Conception of the First Thousand-Year Soul Ring

The system's considerate appraisal information also surfaced:

[Ten-year Soul Ring (Quality: Flawed)]

[Ten-year Soul Ring (Quality: Inferior)]

The vast majority of Soul Rings Chen Li possessed were these two lowest quality types. Only the purple Thousand-year Soul Ring reached the [Ordinary] level.

According to the system's information, Soul Ring quality was divided from lowest to highest as: [Inferior], [Flawed], [Ordinary], [Good], [Perfect], [Legendary]. All the Soul Rings he had failed to absorb before could barely reach [Ordinary], no wonder the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was so extremely disdainful.

"So, Gulp Gulp Fruit, let me see your abilities." A hint of anticipation and determination flashed in Chen Li's eyes. He controlled the dark phantom behind him, slowly opening it. An invisible suction force generated, precisely enveloping the two white Soul Rings before him.

Whoosh!

The two Soul Rings, without any power to resist, were directly sucked into the dark phantom and vanished instantly.

Chen Li focused all his attention on sensing the changes within his body. He could feel the Gulp Gulp Fruit's furnace begin to operate, a strange power enveloping, decomposing, and cleansing the energy of the two Soul Rings... The process was fast, completing the initial processing in almost a few breaths.

The dark phantom fluctuated slightly, and a white Soul Ring was spat out, landing back before Chen Li.

However, the Soul Ring's form and information had changed!

What were originally two independent Soul Rings were now reduced to just one. Moreover, the system's appraisal information updated to:

[Ten-year Soul Ring (Quality: Flawed, Fusion Progress 1/10)]

"Fusion Progress?" Chen Li's eyes lit up as he grasped the key information. This meant the Gulp Gulp Fruit could fuse and refine the energy of multiple low-quality Soul Rings, and there was a clear "progress bar"! When the progress reached full, a qualitative change might occur!

The moment of verification had arrived. Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Li willed it again, directly retrieving nine stored Ten-year Soul Rings from the system space and throwing them all into the dark phantom behind him.

The Gulp Gulp Fruit accepted them without refusal. The phantom seemed to expand slightly for a moment, and a more distinct, yet still silent, sensation of energy churning and refining came from within. This time, the processing took a little longer, about the time it takes to steep half a cup of tea.

[Ding!]

A crisp system notification, audible only to Chen Li, rang out.

Simultaneously, the dark phantom flashed, and a brand-new Soul Ring was spat out, hovering in mid-air.

The Soul Ring's color, from a pale white, became even purer!

The system information clearly displayed:

[Ten-year Soul Ring (Quality: Ordinary)]

It succeeded!

Chen Li suddenly stood up, his gaze fixed intently on the Ten-year Soul Ring just refined before him, an irrepressible excitement surging in his heart. Although it was only [Ordinary] quality, its significance was entirely different!

It proved that the Gulp Gulp Fruit indeed possessed the heaven-defying ability to fuse and refine low-quality, low-year Soul Rings into higher-year, higher-quality Soul Rings!

"So that's how it is... This is the method the system prepared for me to break through this predicament!" Chen Li clenched his fist, his previous confusion and vague anxiety vanishing at this moment. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was responsible for setting high-quality standards and providing ultimate combat power, while the Gulp Gulp Fruit was responsible for processing substandard raw materials into compliant products! The two complemented each other, forming a unique advancement path!

Looking at the Ten-year Soul Ring before him, which, though still white, had clearly changed from murky and dull to much clearer and more solid in color, Chen Li felt as if an electric current coursed through him, igniting a powerful sense of exhilaration!

The previous system appraisal information for [Ten-year Soul Ring (Quality: Inferior)] and [Ten-year Soul Ring (Quality: Flawed)] had disappeared, replaced by the new notification:

[Ten-year Soul Ring (Quality: Ordinary)]

That's right, two low-quality Soul Rings, after being fused and refined by the Gulp Gulp Fruit, had successfully combined into one higher-quality Soul Ring!

This discovery was crucial! It proved not just simple energy superposition, but a leap in quality!

The core of the Gulp Gulp Fruit's ability lay in removing the dross and refining the essence, enhancing its fundamental nature. This was more fitting for Chen Li's needs than simply increasing the year limit. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was picky not about the year limit, but whether the energy rules contained within the Soul Ring were pure and high-level enough!

"A way out... I've truly found it." Chen Li muttered to himself, his eyes flashing with an unprecedented sharpness.

As long as he had a sufficient quantity of Soul Rings as raw materials, he could use the Gulp Gulp Fruit as a magical factory to continuously refine, upgrade, and ultimately forge high-quality Soul Rings that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit would recognize and absorb!

The immediate priority was to use the accumulated raw materials on hand to synthesize a Soul Ring that met the requirements as quickly as possible.

Once he successfully absorbed the first Soul Ring, he could escape his current predicament, prove to Martial Soul Hall that he possessed growth potential, thereby eliminating their biggest doubts and gaining a more stable position and resources.

With this thought, Chen Li's gaze couldn't help but turn to the only trace of purple in the system space – a Thousand-year Soul Ring.

He clearly remembered that after leaving Star Luo City, he had spent a large sum of money to hire a temporary team of Soul Masters. They had ventured deep into the border forest and, at great risk, hunted a Thunder Horned Rhinoceros that had just passed a thousand years.

However, even this hard-won Thousand-year Soul Ring had failed when he attempted to absorb it, being recycled by the system as [Ordinary] quality. Clearly, for the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, an Ordinary Thousand-year Soul Ring was still not good enough.

"But if... I can use this sole Thousand-year Soul Ring as the main material, and then add a large number of other Soul Rings as auxiliary materials and fuel, using the Gulp Gulp Fruit to elevate its quality from [Ordinary] upwards..."

Chen Li's breathing quickened slightly.

A Thousand-year Soul Ring of [Good] or even [Perfect] quality as his first Soul Ring? What a terrifying foundation that would lay!

A sense of urgency followed.

He clearly remembered that he was the same age as Tang San.

He was currently six years old. Tang San was likely already at Nuoding Academy, and it was less than six years until he entered Shrek Academy.

Time was not abundant. He had to grow as quickly as possible within this period to have sufficient say in the turbulent future, rather than merely being an observer or a dependent.

"Time waits for no one..." Chen Li took a deep breath, his eyes filled with firm resolve. He no longer hesitated, his mind communicating with the system space and the Gulp Gulp Fruit.

In an instant, his reserves of Soul Rings, accumulated over months and representing countless failures, were all mobilized. 120 white Ten-year Soul Rings, 80 yellow Hundred Year Soul Rings, and that solitary purple Thousand-year Soul Ring were all drawn by an invisible force and thrown into the dark, deep phantom of the Gulp Gulp Fruit behind him!