Le Bai's First Soul Ring (Part 2)

100%, the Soul Power progress bar filled up, and Le Bai's Soul Power broke through to level ten.

Zhao Wuji, who was guarding nearby, raised an eyebrow: "Well, well! He actually broke through!"

But Le Bai's breakthrough did not end there.

Less than a second after the breakthrough, the Soul Power progress bar on the Panel cleared, and a brand-new [Soul Ring Condensation] progress bar appeared immediately after.

The newly appeared progress bar took only three seconds to fill up, then vanished.

Le Bai himself did not see what happened during those three seconds, but Zhao Wuji, who had been guarding nearby and keeping a close eye on Le Bai's situation, took in the entire process:

"Hmm? Why didn't the breakthrough end?"

"Wait, is this... a, a Soul Ring??"

"How could he condense a Soul Ring on his own? And the quality of this Soul Ring...???"

Fifteen minutes later.

Zhao Wuji brought Le Bai to the Dean's Office to report everything that had happened to Le Bai earlier.

After listening to Zhao Wuji, Flender's expression didn't change; he simply nodded to show he understood, then said to Le Bai: "Le Bai, release your Soul Ring and let me see."

Feigning confusion while actually being very clear about his own situation, Le Bai walked forward with a dejected look: "Yes, Dean."

A piece of bread appeared in Le Bai's hand, and immediately after, a Soul Ring emerged—an incredibly pure white Soul Ring, without even a trace of pale yellow impurity!

No matter how one looked at it, this was a Decade Soul Ring, as ordinary and trashy as they come.

"It really is a Soul Ring, and a very standard Decade Soul Ring at that."

Flender pushed up his glasses: "But for a human Soul Master to condense a Soul Ring on their own... that is truly unheard of. Do you feel anything yourself?"

Le Bai composed himself, mentally reviewing the lie he had just concocted to ensure there were no obvious logical holes, before speaking: "I don't feel anything special. I was just cultivating as usual, and when my Soul Power broke through to level ten, I exited the meditative state and found the Soul Ring had already appeared."

Zhao Wuji chimed in to corroborate: "That's right. I was guarding right next to him. After the kid's Soul Power broke through to level ten, the Soul Ring appeared in less than three breaths. It didn't look like it was being condensed at all; it felt as if the Soul Ring had been there all along."

"As if the Soul Ring had been there all along..."

Flender fell into deep thought.

Zhao Wuji and Le Bai also watched Flender in silence, not daring to disturb him.

After a long while, Flender looked up and asked Le Bai: "What is the effect of your First Soul Ring?"

Le Bai: "Accelerated Recovery Small Bread. After eating the bread, it increases the activity of my Soul Power for one hour."

Flender and Zhao Wuji both expressed confusion: "The... activity of your Soul Power?"

"I don't really understand it either."

Le Bai indicated that he didn't quite grasp it himself: "The specific effect seems to change based on the actual situation."

Flender: "Can you be more specific?"

Le Bai nodded and continued: "If my Soul Power isn't fully recovered, the effect of increasing Soul Power activity manifests as accelerating the recovery speed of my Soul Power; if my Soul Power is fully recovered, the effect manifests as increasing the efficiency of my cultivation. Specifically, it increases Soul Power recovery by 10%, and for every level my Soul Power increases, it adds another 1%, but the effect on increasing cultivation efficiency is only one-tenth of that."

"Very good!"

After hearing Le Bai out, Flender said in an encouraging and very affirmative tone: "Setting aside the age of your First Soul Ring, looking only at the effect, it is extremely suitable for you and very powerful!"

Zhao Wuji, however, expressed a different opinion: "But in the end, this is only a decade-level Soul Ring, and its potential is limited."

"Potential?"

Le Bai was genuinely confused this time and asked: "Teacher Zhao, is there such a thing as potential for Soul Rings?"

"We haven't covered this in class yet, so I'll explain it to you now."

Zhao Wuji gave a simple explanation: "The effect of a Soul Ring is not set in stone; it strengthens as the Soul Master's Soul Power increases. However, this strengthening has a limit. For example, with a Century Soul Ring, no matter how high a Soul Master's level becomes, the effect of that Century Soul Ring will never reach or exceed the level of a Millennium Soul Ring. We usually call this the 'Soul Ring Limit'. Naturally, the higher the age of the Soul Ring, the higher its limit. This is one of the reasons why Soul Masters pursue the highest possible age for their Soul Rings."

"But there are exceptions."

Flender pushed up his glasses and added: "Once, when I was traveling across the continent, I heard a rumor. It is said that if a Soul Ring is bestowed by the legendary 'Gods', then regardless of the age of the Soul Ring, its effect can increase along with the Soul Master's Soul Power without any limit."

"Huh? God-Bestowed Soul Ring?"

Zhao Wuji's bear-like eyes widened as he fired off several questions: "Do 'Gods' really exist? And they would bestow Soul Rings? And there's no limit to the improvement?"

"It's just a rumor!"

Flender signaled for Zhao Wuji to calm down and not ask so many questions: "But I do know of a similar situation."

Zhao Wuji: "Similar?"

Flender: "Have you ever heard of a Martial Soul called 'Nine-Heart Begonia'?"

Le Bai put on a performance, shaking his head with a look of confusion.

"What kind of Martial Soul is that?"

Zhao Wuji scratched his head: "Sounds like a flower."

"Nine-Heart Begonia is an extremely special and rare Martial Soul; I have never actually seen one myself."

Flender struck Commander Gendo's signature pose: "According to records, there can be at most two Soul Masters in this world who possess the Nine-Heart Begonia. Only when one of these two Soul Masters dies will the next Soul Master with the Nine-Heart Begonia appear."

"What a strange Martial Soul."

Zhao Wuji voiced some meaningless thoughts, then asked, "But what does that have to do with Le Bai's situation?"

Flender did not answer, instead continuing, "The Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul has another characteristic: no matter how many Soul Rings are added, this Martial Soul only ever has one soul skill."

Zhao Wuji felt like he understood, yet also felt like he didn't: "I still don't quite get it. This Nine-Heart Begonia doesn't seem to have any connection to Le Bai's situation, does it?"

"What I'm trying to say is—"

Flender spoke with a hint of helplessness: "Martial Souls are full of wonders. Since there exists a special Martial Soul like the Nine-Heart Begonia, which has many restrictions and only one soul skill regardless of the number of Soul Rings, then it is possible for a Martial Soul like Le Bai's, which comes with its own Soul Rings, to exist as well. Just because we don't know about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

Zhao Wuji finally understood: "Oh, so that's what you mean."

"Dean!"

Le Bai suddenly spoke up and asked, "Are you saying that my Martial Soul will only ever have one soul skill?"

"No, no."

Flender waved his hand: "I was just giving an example, I didn't mean you."

Le Bai pondered for a moment: "But Dean, if my Soul Power reaches level twenty and the Soul Ring also appears automatically, and the effect of the soul skill remains unchanged, doesn't that mean..."

"There is indeed that possibility."

Flender did not deny it: "It seems that to clarify these questions, we will have to wait until your Soul Power breaks through to level twenty. However, if that really is the case, your Soul Rings likely have no limit. Then, as long as you work hard to cultivate your Soul Power, one day, your Decade Soul Ring will have even better effects than those hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings!"

"Yes! I will work hard!"

Le Bai appropriately revealed a look of excitement and smiled: "Then Dean, and Teacher Zhao, I'll head back to cultivate now!"

Flender smiled: "Go ahead!"

Once Le Bai was far from the Office, Flender suddenly sighed: "Sigh, I have a friend who understands Martial Souls very thoroughly, but it's a pity I haven't been able to contact him for many years. If he were here, perhaps he could figure out Le Bai's situation."

Zhao Wuji had known Flender for many years and had heard him mention that friend who understood Martial Souls well more than once or twice, so he habitually comforted him: "Perhaps in a few years, he will take the initiative to contact you."

"Perhaps. It would be good if that were the case."

Flender stood up and looked into the distance through the Office window:

Are you doing well now?

Xiaogang...