New Martial Soul, Crimson Firmament Sword

A mere two thousand Gold Soul Coins held no attraction whatsoever for Wang Jingyu.

Now that he was worth fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins, would he be short on such a small amount?

The Mysterious Strongman Experience Card did pique his interest a little.

However, having grown accustomed to Tencent games in his previous life, Wang Jingyu knew that anything labeled an experience card was basically never any good.

What if he drew a Yu Xiaogang (weakling scumbag) Experience Card, or a Bu Le (Eastern Depot eunuch) Experience Card? Wouldn't that just make him miserable?

Thus, he had no interest in opening it. He stuffed the Experience Card, the Gold Soul Coins gifted by the system, and all the Gold Soul Coins he had won from betting into his storage space.

What truly mattered to him was that he had one chance to change his Martial Soul, along with a bonus growth-type Soul Ring.

The original owner's Martial Soul had been a rusted sword, its blade covered in rust and utterly unremarkable.

Though it was not a useless Martial Soul, it was more than one tier below high-grade or top-tier Martial Souls, restricting the growth of Wang Jingyu's strength.

In the half year since his transmigration, he had cultivated desperately every day, yet his Soul Power had not increased by even one level.

At twenty-one years old, his Soul Power had only barely reached Level 47.

Although that was quite remarkable compared to most ordinary people, compared to the protagonist group in the original work, this little achievement was rather pitiful.

Now, he had an opportunity to change his Martial Soul, with a growth-type Soul Ring thrown in as a bonus. This was equivalent to Tang San's natal Soul Ring.

Its upper limit could be determined according to his own capacity to bear it. To a certain extent, this Soul Ring possessed limitless potential!!!

Without further delay, he planned to change his Martial Soul immediately.

To be safe, he cautiously locked the doors and windows, then drew the curtains.

After doing all that, Wang Jingyu sat cross-legged on the floor and released his Martial Soul.

The rusted sword floated in the air under his control.

Four Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple—rose around the blade.

Through his thoughts, he used the chance to change his Martial Soul on the rusted sword Martial Soul, his expression solemn.

There was no telling what this Martial Soul change would actually turn into.

Whether it would change for the better or perversely change for the worse, no one could say.

Still, since he had been given such an opportunity, he would not give it up. Perhaps this would be his chance to become powerful.

"Ding, does the host wish to confirm using the Martial Soul change opportunity on the rusted sword Martial Soul?

Once confirmed, it can never be changed again. Whether fortune or disaster follows will be borne by the host alone."

The system prompt rang beside his ear, and Wang Jingyu answered without hesitation.

"This young master confirms it! No regrets!"

"Ding... Martial Soul change in progress. Please wait..."

The entire room fell into dead silence. Other than Wang Jingyu's heavy breathing, there was not a single sound.

After an unknown amount of time, the system prompt finally sounded beside Wang Jingyu's ear.

"Ding, congratulations to the host. Martial Soul change complete. You have obtained the Crimson Firmament Sword Martial Soul!"

Wang Jingyu's eyes instantly widened, his face filled with disbelief.

Crimson Firmament! Ranked third among China's Ten Great Famous Swords! The sword of imperial authority!

The Crimson Firmament Sword was also known as the White Rainbow Sword. Legend had it that it was the sword carried by Liu Bang, founder of China's Han Dynasty.

Back then, Emperor Gaozu of Han Liu Bang had used this sword to slay the white serpent at Mangdang Mountain and launch his uprising, punish the lawless, destroy the mighty Qin, annihilate Western Chu, and establish his imperial legacy.

Thus, this sword held an extremely high status in China, second only to the Sword of Sacred Authority—Xuanyuan—and the Sword of Benevolence—Zhanlu.

Yet Wang Jingyu was somewhat confused.

The original work clearly had no setting for the Crimson Firmament Sword, so why had his changed Martial Soul become the Crimson Firmament Sword?

Could it be because he had been Chinese in his previous life?

Had the system considered his personal feelings and given him the Crimson Firmament Sword as his new Martial Soul?

The Crimson Firmament Sword's three-foot blade was entirely crimson, as though it had just been taken from a furnace.

A faint dragon pattern was carved around the blade, looking vividly lifelike.

The two words "Crimson Firmament" were engraved on the blade in seal script. As though unaffected by gravity, it floated in the air, spinning rapidly.

Looking at the Crimson Firmament Sword floating before him, Wang Jingyu subconsciously extended his right hand.

The Crimson Firmament Sword actually moved without wind, tracing a graceful crimson arc through the air before landing in his right hand.

The instant he gripped the Crimson Firmament Sword, he felt as though it were connected to him by blood. He swung the sword, weaving several flourishing sword patterns before him.

As the long sword danced, Wang Jingyu seemed to see a crimson dragon dancing along with it, soaring and twisting through the air.

This feeling of wielding it as naturally as an arm made him love the Crimson Firmament Sword more and more. Compared to that rusted sword from before, the Crimson Firmament Sword was clearly an existence akin to a divine artifact.

Once he calmed down, Wang Jingyu suddenly discovered that the four Soul Rings the rusted sword had originally possessed had all disappeared at the same time as the Martial Soul changed into the Crimson Firmament Sword, as though they had never existed.

His Soul Power had now fallen to Level 20, equivalent to Qian Renxue's innate full Soul Power of Level 20 in the original work.

Looking at the Crimson Firmament Sword's bare blade, there was not a single Soul Ring on it.

Wang Jingyu could not help but hesitate. Should he absorb the Soul Ring reward given by the system now, or wait until he had filled in the earlier Soul Rings first?

After some consideration, Wang Jingyu ultimately decided to absorb that Soul Ring into the Crimson Firmament Sword's first Soul Ring slot.

After all, the first Soul Ring was a growth-type Soul Ring. It would change along with the growth of his strength in the future.

Perhaps once his strength reached a certain level, this first Soul Ring would directly turn red, or perhaps even crimson-gold.

By then, he could simply stand in front of a crowd and scare most people stiff. How imposing would that be?

"Hehe, this is it, then."

Wang Jingyu gave a sinister chuckle, then sat down cross-legged and began absorbing the Soul Ring bestowed by the system.

About half an hour later, Wang Jingyu slowly opened his eyes. At that moment, a sharp gleam flickered in them, as though sword light were piercing out through his gaze.

When he looked at the first Soul Ring, his expression clearly froze. The first Soul Ring had actually turned purple after being absorbed?

What was going on? Had his first Soul Ring become a thousand-year Soul Ring?

Wang Jingyu's mind buzzed for a moment at first, but after recalling the plot of the original work, he vaguely came to a few guesses.

His strength had originally reached Level 47, and his body could withstand a maximum Soul Ring age of around 3,000 to 5,000 years.

Therefore, his first Soul Ring had now automatically evolved to the highest age his body could bear—a purple Soul Ring.

This also meant that when Wang Jingyu filled in his second through fourth Soul Rings in the future, it would be best for all of them to be at the 5,000-year level, or even higher.

For Wang Jingyu, the optimal Soul Ring configuration no longer applied to him now—at least, not for his first four Soul Rings.

While he was at it, he shifted his attention to his first soul skill.

His first soul skill was called Dragon's Rise—Banish Evil: it increased the attack power of allies within a 20×20-meter area by 20%, while suppressing the attack power of enemies within the area by 20%.

After Level 20, for every 3 levels the user's strength increased, this skill's effect would increase by 1%. There was no time limit, but it consumed the user's Soul Power!