Ten-Year Soul Ring and Useless Soul Skill

Facing a speed-type opponent, the window of opportunity lasts only a fleeting instant.

There was no time for deep thought, no time for even the surge of excitement to erupt, and he failed to notice that this snake appeared much smaller than the one that had attacked him earlier.

Fast as a flash, with a sharp snap, Tang San's eyes instantly ignited with an eerie purple light.

In the nick of time, he flipped his right hand holding the short sword and slammed the back of his hand heavily against the lower half of his raised left arm.

The three sharp bolts hidden in the Arm Crossbow fired simultaneously. For some reason, the snake froze for a split second and failed to dodge; the second bolt struck true, piercing straight through its neck.

Pure and Innocent San felt his heart bloom with joy, so ecstatic he felt as if his heart might stop.

What could be more delightful than surviving a brush with death and escaping a catastrophe?

He launched himself forward on one leg, and with a single swing, he severed the snake's head.

He hacked the snake's body into several pieces with a few more strikes to ensure it could never survive, then collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air as tears of happiness welled in his eyes.

He was trembling all over with excitement.

"It wasn't easy."

"It really wasn't easy at all."

After a moment of excitement, he felt something was missing, a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.

After a moment of reflection, he completed the mental process:

"So-called top predators are, in reality, nothing more than evil beings existing within the Soul Beast Forest.

As fellow soul beasts, they wantonly slaughter their own kind, devoid of any bottom line or morality.

Furthermore, you ambushed me first and poisoned my teacher second; you have already brought the path of death upon yourself."

Suddenly, he felt completely at ease.

It was only then that he realized, with a delayed reaction, that this snake seemed to be only ninety centimeters long, whereas the previous one had been at least one point five meters.

Before he could ask his teacher, a faint and dim white ring of light slowly rose before him, hovering motionless in mid-air.

"Wait a minute, a ten-year Soul Ring?"

"How could it be a ten-year Soul Ring?"

Tang San's smile froze instantly, his mind buzzed, and his entire body went numb.

"No wonder its reactions were so sluggish; it wasn't the same snake at all."

Falling from a five-hundred-year Soul Ring to one less than a century, Sanzi's mood plummeted from the clouds to the abyss, his heart filled with agonizing struggle.

"It is still a Silver Shuttle Snake; logically, it should have detoxifying properties. Should I absorb it?"

He turned his head, scanning his surroundings. The sky was already extremely dim, and even with his Purple Demon Eye, he could not find the whereabouts of the Silver Shuttle Snake that had attacked him.

But he could imagine it must be hiding in some corner of the darkness, waiting for his heart to stop beating entirely.

Therefore, he had no choice at all.

Realizing he could only absorb this ten-year Soul Ring, Tang San felt as if a heavy object had punched a massive hole through his soul.

A suffocating sensation gripped him, so painful he could barely breathe.

To carry a shameful white Soul Ring for the rest of his life, never able to hold his head high again—this was barely better than being killed outright.

However, while Tang San was tangled in pain and resentment, Yu Xiaogang thought quite differently.

Seeing that there was another ninety-year Silver Shuttle Snake and that his disciple had successfully hunted it, he was instantly so ecstatic that his face flushed red and his skin trembled violently.

"Hahaha, good, San, you did well.

Now we have a way to live, and your Soul Ring is secured.

Heaven has not forsaken me, hahaha, Heaven has not forsaken me!"

He had studied the Martial Soul Hall's research archives on Blue Silver Grass and knew that despite its weakness, it possessed many top-tier abilities, such as devouring.

It was just that the magnitude was too low to be applied in actual soul battles, and since the Blue Silver Grass's Innate Soul Power was generally low, it couldn't utilize multiple Soul Rings for continuous development and evolution.

But being unable to battle didn't mean it was useless. After Tang San absorbed the Silver Shuttle Snake's Soul Ring, he could completely devour the poison as well.

As for the weak devouring attribute, it would simply take a bit more time.

After being excited for a long time, seeing his disciple sitting blankly on the ground, Gangzi asked in confusion:

"Hmm, San, why are you stunned? Hurry up and absorb it?"

"Teacher, but it's only a ten-year white Soul Ring. Didn't you say the limit for the first Soul Ring could reach four hundred and twenty-three years? You also said that Soul Rings are extremely important to a Soul Master."

"Heh, circumstances change. Life is the most important thing; without your life, you have nothing."

To lower his precious disciple's resistance, Yu Xiaogang lied through his teeth:

"Actually, the first Soul Ring is the least important one for a Soul Master.

The limit is only four hundred years, whereas later ones—the fifth Soul Ring can exceed ten thousand, and the ninth exceeds one hundred thousand years.

This Silver Shuttle is already ninety years old, less than ten years away from a yellow Soul Ring. A mere ten years is a drop in the ocean compared to the one hundred thousand years of the ninth ring; it can be easily offset later."

Right, even Huang Tian's first ring was only a ten-year one, so is his strength weak?

And Xiao Chenyu, you are the dignified son of the city lord; you are already far more outstanding than them.

At the very least, the Silver Shuttle Snake perfectly aligns with the plan I have for your Blue Silver Grass. You have already experienced its toxicity firsthand, so there is no need for me to elaborate on the effects of the soul skill."

Gangzi's expression remained unchanged as he spoke, though he let out a faint sigh in his heart.

The reality was not like that at all.

Every soul ring's reinforcement of one's physique and spirit, and its amplification and evolution of the martial soul, would serve as the foundation for all subsequent rings.

It is like building a pyramid upside down.

For a level ten soul master, the body itself is equivalent to the strength of three to four hundred years, which is why the limit for the first ring is four hundred years.

Starting from the second ring, each ring is the accumulation of all previous data, plus slight increases due to training, cultivation, maturity, or the absorption of soul bones.

The second ring is less than eight hundred, the third ring is seventeen or eighteen hundred, the fourth is five thousand, the fifth is ten thousand, the sixth is twenty thousand, the seventh is fifty thousand, the eighth is under one hundred thousand, and the ninth is over one hundred thousand.

Generally, it presents a doubling trend.

If any soul ring fails to reach its limit, the impact will be lifelong.

"Alright then."

Tang San also knew that things had reached this point.

He nodded dejectedly and, following the method his teacher taught him yesterday, drew the white ring of light over and placed it onto his Blue Silver Grass.

In the distance, seeing with her own eyes that the little Bie San had truly begun to attach that ninety-year Silver Shuttle Snake soul ring, Gu Yue could not suppress the smile on her lips.

She had controlled a five-hundred-year Silver Shuttle to approach a three-hundred-year Datura Snake—the very one Tang San likely absorbed in his past life—and watched it die with a crunch.

Only after the Silver Shuttle was entirely inside the Datura Snake's belly, completely destroying all evidence, did she return to Notting City, feeling thoroughly satisfied.

Absorbing a ten-year soul ring was almost effortless; in about four or five minutes, Pure and Innocent San suddenly opened his eyes.

He flicked his right hand out with force, and as the soul ring flashed, three Blue Silver Grass vines instantly shot forward in a triangular formation.

First soul skill, Blue Silver Thrust, allows the Blue Silver Grass to spring forward just like a Silver Shuttle Snake.

After three whistling sounds, the three vines struck a large tree, their tips shattering completely, yet the tree remained unscathed.

Pure and Innocent San's brows immediately furrowed into a frown.

"Teacher, is my soul skill not as good as Huang Tian's? That spear of his actually seems quite useful."