Douluo Continent: Gretchen at the start, empowered by the Star God.

Chapter 6 Absorbing the Immortal Herb

"Of course!" Lang Lei feigned great surprise. "Would you like to take us with you, big sister?"

"Of course." Qian Renxue tossed her hair. "Just call me Sister Xiaoxue."

"Okay, Sister Xiaoxue."

"Sister Xiaoxue..." Greta repeated after her expressionlessly.

"Good girl, I've already absorbed my spirit ring, so let's go out together." Qian Renxue smiled, feeling she hadn't been this happy in a long time. "Oh, right, I don't have any suitable shoes for little Gretsch right now, I'll buy them for her later~"

"Wearing shoes? I don't like it, Kos—"

Gretchen was silenced before Langley covered her mouth.

"Well... Gretchen isn't used to wearing shoes..." Langley explained.

Qian Renxue didn't delve into it; she was in a very good mood.

No need to pretend, just do whatever you want. What bad intentions could two children possibly have?

Along the way, Qian Renxue was in a good mood, explaining the knowledge about soul beasts to Lang Lei and Gretchen, and even thoughtfully used her soul power to draw the general outlines of some soul beasts.

They even slowed down their pace, taking into account Langley and Gretchen's apparent ages.

"Alright, that's enough for now." Qian Renxue stopped in a small grove of trees not far from the Star Dou Great Forest.

"What's wrong, Sister Xiaoxue?" Lang Lei asked.

"Lang Lei, Gretchen, that's all for now." Qian Renxue squatted down and patted Lang Lei's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Gretchen tilted her head in confusion.

"I'm not going to abandon you," Qian Renxue explained. "It's just that I still have some tasks to complete. How about I ask an older brother to take care of you from now on?"

"I'll listen to Sister Xiaoxue." Lang Lei felt a little awkward, but he endured it to get by!

"Grandpa Serpent Spear." Qian Renxue stood up and called out to the person behind her.

"Young Master." An old man immediately appeared behind Qian Renxue.

"Please take good care of these two children for me these next few days. I'll rush back tonight," Qian Renxue said.

"This..." Serpent Spear Douluo hesitated.

"It's alright, Grandpa Porcupine is still over there, isn't he?"

"Alright, then Young Master, please be careful." The Porcupine Douluo added with concern.

"This isn't that older brother~" Qian Renxue squatted down again and handed Lang Lei a token that looked very expensive. "This is the Crown Prince's Token of Tian Dou. After this grandfather takes you to Tian Dou City, you can take this to the palace to find an older brother named Xue Qinghe. He will take care of you for his sister."

"Okay, I understand, Sister Xiaoxue." Lang Lei knew everything, but still nodded cooperatively.

Qian Renxue nodded in satisfaction, and three pairs of wings appeared behind her as she flew into the sky.

"I'll slip away after I've absorbed the immortal herbs today..." Lang Lei thought to himself, and grabbed Gretchen's hand.

"Let's go, I'll take you to find a place to stay." Serpent Spear Douluo walked towards a gathering place.

Langley and Gretchen followed behind him.

-

"Phew~ I can relax now." Lang Lei lay down on the bed and rolled over for the first time in a long time.

"Brother Lang Lei, you look so happy." Gretchen sat on the edge of the bed, her bare little feet swinging back and forth.

"Of course! Heaven knows how long I stayed in that Star Dou Great Forest!" Lang Lei exclaimed.

After lying down for a while, she sat up with a somersault and sat down next to Gretchen.

"Little Gretchen, do you have a way to block the senses of that Serpent Spear Douluo next door?" Lang Lei whispered.

"Master, there's no need for that!" Before Gretsch could answer, Elita suddenly flew out of Li's body.

"Whoa! Elita, remember to let me know next time you come out!" Lang Lei was startled.

"Eh...aren't I cute~" Elta tapped her two little hands in front of her.

"Elita is very cute," Gretsch agreed.

"It's cute, but it's still pretty scary to suddenly have a face appear in front of you," Lang Lei explained. "By the way, Elita, what did you mean when you said it didn't have to go to all that trouble?"

"It means exactly what it says, Master," Elita said. "The area where you are is shielded by the system. If other people try to spy on it with their mental energy, they will only see what the system has pre-set for them. Of course, this effect doesn't apply if you're face-to-face."

"Phew~ That puts my mind at ease." Lang Lei breathed a sigh of relief and jumped off the bed. "Gresh, you should rest for a while. I have something to do."

"Okay, Brother Lang Lei." Gretchen nodded obediently and lay down. However, what Lang Lei didn't see was that Gretchen's eyes were still staring straight at him.

"Let's absorb the Dew of Longing for Autumn Water first." Lang Lei took out the Dew of Longing for Autumn Water, carefully drank the dew, and then sat cross-legged to begin absorbing it.

During his meditation, Lang Lei clearly sensed two warm currents flowing towards his eyes, and his mental strength was constantly increasing.

Since the effect of the "Looking Through Autumn Water Dew" on increasing soul power level was not obvious, Lang Lei took the initiative to inject all the medicinal power that his body could not absorb at once into his second martial soul, "Heavenly Fire Judgment," so that he could absorb other immortal herbs later.

This move also successfully added about two thousand years to the time required for the condensation of the first soul ring of the Heavenly Fire Judgment.

"Hoo~" Lang Lei opened his eyes, looked around, and exhaled.

Unsurprisingly, it had no effect on Gretsch; she truly lived up to her reputation as a hero of the Stars.

However, Lang Lei could clearly sense the improvement in his mental strength and eyesight, and his eyes could now see even smaller things.

The benefits don't stop there. When he used his first soul skill, the earth weapon he controlled couldn't be too far away from him, otherwise it would be difficult to control.

Now, with the improvement of his mental strength, he can also achieve what is called "spiritual sword control".

Mental strength was Lang Lei's weakness to begin with. Although he had El'ita's protection and didn't have to worry about illusions, if it was too weak, it would hinder the advantages brought by his physical attributes when absorbing spirit rings and fighting later.

While the iron was hot, Lang Lei took out the Qirong Tongtianju again and ate it in one go.

The Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum is primarily designed to enhance physical fitness, granting the consumer an indestructible body. While this may be an exaggeration, it does significantly improve Lang Lei's defensive capabilities.

As usual, the excess medicinal power that could not immediately increase the soul power level was injected into the second martial soul, Heavenly Fire Judgment, which once again increased the condensation time of its first soul ring by more than 18,000 years.

And Li's level also increased to level 20.

When Lang Lei opened his eyes again, he felt that if it were a hand-to-hand fight, he could take on five or six of his previous selves.

"Elita..." Lang Lei lowered his voice and called softly, thinking that Gretsch was already asleep.

"What's wrong, dear master?" Elta's voice appeared directly in Lang Lei's mind.

"Do you have any way to test physical fitness?" Lang Lei clenched his fist. Since he hadn't seen much of this before, he didn't know the specific level of his current physical fitness or how many tens of thousands of years of soul rings he could absorb.

Of course, being able to absorb a soul ring that is tens of thousands of years old does not mean that you can defeat a soul beast of the corresponding age; it still depends on the species and other special circumstances.

"Hmm... not yet..." Elita's voice sounded somewhat disappointed.

"It's nothing, I was just asking casually," Lang Lei reassured him, since physical fitness is not the only factor that determines combat strength.

Most Soul Masters have Soul Skills that enhance their combat power, but his Soul Power level is only 20, and he only has one First Soul Skill that is not an enhancement-type Soul Skill.

However, he wasn't in a hurry. As a quasi-Great Soul Master, he was already quite impressive to be able to contend with a ten-thousand-year-old Soul Beast, even if it meant going beyond his level!

(End of this chapter)