Obtaining the First Soul Ring!

Earth Cave Beast!

As a Spirit Beast that forged its nest underground, it was large in size, but usually ate only small insects like earthworms. Most of the time, it hid inside its nest, and whenever it encountered trouble, it would burrow underground.

If it could not escape, it would curl up and use the shell on its body to protect itself.

In short, the Earth Cave Beast's mind contained no notion of fighting with everything it had—only putting up a round of defense.

The method of determining its age was also simple: count the scales on its tail. Every ten years, one silver scale would grow in place of an originally brown one.

Moreover, this type of Spirit Beast had never been seen to reach a thousand years. Lin Li guessed that it might develop golden scales later on.

It was just that with its survivalist style, it would be difficult for it to cultivate to that age.

Lin Li had no idea how Xiao Wu had cultivated. She had actually evolved the Invincible Golden Body and Void skills. She really had nothing to do with rabbits.

While Lin Li was pondering this, Director Su seized the opportunity and charged out!

A hemp rope appeared in his hand. Beneath his feet, one white and two yellow Soul Rings surfaced, and the outermost yellow Soul Ring began to shine.

As expected, Director Su is a Soul Elder.

He was most likely a low-ranked Soul Elder whose upper limit was already fixed, but he was still a genuine Soul Elder.

"Third Soul Skill, Binding!"

As the Third Soul Skill was activated, Soul Power attached itself to the hemp rope. In a special manner, it directly bound the Earth Cave Beast!

The Earth Cave Beast came to its senses after its initial shock and tried to escape, but the moment its claws scraped at the ground, the rope pulled it back.

Once it realized that escape was impossible, the Earth Cave Beast immediately curled up, looking just like a ball of armor.

Seeing this, Lin Li knew that his Soul Ring was as good as secured. He immediately walked over to Director Su's side.

"This shell is a little difficult to deal with..."

Director Su furrowed his brows. For a moment, he had no idea how to break open this shell with such powerful defensive abilities.

After all, he was not a Power Attack System Soul Master.

"I'll give it a try."

After saying this, Lin Li summoned his Mahoraga Martial Soul. The tall, imposing creature appeared with a certain degree of pressure, causing the highly perceptive animal that was the Earth Cave Beast to tremble slightly.

Bang!

After Martial Soul Possession, Lin Li slammed his fist into the Earth Cave Beast. The force behind the punch was immense, and even Director Su, who was holding the rope, failed to react in time and nearly lost his grip.

"What terrifying strength!"

Director Su was deeply shaken. The boost to his physical qualities brought by this Martial Soul is far too frightening, isn't it?

In all his years of teaching, he had seen many Martial Souls, including quite a few of decent quality. Yet not one of them could be compared to Lin Li's Martial Soul.

The difference was like heaven and earth!

Furthermore, according to Lin Li, each of his Soul Skills would increase his basic attributes. How strong would he become after cultivating to mastery?

While Director Su fantasized nearby, Lin Li had already thrown several more punches. Threads of blood flowed from between the Earth Cave Beast's shattered scales.

Lin Li could not help feeling fortunate that he had come from the countryside in his previous life. He was accustomed to killing chickens and pigs, so he otherwise might not have been able to withstand this sight.

As for whether he could endure killing people in the future, he would worry about that later.

For now, it was time to absorb the Soul Ring.

Lin Li took out a small knife and drove it straight into the spot where the Earth Cave Beast's scales had broken.

Although it was not a vital area, Lin Li's knife had a blood groove!

As its blood drained away, the Earth Cave Beast keenly sensed its Life fading and began struggling with all its strength.

However, Director Su showed it no mercy. He activated his other two Soul Skills as well, binding the Earth Cave Beast tightly.

The more blood it lost, the less strength the Earth Cave Beast had to struggle, and the greater the resentment in its heart became.

It was bleeding to death. The pain was unimaginable!

Director Su did not have any particular thoughts about it. He was a staunch advocate of excluding Spirit Beasts: there were only humans and nonhumans.

There was nothing wrong with killing a Spirit Beast in a somewhat cruel manner. As long as one did not slaughter indiscriminately and destroy the balance, it was fine.

In the end, the Earth Cave Beast truly bled to death, and a yellow hundred-year Soul Ring floated out.

Lin Li happily sat down cross-legged on the ground. After nodding to Director Su, he began absorbing the Soul Ring.

Director Su also withdrew his Soul Rings, his face somewhat pale. After placing some dead branches around the area, he returned to Lin Li's side and sat down to rest.

If danger appeared, the branches he had placed would make a sound.

At the same time, he examined the Earth Cave Beast's body, wanting to see whether it had produced a Spirit Bone.

Although the chance was very small, this was still standard procedure.

One should not look down on a hundred-year Spirit Bone. If he could obtain one, Director Su felt that he might be able to break through from level 32 Soul Elder to above level 35. A Spirit Bone could raise one's upper limit.

Unfortunately, even though Lin Li had bled the Earth Cave Beast to death, it still failed to produce a Spirit Bone. Director Su was already accustomed to this and felt no disappointment.

Time passed little by little. Lin Li, sitting cross-legged on the ground, grew increasingly pale. His lips gradually turned white, clearly showing that the pressure of absorbing the Soul Ring was immense!

He was truly baffled. Although the age of the Soul Ring he was absorbing was not the optimal four hundred years, it should not have been this difficult, should it?

Tang San, who had been malnourished since childhood, had absorbed the Soul Ring of a powerful Spirit Beast like the Mandala Snake without encountering such pressure.

That said, he had no idea what the anime's creators had been thinking. Tang San had somehow still managed to make braised pork to eat. It was simply unbelievable.

Seeing Lin Li's condition as he absorbed the Soul Ring, Director Su also grew anxious, worrying about whether Lin Li could endure it.

Hadn't he helped Lin Li so much precisely to invest in this exceptionally talented child? If anything happened to him, all that effort would go to waste.

Besides, Lin Li was his student. Although Director Su had never personally taught him, he still felt a certain bond with him.

"You must hold on!"

Just as Director Su was praying, he saw a trace of blood seep from the corner of Lin Li's mouth!

At the same time, the dark-gold Dharma Wheel atop Lin Li's Mahoraga Martial Soul—said to be merely a decoration—actually rotated once!

"Click, click—"

Lin Li seemed to sense that his Martial Soul had begun exerting its strength, and he felt relieved as well.

At the current level of pressure, he could definitely endure the first adaptation. After that, he would be able to safely absorb this Soul Ring beyond the usual age limit.

Director Su did not know what the Dharma Wheel's rotation signified. He merely began examining the Spirit Beast's corpse.

He had observed it through the bushes earlier and estimated that the Spirit Beast was around six hundred years old, but now he felt uneasy.

He had finally come to his senses. Even if a Spirit Beast had little offensive power, its cultivation was still there!

After all, it had accumulated so many years. Absorbing its Soul Ring might be somewhat easier, but it was absolutely not as Lin Li had said, with the age limit being raised according to the species.

Director Su immediately regretted his actions. Lin Li is only a child and doesn't understand, but how could I have been so muddleheaded?

He had only realized it now.

At the same time, he carefully counted the scales on the Earth Cave Beast's tail and arrived at a fact that was difficult to believe: "This Earth Cave Beast is eight hundred years old!"

If it had been a six-hundred-year Earth Cave Beast, Director Su would still have had some faith that Lin Li could endure it. But with an eight-hundred-year one, he had no confidence at all.

"It's all my fault. I've grown senile... Lin Li, you must hold on. As long as you survive, even if I can never break through level 32 in this lifetime, it will be worth it!"

Although he prayed aloud, Director Su knew that the possibility was minuscule. He had already seen blood beginning to flow from all seven orifices on Lin Li's face!

"Click, click!"

A familiar sound rang out. Director Su followed it with his gaze and saw that the dark-gold Dharma Wheel atop Mahoraga's head had completed one full rotation.

At the same time, Lin Li, who was absorbing the Soul Ring, suddenly felt twice as relaxed and immediately increased the speed of absorption.

Before long, Lin Li had absorbed the eight-hundred-year Soul Ring into his body. In his eyes, it was still a six-hundred-year Soul Ring, and he had no idea that he had exceeded the age limit by so much.

"First Soul Ring, absorption complete!"