Absorbing the Second Ring, Soul Power Level 29!
"Boom!"
The enormous sword of light slashed down horizontally. The Hundred-Year Soul Beasts had no time even to struggle before they were cut in two at the waist, their lives snuffed out.
"Next up are the thousand-year Soul Beasts... I don't know if I can beat them." Lin Chen glanced at the dark shapes watching him like tigers eyeing their prey in the distance, and the Ultimate Zero Sword gathered brilliant light once more.
Seeing this from afar, Snake Lance Douluo immediately lost interest in teasing Lin Chen. With the strength he had shown, fighting these Soul Beasts was pure smurfing, and there was nothing worth watching.
"Your Highness Lin Chen, your performance was commendable. You truly are the genius the Crown Prince holds in high regard." Snake Lance Douluo clapped and jumped down from the tree.
As Snake Lance Douluo appeared, a powerful presence erupted in an instant. Fierce killing intent filled the area within a hundred meters, frightening the thousand-year Soul Beasts that had been eyeing Lin Chen into fleeing for their lives.
The main reason he didn't kill these Soul Beasts was that there was no point. What fun was there in a Titled Douluo going around slaughtering thousand-year Soul Beasts? Besides being boring, it was a waste of Soul Power.
Five days later.
In the Mixed Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, Lin Chen and Snake Lance Douluo walked through the jungle. They encountered a few thousand-year Soul Beasts from time to time, and even Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts appeared frequently.
Over the past five days, Lin Chen and Snake Lance Douluo had found quite a few Soul Beasts with the spatial attribute, but unfortunately, either their ages were too low or their bloodlines were too weak. In short, none of them were suitable.
"There's a Soul Beast with the spatial attribute up ahead. This one should meet your requirements." Snake Lance Douluo spoke coldly, grabbed Lin Chen by the shoulder, and vanished from the spot with him in an instant.
A few seconds later, Snake Lance Douluo brought Lin Chen atop an ancient tree. More than ten meters away from the tree stood an enormous cheetah.
The cheetah was silver-gray all over, with dark blue markings scattered across its fur. It was more than twice the size of an ordinary cheetah, and its joints were covered in a layer of translucent scales.
Sensing the powerful presence the Soul Beast gave off, Lin Chen immediately felt that he had found his Second Soul Ring.
Snake Lance Douluo glanced at the cheetah and said calmly, "This is a Void Leopard. It has the spatial attribute, and its bloodline power is fairly strong. It's around 2,400 years old. What do you think?"
Lin Chen broke into a smile when he heard that. "Oh, this is perfect! It's practically tailor-made for me."
"Isn't its age too high?" Snake Lance Douluo asked gravely.
Lin Chen shook his head. "I could already absorb a Soul Ring over 1,700 years old as my Second Soul Ring. Now that I've also absorbed the Soul Bone Brother Xue gave me, absorbing a Soul Ring over 2,000 years old won't be a problem."
Snake Lance Douluo nodded. "Then I'll go catch it for you now. Please wait a moment, Your Highness Lin Chen."
Lin Chen was about to answer, but Snake Lance Douluo was faster. Lin Chen had only just opened his mouth when Snake Lance Douluo leaped down from the treetop and appeared before the Void Leopard out of thin air.
"Whoosh!"
Almost in the blink of an eye, Snake Lance Douluo thrust his spear. Before the Void Leopard could even react, it was grievously wounded.
"As expected of a Titled Douluo. That was badass." Lin Chen clapped in amazement and gave Snake Lance Douluo a thumbs-up.
"Whoosh!"
Snake Lance Douluo flicked his spear and tossed the Soul Beast onto the ground. He called up to Lin Chen in the tree, "Come down and absorb its Soul Ring."
"Okay!"
Lin Chen nodded and jumped down from the tree. The Ultimate Armor enveloped him once more, and he drove his sword into the Void Leopard's head.
"Puchi!"
The sharp blade pierced the Void Leopard's defenses in an instant, running straight through its head and ending its miserable life. A purple Soul Ring rose at that moment.
Five hours later.
Lin Chen finally finished absorbing the Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Perhaps because the 2,400-year-old Void Leopard had a relatively strong bloodline, absorbing its Soul Ring had taken a full two hours longer than the Light-Feathered Falcon's last time.
Perhaps this was the difference between Soul Beasts. Sometimes the gap between one Soul Beast and another was greater than the gap between a Soul Beast and a human.
Moreover, hunting Soul Beasts with powerful bloodlines often yielded stronger Soul Skills and helped promote beneficial mutations in a Martial Soul.
"Finally done. Sitting there made me sleepy." Lin Chen yawned and stood up from the ground, a flash of silver in his eyes.
Snake Lance Douluo glanced at Lin Chen and suddenly thought the kid was getting a little cocky. But when he saw the two purple Soul Rings beneath Lin Chen's feet, he understood.
After all, Lin Chen had absorbed two Thousand-Year Soul Rings in succession. He really did have the fucking qualifications to be cocky.
Although Lin Chen looked calm on the surface, his heart was already bursting with joy. Having successfully absorbed the Soul Ring, he felt the power surging and billowing inside him. How could he maintain his casual demeanor? In the end, he burst out laughing.
Snake Lance Douluo watched Lin Chen laugh and asked calmly, "How many levels did your Soul Power rise? What does your second Soul Skill do?"
By Snake Lance Douluo's estimate, having absorbed a Thousand-Year Soul Ring and a 70,000-year Soul Bone, Lin Chen's Soul Power was bound to have risen a great deal.
Lin Chen said with a smile, "My second Soul Skill is called Void Instant Slash. It's a gap-closing Soul Skill. It locks onto any target within thirty meters, instantly teleports me behind them, and lets me swing a slash to damage the enemy."
"And I remain intangible throughout the attack. Unless someone also has the spatial attribute or their Soul Power Level is far higher than mine, they can't do any damage to me."
"That's a good Soul Skill. What about your Soul Power Level? How much did it rise?" Snake Lance Douluo nodded and continued asking.
Lin Chen scratched his cheek and said with a smile, "My Soul Power Level rose by nine levels. I'm a level 29 Soul Grandmaster now."
"Level 29?"
Hearing Lin Chen's Soul Power Level, Snake Lance Douluo nodded in satisfaction. "That's about what I expected. At this rate, in another half a month or so, you'll be able to break through to level 30 and absorb your third Soul Ring."
Lin Chen nodded, also very satisfied. Although his cultivation speed would certainly slow down once he reached level 30, for now, at least, he was still on the same level as normal Soul Masters.
As for why his cultivation speed would slow after breaking through to level 30, the main reason was that the Ultimate Armor was currently an Ultimate Martial Soul with the Ultimate Light attribute.
An Ultimate Martial Soul's cultivation speed was the same as an ordinary Soul Master's before level 30, but from levels 30 to 70, his cultivation speed would slow to a turtle's pace.
After breaking through level 70, however, his cultivation speed would be as fast as lightning, and the quality of his Soul Power would also be considerably greater than that of ordinary Soul Masters.
The reason an Ultimate Martial Soul's cultivation speed was slow was that its Ultimate Attribute was too overbearing for the human body to withstand.
During that stage, the Martial Soul consumed a great deal of Soul Power to continuously transform the Soul Master's physique, causing Soul Power to grow very slowly.
But that had nothing to do with Lin Chen yet. After all, he wasn't level 30 now. If cultivation was slow at level 30, what did that have to do with him at level 29?
At that thought, the corners of Lin Chen's mouth involuntarily rose yet again.