"Angel God bless us!"
Salas halted and raised a hand, signaling Lin Nuo to keep quiet.
His gaze instantly locked onto a pitch-black treetop over a hundred feet away.
Then, a ferocious demon spider the size of a pony, with two semi-transparent purple bone wings on its back, silently emerged halfway from the shadow of an ancient towering tree. Its eight crimson compound eyes glinted with bloodthirsty chill as it abruptly entered their sight!
"Pretty good luck. It's actually a Purple-Winged Demon Spider!"
A sharp gleam flashed through Salas's eyes as he quickly assessed it in a low voice. "Judging by the sheen of that dark purple carapace and the span of its bone wings, this beast is just over two thousand years old. It's practically right at the limit of what you can endure!"
Hearing Salas's judgment, Lin Nuo nodded repeatedly, satisfaction flickering in his eyes.
Whether by age or species, this beast was perfectly suited to serve as his second Soul Ring.
"Good! Since you've taken a liking to it, this old man will capture it for you!"
Salas chuckled. Without even summoning his Martial Soul, he simply slapped through the air.
Bang—
The Purple-Winged Demon Spider, with over two thousand years of cultivation and enough strength to rule a corner of the outer Sunset Forest, did not even have time to understand what had happened before an overwhelming force pinned it firmly to the ground.
Its hard dark-purple shell shattered instantly, bodily fluids gushing out as its eight legs convulsed wildly a few times before it was directly reduced to a near-death state.
This was the dimensional crushing power of a Spirit Douluo!
"Lin Nuo, do it."
Lin Nuo stepped forward and drew a deep breath.
As Soul Power surged through his body, a Death Demon Scythe radiating a dark purple-black glow instantly condensed in his hand.
With one clean stroke, the sharp scythe blade sliced through the Purple-Winged Demon Spider's head without the slightest resistance, decisively ending its life.
Seeing the murderous Magic Scythe in Lin Nuo's hand, Salas, standing behind him on guard, could not hide the surprise flashing through his eyes.
Such a supreme weapon-type soul skill?
As expected of a top-tier Martial Soul inherited from Her Holiness the Pope!
As the Purple-Winged Demon Spider breathed its last, specks of purple-black light began gathering above its corpse.
Before long, a deep-purple Millennium Soul Ring slowly condensed into shape, radiating violent Soul Power fluctuations.
Under Salas's somewhat worried gaze, Lin Nuo sat down cross-legged without hesitation and raised a hand, using Soul Power to draw the deep-purple Soul Ring above his head.
The absorption began!
As the Soul Ring entered his body, a violent surge of energy instantly raced through Lin Nuo's meridians.
Salas, watching from the side, felt his heart rise to his throat.
Although he had personally tested Lin Nuo's physical limit before and had some confidence in it, when he watched a level-twenty Soul Grandmaster truly begin absorbing a two-thousand-year Soul Ring beyond his level, he still could not help but think it was utterly terrifying!
After all, according to the iron law of the soul master world, the maximum age of a second Soul Ring was only a little over seven hundred years.
Beyond that threshold, exploding to death was the only possible outcome.
If an ordinary soul master dared to do what Lin Nuo was doing, even if they were not bleeding from all seven orifices by now, their blood vessels would surely be bulging and their muscles spasming violently.
But Lin Nuo?
His current state was so calm that it was unbelievable.
Not only did he not let out a single pained groan, he did not even furrow his brow. His body did not tremble in the slightest.
The energy within the Millennium Purple-Winged Demon Spider Soul Ring, which should have been incomparably violent, entered Lin Nuo's body and—
Unexpectedly, it was like a tranquil stream flowing into a great river, obediently being absorbed and refined by him bit by bit.
Time slowly passed.
No one knew how long it had been when Lin Nuo opened his eyes again. The level-twenty bottleneck that had plagued him for so long shattered with a deep rumble!
Even without specifically testing his current Soul Power Level, Lin Nuo could clearly feel that his meridians had widened considerably. The foundation of Soul Power throughout his body had undergone a qualitative leap, becoming more than a level stronger.
"Whew—"
Seeing Lin Nuo safely complete the absorption beyond his level, Salas, who had been anxiously standing guard beside him, finally let out a long breath of relief.
A genuinely radiant smile immediately spread across his aged face. Salas strode forward and praised him without reserve.
"Congratulations, young friend! A two-thousand-year second Soul Ring—if word of this got out, the entire Douluo Continent would likely be shaken by you!"
Lin Nuo smiled and nodded.
"It was merely luck."
Salas: ...
Lin Nuo closed his eyes again and carefully sensed his newly acquired second soul skill.
The next second, the corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.
The second soul skill bestowed by this Purple-Winged Demon Spider Soul Ring was none other than the Pope's own Soul-Crossing Spider Spear!
When activated, it could instantly harden the spider-leg Martial Soul on his back into incomparably sharp spears. Not only did they possess powerful armor-piercing effects, but their tips also contained a deadly poison that killed at the sight of blood.
For Lin Nuo at his current stage, this was absolutely a terrifying top-tier single-target divine skill. He could not have been more satisfied.
"Come, let this old man see exactly how much you gained from absorbing a Soul Ring beyond your level."
Smiling, Salas reached out and placed a hand on Lin Nuo's wrist.
However, the instant his Soul Power entered Lin Nuo's body, the knowledgeable Platinum Bishop's eyes widened, and he cried out in disbelief.
"L-level twenty-five?!"
He had jumped five levels at once?!
What kind of shocking Soul Power advancement speed was this?
It was simply terrifying!
But before Salas could recover from the shock of those five consecutive levels, something unexpected happened!
Lin Nuo's previously stable Soul Power suddenly began to churn violently without warning, as a berserk purple-black energy instantly gathered frantically across his back.
"What's going on? Soul Power backlash?!"
Salas's expression changed drastically as he prepared to forcibly intervene.
Rip—
The sharp sound of tearing cloth suddenly rang out.
Under Salas's incredulous gaze, a pair of exquisite, transparent purple wings burst through Lin Nuo's back!
Six Amethyst Wing Membranes, each as thin as a cicada's wing, slowly unfurled in the air.
The surface of the wing membranes was covered in fine, web-like veins, through which a deep, icy purple light flowed.
As Lin Nuo instinctively gave his wings a slight beat, vast amounts of fragmented purple light spilled into the air. Carrying a sharp and formidable aura, they instantly swept through the fallen leaves around them.
Salas stood frozen in place.
His lips trembled as he stared fixedly at the purple crystal wings behind Lin Nuo, his mind completely blank.
"Th-this... could this be the legendary External Soul Bone, even rarer than a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?!"
Before you continue