Success in Absorption?!

He recalled the radiance of his awakening at the Star Luo Imperial Palace and the cold abandonment that followed, the undisguised contempt and expulsion from Chen Ran, the fanatical look in Lor Diarra's eyes as if he were nothing more than an experiment...

In this world, weakness is the original sin!

I refuse to be anyone's appendage!

Don't place hope in some illusory Child of Destiny!

Chen Li roared within his heart, every word seemingly carved from his very soul.

My path, I walk alone!

My power, I seize myself!

Those who belittled me, who cast me aside—I will make them, in the future, unworthy even of looking up to me!

Grow stronger! Grow stronger at any cost! Only with enough power can one command their own fate, protect all they wish to protect, and obtain all they desire!

My ambition, Chen Li's ambition, is far from this!!!

"Creak... creak..." His clenched teeth ground together with a grating sound. The hard bedboard beneath him, stained by sweat, blood, and the ionized residue of escaping lightning, began to crack under the unconscious force of his outburst.

He was like a lone boat at the eye of a storm, seemingly on the verge of destruction at any moment, yet he stubbornly held onto the last shred of clarity in his mind, frantically urging the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to accelerate absorption, guiding the violent energy to repeatedly scour his body on the edge of destruction and rebirth.

Just as Chen Li was undergoing this perilous, rank-skipping absorption, Yue Guan, who had just finished handling some affairs and arrived at this residential area for Martial Soul Hall's internal personnel, suddenly halted his steps.

His strangely captivating peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly, his perception spreading out like liquid mercury.

"Oh? This soul power fluctuation..." Yue Guan's brow furrowed, his gaze instantly locking onto the small building not far away where Chen Li resided. "Is he absorbing a soul ring? And this energy level... something's wrong!"

As a Titled Douluo, his sensitivity to soul power fluctuations was extremely sharp.

"Is it that kid? Could that madman Lor Diarra have..." Yue Guan's expression shifted slightly, and with a flicker of his form, he vanished from the spot.

The next moment, he appeared like a ghostly apparition before Chen Li's tightly shut door. The energy fluctuations emanating from within the room were even clearer, confirming Yue Guan's guess.

"Nonsense!" Yue Guan muttered in a low voice, a flash of anger in his eyes. He didn't need to break the door down at all; with a light flick of his sleeve, a wave of flexible yet irresistible soul power swept out.

Crack... Bang!

The entire sturdy wooden door, along with its frame, instantly disintegrated into countless particles finer than dust, fluttering down as if they had never existed. Yue Guan stepped into the room.

Even for the well-traveled Chrysanthemum Douluo, the sight before him made his pupils contract sharply!

There sat Chen Li cross-legged on the chaotic bed, his body shrouded by the dark purple glow of a soul ring and rampaging blue-white electric serpents. And hovering above his head, frantically pouring in energy, was none other than a genuine purple, thousand-year soul ring!

Even more shocking was Chen Li's state. Every pore on his body was oozing blood, his skin covered in fine cracks. Blood mixed with sweat and the scorched black marks left by lightning, painting him into a miserable, bloody figure!

His body trembled uncontrollably, his face pale as paper, yet he still clenched his teeth tightly. His features were twisted by extreme agony, but beneath his tightly shut eyelids, his eyeballs still spun rapidly, showing that he was still fighting a desperate battle with tenacious will.

"Lor Diarra! You madman!" Yue Guan cursed inwardly.

Making a level 10 Soul Master absorb a thousand-year soul ring across ranks was nothing short of murder!

Even if Chen Li's martial soul was special and his physical foundation excellent, this was a near-certain death sentence! The violent energy could burst him apart at any moment, or the lingering will of the thousand-year soul beast could directly shatter his spirit.

Yue Guan's form flickered, appearing before Chen Li like a teleport. His expression was grave. He raised his well-manicured hand, now wreathed in a faint golden chrysanthemum light, and was about to press it down on Chen Li's head.

Forcibly interrupting a soul ring absorption would cause severe backlash, damage the foundation, and might even shatter the martial soul, but it was still better than an immediate explosion and death! Although Yue Guan valued Chen Li's potential, he knew that preserving his life was the priority.

However, just as his palm was about to touch Chen Li's crown, another change occurred!

The purple thousand-year soul ring, which had been violently pouring in energy as if to utterly destroy Chen Li, suddenly became docile and restrained!

The lightning flowing on the ring's surface was no longer rampaging chaotically but became orderly, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, transforming into gentle yet pure halos of light that entered Chen Li's crown more quickly yet more steadily.

At the same time, the violent energy within Chen Li's body, which had been in chaotic conflict, finally seemed to find its backbone and correct path, beginning to be rapidly refined and absorbed.

The rate of blood oozing from his surface slowed noticeably, and the fine cracks began to heal at a visible rate under the nourishment of the new energy! Though his complexion remained pale, his aura gradually shifted from chaotic weakness to a deep, powerful rhythm.

"Is this... a success? Has the soul ring begun to fuse?!" Yue Guan's outstretched hand froze mid-air, his face filled with disbelief.

This completely overturned his understanding!

A level 10 Soul Master successfully absorbing a thousand-year soul ring?

This was an unprecedented miracle in the history of soul masters on the Douluo Continent! No, it could no longer be called a miracle; it was a divine feat!

He watched as the soul ring's integration accelerated, and Chen Li's aura stabilized and rose at an astonishing rate. The soul power fluctuations that had been spilling out, signaling his breakthrough, became clearer and clearer—it was the level of a Soul Grand Master!

Yue Guan slowly withdrew his hand and stood with his arms behind his back. His peach-blossom eyes, usually lazy and playful, were now as deep as a pool, fixed intently on Chen Li, who was in the critical stage of transformation. After the shock came a complex look of scrutiny and evaluation.

"This brat... actually pulled through? And in this way..." Yue Guan's mind was in turmoil. Chen Li had displayed not only the uniqueness of his martial soul but also a stubborn will and terrifying potential that commanded his attention, bordering on obsession.

"Could it be that this is his destined fortune? The only path to survival granted by that top-tier martial soul?" Yue Guan squinted, his gaze as if trying to pierce through Chen Li's body and see the deepest secrets of his martial soul's origin.

At this moment, Chen Li's body had stopped oozing blood, and the cracks on his surface had mostly healed, now covered only by a layer of blood scabs.

His breathing became long and steady, the lightning around him docilely retracted into his body. Only the final essence of the thousand-year soul ring was still turning into wisps of purple light, merging into his form to complete the final foundation.