Second Thousand-Year Ring

After breaking through to Soul Grandmaster, Lu Fan could have dominated opponents at this level with one yellow and one purple Spirit Ring.

But he did not participate in any more soul battles.

After all, one yellow and one purple Spirit Ring were simply too eye-catching.

Once they were revealed, they would definitely attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Lu Fan decided not to participate in soul battles for the time being.

However, that meant his only monthly income would be the ten Gold Soul Coins issued by Spirit Hall.

As for how to avoid letting Spirit Hall discover the problem—

Naturally, he simply would not reveal his Spirit Rings.

It was not as though Spirit Hall lacked crystal balls for testing Soul Power above level ten.

Besides, they knew that Lu Fan was the disciple of Flender, a Soul Saint.

Giving him a little special treatment was hardly a big deal.

As for what to put down for the age of his Spirit Rings—

His first ring was a hundred-year ring, and with a Soul Saint as his teacher, could his second ring possibly be a ten-year ring instead of a hundred-year one?

Of course, Lu Fan did not want to give up such a good place to make money as the Great Soul Arena.

One solo match and one doubles match every day.

If he won every match, he could earn six hundred Gold Soul Coins a month.

Even after splitting the doubles prize money, he would still receive a huge sum of four hundred and fifty Gold Soul Coins.

For that, Lu Fan needed to put himself through special training.

"Some powerful Soul Masters undergo special training, allowing them to use their soul skills without their Spirit Rings lighting up."

"If I can do that, I can not only avoid exposing the ages of my Spirit Rings too early, but also catch people off guard in battle."

Still, accomplishing that would definitely be extremely difficult.

Lu Fan did not hold out much hope. If he could do it, great. If not, so be it.

Once he broke through to Soul Elder anyway, he would receive one hundred Gold Soul Coins every month. He could still live quite comfortably then.

Suddenly, it was as though a string in Lu Fan's mind snapped.

He suddenly understood why Yu Xiaogang had been so obsessed with breaking through to Soul Elder.

If it were him, he would definitely have been just like Yu Xiaogang.

"I'm already level twenty-nine. As long as I break through one more level, my monthly subsidy will increase tenfold. Who could resist something that great?!"

Over the following days,

Lu Fan kept trying to figure out how to use his soul skills without his Spirit Rings lighting up.

However, it was clearly extremely difficult to accomplish.

But Lu Fan came up with a second-best solution.

Both of his soul skills were sustained enhancement skills that strengthened himself.

He could activate them somewhere no one could see, then go onto the stage to fight others in soul battles.

However, doing so would leave his Soul Power reserves inherently weaker than everyone else's.

But Lu Fan did not think that was much of a problem.

As long as Flender brought back the Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber,

his Soul Power would definitely rise to level twenty-four, perhaps even level twenty-five.

With two enhancement soul skills then, his strength would come infinitely close to that of a Soul Elder.

Besides, now that he had the Golden Power soul skill,

he no longer needed to worry about his Martial Soul lacking offensive power.

Flender did not disappoint him either.

He actually managed to obtain Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber after just half a month.

Unfortunately, there was only one piece.

Flender summoned Lu Fan and handed him a bowl of melted Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber. "Take it and eat it. If one bowl isn't enough, tell me. This headmaster has found a source and can get more, but I'm fronting the money for you this time. Next time, you'll have to pay for it yourself."

Lu Fan did not stand on ceremony and accepted it.

Then, looking somewhat embarrassed, he said, "Um... Headmaster, I think it would be even better if an ice-attribute Soul Master could assist me while I eat it next time."

Flender rolled his eyes at Lu Fan. "Want me to invite that Soul Douluo from Skywater Academy over to help you too?"

Lu Fan looked at Flender in astonishment. "Headmaster, you have connections that impressive? You've really been hiding your talents. Then I won't be polite."

"Get lost, get lost, get lost."

Flender threw Lu Fan out of the second-floor window.

Lu Fan was a Soul Grandmaster, after all, so he naturally would not be injured by such a trivial matter.

Still, he cast a resentful glance at Flender's figure by the second-floor window as he shut it.

Carrying the Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber, he returned to his Flower Sea Cabin.

He had been craving this Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber for a long time, so the moment he got it, he could not wait to taste it.

After preparing cold water and ice,

Lu Fan lifted the bowl and drained it in one gulp.

In an instant, heat several times greater than that of the previous Thousand-Year Whale Rubber surged up from within Lu Fan's body.

Lu Fan hurriedly jumped into the cold water filled with ice and began meditating.

At noon the next day,

awakened by the sunlight, Lu Fan slowly opened his eyes and climbed out of the basin.

Toward the end of the night, Lu Fan had found it a little unbearable and simply fell asleep.

After getting up and sensing the changes in his body, Lu Fan was shocked to discover that his Soul Power had actually broken through to level twenty-five.

"My Soul Power was already close to level twenty-four. I never expected this Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber to raise it by more than an entire level."

Gaining more than a level of Soul Power at once had saved him at least three or four months of meditative cultivation.

"Level twenty-five before the age of nine. Breaking through to Soul Elder at ten is no longer a dream, and reaching Soul Ancestor at thirteen or fourteen is entirely possible."

Lu Fan was somewhat excited.

Even the Shrek Seven Devils from the original story had only cultivated at roughly the same pace as Lu Fan did normally after consuming Immortal Herbs.

So what if Lu Fan consumed Immortal Herbs?

Wouldn't that be even more monstrous?

His current cultivation speed was almost surpassing even the people from ten thousand years later.

"So this is the Immortal Herb Martial Soul. It really is powerful!"

While marveling inwardly at the strength of his Martial Soul, Lu Fan also could not help lamenting that Chrysanthemum Douluo had definitely taken the wrong path.

"If he hadn't taken the wrong path, Chrysanthemum Douluo couldn't possibly still be only level ninety-five by now."

Lu Fan shook his head, feeling sorry for him.

"Since I'll probably go to Spirit Hall and seek refuge with Chrysanthemum Douluo in the future, if I can persuade him to rebel against Bibi Dong with me, then it wouldn't be impossible to reveal the secret of Immortal Herbs to him."

Perhaps because they possessed the same Martial Soul, Lu Fan did not want him to simply fade into obscurity in history. He wanted the other man to have a good ending.

"Come to think of it, Tang San and the others will arrive at Shrek Academy in a little over three years. I wonder if Tang Hao will smash me to death with a hammer the moment he sees my Martial Soul."

Lu Fan frowned.

That was one thing he needed to worry about right now.

If Tang Hao bore hostility toward him, then Lu Fan would not sit around and wait to die.

When the time came, Tang Hao should not blame him for going straight to steal a Spirit Bone.

That was also one of the must-have items on the Douluo One list.

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone—Lu Fan was extremely eager for a hundred-thousand-year plant-type Spirit Bone.

But those were matters for the future.

Lu Fan first went to report his gains to Flender.

"Headmaster, I've broken through to level twenty-five!"

Lu Fan displayed his Soul Power to Flender.

Seeing his disciple achieve so much, Flender felt deeply gratified.

"With your talent, you may be able to break through to Soul Elder at ten. Such talent is rare throughout history."

"Perhaps you may even have a chance to break the record for the youngest Titled Douluo."