Eighteenth Level!

The limit for a first soul ring was 423 years. This was an ironclad rule proven by countless cases!

Yet this six-year-old child before her, the abandoned son of the Dust Family of the Star Luo Empire who had been declared incapable of absorbing a soul ring just yesterday, had smashed that ironclad rule to pieces right before her eyes with a thousand-year soul ring!

"No wonder..." Bibi Dong slowly drew a breath. In the depths of her usually tranquil eyes, an extraordinarily complicated gleam flashed—shock, scrutiny, calculation, and a faint stir even she herself had not noticed.

She instantly understood why Yue Guan had made such a huge fuss.

"No wonder you sealed off this place with all your strength, even going so far as to use Soul Power to knock out every deacon and low-ranking Soul Master nearby who might have sensed the disturbance."

If word of this spread, the upheaval it caused would be beyond measure.

Not only would Chen Li himself become a target of public criticism, it would also shake many Soul Masters' established beliefs and might even lead to doubts about Spirit Hall's existing theoretical system.

Without the slightest hesitation, Bibi Dong raised her jade-like hand. A deeper, more majestic purple-black Soul Power that seemed to contain the power of laws silently spread outward.

This force did not brutally clash with Yue Guan's force field. Instead, like the most skillful weaver, it silently reinforced and tightened Yue Guan's Chrysanthemum Domain, overlaying it with the absolute authority of the Pope.

When this Soul Power imbued with the Pope's authority swept over them, those Titled Douluo-level senses that had been prowling and probing at the perimeter withdrew in unison, swiftly and respectfully, like tentacles scorched by flame.

The Pope had personally reinforced the blockade and clearly stated that the matter ended here. Within Spirit Hall, no one would be foolish enough to keep prying into a secret explicitly protected by the Pope.

Within the force field, silence returned. Only Chen Li's steady, drawn-out breathing remained, along with the subtle, mysterious hum of energy as the Purple Soul Ring merged with his Lightning Martial Soul.

Bibi Dong's gaze fell upon Chen Li once more. This time, her scrutiny no longer carried its previous detachment or the air of appraising merchandise. Instead, she looked at him as though gazing upon a treasure—or a weapon—that had suddenly revealed world-shaking value and urgently needed to be deciphered and controlled.

"Once he has fully completed the absorption and stabilized his realm," Bibi Dong said, her voice returning to absolute calm, though every word weighed as heavily as a thousand jun, "bring him to the secret chamber of the Palace of the Pope. This matter is to be classified as one of the Hall's highest secrets. His training plan must be redrafted."

Yue Guan bowed and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty the Pope." The curve of his lips deepened. He knew that from this moment onward, Chen Li's fate within Spirit Hall would change completely. And he himself would undoubtedly occupy a crucial position in that change.

After giving her orders, Bibi Dong's figure transformed into a streak of purple-gold light and silently vanished from where she stood, as though she had never appeared at all.

As the Pope of Spirit Hall and the ruler of the continent's largest Soul Master organization, matters requiring her judgment and planning piled up like mountains. She could not possibly remain here for long.

Elders like Yue Guan served more as top-tier combat power and executors of special missions. She was the one who controlled the overall situation and bore all the pressure.

When the Pope departed, that layer of reinforced purple-black force field dissipated with her. Yet Yue Guan's own Chrysanthemum Domain remained in place, merely retracting some of its outward pressure and becoming more restrained to ensure absolute privacy here.

Yue Guan's gaze returned to Chen Li, who sat cross-legged in the center of the room. The shock and gravity in his eyes gradually gave way to a sharp glint mixed with appreciation, pride, and calculation.

"Good boy... I truly never expected you to bring this old man such a great surprise." Yue Guan muttered softly, the smile on his lips becoming ever more bewitching and satisfied.

It was as though he could already see the rough stone he had picked up by chance shedding its dust and revealing the breathtaking luster of the peerless jade within.

Success was naturally a tremendous boon. Chen Li's value would soar, and as the one who had recognized his potential, Yue Guan would naturally deserve much of the credit. In Spirit Hall's future internal struggles and distribution of benefits, he would have another extremely weighty card in hand.

And if he failed? Heh, that would merely be the fault of Lor Diarra, that research-crazed madman, for being too eager for quick success and disregarding the test subject's safety. What did that have to do with Yue Guan?

After all, he had arrived in time to stand guard and save him.

Yue Guan casually pulled over a relatively intact chair nearby and sat down gracefully. Resting his cheek against one hand, his gaze occasionally swept over Chen Li as he consolidated his realm, then turned toward the solemn sky above Spirit City outside the window as countless thoughts intertwined in his mind.

At this moment, Chen Li's consciousness was immersed in the lingering afterglow of a wondrous transformation.

It was as though he had stepped from a scorching lava hell into a warm, pleasant celestial spring. The extreme pain that had nearly torn his soul apart had already vanished without a trace, replaced by waves of pure, gentle, yet vast power.

Like melting snow in spring, it flowed ceaselessly through his damaged meridians, nourishing his parched cells and repairing every hidden injury. The comfort surged over him like a tide, nearly making him sink into it.

Looking inward with his spiritual power, he clearly saw the scene within his dantian sea of qi. The lightning heart representing the origin of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit now beat with greater strength and steadiness, and even the electric light flowing across its surface seemed to carry a faint trace of purple.

Around the outer edge of this heart's core, a deep, condensed Purple Soul Ring floated quietly like a ring of stars, slowly rotating. An incomparably stable and harmonious energy channel had formed between them, merging them into one as though this thousand-year soul ring had always belonged there.

What stirred him even more was the change in his Soul Power. He could feel his Soul Power Level shooting upward like a rocket from its previously stagnant tenth level, surging all the way until it finally stabilized at a brand-new height.

Eighteenth level!

He had directly crossed from the peak of a Soul Master, passed through the Soul Master realm, and stepped into the threshold of a Soul Grandmaster! He was only two levels away from level twenty, the requirement for obtaining a second soul ring! The energy infusion brought by a thousand-year soul ring was truly terrifying!

He focused his senses on that Purple Soul Ring, and before long, detailed information about it and the ability it granted surfaced in his mind as naturally as instinct:

[Host: Chen Li]

[Martial Soul 1: Logia Type · Rumble-Rumble Fruit]

[Soul Ring 1: [Thousand-Year Soul Ring (Quality: Excellent) (Upgradeable)]]

[Soul Skill 1: Lightning Strike - Law Breaker]

[Effect: Releases an extremely condensed deep-purple bolt of lightning with magic-breaking properties. This lightning possesses extremely strong penetration and destructive power against energy shields, Soul Skill defenses, and barrier-type effects. It can greatly weaken or even directly pierce such defenses of the same level. It also has additional disruptive effects against elemental and spiritual Soul Skills.]