Could he really control, or even absorb, such vast energy?
Damn it! Why had she agreed to his condition back then, not to pry into his secrets...
Thinking this, she still wanted to probe him a little, to see if she could draw out his intentions.
"Your request isn't much of a problem, but what do you need so many Soul Rings for?"
"Do you intend to make all the energy in these Soul Rings your own?"
An ordinary Soul Master could cultivate their entire life and still struggle to reach the threshold for absorbing a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Take a certain "youngest Soul Emperor in the history of the continent" from Shrek, for instance. Even his fifth Soul Ring was only a purple, thousand-year-level one.
Bibi Dong's questioning was within Chen Xing's expectations, but he did not want to answer her.
Since she had already agreed to his request, there was no need to lie, following the principle that the more one said, the more likely one was to slip up.
Besides, what kind of lie could reasonably explain him possessing eight Soul Rings?
So, keeping silent was the best answer.
Once he became strong enough, no one would question him again...
A moment later, outside the Worship Hall.
Qian Renxue, who had been venting her emotions, suddenly saw Gui Mei streak through the sky with the figure of a boy beside him.
Looking carefully, who else could it be but Chen Xing...
What had happened?
Why had Gui Mei taken Chen Xing away?
What were they going to do?
Qian Renxue, her face streaked with tears, looked at the two figures departing and felt her heart fill with confusion.
Driven by curiosity, she chose to follow them.
The Soul Bones within the Angel God Set allowed her to conceal her aura perfectly. Although Gui Mei was a Title Douluo, his speed was not overly fast while carrying Chen Xing.
Flying at full speed, Qian Renxue could barely keep up.
"That is... Spirit Hall's Soul Hunting Ground?"
"What are they doing there? Could Chen Xing have broken through again?"
Before long, under Qian Renxue's baffled gaze, Gui Mei brought a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast before Chen Xing.
Chen Xing showed no courtesy. Purple Imperial Bamboo appeared in his hand, and with a slash of sword light, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast fell silent.
Then, the strangest scene unfolded.
Black motes of light slowly condensed from the Soul Beast's corpse. In mere moments, a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring radiating terrifying pressure had taken shape.
Before Qian Renxue's startled eyes, Chen Xing stepped forward and touched the black ring with a finger. In an instant, only two figures remained in the clearing.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring that commoners did not even dare dream of simply vanished.
"What's going on? Where did the Soul Ring go?"
"What... what just happened?"
"Chen Xing..."
The intense emotional fluctuations nearly exposed her. Everything was simply too inconceivable.
Throughout the history of Douluo Continent, no one had ever possessed such an ability—not even the ancient records mentioned it!
Where had the vanished Soul Ring gone? Had its energy been absorbed by Chen Xing?
Six years old! Soul Power Rank 32!
And he possessed a Martial Soul that could rival the Six-Winged Angel.
What other secrets did he have?
Could he truly have gained his cultivation by plundering the lives of others?
Chaotic thoughts lingered in her mind. Under Qian Renxue's horrified gaze, Gui Mei brought back several more Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in succession.
Without exception, every one of them was slain by Chen Xing.
Their Soul Rings all vanished in that strange fashion.
Until the eighth one...
With Qian Renxue as witness, the boy below used that bizarre method to "absorb" eight Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings in total.
After finishing, Chen Xing looked exceedingly excited, as if he were about to obtain some priceless treasure.
Inside the forest.
After filling the System Inventory, Chen Xing felt completely secure.
Assuming nothing unexpected happened, those nine Soul Rings would refresh once every day. Even with the worst luck, one of them would become the Soul Ring of a Divine-Level Soul Beast within five years.
Once he added that Soul Ring to an empty slot of his Second Martial Soul, he would awaken a Divine-Level Martial Soul!
Heavenly Snow Woman, Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear...
Just thinking about it thrilled him.
Still, Chen Xing most hoped to awaken a Martial Soul that could glow, so he would no longer be afraid of the dark...
"Ghost Elder! I've really troubled you this time."
"Once I become stronger, I'll definitely repay you properly."
The sincere smile on the boy's face left Gui Mei slightly dazed.
"Repay me properly?"
He had thought this was merely a mission, yet he had forgotten that the person before him was only a six-year-old child.
Ever since awakening his Ghost Shadow Martial Soul, it seemed no one had spoken to him like that in a very long time...
The boy's innocent gratitude stirred his heart slightly. The ghostly face within the black shadow seemed to let out a laugh, though Chen Xing could not hear it clearly.
"Is there anything else you need? Do you want to take a stroll around the city?"
Perhaps it was Chen Xing's imagination, but Gui Mei's tone carried a trace of goodwill.
Go into the city... That sounded quite nice.
Since taking human form, he had only stayed in Suotuo City for a few days, and even then, he had merely lodged at an inn.
Now that he had arrived in prosperous Spirit City, he truly should take a good look around.
With that thought, he immediately accepted Gui Mei's suggestion.
And so, one large and one small figure rose into the sky again beneath Qian Renxue's gaze...
Elsewhere.
Bibi Dong had already returned to her bedchamber.
At that moment, she lay on her side atop a soft bed.
Her purple hair overlapped the dark-red blanket, making her neck appear even fairer.
Her eyes were unfocused as she stared absently at the wound on her arm.
A violet aura seemed to coil around her, casting the entire room beneath a layer of gloom.
"How very interesting..."
"Can Soul Rings be stored?"
Even if Chen Xing did not explain his request, Bibi Dong could roughly guess its purpose.
Needing eight Soul Rings at once clearly was not for absorption.
Eliminating the impossible, only one explanation remained!
He could store Soul Rings, then later call upon their energy to increase his strength.
She simply did not know whether this method had any drawbacks...
Six years old! Soul Power Rank 32!
That was probably how he had achieved it.
It had to be said that Bibi Dong's intelligence was indeed exceptional for her to sit in the position of Spirit Hall's Pope.
However, since Chen Xing had dared make that request, he had already expected her to follow the clues and vaguely guess his intentions.
It did not matter...
Compared to a Divine-Level Martial Soul, those drawbacks could all be ignored.
For now, he could hunt Thousand-Year Soul Beasts himself and place them in the Preparation Bench.
But his First Martial Soul already had three Thousand-Year Soul Rings, and now that he possessed the ability to absorb Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings, how could he accept adding a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring to his Divine-Level Martial Soul!
Even Soul Rings barely above ten thousand years felt somewhat beneath his standards.
But there was no choice. At the moment, he could not absorb anything with a higher age limit.
If one day he woke up and truly encountered a Soul Ring he liked, only to have his body burst apart because its age limit was too high, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Ultimately, at this stage, the value of eight Soul Rings far exceeded the risk of exposing Chen Xing's ability to store Soul Rings.
Before you continue