Ji Ming's First Soul Ring

The Dark Gold Bear was sent flying by Si Yuan Ye's clean and decisive palm strike, lying on the ground, unable to move.

This human is too terrifying, my bear life is in danger...

Weak, pitiful, and helpless.

This was the only thought in the Dark Gold Bear's mind at this moment.

Who would have thought that the Dark Gold Bear, with its full two thousand four hundred years of cultivation and dominance in this area, was now as fragile as a bear cub.

Si Yuan Ye and Lu Lin's attention was focused on this unlucky bear.

Neither of them paid any mind to the previously suicidal Soul Grand Master.

Lu Lin, after all, was an adult. He had seen through that guy's intentions clearly. In the words of the Tang God King, that fellow was already on the path to ruin.

He deserved to die!

Si Yuan Ye felt the same.

Don't be fooled by his refined and gentle demeanor. Remember, during the Dou Er era, the Body Sect directly went to snatch Huo Yuhao. Could such an action come from a benevolent sect?

They simply viewed their own disciples with the Body Martial Soul as family.

Extremely protective.

When Lu Lin first met Si Yuan Ye, he thought Si Yuan Ye's demeanor was overly gentle and refined, not like Du Bu Si whom he had imagined.

But now it seemed Si Yuan Ye wasn't unassertive, just more reserved.

To Si Yuan Ye, kicking that Soul Master, who intended to attack his disciple, to death was no different from stepping on an ant.

"Ji Ming, this little bear's cultivation should be around two thousand five hundred years.

Logically, it's suitable, but the Dark Gold Bear is a subspecies of the Dark Gold Claw Bear, known for its defense. Its absorption difficulty will likely be even greater than that of an ordinary three-thousand-year Soul Beast.

However, your Martial Soul is of the same origin as it, so it's not entirely impossible. Whether you choose this little bear is up to you."

Si Yuan Ye explained the pros and cons in detail; he wouldn't interfere with his disciple's choice.

If Ji Ming wanted to play it safe, he wouldn't be disappointed; they could just find another Soul Beast.

After all, it was only the first ring, and in Si Yuan Ye's opinion, it wasn't that important.

Moreover, Ji Ming had even endured the secret technique. With his disposition, he shouldn't miss out on this little bear.

Lu Lin was also observing the Dark Gold Bear.

It was actually difficult to accurately determine a Soul Beast's age from its appearance.

One mainly relied on factors like size and features.

The primary academies taught students information about common Soul Beasts and identification methods, but the Dark Gold Bear was not in the curriculum.

However, by analogy, Lu Lin could roughly tell that this Dark Gold Bear's cultivation was around two thousand years.

Si Yuan Ye further confirmed its specific age.

Two thousand five hundred years?

Lu Lin pondered for a moment, then walked up to the Dark Gold Bear and said, "Little bear, do you have any enemies you can't defeat?"

The Dark Gold Bear had considerable intelligence, and Lu Lin believed it could communicate.

"Roar!!"

Upon hearing this, the Dark Gold Bear froze.

Si Yuan Ye also slightly paused, then the corners of his mouth curled up, revealing a smile.

His disciple was quite interesting.

For the Dark Gold Bear, it not only had enemies in this area, but countless of them.

There were simply too many powerful Soul Beasts in the mixed zone.

The Dark Gold Bear's heart was filled with humiliation.

But its intuition told it that if it didn't do as this little brat said, it would suffer a terrible death.

The outcome of that palm strike was still vivid in its mind.

So, it had no choice but to drag its injured body and lead these two humans to the territories of its enemies, such as the four-thousand-year Armor-Breaking Dragon, the five-thousand-year Abyssal Tiger, and so on.

But for some reason, the little brat was not satisfied.

Lu Lin was indeed not satisfied. He realized he had thought things were too simple.

He hadn't expected that those who could rival the Dark Gold Bear were actually four or five-thousand-year Soul Beasts.

The Dark Gold Bear relied on its tough hide, and although these Soul Beasts were stronger, they couldn't do much to the Dark Gold Bear either.

The problem was that these Soul Beasts far exceeded the upper limit Lu Lin could currently absorb.

Lu Lin's gaze turned unfriendly. It seemed he could only choose this Dark Gold Bear.

Until...

"Hmm, a Claw Bear of about three thousand years."

In a dense forest, Si Yuan Ye looked at the bear-type Soul Beast resting under a giant tree and said.

The appearance of the Claw Bear was very similar to Lu Lin's Martial Soul.

It had a pair of incredibly sharp claws on its front paws, its entire body was covered in black fur, and it was huge. Lying there, it looked like a giant boulder from a distance, exuding an imposing aura.

A hint of joy flashed in Lu Lin's eyes.

It truly is a case of finding something after searching high and low.

The Claw Bear also contained a trace of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear bloodline within its body, making it a top-tier existence among bear-type Soul Beasts.

Furthermore, unlike the Dark Gold Bear which excelled in defense, the Claw Bear was extremely aggressive. More importantly, its cultivation was only slightly stronger than that of the Dark Gold Bear.

For Lu Lin, there was no Soul Beast more suitable than this Claw Bear.

"Teacher, this is the one. I'll trouble you."

As Lu Lin spoke, he turned to the Dark Gold Bear and said, "Little bear, you can go now."

"Roar!"

The Dark Gold Bear heard this, gave Lu Lin a deep look, then, with its injured body dragging in humiliation, it left without looking back.

Roar, I never want to see these two detestable humans again.

"Ji Ming, have you made up your mind?"

Si Yuan Ye didn't rush to act, but confirmed with his disciple again and again.

Lu Lin understood his teacher's meaning.

This Claw Bear was actually beyond the Soul Ring limit that Lu Lin could currently withstand.

But Lu Lin didn't care.

If he didn't have strength, how could he get revenge in the future?

"Teacher, I've made up my mind."

Si Yuan Ye nodded gently, then tapped his foot, and his figure floated gracefully towards the Claw Bear's position.

"Roar!!!"

Sensing someone approaching, the Claw Bear's blood-red beast eyes snapped open. Just as it was about to raise its claws to swat away the human disturbing its slumber, the next moment, it felt an overwhelming ferocity and an irresistible immense force.

Its massive body rolled like a ball, tumbling to Lu Lin's feet, on the verge of death, clearly not going to survive.

Lu Lin calmly took out a gleaming dagger and stabbed it into the Claw Bear's beast eye, ending the life of the unlucky bear.

From the Claw Bear's corpse, a purple Soul Ring slowly floated and condensed.

Lu Lin took a deep breath, his eyes flickering, and began to prepare to absorb the Soul Ring.

At the same time, in another perspective of his, Lu Lin's main body, located in the junior academy, walked to a secluded grove and sat down cross-legged to meditate.

Absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his level would surely be excruciatingly painful.

If his clone and main body's consciousness were linked, and Teacher Liu or Yao Xiao Pang saw him, they would probably think he was having another episode of his "strange illness."

It was better to avoid trouble, so it was best to hide from those two.

He hadn't done this when his clone, Ji Ming, was undergoing the tempering of the secret technique because the entire process took an extremely long time, and the extreme pain was like a volcanic eruption, which he couldn't control at all.

So he had no choice but to maintain the persona of having a "strange illness."

Lu Lin's body was intertwined with dark red and black colors, his domineering Dark Demon Dreadclaw Bear Martial Soul manifesting around him.

On the other side, the purple Soul Ring floating above the Claw Bear's corpse was drawn, slowly approaching Lu Lin's position, and finally entering his body.

Pain!!

Heart-wrenching pain!!

As soon as the energy transformed from the Soul Ring entered his body, the only thought in Lu Lin's mind was this.

The exact cultivation of this Claw Bear was three thousand two hundred years.

It had already exceeded the Soul Ring limit that Lu Lin could currently withstand.

More importantly, after a thousand-year-old Soul Beast died, its transformed Soul Ring still contained residual soul fragments and resentment.

The more powerful the Soul Beast, the more so.

Therefore, Soul Masters needed to solve this problem when absorbing a thousand-year Soul Ring.

The powerful energy and soul resentment of the Claw Bear rampaged within Lu Lin's body without restraint. If he was not careful, the consequence would be exploding and dying.

Si Yuan Ye watched quietly from the side.

Lu Lin grunted. He had endured the Body Sect's secret technique, how could he fall here?

Since you're restless, I'll help you settle down!

A ruthless expression appeared on Lu Lin's face.

Break!!

Lu Lin roared inwardly, then circulated all the Soul Power and mental energy within his body, crashing fiercely into the energy that the Claw Bear's Soul Ring had transformed into—

"Hmph!"

Blood trickled from the corner of Lu Lin's mouth as he grunted again.

This was equivalent to self-harm.

However, within his body, the soul's resentment had dissipated by one or two parts.

It was effective!!!

Lu Lin's expression remained unchanged. He continued to do the same, using his Soul Power and mental energy to cleanse the soul's resentment within his body.

This process repeated.

Ji Ming's other Martial Soul was Death, a dual-attribute soul with a second awakening. His mental energy naturally far surpassed that of Soul Masters of the same Soul Power Level.

With the Claw Bear's soul's resentment resolved, the remaining absorption process naturally became a matter of course.

An hour later.

Lu Lin's breathing gradually returned to normal, and a purple Soul Ring appeared on his body.

His Soul Power Level also smoothly broke through to twelve.