Thousand-Year Spirit Ring

During his studies at Star Luo Royal Academy, Dai Yao learned how to distinguish the ages of spirit beasts.

He had paid especially close attention to Earth Walking Dragons, as they were extremely well suited to the White Tiger Spirit.

The age of an Earth Walking Dragon could be roughly determined from its size.

The dragon before him was about eight meters long and three meters tall, putting it at around thirteen to fourteen hundred years old.

"It'll do."

Dai Yao instructed the middle-aged Soul Master.

The middle-aged Soul Master immediately leaped forward and engaged the Earth Walking Dragon in fierce battle.

Spirit Rings shone with yellow and purple light, Soul Power surged in all directions, and wave after wave of mournful dragon roars echoed through the forest.

Fear flashed through the Earth Walking Dragon's eyes. Having lived for a thousand years, it possessed some intelligence. It knew it could not escape, but if it fought to the death, there was still a chance of survival.

White streams of air burst from its nostrils. Then it opened its hideous maw wide, gathering white energy within.

Accompanied by a terrifying aura, a white shockwave blasted toward the middle-aged Soul Master.

Even the ground was plowed into a trench by the shockwave.

"Good timing." The middle-aged Soul Master shouted.

The Fourth Spirit Ring on his body flickered. He was about to use his killing move as well.

The two formidable spirit skills collided, and the entire world seemed to be enveloped in white light.

Only after a long while did Dai Yao slowly open his eyes.

The middle-aged Soul Master looked somewhat disheveled. Some dirt clung to his face, and several tears had appeared in his clothes.

"Fortunately, I did not fail you, Your Highness. Go and deliver the final blow."

"Thank you for your assistance today." Dai Yao cupped his hands solemnly in gratitude.

Without the middle-aged Soul Master, Dai Yao alone would have had no way to hunt a thousand-year spirit beast.

He vowed inwardly that once he achieved success and fame, he would surely repay the middle-aged Soul Master.

He slowly approached the Earth Walking Dragon's body.

The Earth Walking Dragon was gravely wounded and lay helplessly on the ground, its enormous pupils glaring furiously at Dai Yao.

Its mouth hung slightly open as it moved slowly, struggling to eat Dai Yao.

Dai Yao said nothing. He plunged his blade into the Earth Walking Dragon's brain.

The Earth Walking Dragon's pupils gradually dulled. A dense purple light condensed over its corpse, forming a Spirit Ring. This was the best time to absorb it.

Dai Yao's expression tightened. After taking a deep breath, he sat beside the Earth Walking Dragon's corpse and said to the middle-aged Soul Master, "I'll trouble you."

The middle-aged Soul Master nodded to Dai Yao and began keeping watch around them.

With his protection, Dai Yao no longer needed to worry about threats from the spirit beasts in the forest. At last, he could devote himself entirely to absorbing the Spirit Ring before him.

He circulated his Soul Power. A White Tiger Phantom appeared behind him, and he summoned the Earth Walking Dragon's Spirit Ring.

The purple Spirit Ring seemed to have found an outlet. The instant it touched Dai Yao's Martial Soul, its enormous Soul Power surged toward him like rivers flowing into the sea.

The powerful Soul Power fluctuations even alarmed the middle-aged Soul Master. In terms of quality, this thousand-year Earth Walking Dragon Spirit Ring was probably comparable to his three- or four-thousand-year Fourth Spirit Ring.

The moment the Spirit Ring entered his body, Dai Yao felt a stream of heat flow into him. Then his entire body seemed to be immersed in magma, boiling from within.

Among the many spirit beasts, the Earth Walking Dragon was powerful and ferocious by nature. Its Spirit Ring was just as violent as its temperament.

Dai Yao felt as though countless blades were cutting through his body. Every one of his internal organs hurt, while the powerful Spirit Ring energy continuously tore at him, keeping him in unbearable agony.

A mouthful of Fresh Blood sprayed out.

Because he had absorbed a Spirit Ring beyond the limit on his very first attempt, he was already well practiced and prepared for absorbing this thousand-year Spirit Ring.

Three years of arduous cultivation, day and night, along with training beneath the waterfall, had forged him a strong physique. His body was far more resilient than that of an ordinary Soul Master.

Although his physical qualities far surpassed those of his peers, he was only nine years old. A thousand-year Spirit Ring exceeded the limit of a Second Spirit Ring by far too much.

The Earth Walking Dragon's violent and powerful Spirit Ring relentlessly battered Dai Yao's frail body. In the middle-aged Soul Master's eyes, Dai Yao had only one possible outcome: his body would explode and he would die.

"Ah, it seems the Fourth Highness is almost finished." The middle-aged Soul Master sighed. "I'd better prepare to flee for my life."

But the scene that followed left him utterly stunned.

Dai Yao's body, which had nearly shattered, actually began to repair itself little by little.

"Green Lotus, restore me!"

Enduring the agony, Dai Yao roared in his spiritual world.

At once, the Green Lotus continuously scattered cyan light, repairing his body on the verge of collapse.

Yet the enormous energy continued to surge against him. His body alternated between breaking down and recovering, while the Spirit Ring's energy was gradually worn down and absorbed in the process.

No one knew how much time passed. Finally, Dai Yao's body stopped breaking apart, and the absorption of the Spirit Ring reached its end.

Fine beads of blood no longer seeped from his body, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed somewhat.

A purple Spirit Ring appeared in his spiritual world.

Dai Yao was drenched in sweat from exhaustion, but the joy of successfully absorbing the Spirit Ring overwhelmed his fatigue.

"So what if you surpassed the limit? I have a cheat!"

Looking at the Green Lotus and Sacred White Tiger Spirits, he pondered for a while before preparing to attach the Spirit Ring to the Green Lotus Spirit.

After all, the greatest advantage of Twin Martial Souls was that once one Martial Soul reached the Titled Douluo realm, the second Martial Soul could begin attaching Spirit Rings starting from the highest age of the first Martial Soul.

In the original story, after Tang San reached the Titled Douluo realm, the youngest spirit beast age among the Spirit Rings he attached to the Clear Sky Hammer exceeded fifty thousand years.

But Dai Yao's situation was different.

He also possessed Twin Martial Souls, yet although he clearly had not attached a Spirit Ring to the Chaos Cyan Lotus Spirit, the Chaos Cyan Lotus Spirit had somehow gained a Yellow Spirit Ring.

This time, he wanted to treat the Green Lotus Spirit as his main Martial Soul and attach Spirit Rings to the Sacred White Tiger Spirit only after reaching the Titled Douluo realm.

The thousand-year Spirit Ring seemed to possess a consciousness of its own. It flew rapidly toward the Chaos Cyan Lotus.

However, the Chaos Cyan Lotus seemed somewhat disdainful. With a gentle tremor, it drove the purple Spirit Ring over beside the Sacred White Tiger.

It was as if the purple Spirit Ring was unworthy of it.

The purple Spirit Ring tried several more times reluctantly, but the result was the same. It could only turn toward the Sacred White Tiger, which was wagging its tail at it.

At that moment, the Sacred White Tiger had completely lost its usual dignity. It rolled around on the ground like a huge white cat, gazing at the Spirit Ring with longing.

Dai Yao was stunned by the bizarre scene.

After the Sacred White Tiger absorbed the thousand-year Spirit Ring, it changed from its spoiled appearance moments before and stood upright once more, majestic and domineering.

Dai Yao gently exhaled and slowly opened his eyes. Two Spirit Rings revolved around him.

One yellow and one purple.

A thousand-year Second Spirit Ring! "I finally succeeded." Dai Yao sighed.

The middle-aged Soul Master stared blankly at Dai Yao, his expression somewhat manic. He hurried to Dai Yao's side, panting heavily as he said excitedly, "You really succeeded! Your Highness, do you know what this means? You created a miracle!"

"Throughout the entire Spirit Master World, no one has ever successfully absorbed a thousand-year Spirit Ring as their Second Spirit Ring!"