Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

Have you considered the timeframe?

"Hmm... Although I am confident in absorbing the spirit rings of spirit beasts with a lifespan of less than five thousand years, I will probably choose a spirit ring that is eight or nine hundred years old for my first spirit ring, and at most it will not exceed one thousand years."

Before heading to the Soul Hunting Forest with Mu Chen and his son, Xiao Yan and Yao Lao had calculated Xiao Yan's physical strength. Apart from Wang Cheng, no one in the Wang Mansion had a stronger physical strength than Xiao Yan at that time, and Wang Cheng was only slightly stronger than Xiao Yan.

If only physical strength is considered, Xiao Yan could easily choose a soul beast with a lifespan of around five thousand years, or even longer. However, this would raise two issues:

First of all, he can't beat him. Although he could ask the old doctor for help, absorbing spirit rings is more of a hobby for him, and it wouldn't be good to keep bothering his teacher.

Then, we need to consider that we will be staying in Douluo Continent for about seven more years. In order not to be too conspicuous, the top priority is still a hundred-year-level spirit ring. The specific time limit will depend on our luck later.

“A hundred years… indeed. Regardless of its effectiveness, we still have to live on this continent for seven years afterward, so it's better to keep a low profile.” Nodding, Yao Lao agreed with Xiao Yan's decision, then changed the subject, “Do you know where the nearest water source is to this cave?”

"Um... a stream about two kilometers to the northeast?"

"What is the latest group of soul beasts?"

"...I don't know."

The water source was fine, but Xiao Yan didn't pay much attention to the soul beast clan.

"It's a plate-armored rhinoceros. The one in the lead is about 4,500 years old. Besides it, there's only one that's a thousand years old, and the remaining ten are all around a hundred years old."

"teacher……"

"What? You're quite moved, aren't you?" The old doctor raised an eyebrow.

"No, I think you're pretty boring. You actually pay attention to the age of a second-tier soul beast, and even the age of the entire clan." The words that were about to come out turned into a rant.

"Hey, you're really stubborn, aren't you?"

"Doesn't this show that you have excellent taste in choosing people?" Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go, let's go. Teacher, you should know what that armored rhinoceros is doing at this time, right?" Before Yao Lao could say anything more, Xiao Yan took the black ring and ran out of the cave.

"What? Now you know to call me teacher?"

"hey-hey……"

The two voices gradually faded into the distance.

Chapter 10 Mountain rhinoceros

At the Junior Soul Master Academy, Xiao Yan learned that the Plate Armored Rhinoceros was a favorite type of Soul Beast among heavy weapon spirit masters, possessing earth and some water attributes, which was why he listed it as a candidate for his first Soul Ring. However, before today, he had absolutely no idea what the Plate Armored Rhinoceros actually looked like—

The plate-armored rhinoceros, also known as the plate-armored giant rhinoceros, is one of the few rhinoceros-type spirit beasts that live in groups. However, unlike other rhinoceros spirit beasts that choose to live in groups because they are weak individually, the plate-armored giant rhinoceros lives in groups... perhaps it is really because of family ties.

Looking at the herd of rhinoceroses drinking water by the stream ahead, Xiao Yan swallowed hard and then asked the profound question.

"Teacher...how do we capture a hundred-year-old plate-armored rhinoceros?"

To reiterate, the plate-armored rhinoceros, also known as the plate-armored giant rhinoceros, is a social rhinoceros spirit beast with an average body length of seven meters (excluding newborns, with some special species reaching nine meters in length), an average shoulder height of three meters (with special species reaching four to five meters in shoulder height), and an average weight of over 5000 kilograms.

"What's wrong? Don't you have the confidence to hunt?" the old apothecary asked with a smile.

"No, this isn't a matter of confidence, is it?"

Looking at the rhinoceros herd leisurely drinking and eating in the distance, and the bird-like soul beasts standing on their backs like sentinels, Xiao Yan smiled awkwardly.

"I'm confident I can cripple those birds that are at the century-old level with a single Bajiquan strike, but I can't get close to them without disturbing them..."

The armored rhinoceros and the bird-like spirit beast on its back clearly had a symbiotic relationship, while he, a newly initiated cultivator...

The novice fighter, still using Yellow-Rank cultivation techniques, completely disbelieved that he could withstand the impact of more than a dozen rhinoceroses.

"Really not going to give it a try? If you succeed, I can make an exception and teach you a stealth fighting technique, okay?" Yao Lao continued to tempt you, "A stealth fighting technique of the Earth Rank."

"Earth Rank!"

Upon hearing those two words, Xiao Yan's eyes lit up, but his gaze towards the herd of rhinoceroses remained unchanged.

"Teacher, please just tell me what to do," Xiao Yan said with a wry smile. "In a one-on-one fight, I'm not afraid of even that four-thousand-year-old plate-armored rhinoceros. But if I disturb them and get charged by a dozen rhinoceroses at once, I wouldn't dare to risk it if I'm not at the Dou Shi level!"

If Xiao Yan were currently at the Dou Shi stage, he could have relied on his Dou Qi Gauze Robe to withstand the impact of the plate-armored rhinoceros. However, unfortunately, Xiao Yan is currently only a weak Dou Zhe.

"Very cautious, that's good."

Yao Lao was very satisfied with Xiao Yan's reaction. "Next, it's time to test your eyesight and experience."

"There are ten plate-armored rhinoceroses that are over 100 years old. You can definitely tell that."

Xiao Yan nodded.

The difference between century-old and millennium-old plate-armored rhinoceroses lies in the color of their plate armor. The two millennium-old plate-armored rhinoceroses were entirely black, while the century-old ones were mostly brown.

"So, among these hundred-year-old plate-armored rhinoceroses, which one do you think is most suitable for you?" The old man emphasized the word "suitable".

"Suitable?"

The old doctor's hint couldn't be clearer. After a slight pause, Xiao Yan carefully examined the ten hundred-year-old plate-armored rhinoceroses again.

Even with Yao Lao's reminder, it still took Xiao Yan several minutes to notice some clues.

"That plate-armored rhinoceros... isn't the color a little off?"

Xiao Yan pointed to the plate-armored rhinoceros on the outermost edge, which was slightly brighter in color, and asked.

"Besides color?" Yao Lao reminded him again, "You can try to sense it with your soul power."

"!"

It wasn't until Yao Lao reminded him that Xiao Yan realized that his greatest strength as an apprentice alchemist wasn't his Dou Qi level, but rather his soul power, which was close to the mid-stage of the mortal realm.

"That rhinoceros... it's fire-elemental?!"

As soon as his soul force approached the rhinoceros with its unusual color, Xiao Yan felt a familiar burning sensation. Without the slightest hesitation, he spoke up about it.

"To be precise, it's metal and fire attributes." The old doctor finally nodded in satisfaction. "If it were just an ordinary plate-armored rhinoceros with dual water and earth attributes, your teacher wouldn't have paid special attention to this group."

"Moreover, as a mutated gold-fire attribute plate-armored rhinoceros, its appearance is very similar to a magical beast, the Blazing Mountain-Breaking Rhinoceros, which is generally at the fifth rank or above after adulthood."

"Blazing Mountain-Breaking Rhinoceros... I remember that kind of magical beast's innate ability is armor-piercing?" Xiao Yan licked his lips, his eyes shining.

Armor Break, a very simple talent name, and its effect is simply to ignore the aura defense of the same level. In fact, weapons made from its magic core also have the same effect.

It is precisely for this reason that the magic core of the Blazing Mountain-Breaking Rhinoceros has always been the mainstream choice for magic core weapons—of course, for fifth and sixth tier magic core weapons.

"It's just that they look similar," Yao Lao rolled his eyes. "Even the young of the Blazing Mountain-Breaking Rhinoceros is at least at the second level. Right now, you're just food for its young."

"What if...right?" Xiao Yan chuckled awkwardly, then his expression turned serious. "Teacher, thank you for your trouble."

"You brat, you actually know how to order people around!" Old Yao laughed helplessly. "Once your soul power reaches the mid-stage of the mortal realm, I'll teach you a few basic ways to use soul power!"

"That's a good feeling!"

Faced with Yao Lao's "threat," Xiao Yan had a happy expression on his face.

In the distance, as Yao Lao finished speaking, the birds that had been standing on the armored rhinoceroses flew up in a panic, and the rhinoceroses that had been quietly drinking and eating became alert instantly. After looking around, they all ran in the opposite direction from Xiao Yan—except for the one that Xiao Yan had specifically mentioned, which looked similar to the Blazing Mountain-Breaking Rhinoceros.

"Teacher, your soul power is at the Spirit Realm, isn't it?"

Compared to the rhinoceros that remained stationary, Xiao Yan was more concerned about Yao Lao's soul power level.

"That's how it is now." The old doctor didn't hide anything and nodded slightly.

"Is it like this now?" Xiao Yan accurately grasped the key words. "So, teacher, your previous soul realm was the Heavenly Realm?"

"You're a ninth-grade alchemist?!"

Xiao Yan had learned about the conditions for refining ninth-grade pills from Yao Lao's collection of books. The most important condition was that one's soul realm had reached the Heavenly Realm level. Therefore, when he heard Yao Lao say "this is how it is now," Xiao Yan's eyes widened in surprise.

"What do you think?" Yao Lao asked Xiao Yan with a smile.

Looking at the smiling Yao Lao, Xiao Yan opened his mouth, but ultimately kept it closed—regardless of whether Yao Lao was a ninth-grade alchemist or not, he was now just an ordinary soul, and Xiao Yan believed that he himself could eventually reach the ninth grade.

"I'll go deal with that Blazing Mountain-Breaking Rhinoceros first." After a sheepish smile, Xiao Yan walked towards the strong rhinoceros standing in the distance.

"Its appearance is similar to the Blazing Mountain-Breaking Rhinoceros!"

Ignoring Yao Lao's emphasis, Xiao Yan gradually approached the rhinoceros and stood beside it. He took a deep breath, and a faint yellow aura emanated from his clenched fist. After a brief silence, he let out a low shout and slammed his fist heavily into the rhinoceros.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, the spot where the fist struck turned the nearly three-inch-thick skin of the plate-armored rhinoceros charred yellow, and several cracks spread out from the small crater created by the fist.

Bang!

Immediately afterwards, an even deeper, muffled sound came from inside the armored rhinoceros's body.

click!

Finally, a sound of something shattering came from the other side of the plate-armored rhinoceros, and after that sound, the plate-armored rhinoceros in front of Xiao Yan completely lost its life force.

As the plate-armored rhinoceros fell, a yellow spirit ring emerged from its corpse.

"Is this internal force?" Yao Lao, who floated to Xiao Yan's side, looked at him with some surprise. "The Eight Extremes Collapse was only formally taught to you a few weeks ago, right?"

As a high-level Xuan-rank combat skill that has been cultivated to its peak and whose power is similar to that of a low-level Earth-rank combat skill, the difficulty of cultivating Eight Extremes Collapse may not be lower than that of an Earth-rank combat skill.

According to Yao Lao's previous plan, it should have taken Xiao Yan at least a year to master the eighth level of hidden strength.

“Yeah, he only taught me this three weeks ago,” Xiao Yan chuckled. “Teacher probably didn’t expect me to master Dark Force within three weeks, did he?” He held the Xuan Heavy Ruler he had just summoned in his right hand, his face full of smugness.

“That’s true,” Yao Lao nodded. “It seems you have a pretty good talent for combat skills.”

"Is this just 'not bad'? Teacher, your standards are too high!" Upon hearing Yao Lao's words, Xiao Yan's expression immediately fell.

"How many geniuses do you think your teacher knows?"

"In the end, they still chose me..."

Yao Lao's matter-of-fact words prompted Xiao Yan to scoff. Then, under Yao Lao's piercing gaze, Xiao Yan gave an embarrassed smile, sat down cross-legged, and placed the enormous Xuan Heavy Ruler directly on his lap.

As Xiao Yan mobilized his internal fighting spirit, the spirit ring belonging to the plate-armored rhinoceros flew directly to the top of his head and then slowly descended.

'I don't feel anything...'

Xiao Yan and Yao Lao's previous judgment was correct. With Xiao Yan's physique, which is capable of absorbing a five-thousand-year-old soul ring, the impact of this soul ring, which is at most nine-hundred-year-old, is about the same as when he is cultivating normally.

The impact on the meridians was not even as strong as it was when I was impacted by the fighter a few hours earlier.

'But... the fighting energy vortex hasn't changed at all...'

Ignoring the sensation of absorbing the soul ring, Xiao Yan gradually focused his mind on his body, gazing at the milky-white vortex in his lower abdomen—still the size of a longan, and even its rotation speed hadn't changed much.

About ten minutes later, the feeling of absorbing the soul ring completely disappeared, and Xiao Yan opened his eyes at the right time.