Second Soul Ring, Starting at Ten Thousand Years!

Lin Xi did not return to the dormitory.

She led Tang San and Xiao Wu, with the "tagalong" named Yu Xiaogang following behind them, straight toward the secluded training grounds in the academy's rear mountain.

The forest here was dense and the grass thick, with few paths traveled. Usually, only the wind and insects could be heard.

"Lin Xi, what are we doing here?"

Xiao Wu looked around the vast, empty meadow, her clear eyes full of curiosity.

Tang San and Yu Xiaogang also looked at her questioningly, waiting for her to continue.

Lin Xi did not answer.

She merely walked quietly to the center of the training grounds. Like an orchid rooted in the earth, she slowly sat down cross-legged.

"Step back. A hundred meters."

Her voice was soft, yet it seemed to contain some fundamental truth of heaven and earth, carrying an unquestionable authority.

Though the three of them were filled with doubts, they still did as she said and retreated to a rise a hundred meters away.

"Teacher... what exactly is she going to do?"

Unable to suppress the agitation in his heart, Yu Xiaogang could not help asking Tang San in a low voice.

At that moment, he regarded every movement Lin Xi made with near-pilgrimage-like reverence and curiosity.

Tang San silently shook his head.

He did not know.

Yet an increasingly powerful premonition rose within him, as though he was about to witness another miracle capable of overturning all understanding.

Under the gaze of the three, Lin Xi slowly closed her eyes.

Her mind became as still as an abyssal sea as it quietly sank into the system.

"System, claim the mission reward. Absorb the God-Bestowed Second Spirit Ring."

[Command confirmed.]

[God-Bestowed Second Spirit Ring: Thirty Thousand Year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, about to be deployed.]

[Deployment countdown: three, two, one!]

BOOM!!!

The instant the countdown reached zero, the sky above the entire training grounds suddenly darkened!

The clear blue heavens from moments ago had somehow been completely swallowed by ink-black clouds.

Within the clouds, violet lightning twisted like dragons and thunder boomed like war drums, as if ancient gods and demons were about to break free of their shackles and descend upon the mortal world!

A savage beast's pressure, ancient, tyrannical, and steeped in endless slaughter, crashed down from the nine heavens like an overturned celestial river, instantly enveloping the entire rear mountain!

The air froze at that moment.

"W-What is this?!"

A hundred meters away, Xiao Wu's face turned deathly pale. Her petite body began trembling violently beyond her control.

As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast herself, she could sense this absolute suppression stemming from the source of her bloodline more clearly than anyone else!

That pressure made her feel that she was no longer a powerful Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, but a tiny, insignificant ant gazing up at a Soul Beast Emperor who looked down upon all eternity!

She could not even summon the slightest thought of resistance. Her soul trembled instinctively in submission!

Tang San's expression also became extremely grave.

He instinctively shielded the trembling Xiao Wu behind him. Purple light blazed in his eyes as he pushed his Purple Demon Eye to its limits, locking firmly onto Lin Xi at the center of the storm.

Yu Xiaogang, meanwhile, was utterly terrified by the apocalyptic phenomenon before him.

"A... a heavenly omen... divine power descending..."

His lips trembled as his clouded eyes stared fixedly at the rolling thunderclouds. His voice was hoarse from the sheer shock.

"This isn't obtaining a Spirit Ring... This is... this is a divine bestowal!"

He cried out, his eyes instantly filling with indescribable fanaticism!

He finally understood!

He finally understood how Lin Xi's unprecedented Hundred-Thousand-Year First Spirit Ring had come to be!

It had not been obtained through hunting at all!

It was bestowed directly by a god! It was supreme divine favor!

What kind of power was this?!

Amid the soul-shattering terror of the three, a dark golden pillar of light that seemed to pierce heaven and earth violently tore through the thick clouds!

Like the spear of judgment wielded by a heavenly god, the pillar carried endless divine might as it struck Lin Xi with unerring precision!

In an instant, Lin Xi's figure was completely swallowed by dark golden light so dense it seemed impossible to disperse.

ROAR!!!

A terrifying beastly roar, powerful enough to shatter the stars, did not enter through their ears. Instead, it exploded directly in the deepest depths of everyone's souls!

Within the endless dark golden radiance, the phantom of a colossal bear large enough to blot out the sky threw back its head and roared.

Its entire body was covered in noble yet chilling dark golden fur, every strand seemingly forged from divine metal.

Its blood-red eyes contained nothing but pure savagery and destruction!

Most striking of all were its enormous claws, which seemed capable of tearing apart everything!

As the claws casually swept through the void, they actually left behind fine black spatial cracks as thin as hair!

Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear!

A predator at the pinnacle of the Soul Beast pyramid! A king said to be invincible among those of the same level!

"Th-Thirty thousand years! This aura absolutely, absolutely exceeds thirty thousand years!"

Yu Xiaogang's voice shook violently with excitement. He could barely stop himself from falling to his knees and worshipping the descent of this miracle.

He had never imagined that the ultimate answer to the theory he had pursued his entire life would be witnessed firsthand in such a magnificent and glorious manner!

Within the dark golden light, Lin Xi's body was enduring an unimaginable impact.

An incomparably violent energy surged and collided within her like ten thousand ancient savage beasts, madly tearing at her meridians and roaring as it sought to destroy her will.

If it were any other two-ring Soul Master—no, even if a Soul King or Soul Emperor were present—the only outcome when facing Spirit Ring energy of this level would be to have their body and soul burst apart in an instant!

But Lin Xi was not an ordinary person.

With a slight movement of her thoughts, the Supreme Forgetfulness Record within her began operating on its own.

An icy, empty, supreme aura that regarded all things as mere dogs quietly spread from within her body.

This aura was like ancient netherworld black ice that would never melt. In an instant, it completely suppressed and froze that torrent of violent energy!

At the same time, within the sea of consciousness between her brows, the god-tier Mysterious Sky Soul Suppressing Needle martial soul let out a clear chime.

An invisible spiritual divine power, yet one that stood above all else, spread outward and effortlessly crushed the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's wild and unruly remnant soul into the purest fragments of soul energy!

The entire process seemed thrilling, but in truth, everything was under control.

The violent Spirit Ring energy that could destroy everything was sorted and transformed by the Supreme Forgetfulness Record into the purest Soul Power. As docile as lambs, it slowly merged into every part of her body.

Her Soul Power Level began steadily rising at a visible pace.

Level twenty-one!

Level twenty-two!

Finally, it stabilized firmly at the peak of level twenty-two!

The light faded.

The phenomenon vanished.

The sky returned to its clear blue state, with light clouds and gentle winds, as though the apocalyptic scene just now had been nothing more than a thrilling illusion.

At the center of the training grounds, Lin Xi slowly opened her eyes.

As she awakened, two Spirit Rings quietly rose from beneath her feet and spiraled upward.

One red, one black!

The First Spirit Ring was that blood-red, bewitching ring, symbolizing the ultimate and the ominous—a Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring!

The second Spirit Ring was deep and heavy, gleaming with a cold metallic luster... a pure black!

On Douluo Continent, a black Spirit Ring represented only one thing.

Ten Thousand Years!

"B-Black... It's a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring..."

Xiao Wu stammered out those words. Her mind had completely stopped functioning, leaving only blankness.

Her first ring was Hundred Thousand Years.

Her second ring was Ten Thousand Years.

Such a Spirit Ring configuration—let alone seeing it with one's own eyes—even the boldest madman in the world would not dare dream of it!

She could no longer be described as a "monster."

She was a god!

Tang San took a deep breath of cold air, forcefully suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart.

He realized that the proud heart he had once possessed as the Tang Sect's greatest genius seemed to have grown numb after witnessing Lin Xi create miracle after miracle.

No, it was not numbness.

His entire worldview was being continuously and passively reshaped.

And the moment Yu Xiaogang saw that black Spirit Ring, deep as ink, he completely fell into a crazed state of excitement.

"Ten Thousand Years! The second Spirit Ring is actually Ten Thousand Years!"

"Your theory... the Spirit Ring Energy Leap Theory! It's true! All of this is true!"

"I understand! I understand everything now! Hahaha... Hahahaha! How fortunate am I, Yu Xiaogang, to witness the birth of truth with my own eyes!"

He looked utterly deranged, laughing and crying on the spot like a child who had received all the candy in the world.

Lin Xi slowly rose to her feet.

The shocking red and black Spirit Rings quietly revolved around her, making her resemble a goddess who had descended from a divine kingdom—sacred, majestic, and inviolable.

Ignoring the frenzied Yu Xiaogang beside her, she turned her cool gaze toward Tang San.

"Tang San."

"Here."

Tang San's body stiffened, and he immediately answered solemnly.

"Your Mysterious Heaven Skill has reached a bottleneck."

Lin Xi's voice was cool and calm, as if she were stating an established fact.

"Your Soul Power is also about to reach the threshold of level ten."

"Tomorrow, we will go to the Soul Hunting Forest."

"Your First Spirit Ring cannot wait any longer."