Douluo: Jianmu Martial Soul, Am I an Abomination of Abundance?

"Good, good, good! Then let's go!" Mu Changsheng said happily, grabbing Mu Ci and preparing to leave.

Mu Ci was left stunned by this sudden move, unable to make sense of it.

"What are you standing around for? Go absorb your soul ring!"

"But Grandpa, shouldn't we go to a Spirit Beast Forest to obtain a soul ring? At the very least, the Soul Hunting Forest? Why are we going to the back garden of our estate?"

Lin Ya followed along beside them. Hearing Mu Ci's question, she smiled and said:

"Didn't you ask the family to keep an eye out for those plant-type spirit beasts you marked down?"

Mu Ci nodded. He had indeed asked the family to watch for them.

"When your grandfather returned from Star Dou Forest after hunting spirit beasts, he happened to encounter a Sun Flower that was around seventeen hundred years old."

Mu Ci had nothing left to say. This was practically heaven handing him food.

A Sun Flower was a plant-type spirit beast similar to a sunflower, except it did not have any sunflower seeds.

It could absorb the essence of sunlight to fuel its growth, and it could also use it to attack or defend. It was quite a rare type of spirit beast.

Choosing it was also another experiment of Mu Ci's: whether different varieties of plant-type spirit beasts could promote the growth of the Ambrosial Arbor and the Path. After all, diversity itself was a form of Abundance!

Even if it could not, the Sun Flower was still an excellent soul ring choice. Absorbing this soul ring would most likely grant a purification effect related to Sun Power. Spirit Hall had records of that.

Only with healing and cleansing could one be considered a qualified healer.

Following Mu Changsheng into a botanical garden, Mu Ci immediately spotted the wilted Sun Flower.

A small wooden hut woven from vines sat over the Sun Flower's head, preventing even a ray of sunlight from reaching the flower itself.

"After I exhausted the Sun Power it had stored, I sealed it within a Plant Cage, leaving it unable to draw even a trace of power from sunlight."

Mu Changsheng looked at the Sun Flower and introduced it to Mu Ci.

"Go on. Obtain your second soul ring," Lin Ya encouraged from the side.

Mu Ci nodded, pulled out a weapon from his Soul Tool, and severed the Sun Flower's blossom in one stroke.

Having lost its sun-facing flower, the Sun Flower immediately began to wither.

Surging Soul Power swiftly condensed into a purple soul ring that bobbed up and down.

Already familiar with the process after absorbing one soul ring before, Mu Ci directly released his martial soul and began drawing in the soul ring.

Scorching, immense soul ring power began pouring into every part of his body, tearing and strengthening him all over.

However, this absorption was far safer than when he had absorbed his first soul ring.

With the boost from a top-grade soul bone, a mere seventeen-hundred-year-old Sun Flower could not come close to Mu Ci's limit.

Whale Rubber Method

Less than half an hour later, Mu Ci opened his eyes and rose from the ground.

Seeing the expectant looks in the two elders' eyes, Mu Ci directly displayed his soul rings.

Yellow, purple.

The two soul rings alternated above and below him, signifying the birth of the first recorded second soul ring at the thousand-year level.

Of course, God Trial Participants did not count, and ordinary people were not meant to know such things anyway.

Lin Ya had worked at Spirit Hall for decades, yet she had never seen Qian Daoliu display his soul rings in public, much less known of that terrifying configuration of eight black and one red.

"Good! Excellent!"

The two elders smiled at the sight. They had witnessed a miracle.

"How does it feel?" Lin Ya asked.

"My Soul Power has reached level twenty-three. As for the soul skill..."

"It's a Domain-Type Soul Skill like my first soul skill, and its effects are roughly the same. It replaces healing with continuous purification, though it isn't as overbearing as the Sun Flower's ability to remove negative conditions all at once."

"The thousand-year soul skill also has an additional effect. Under sunlight, the Soul Power consumption rate when using the soul skill is reduced by fifty percent."

Lin Ya's face was full of emotion as she said:

"I'm not surprised by your Soul Power. With the Soul Power boost from a top-grade soul bone and an Overlimit Soul Ring, reaching only level twenty-three does not seem high to me. If anything, it seems a little low."

"As for the soul skill, it's very good. As expected of a thousand-year soul ring!"

Mu Changsheng was very satisfied with his grandson's Soul Power and soul skill, but having two consecutive support-type soul skills still left him somewhat concerned. He reminded Mu Ci:

"However, our family's martial soul is ultimately a control-type martial soul. Little Ci, you should acquire some combat-type soul skills in the future. A pure support Spirit Master has no means of self-defense."

After chatting for a while, the three of them prepared to head back.

Mu Ci suddenly took a small booklet from his storage Soul Tool and handed it to Lin Ya.

"Grandma, I'll definitely have to display my soul rings in front of others in the future. There will certainly be many people who want to know the secret behind my thousand-year second ring."

"That new Pope of Spirit Hall will surely ask about it too. When the time comes, just submit this booklet."

"What is this?"

Lin Ya accepted the booklet and looked at Mu Ci in confusion.

Mu Ci replied, "It's a method I discovered for improving physical fitness. It can effectively raise the absorption limit of the first four soul rings."

Mu Changsheng and Lin Ya were shocked and hurriedly opened the booklet to examine it.

"Whale Rubber? Isn't that used for bed... It can actually raise the soul ring absorption limit?" Mu Changsheng was astonished by what the booklet described.

Something used for amusement among nobles actually had such a powerful effect.

"Yes. I accidentally heard that nobles used this stuff, and that after consuming it, their bodies heated up and their skin turned red."

"Out of curiosity, I bought a piece to study. I discovered that this coagulated substance from the brains of whale-type spirit beasts could effectively strengthen a Spirit Master's physical body."

"However, it must be consumed properly to achieve that effect. Its use in bed is merely a side effect of Whale Rubber."

Mu Ci made up the story of how he had discovered Whale Rubber's effects.

"If this method gets out, wouldn't everyone be able to have a thousand-year second ring?" The two elders were greatly alarmed.

If everyone could have a thousand-year second ring, then what would be the point of everything they had done?

Mu Ci shook his head and replied, "Of course it isn't that simple. First, hundred-year Whale Rubber has a negligible strengthening effect. Even if consumed in large quantities, it only grants around a hundred additional years before becoming ineffective."

"Whale Rubber over a thousand years old does have quite a good effect. Consuming it can add one or two hundred years, and while later consumption has diminishing returns, it can ultimately increase the limit by several hundred years."

"If both are consumed in great quantities, it is possible to attempt a thousand-year second ring, but there is still considerable risk."

"Furthermore, Whale Rubber is already a luxury product circulated among nobles. It simply isn't realistic for everyone to have a thousand-year second ring."

"In the end, only a handful of forces will have the financial and material resources to purchase these things for their heirs."

How could a thousand-year second ring possibly be so easy to achieve?

Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei had immensely powerful backgrounds. One had Imperial Family blood, while the other stood behind the continent's strongest power and even had a Limit Douluo great-grandfather. Yet didn't they still have standard soul ring configurations?

Would those two not know a method even inner court disciples knew, especially when the Mysterious Underworld Sect had started out through pill refining?

Hearing this, Mu Changsheng and Lin Ya came to a realization.

Whale Rubber had to be obtained from the Endless Sea, and whale-type spirit beasts, as one of the ocean's dominant species, were famously powerful. That made production even scarcer.

"It's already very good. Having a possibility is far better than having no hope at all."

Lin Ya regarded the small booklet as if it were a priceless treasure, yet she was somewhat reluctant as she said, "Little Ci, are we really going to hand this over?"

"Of course. If we don't, my thousand-year second ring will become a target for everyone. And if there is no viable method to explain it, people will surely suspect that I possess a soul bone."

"Our family may be quite strong now, but you can't stay by my side forever. Soul bones are regarded as treasures worth a river of blood. There will definitely be desperate criminals willing to kill and rob for one."

"After submitting it, we can also have Spirit Hall vouch for us. The fewer troubles we have, the better."

Mu Ci answered seriously.

"Yes, Little Ci makes sense. We truly need to guard against the consequences of a thousand-year second ring."

Mu Changsheng nodded, fully agreeing with Mu Ci's decision. Although their family now had a Title Douluo overseeing it, they were still far from being able to intimidate the entire world through their name alone.

Even Spirit Hall could not manage that. Countless desperate criminals would take risks for the slightest gain, and people entered prison every year because of it.

"Besides, I'm bringing this out now, but I never said you had to submit it immediately."

"Our family can make a round of purchases first, then submit it to the Pope Palace and Worship Hall a few months later."

"That way, even those people at the top won't have anything to say. After all, the Mu Family's wealth can only buy so much. It would be insignificant to the entire Whale Rubber market."

Hearing this reasoning, Mu Changsheng and Lin Ya nodded.

Indeed, their family did not have the power or wealth to monopolize or protect such a massive market. It was better to take a big bite first, then hand the secret formula to Spirit Hall in exchange for benefits.

As for whether Spirit Hall's higher-ups would blame their family for failing to immediately submit such a major secret—

Neither of them considered that a concern. Not to mention that their grandson had developed this method himself.

If not for diverting attention, they would never have revealed such a secret to everyone. They were merely buying some in advance to store away. What was wrong with that?

Someone like Bibi Dong presumably would not make a fuss over such a matter.

Mu Changsheng suddenly thought of something and quickly discussed it with his grandson.

"Little Ci, do you think consuming a piece of ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber before absorbing the first ring could achieve a thousand-year first ring?"

Mu Ci considered it and said seriously, "Not likely. The Soul Power contained in ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber is too immense. Even if it is divided into small pieces, an ordinary Soul Scholar who has not yet absorbed a soul ring cannot consume it. It is far less efficient than consuming hundred-year or thousand-year Whale Rubber."

"The ideal order is gradual progression: consume hundred-year Whale Rubber before the first ring, thousand-year Whale Rubber before the second ring, and if conditions allow, ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber before the third and fourth rings. This can maximize the soul ring limit, raising it by roughly fifty to eighty percent beyond that of someone who has not consumed it."

Mu Changsheng nodded and did not continue asking about the matter.

Seeing that the two elders had no further questions, Mu Ci took the opportunity to tell them that he wanted to travel and practice medicine.

Bibi Dong and Hu Liena

"Grandpa, Grandma, my God Trial has stopped again. Next, I want to travel throughout Luo Lan Province and practice medicine, so I can comprehend the true meaning of Abundance."

Mu Changsheng and Lin Ya exchanged a glance and nodded. They had no objections. After all, they had witnessed everything that had happened over the past year, and Mu Ci had mentioned something similar during a meal some time ago, so they had long been prepared.