Soul Ancestor Zhu Zhuqing

"Sister-in-law, this is a three-thousand-year Ghost Leopard!"

After climbing down from Da Ming, Er Ming tossed the smaller of the two Ghost Leopards he was holding in front of Zhu Zhuqing.

The Ghost Leopard was not dead at this moment, merely unconscious.

All it would take was one strike from Zhu Zhuqing to end the Ghost Leopard's life.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing gave a slight nod.

She drew a dagger from her earring, walked up to the Ghost Leopard, and decisively plunged it into the beast's neck.

A purple soul ring appeared over the corpse of the Ghost Leopard.

"Sister-in-law, if you feel you cannot hold on, please prioritize your life. Otherwise, we wouldn't know how to answer to Big Brother when we return!"

"Even if you are severely injured, Big Brother has the means to help you recover your strength!"

Just as Zhu Zhuqing was about to begin absorbing the soul ring, Da Ming spoke up to offer one final reminder.

He did not want Zhu Zhuqing to force herself if she couldn't handle the absorption, which would lead to her body exploding from the pressure.

Zhu Zhuqing could not die.

As long as Zhu Zhuqing stopped the absorption at the critical moment, even if she suffered severe injuries or a regression in soul power, Da Ming believed that Luo Yan would certainly have a way to resolve it for her.

"Mm!"

Zhu Zhuqing knew that Da Ming was looking out for her, so she responded with a nod before beginning to absorb the soul ring.

Hiss!

The moment she began the absorption, a massive surge of soul power erupted from the ring, instantly slamming into her meridians.

Fortunately, her meridians had been greatly strengthened by the cleansing of the Jiaolong Essence Blood.

Otherwise, this initial impact would have been enough to rupture her meridians entirely.

Of course, even though her meridians held, the intense pain caused Zhu Zhuqing to gasp sharply.

As the soul power from the ring continued to surge through her limbs and bones, sweat began to pour from her forehead.

Her delicate body trembled incessantly.

"Da Ming, will she be alright?" Er Ming asked, sounding worried.

Although he wasn't the brightest, he knew that nothing could happen to Zhu Zhuqing, or they would have a hard time explaining themselves back home.

"Since Big Brother said she could handle it, we just need to watch. There is nothing else we can do."

"Even if something went wrong, Big Brother wouldn't blame us, so rest easy!"

Da Ming shook his head, signaling him to be at ease.

He didn't actually understand human affairs very deeply, and he had no way to intervene in such matters.

Hearing this, the simple-minded Er Ming quickly changed the subject.

He began telling Da Ming about how he had taken out each Ghost Leopard with a single punch earlier.

In truth, even though he had broken through to become a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, it would still be difficult for him to quickly subdue a ten-thousand-year Ghost Leopard.

After all, he truly had no advantage when it came to speed.

However, Er Ming had used the Breath Concealment Art taught to him by Luo Yan to hide his aura and take on a human form, preventing the Ghost Leopards from recognizing him immediately.

When the Ghost Leopards surrounded him to attack, he had suddenly struck, shattering their limbs.

That was how he had easily captured the two Ghost Leopards.

Da Ming looked at the Ghost Leopards and found it somewhat amusing.

He hadn't expected Er Ming to have moments of cleverness as well.

The time required to absorb a soul ring varies based on the age of the ring, the soul master's physique, and other factors.

Zhu Zhuqing was breaking her limits by absorbing a three-thousand-year third soul ring, so the entire process was not short.

The most dangerous moment was right at the beginning of the absorption, as the violent soul power from the ring would strike the soul master's meridians.

If they couldn't hold on, their body would simply explode.

Next, after surviving the initial surge of soul power, one had to face the residual mental energy left behind by the soul beast within the ring.

If one's mental strength was insufficient or their willpower was not firm enough, it was very easy to be killed by the backlash.

Fortunately, soul rings produced by beasts under ten thousand years did not retain much mental energy.

After half an hour of resistance.

The result was exactly as Luo Yan had predicted; Zhu Zhuqing was just barely able to withstand it.

If this Ghost Leopard had been even slightly stronger, she might not have made it through.

Gradually, Zhu Zhuqing neutralized all the soul power shocks from the ring, and from this point on, she only needed to slowly absorb the remaining energy to achieve a complete success.

Her body stopped trembling as it had at the start and became much calmer.

"It's alright, it seems like sister-in-law has made it through!"

Noticing the changes in Zhu Zhuqing, Da Ming also breathed a sigh of relief.

Another hour passed before Zhu Zhuqing finally finished absorbing the spirit ring of the Ghost Leopard.

Hoo~

Opening her eyes, the first thing Zhu Zhuqing did was exhale a breath of stale air.

Absorbing this three-thousand-year spirit ring was far too risky; she had been a hair's breadth away from her body exploding.

Of course, the greater the risk, the more obvious the benefits.

Having absorbed this three-thousand-year spirit ring beyond her limit, Zhu Zhuqing could clearly feel that her spirit power had already broken through to level forty.

Both her physique and mental strength had seen a massive improvement.

Next was the absorption of her fourth spirit ring.

However, she was not in a suitable state to absorb the fourth ring immediately.

Absorbing the third spirit ring had nearly exhausted her mental strength, and she needed to adjust herself once more.

Spirit rings over ten thousand years old contained the remnant souls of spirit beasts; if her mental strength wasn't properly restored, she could easily meet with disaster.

"I might need to adjust for a while before I can continue to absorb the fourth spirit ring..."

Zhu Zhuqing looked at Da Ming and spoke with hesitation.

Da Ming understood what she meant and nodded with a smile, "Sister-in-law, don't worry about anything else; we will stand guard right here!"

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing did not hesitate further and sat down cross-legged.

By the time she recovered her mental strength and woke up, the sun had already risen in the east.

A full day had passed since they departed from Suotuo City.

"Sister-in-law, please go ahead!"

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing wake up, Da Ming tossed the ten-thousand-year Ghost Leopard onto the ground.

While Zhu Zhuqing was meditating, the Ghost Leopard had woken up once, but Da Ming had simply knocked it unconscious again.

As for the three-thousand-year-old one, it had already been turned into roasted meat by Da Ming and Er Ming and eaten.

Without wasting words, Zhu Zhuqing decisively killed it.

A pitch-black spirit ring emerged from the corpse of the Ghost Leopard, and Zhu Zhuqing sat before the body to begin the absorption.

The process was significantly less dangerous compared to the third spirit ring.

The only real effort required was the struggle against the remnant soul of the Ghost Leopard.

Fortunately, her willpower was strong enough; she focused entirely on defense, grinding down the power of the Ghost Leopard's remnant soul until it vanished.

This time, it took Zhu Zhuqing nearly two hours to finish absorbing the ten-thousand-year spirit ring.

She stood up and looked at the four spirit rings beneath her feet, the fourth one being a ten-thousand-year ring.

"Luo Yan, I... I did it! I have become a Soul Ancestor..." Zhu Zhuqing was somewhat dazed.

She had imagined that she would eventually reach the rank of Soul Ancestor, but she never expected the day to come so quickly.

Thinking back to a few days ago, she was still a level 27 Soul Grand Master; now, with the help of Luo Yan, she had broken through to level 43.

Coupled with Luo Yan saving her life, Zhu Zhuqing didn't know how she could ever repay such a debt.

Could it be that she really had to offer herself to him...

Thinking of the day Luo Yan told her to offer herself to him, Zhu Zhuqing's face involuntarily turned red.