Yuntao subconsciously swallowed his saliva, but still asked Shan Zi, who was sitting to the side, with some hesitation.
"Little brother, will this boiled Soft Bones Rabbit of yours actually taste good?"
Shan Zi took out some seasonings from his Storage Ring and shook them triumphantly.
"Wait until this rabbit is cooked, then sprinkle these seasonings on it. If it doesn't taste good then, come find me."
"I didn't expect Shan Zi to have this skill."
Su Yuan, sitting opposite him, exclaimed in admiration.
During this time, Su Yuan had gradually become familiar with Shan Zi, so he simply changed his form of address to "Shan Zi," just like Su Haichao.
Since they were also his elders, Shan Zi never had any opinions regarding honorifics, as long as no one suddenly called him "Little Shan" like a certain Gang Zi.
"This kid exercises every day. To absorb a higher-year spirit ring, he needs a large amount of dietary supplements."
Su Haichao shrugged helplessly.
"My cooking skills—no, I don't even have that. Anyway, Shan Zi disliked the food I made, so he figured it out himself, and over time, he really did come up with some results."
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
The subtle sound of limbs rubbing against each other reached Su Haichao's ears. His expression shifted slightly, and he quickly spoke up to warn them.
"It seems something is coming. Stay alert."
As he spoke, he cast his gaze toward the direction the sound was coming from.
The other three reacted quickly upon being warned. Shan Zi and Su Yuntao hid directly behind Su Haichao, while Su Yuan flashed over to stand side-by-side with Su Haichao.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
A pitch-black creature gradually emerged from the distant grass, though due to the dim light, only a dark shadow could be seen.
It inched closer to the burning campfire. Upon smelling the drifting aroma, its forward speed increased a bit. Clearly, it was attracted by the Soft Bones Rabbit in the pot.
In the flickering firelight, its true appearance was revealed.
It was nearly seventy centimeters long, with a pitch-black shell resembling heavy armor covering its entire body. Its six legs were short but very stable.
Two long antennae extended from the top of its head, swaying back and forth as it carefully sensed the surrounding environment.
"It is a Thousand Jin Ant, and it looks like its age isn't low."
"Over a thousand years."
Shan Zi examined it carefully and quickly deduced its specific age.
"Little brother, how did you tell?" Su Yuntao asked curiously.
"Whether it's a hundred-year or thousand-year Thousand Jin Ant, their body size is basically under one meter. The specific age isn't determined by body length, but by the protrusions on its back."
Shan Zi lowered his voice and pointed at the Thousand Jin Ant's back.
"Generally, a hundred-year Thousand Jin Ant has a smooth back, and there are other ways to judge its specific age. But if there are protrusions on the back, it means it is a thousand-year Thousand Jin Ant. For every additional protrusion, the age increases by a thousand years. This one has one very obvious protrusion, and another one is already taking shape, so the age is likely between thirteen hundred and fifteen hundred years."
"Then is it suitable for your Spirit, Shan Zi?"
Su Yuan asked, grasping the main point.
"Very suitable."
Shan Zi answered without hesitation.
Su Yuan and Su Haichao exchanged a glance.
"I will be the main attacker; you take responsibility for preventing other Spirit Beasts from appearing."
Su Yuan said.
Su Haichao nodded in agreement, simultaneously subconsciously releasing his own perception, raising his vigilance regarding the surrounding environment once again.
"Martial Soul Possession."
A powerful fluctuation of spirit power erupted from Su Yuan's body, finally attracting the attention of that thousand-year Thousand Jin Ant.
It turned its body, glanced at Su Yuan, and continued crawling toward the iron pot on its own.
Facing this disregard, Su Yuan displayed a temperamental side completely opposite to his usual refined and easygoing nature.
"Little thing, you actually look down on me!"
Fire Phoenix Possession. Two yellow and two purple spirit rings fluctuated rhythmically up and down on Su Yuan's body.
Scales and feathers also emerged from his exposed skin.
First Soul Skill, Flame Burst: Increases one's own fire attribute by 50%.
As his figure rushed forward, huge wings spread out from behind his back, and the second spirit ring flickered.
Second Soul Skill, Wings of Fire: Wings spread behind the back, granting flight ability and a 15% increase to all attributes.
Scorching flames enveloped his entire body, and the massive sound of flapping wings kicked up a gust of wind.
Whoosh!
A ball of fire spat out from Su Yuan's mouth, rapidly expanding and enveloping the entire Thousand Jin Ant.
This was not a spirit ring skill, but merely Su Yuan's most basic development of his own Spirit.
The scorching flames not only enveloped the pitch-black ant but also ignited a patch of trees around it.
Shan Zi watched the fire that had begun to spread to the surrounding area, feeling somewhat worried.
"Dad, won't this cause a forest fire?"
Su Haichao didn't pay attention to the spreading flames; instead, he focused on the battle between the human and the Spirit Beast while remaining vigilant of the surrounding environment.
Upon hearing Shan Zi's question, he didn't care at all.
"Shan Zi, don't underestimate plant-type Spirit Beasts. Even though they have low intelligence and cannot move, ordinary flames cannot ignite them at all. Conversely, these flames might even be extinguished by them."
So that's how it is.
Shan Zi observed carefully and discovered that all the vegetation that had been ignited extinguished shortly after, and around those plants, there were some relatively tall or special plants.
Presumably, they were the plant-type Spirit Beasts, which were indeed inconspicuous as they blended in with ordinary plants.
At this moment, the battlefield changed once again.
Su Yuan's flames seemed to have truly enraged the Thousand Jin Ant, accompanied by a muffled sound, bang!
A black shadow actually shot up from the ground, breaking through the shroud of flames and crashing toward Su Yuan.
Whoosh!
The flame wings flapped vigorously, and Su Yuan maneuvered and dodged in the air. The black shadow grazed past him, and his hair was blown up by the sweeping gale, which showed just how abundant the power contained in the Thousand Jin Ant's charge was.
Boom!
The black ant smashed onto the ground, unharmed. Even though it had been swept by flames all over its body, its carapace remained completely undamaged.
Such high defense. This Thousand Jin Ant's strength was quite normal, but its defense was excessively high.
While flapping his wings, Su Yuan, flying high in the sky, couldn't help but frown. No one knew better than him just how great the power of his flames combined with two boosting Spirit skills was, yet it hadn't caused a single bit of damage to this Spirit Beast. The defense was truly a bit exaggerated.
"Old Su, speed it up. You're making quite a scene."
Hearing Su Haichao's urging, Su Yuan decided not to tangle with the opponent anymore.
"I wanted to save some spirit power, but now it seems that's not possible."
A purple halo emanated from the third spirit ring, and scorching flames surged out from Su Yuan's body like a flood, rapidly condensing in front of him.
The fist-sized fireball began to expand rapidly as the flames poured in.
At first, it only grew to the size of a coconut, then expanded to the size of a basketball.
Accompanied by the frantic pouring of spirit power, a huge fireball with a diameter of half a meter finally appeared before everyone's eyes.
Third Soul Skill, Fireball: Flames condense in front of the body, gathering into a huge fireball. After expanding, it compresses and explodes, possessing terrifying attack power.
Bang!
The Thousand Jin Ant's front limbs smashed against the ground again, surging power pouring into its feet, and its black body shot into the sky once more.
However, greeting it was a white fireball that had been re-compressed to the size of a fist, its heat distorting the surrounding air.
Rumble!
A violent roar echoed in the surrounding area, and rolling heat waves erupted from above. Shan Zi and the others clearly felt the surrounding temperature rise significantly.
The flames expanded into a ball of light, enveloping the Thousand Jin Ant, and the surrounding night sky shone as bright as day.
Is this really the strength a Spirit Venerable should have?
Shan Zi's mouth hung slightly open, speechless with shock.
"Shan Zi, snap out of it. Get ready to act. Old Su didn't go easy this time; if you're any later, that ant might just die."
Su Haichao watched the pitch-black ant smash onto the ground and quickly reminded Shan Zi, who was at his side.
"Okay!"
Shan Zi took a deep breath, took out a huge iron hammer from his Storage Ring, and, led by Su Haichao, quickly ran toward the Thousand Jin Ant.
At this moment, the Thousand Jin Ant was on the verge of death. Lying on its back, its slowly waving limbs showed that it was in a bad state.
Shan Zi did not hesitate. He tilted his body, raised the hammer high, and smashed it toward the creature's head.
Crack, crack, crack!
Cracks appeared on the opponent's carapace, but it still didn't shatter immediately.
Again.
He swung the iron hammer and smashed down with all his might.
The carapace shattered, and the skull caved in.
The limbs of the Thousand Jin Ant, which had completely lost its life, trembled instinctively a few times before stopping.
Specks of purple radiance gradually condensed above the corpse, eventually turning into a pale purple spirit ring.
"Take this Spirit Beast away first. The commotion just now was quite loud; I'm afraid quite a few nocturnal Spirit Beasts are on their way. Let's find a new place to Breakthrough."
Su Haichao lifted the Thousand Jin Ant's corpse with one hand, signaled the three to follow, and then headed toward the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest.
The three said nothing and hurried to follow.
After traveling for about fifteen minutes and confirming they were out of the range of their previous campsite, they finally stopped.
"Shan Zi, come on."
Su Haichao put down the Spirit Beast, and Shan Zi walked to its side and sat cross-legged.
Su Yuan's eyes burned, ready to witness this historic moment. A first thousand-year spirit ring—not to say there would be no one after, but it was basically certain there had been no one before.
Su Yuntao was also a bit nervous. He would also likely absorb a thousand-year spirit ring, so he wanted to see how his little brother would absorb it first, hoping it would provide some experience for reference.
Su Haichao stood to the side, silent, his eyes somewhat unfocused, as if he had dreamt back to that deserted alleyway from several years ago.
"Since you already have a name, then child, from now on you shall be called Shan Zi. May your future be as brilliant and magnificent as the 'Haotian Twin Stars' who are just now making a name for themselves on the continent."
"Shan Zi, is the height of the Clear Sky Douluo really your limit?"
The beautiful blessings of the past seemed to have begun to be realized step by step, even surpassing the initial expectations.
A trace of softness appeared on Su Haichao's face.
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