Soul Rings and Soul Bones
About an incense stick's time later, Zhou You slowly finished his practice, the absorption of the Soul Ring proceeding smoothly and without any disturbance.
Although it wasn't the first time he'd seen it, the Gui Mei still couldn't help but feel a sense of awe every time he witnessed this scene.
Following the second ring after a thousand years and the third ring after ten thousand years, Zhou You has once again reorganized the records within the Spirit Hall —the fifth ring after one hundred thousand years!
Whether anyone has achieved this Gui Mei in the past is unknown, but in the last thousand years, no Soul Master has been able to acquire a 100,000-year-level Soul Ring while still Soul King.
Logically speaking, Soul Master of this level should not be able to withstand this energy. However, Zhou You not only withstood it, but also remained as relaxed as ever, without the slightest sense of tension, as if it were only natural.
Gui Mei stared blankly at the red Soul Ring above Zhou You's head. At this moment, he was once again convinced that Zhou You was the Future of Spirit Hall. Even Qian Renxue could not compare to this boy in terms of talent for cultivation.
As a loyal supporter of the Spirit Hall, Gui Mei felt gratified, but after the gratification came some worry.
What's there to worry about?
Worried about Zhou You's future development, since his fifth Soul Ring is already at the 100,000-year level, the subsequent ones certainly cannot be lower than that level.
In other words, before Zhou You advances to the Titled Douluo, he still needs to hunt down four more 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts, which are not easy to find, as Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are already quite rare.
Moreover, there aren't many options available. Not every Soul Beast clan can produce a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast, nor can every Titled Douluo hunt a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast.
Even Gui Mei like themselves and Dugu Bo could only hunt Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and they didn't have a single red soul ring in their Soul Ring Configurations.
Zhou You's case is extremely rare. Generally speaking, Soul Master's Soul Rings should ideally have increasingly higher age limits, but often Soul Masters cannot find higher ones, so they can only settle for second best and seek Soul Rings with lower age limits but excellent Soul Skills.
However, given Zhou You's talent, it would be a real shame if he had to choose a lower-tier Soul Ring due to insufficient resources.
The Gui Mei was very worried about this.
On the other side, Zhou You had fully absorbed the energy of the Soul Ring, his Soul Power Level had reached level fifty-one, and he had also successfully replicated two Soul Skills on his Martial Soul.
Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring is a qualitative leap compared to Ten-Thousand-Year Rank; it guarantees at least two Soul Skills and will always produce Soul Bone.
Speaking of Soul Bones... Zhou You opened his eyes and saw a red, rhomboid object floating quietly in front of him. Its hollow design made it look like a flower bud about to bloom, emitting a gentle fluctuation of Soul Power.
He stepped forward, held the "flower bud" in his palm, and its attributes and effects automatically appeared in Zhou You's mind.
"It's a spiritual type, and it's External Soul Bone." This was somewhat unexpected for Zhou You.
He originally thought that Soul Beast like the Rolling Earth Dragon should drop earth-attribute torso bones, since based on the core abilities of this Soul Beast, the drop rate of torso bones should be the highest. Unexpectedly, it dropped Mental Attribute External Soul Bone.
However, upon closer examination, the Rolling Earth Dragon has no eyes, ears, or even a sense of smell. Its skin is hard and thick, so it probably doesn't rely on touch to perceive the outside world.
However, it still possesses very sensitive senses, enabling it to accurately detect targets smaller than itself, indicating that it has a perception system far more acute than the five senses.
After much thought, only mental attributes can explain this situation.
Therefore, the Rolling Earth Dragon certainly possesses powerful mental perception. Although it has no eyes, everything it captures through its Mental Power provides it with a sufficiently clear image of reality, perhaps even clearer than its actual eyes.
In the first two hunts of Ten-Thousand-Year Rank Soul Beasts, Zhou You only obtained one Soul Bone, a left leg bone from a ten-thousand-year-old Kamaitachi. Its attached Soul Bone Skill was [Wind Blade], which is to release a wind-like slash through kicking.
Because this skill overlapped somewhat with the Soul Skill he had acquired, and because the left leg Soul Bone might increase the difficulty of cultivating [Threefold Reversal], he did not absorb it.
Although Soul Bones are precious, they must be used with caution. If you absorb a Soul Bone that is not suitable for you due to carelessness, you will have to pay a huge price to get rid of it in the future.
Zhou You thought about it carefully and realized that it seemed that only after Soul Master reached the Titled Douluo could they peel off their Soul Bone, at the cost of dropping ten levels in cultivation.
However, External Soul Bones do not have this concern. Compared with the six main Soul Bones, External Soul Bones are more like dependent on the user and do not undergo deep integration, thus possessing a certain degree of independence.
Therefore, it will not pollute the purity of the body and can be used as a tool, thus greatly reducing its impact on Reversal.
However, as Zhou You looked at the "flower bud," he suddenly had a whim and took out another item from his Treasure Bag —the crystal hidden inside the [Eye of Truth] after it was disassembled.
Over the years, he has been busy cultivating [Threefold Reversal] and Refining Qi, and has gradually neglected this thing. Now, seeing the External Soul Bone with Mental Attributes, he remembered this Soul Tool that also has Mental Attributes.
"Huh?" Gui Mei watched from the side, also somewhat curious.
Zhou You held the External Soul Bone in one hand and the Soul Tool Crystal in the other. When he put the two together, unexpectedly, the two objects began to merge!
The patterns on the flower buds became more complex and mysterious. The petals opened slightly, and the Soul Tool Crystal merged into them, transforming into the stamen. The two seemed to be naturally formed, perfectly integrated into one.
Beneath the vibrant red, openwork petals, the dark crystal stamens shimmer with a subtle light, evoking a sense of mystery.
The Gui Mei asked in surprise, "What were you just holding?"
He didn't have any designs on it; he was simply curious.
Zhou You didn't deliberately hide anything and revealed the origin of the Soul Tool Crystal. Finally, he said thoughtfully, "This crystal might also be some kind of Soul Bone, or perhaps there is a deeper connection between Soul Tool and Soul Bones."
At this moment, he thought of the [Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud]. In the original work, this Soul Tool had merged with the [Spirit Condensation Wisdom Skull] and evolved into the [Vast Sea Skull].
It's unclear what function this evolved "flower bud" in his hand has. According to ancient records, Soul Bones produced by Soul Beasts of the 100,000-level generally come with two Soul Bone Skills, the same number as the Soul Skills granted by the Soul Ring.
But the evolved Soul Bone might be different, and he was looking forward to it.
However, he held back for the time being and did not absorb the Soul Bone on the spot, but planned to wait until the Soul Power in his body stabilized before doing so.
Judging from the depth of the Soul Ring's color, this Rolling Earth Dragon's cultivation period should be slightly over 100,000 years, but most likely no more than 120,000 years. Even so, Zhou You felt a slight swelling in his meridians.
The quality of Soul Power contained in Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring is almost the same as that of Titled Douluo, and its conversion into Qi is no longer as easy as before.
If Zhou You's physique hadn't been strengthened by the Marrow Cleansing Liquid, and if he hadn't already mastered the [Threefold Reversal] technique, absorbing Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring this time would probably have been quite risky.
Fortunately, there are no "what ifs," and everything is moving in a positive direction.