Douluo: So You're the One Called Grandmaster

"The maximum is 1,800 years, the minimum is 1,100 years. Now is the time to verify it."

"Then what are we waiting for? We can begin right now."

The Great Elder spoke up directly. He also wanted to see the results.

If it truly did not work, he would have an excuse to shut down this Research Institute.

Ning Qinghe found this both amusing and exasperating, but he did not mind. The old man was far too easy to read.

"Then let's begin now."

After glancing at Ning Fengzhi and the others, who had no objections, he began making arrangements and urged the people from the External Affairs Office.

Ning Qinghe had long prepared for the Spirit Ring absorption. The stock of Soul Beasts had all been brought out.

The Soul Beasts had previously been raised one by one, at considerable expense, but this also made it easier to determine their ages.

Based on their needs and the maximum limits, several hundred captured Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts were quickly assigned to the hundred people most suited to them.

Moving the Soul Beasts carried some danger, so the people from the External Affairs Office had to transport them over. The Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts were suppressed and carried in one by one by Soul Kings and Spirit Emperors. Fortunately, no trouble arose.

The students claimed their assigned Soul Beasts and began the tests in batches.

The square became even livelier.

However, with researchers organizing and assigning teams, things did not descend into chaos.

"Grandpa Sword, Bone Grandpa, I'll have to trouble you two later. If anything goes wrong, help interrupt the absorption."

Standing at the perimeter, Ning Qinghe looked toward Chen Xin and Gu Rong.

"Don't worry."

"There won't be any accidents." Chen Xin and Gu Rong nodded in succession.

The group watched the students and Soul Beasts in the square expectantly.

Once the researchers and students were ready, the first group of ten entered their assigned areas of the square. One after another, the ten killed their Soul Beasts.

As streaks of purple light appeared, the excited students quickly began absorbing them.

They had waited a long time for this moment.

Among them, Ning Yishan restrained the changes in his expression, but his excitement was impossible to conceal.

An 1,800-year Spirit Ring. He had waited for this for a long time.

Two years of accumulation would bear fruit today.

Ning Yishan's original Martial Soul was a beast-type Martial Soul, the Fire-Patterned Tiger. It was a weak, small tiger that could control a little fire, an ordinary beast-type Martial Soul that was not particularly powerful.

With Innate Soul Power at level three, he had not received many resources within the sect. Under normal circumstances, reaching Soul Ancestor would already have been quite good.

In a small county town outside, a Soul Ancestor would count as a minor expert. In the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he could only be considered ordinary management.

But now, it was as if he had grasped an opportunity to defy fate and change his life.

The Soul Beast Ning Yishan absorbed was an 1,800-year Flame-Weaving Tiger. At the same level, it was far stronger than the Fire-Patterned Tiger and could even crush one. Some had studied the two and believed they came from the same bloodline, except the Fire-Patterned Tiger had weakened over time.

The purple Spirit Ring entered his body, and powerful Soul Power instantly swept through his entire body, washing over his fragile meridians. The enormous amount of Soul Power made veins bulge across Ning Yishan's body, his skin turn blood-red, and gave him the feeling that his body might burst apart.

Fortunately, Ning Yishan's powerful body withstood the wave of violent Soul Power. As he meditated, the massive surge of Soul Power was quickly consumed and became strength obedient to his will.

After the initial absorption, Ning Yishan grew increasingly smooth and steady. Massive amounts of Soul Power entered his body, sending his level soaring. Even his Martial Soul began to evolve due to the immense Soul Power and the life essence of the fire-aspected tiger Soul Beast.

His originally weak Fire-Patterned Tiger Martial Soul gradually advanced toward the Flame-Weaving Tiger...

Many people across the square experienced similar changes. Absorbing beyond their level, the vast amount of Soul Power and Soul Beast essence was enough to compensate for the shortcomings of their Martial Souls and innate talent.

This was especially true when the Martial Soul and absorbed Spirit Ring came from the same origin. It was like a fish in water, like a tiger given wings.

After enduring the initial impact of Soul Power, the worst that followed was a stabbing pain and the uncomfortable swelling sensation in their meridians.

As the Spirit Rings fully entered their bodies, the ten people absorbed them very smoothly. Purple Spirit Rings appeared around each student's Martial Soul.

Their first Spirit Rings, Thousand-Year Spirit Rings, had succeeded.

This scene excited the students who had yet to begin their absorption, as though they had received a powerful stimulant.

It also left Ning Fengzhi and the others staring wide-eyed.

Although they had expected it, seeing it truly succeed still made many hearts race.

"Thousand-Year Spirit Rings... they really succeeded."

"It went so smoothly?"

"I wonder how much their strength has increased."

Whether it was Ning Fengzhi or the two elders, they all began considering whether the sect's cultivation methods for disciples needed to change in the future.

Even someone with no theoretical knowledge knew that a Soul Master with a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring as their first ring would possess terrifying combat power.

After all, the age of that Spirit Ring even exceeded the combined ages of all three Spirit Rings of some Soul Elders.

Ning Yishan's Spirit Ring, for example, was 1,800 years old. Some Soul Elders did not have three Spirit Rings that added up to 1,800 years.

"Wait a moment. The data will be available soon."

"Send the second batch in."

Ning Qinghe calmly gave instructions from the side.

This scene was more or less within his expectations.

In the square, the researchers led away the first ten people who had completed their Spirit Ring absorption.

They began testing their current conditions, their improvements, and their Spirit Skills.

The other participants also entered the square in an orderly fashion.

Because the data was rigorous, the theory was correct, and Ning Qinghe had not forced anyone to absorb beyond their theoretical limits, none of the hundred people suffered casualties.

Sword Douluo and the others did not even need to interrupt anyone's absorption.

The scene gradually left Ning Fengzhi and the others numb. It was as if Thousand-Year Spirit Rings were what should have been normal all along.

Then what were their yellow Spirit Rings supposed to be?

The students who had originally possessed only average talent were now each equipped with a purple Thousand-Year Spirit Ring.

Any one of these people, if they appeared in the outside world, would be enough to trigger a scramble among other great powers. Those powers would dissect their physical conditions for answers. Yet here, they seemed to be mass-produced, advancing in rows before being taken away for their data to be confirmed.

Then the compiled data was delivered before Ning Qinghe and the others.

"Let me see..."

When the data from the first group of ten arrived, the Great Elder grew somewhat impatient.

He stretched out his hand to take it.

Everything today could be said to have shattered their understanding. Although most still believed Soul Power came first, and that pursuing the limits of Spirit Rings was inferior to gaining several more levels, another option was still an excellent opportunity for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Qinghe did not compete with the old man for it. In any case, there was more than one copy of the materials, and he distributed them among the old men as soon as he got them.

For the Extreme Research Institute to continue, it would still need the support of these old men.

"His level directly rose from level ten to level fifteen, and his cultivation speed is comparable to Innate Soul Power at level six."

"His first Spirit Skill is comparable to that of an assault-type Soul Master?"

"And his beast-type Martial Soul evolved as well?"

Ning Fengzhi examined the information on Ning Yishan, who had absorbed the 1,800-year Spirit Ring. The delight on his face was unmistakable.

It seemed they might truly have found a way for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to evolve.

"Absorbing high-level Spirit Rings really can increase cultivation speed."

"Then their futures will not be limited to merely becoming Soul Masters or Soul Elders."

The Great Elder and Second Elder stared wide-eyed at the reports in their hands.

Every report contained similar data. The only differences were certain numbers and Spirit Skills.

Some had even gained cultivation speeds comparable to Innate Soul Power at level seven. Such talent would not be considered poor anywhere.

They had never thought much of Soul Masters in their teens or twenties who were only in the teens in level.

But Soul Grandmasters or even Soul Elders in their teens or early twenties were another matter entirely.

If they continued improving at this pace, the people of the Extreme Research Institute would become the middle and even upper ranks of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the future.

The surprise was almost frightening.

"Well done."

Listening to the old men's exclamations beside him, Ning Qinghe looked through the information in his own hands as well, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.

He was very satisfied. It was much as he had expected: high-quality Spirit Rings really could improve Martial Souls and increase the speed of Soul Power absorption.

For instance, when an ordinary Soul Master with Innate Soul Power at level one absorbed a Spirit Ring at level ten, it was the moment they broke through their limit. Absorbing an ordinary Spirit Ring might raise them to level one and a half or even level two, but that level of talent would not be enough for them to reach Soul Elder or Soul Ancestor.