The Might of Ring Fusion

The Sunset Forest is different from the Star Dou Great Forest.

Here, ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts are common, thousand-year soul beasts are rare, and ten-thousand-year soul beasts are already overlord-level existences.

Therefore, this has always been the preferred location for low-year students of Shrek Academy to undergo training.

Lin Feng and his two companions searched the outer perimeter for half a day, but failing to find a suitable two-thousand-year soul beast, they had no choice but to venture deeper into the center of the forest.

Just as they stepped into a clearing with sparse ancient trees, Lin Feng, who was casting his spirit detection, suddenly said, "I have a bad feeling. There are many dilapidated spider webs and burrows here, but no aura of powerful soul beasts. Logically, Earth Cave Spiders in the Sunset Forest are usually existences with very high cultivation."

"Not good, it's a Thousand Jun Ant nest!" Lin Feng's pupils constricted as he shouted, "Retreat, quickly!"

The next moment, a black, dense swarm of Thousand Jun Ants surged out from the burrows in all directions like a tidal wave.

Their entire bodies were covered in dark gold or pitch-black carapaces, thick as armor and shimmering with a cold, metallic luster.

As their massive mandibles opened and closed, they emitted a teeth-grinding friction sound.

The swarm was filled with worker ants starting at ten-year cultivation, mixed with many soldier ants starting at hundred-year cultivation.

The queen ant leading them was the largest, and her cultivation had clearly exceeded two thousand years.

The dove occupies the magpie's nest!

The Earth Cave Spiders in this area had long been completely wiped out by the Thousand Jun Ant colony.

"A single thousand-year Thousand Jun Ant is not terrifying, but if you encounter a whole colony... even a Soul King or Soul Emperor could be exhausted to death," Ning Tian said, trembling.

At this moment, the ant colony clearly viewed the three of them as intruders.

The massive queen ant raised her mandibles and let out a sharp hiss.

The entire ant tide instantly formed an encirclement.

"Catch the ringleader first! You two find a chance to break out, I'll go draw their fire!"

Lin Feng did not look back, charging straight toward the queen ant.

In an instant, a large number of Thousand Jun Ants converged around the queen like a black tide, forming a surging barrier.

"Ning Tian, you go first, don't worry about us!" Wu Feng gritted her teeth, red light surging around her body as her Red Dragon Martial Soul possessed her, following closely behind Lin Feng.

"I'm not leaving!" Ning Tian did not hesitate; her soul ring lit up, and a buffing light fell directly onto Wu Feng.

If there are enough ants, they really can bite an elephant to death.

Lin Feng released his soul skills one after another, Fire Lotuses exploding within the swarm, but the Thousand Jun Ants were endless, impossible to kill off.

His soul power was consumed rapidly, and he soon fell into a heavy encirclement.

Even with his formidable physique, he could not withstand hundreds of frantic bites.

Wu Feng's situation was equally critical; her old wounds had not yet healed, and she was now trapped layer by layer by the ant swarm.

"Lin Feng! Wu Feng!" Ning Tian cried out, her soul power pouring out, yet she felt deeply powerless.

She had not yet broken through to Soul Elder, so she could not perform the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's secret skill, "Heart Separation Control," to buff multiple people simultaneously.

The Soul Tool in Ning Tian's hand flashed repeatedly as she struggled to kill the incoming worker ants.

Just then, the queen ant hissed, and three sturdy soldier ants suddenly changed direction, charging rapidly toward the isolated and helpless Ning Tian.

"It's too late... I have to unleash my strongest strike, and it will also be my last. This strike is enough to kill the queen, but it will exhaust all my soul power."

Lin Feng hardened his heart, a look of determination flashing in his eyes.

He decided to use Ring Fusion to kill the queen.

A terrifying aura began to rise from his body.

The queen sensed a fatal threat and hissed sharply; the hundred-year soldier ants that had been surrounding Ning Tian and Wu Feng retreated, fully encircling Lin Feng instead.

"No--!" Ning Tian screamed miserably, tears blurring her vision.

"Be obedient... go!" Lin Feng growled, fine cracks already appearing on his soul ring as destructive energy prepared to erupt.

Ning Tian's mind went blank, leaving only one thought.

That was to perform the legendary Ring Fusion!

This was a secret skill that only a very small number of genius direct-line soul masters of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could master.

Her ancestor, the Nine-Colored Goddess Ning Rongrong, had mastered it, but in the nearly thousand years since, no descendant had been able to do so.

"Urgh--!"

Ning Tian almost bit her teeth to pieces, blood flowing from the corners of her mouth as her soul power was compressed and fused within her body in an unprecedented way.

She forcibly merged all the soul power stored in her second soul ring into her first soul ring.

The first soul ring began to crack, showing signs of disintegration.

"Ring Fusion! The Seven Treasures have a name, the first is: Power!"

A brilliant seven-colored light bloomed as never before, and a beam of light, condensed to the point of near-substance, crossed the ant swarm and landed on Lin Feng.

Nearly three times the original power boost!

Surging power instantly filled every limb and bone of Lin Feng's body.

What is this?

A turning point!

Lin Feng made an immediate decision to disperse the momentum of his Ring Explosion; after all, such a technique would have plunged him into an irredeemable dead end.

"Red Dragon—Heart Lotus!"

Blazing flames bloomed like a lotus flower, detonating before the Ant Queen and instantly swallowing every Thousand Jun Ant within sight.

This strike successfully dealt a heavy blow to the thousand-year-old Ant Queen!

What a terrifying Fire Lotus...

Ning Tian and Wu Feng stared at the dense array of white and yellow Soul Rings, as well as the struggling Ant Queen on the ground, their faces pale with lingering fear.

"Ning Tian! Finish off the Ant Queen, quickly!" Lin Feng shouted.

This was no time to be dazed; the Ant Queen was not yet dead, and in the distance, many more worker and soldier ants were surging toward them.

Coming to her senses, Ning Tian immediately drew the soul-guided dagger bestowed upon her by her sect, sprinted forward, and pierced the head of the Thousand Jun Ant Queen with a single strike.

A deep purple Soul Ring slowly rose.

The remaining worker and soldier ants, seeing their queen dead, were suddenly leaderless and fell into chaos.

After Lin Feng slaughtered a dozen century-old soldier ants that were eyeing the queen's corpse, the remaining Thousand Jun Ants finally scattered completely.

Strike while the iron is hot.

With Lin Feng's assistance, Ning Tian successfully absorbed the Soul Ring and smoothly advanced to become a Soul Elder.

She also became the third Soul Elder in Class Nine, following Lin Feng and Wu Feng.

Three Soul Elders in one class; Teacher Mu Jin would probably wake up laughing in her dreams.

And her wager with that old hag Zhou Yi from Class One now had a much higher chance of success...

"Lin Feng, I don't know how to thank you... If it weren't for you, Wu Feng and I would likely have faced a grim fate today..." Ning Tian's eyes reddened, her voice choked with emotion.

"The fact that you didn't abandon me and stayed by my side is enough to make me happy and content. Besides, the key to obtaining this Soul Ring was you."

"I owe you a massive favor. When we find an opportunity, I will invite you to visit the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. My father will surely reward you handsomely, alright?"

"Hmm?" Lin Feng raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a playful smirk. "Taking me to meet your father? Ning Tian, don't tell me you've actually taken a fancy to me and want to use this opportunity to make me your live-in son-in-law."

"You—you're talking nonsense!" Ning Tian's cheeks flushed crimson instantly. Embarrassed and annoyed, she stomped her foot and grabbed Wu Feng's wrist. "I—I'm not talking to you anymore!"

With that, she dragged Wu Feng away without looking back.

"You could always offer yourself instead," Lin Feng's voice drifted lazily from behind, filled with amusement. "Though, I'm certainly not considering being a live-in husband."

Ning Tian's footsteps faltered, but she didn't turn around; her ears, however, had turned a deep shade of red.

She pulled the stifling-a-laugh Wu Feng along and walked even faster.

Lin Feng watched their retreating figures, shook his head with a light chuckle, and then followed at a leisurely pace.

Though this battle had been fraught with peril, it had granted Lin Feng a glimmer of insight.

He had witnessed with his own eyes the power of Ring Fusion that Ning Tian had unleashed in a desperate situation.

It was not a simple accumulation of soul power, but the fusion and sublimation of the very essence of the Soul Rings.

Different flames each possessed their own nature.

The Nirvana Phoenix Fire was ceaseless, the Mystic Ice Spirit Flame was biting, and the Red Lotus Heart Fire was scorching...

If he could find the balance between them, allowing them to merge and become one, the power that would be born... would be unimaginable.

That would be his ultimate trump card, surpassing even the Ring Explosion.