Thousand-Year Soul Ring

The waves of flame scorched everything. Even though the Crimson Fire Boa was also Fire-type and resistant to flames, it still writhed and wailed in agony beneath the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus.

A piercing shriek rang out. Xiao Yan paid it no mind, gathering flames in his hand once more.

"Blazing Fist, Heaven Blasting!"

Thanks to the Essence Replenishment Pills he had refined, Xiao Yan still had Soul Power to spare after unleashing the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus at full strength, enough to keep releasing flames.

Blazing fist shadows appeared one after another, then rained down like a deluge.

The Crimson Fire Boa was already badly wounded and paralyzed by Thunderous Might. On top of that, Tang Ya, a newly promoted Soul Elder who had just obtained the Datura Snake's Soul Ring, kept injecting poison into it with Blue Silver Grass. Its condition had deteriorated badly.

Now, after being blasted by the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus, which was comparable to a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill, it was struck again and again by the relentless Blazing Fists. The Crimson Fire Boa truly regretted everything.

A thousand-year Soul Beast had gained sentience, though it wasn't especially clever. Even so, all it wanted was to get away from these humans as fast as possible. Damn it, they were terrifying!

But how could Xiao Yan let it escape so easily?

"Villain, you're not getting away!"

He roared, swallowed another Essence Replenishment Pill, and gathered another fearsome surge of power in his hand!

"Hisssss! (Don't come any closer!!!)"

Huo Yuhao, Beibei, and Tang Ya all stared at the frenzied scene, stunned.

"Big Brother Bei, I remember... you said before that you couldn't be sure of beating a thousand-year Soul Beast, right?"

Little Yu Hao swallowed hard and asked in a trembling voice.

"Mm."

Beibei nodded. In truth, if not for Yu Hao's Spiritual Detection Sharing and Xiao Yan's help, he would have had to work quite a bit harder to deal with the Datura Snake.

"Then... how can a Soul Scholar without a single Soul Ring chase a thousand-year Soul Beast and beat it up?"

Tang Ya's eyes widened. She clenched her teeth and forced the words out through them.

She had thought Xiao Yan was a harmless kid. Who could have guessed that when he got serious, he'd dare chase down a thousand-year Soul Beast and beat it senseless?

If he dared chase a thousand-year Soul Beast today, tomorrow he'd go after a ten-thousand-year one, and the day after, he'd want a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!

"His future is bound to be brilliant."

Beibei watched Xiao Yan's retreating figure as he gave chase and sighed.

"A golden-scaled carp is no pond-dweller. Once it meets wind and clouds, it transforms into a dragon."

Xiao Yan's hunt went on for half a day.

After going through an entire bottle of Essence Replenishment Pills and tossing Buddha Fury Fire Lotuses as casually as basic attacks, the Crimson Fire Boa was finally slain.

Xiao Yan watched the purple Soul Ring gradually rise from the corpse and quietly took a deep breath.

"Are you really going to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring?"

Tang Ya caught up, looking worried.

Everyone knew that a hundred-year Soul Ring was best for a Soul Master's first ring. Even if they went beyond the recommended limit, it should be no more than five hundred years.

But Xiao Yan had gone straight after a thousand-year Soul Beast, hoping to ascend to the heavens in a single bound and start with a purple Soul Ring.

As the saying went, a man's greed was like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. If Xiao Yan forced it, he would surely explode and die.

But Xiao Yan wasn't a member of the Tang Sect, and Beibei had said he had no intention of joining. Tang Ya had no reason to warn him about this.

Xiao Yan nodded and said:

"Although the Crimson Fire Boa is a thousand-year Soul Beast, it's not very intelligent. I'd guess it's only a little over a thousand years old."

"You know I can make pills. Before coming here, I prepared pills that can temporarily boost physical strength and increase the number of years a Soul Ring can withstand. But I don't know if I can endure this thousand-year Soul Ring."

After all, this was still the early version of Douluo II. Soul Spirits hadn't appeared yet, so absorbing Soul Rings depended more on physical constitution than mental strength.

As it happened, in the three years since Xiao Yan's Martial Soul Awakening, he had constantly tempered his body. Even every trace of Soul Power he cultivated was absorbed by the Dragon Egg, then returned to him in the form of strengthened physical prowess.

In other words, Xiao Yan's physical constitution was far stronger than it appeared.

What's more, Xiao Yan had another plan in mind.

He and Little Fire Dragon were separate individuals, but because of the connection between his Martial Soul and his body, they could be considered two bodies with one life. That meant that when absorbing a Soul Ring, the physical constitutions of both individuals would share the strain.

Put simply, Xiao Yan's limit for absorbing a Soul Ring could be twice that of an ordinary person.

Xiao Yan hadn't ended his Martial Soul Possession. At that moment, he and Little Fire Dragon were of one mind and body, making it the perfect time to absorb a Soul Ring.

"All right, little brother Xiao Yan. Give it a try. We'll guard you."

Beibei didn't try to stop him. As for Huo Yuhao?

He himself had a million-year first Soul Ring, and Tian Meng had told him plenty of stories in his mind. He'd already been shocked more than once over the past few days, so this was nothing new.

Seeing that, Xiao Yan no longer held back. He took another bottle of crimson pills from his robes.

Dragon Blood Pills, made from ingredients such as Dragon Saliva Grass and Crimson Blood Flower. They boosted physical strength, stamina, endurance, and a host of other attributes. Long-term use might cause a fatal heart attack and send you soaring to the Body-Tempering Planet.

Xiao Yan had no intention of ascending to the Body-Tempering Planet, so he only took one while tempering his body, one when breaking through to absorb a Soul Ring, and one after breaking through to stabilize his condition...

In short, now was the perfect time!

Xiao Yan flicked his wrist and sent a Dragon Blood Pill into his mouth. Then he immediately sat down cross-legged and used his mental power to draw the Soul Ring toward him, guiding it onto his body.

In his previous life, Xiao Yan had often imagined what it might be like to break through a bottleneck if he were transported to another world.

But now that the moment had truly arrived—now that he was absorbing a Soul Ring with his own hands and battling the will that lingered within it—he realized it was still somewhat different from what he'd imagined.

Though a Soul Beast had died, its spirit and will remained in its Soul Ring. If one couldn't overcome them, one couldn't absorb the Soul Ring. They would be injured, lose a level, or, in the worst cases, die.

In the boundless Sea of Consciousness, a Crimson Fire Boa several stories tall looked down at Xiao Yan, who stood on the surface of the sea.

"Hiss~"

It flicked its tongue, an intimidating pressure radiating from its entire body.

Xiao Yan knew that the Soul Beast's thousand years of cultivation were at work.

The boy met the gaze of the Soul Beast, which seemed to tower between heaven and earth. Even though it looked much bigger and stronger than him in the Sea of Consciousness...

Xiao Yan had seen even more powerful creatures.

For example, the hundred-thousand-year Kan-Water Profound Turtle.

The boy's lips curled slightly. Then a red lotus burst into flame in his hand.

"Ya!"

Beside him, the golden Little Fire Dragon was just as eager for battle.

"Hiss—"

The Crimson Fire Boa formed fireballs one after another and shot them at the boy and the dragon, but Xiao Yan swept his hand through the air, raising a wall of flame that blocked every one of them.

"You couldn't beat me when you were alive. Now that you're dead, you still think you can rebel?"