Absorption, Upgrade

Upon hearing his wife's words, Zhang Lingyue's expression shifted instantly. His martial soul appeared in his hand, and he stepped in front of Zhang Yang in a flash.

Zhu Ranqing also sprang to her feet, standing beside Zhang Lingyue as she pointed her cat claws diagonally upward. "Lingyue, over there."

Zhang Lingyue followed the direction of Zhu Ranqing's finger and quickly spotted the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow.

"Dark silver body, ink-blue gradient on the tips of its feathers—it is indeed a century-level Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow." Zhang Lingyue nodded, gripping his axe tighter.

"I felt it spying on us just now; its target is our son," Zhu Ranqing said softly.

Zhang Lingyue nodded. "Perfect. Then it cannot be left alive."

Watching the three people on the ground, the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow tilted its head and let out two chirps.

Hearing its cry, Zhang Lingyue narrowed his eyes. "Flying-type soul beasts are truly arrogant. A mere century-level soul beast dares to provoke me, a Soul King?"

"Ranqing, let's move together."

As Zhang Lingyue spoke, his soul power erupted. The majestic aura of a Soul King surged forth, and his figure shot into the air like a cannonball.

At the same time, Zhu Ranqing's figure vanished from where she stood.

"Hah!"

Zhang Lingyue flipped the axe in his hand, the thick back of the blade carving a sharp arc as he smashed it toward the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow on the branch.

"Chirp!"

The two enemies in its field of vision vanished instantly. Sensing danger, the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow beat its wings and appeared in mid-air.

Crack. The back of the axe slammed into the spot where the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow had been standing, instantly snapping the branch, which was as thick as an adult's thigh.

"Hell Stab!"

The next moment, a slender, graceful figure trailing purple afterimages appeared behind the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow, having used the tree trunk to change direction twice in mid-air.

Her sharp, slender claws swept through a dangerous arc. The Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow had no time to dodge and was forced to take the hit head-on.

"Chirp!" The Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow wailed as its body plummeted.

In mid-air, Zhang Lingyue's soul power flared. He charged his axe, his eyes locked onto the injured Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow.

Knowing it couldn't fall into the range of the Soul King below, the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow endured the intense pain and beat its wings, carving an arc in the air as it attempted to flee.

Seeing the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow trying to escape, the first soul ring at Zhang Lingyue's feet lit up, and his axe glowed with a brown light.

"Go!"

Zhang Lingyue flicked his wrist, and his martial soul axe left his hand, splitting from one into two, four, and then eight. In an instant, thirty-two axe shadows formed an inescapable net, tumbling toward the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow in the air.

"Chirp, chirp."

The Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow's vertical pupils trembled rapidly as it accurately identified the one with the most concentrated soul power among the thirty-two axe shadows.

"Chirp!"

The Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow chirped again and flashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the trajectory of the "real axe."

"Chirp!"

The Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow wobbled with its injured body, flapping its wings harder in a desperate attempt to escape.

But at that very moment, the first soul ring at Zhang Lingyue's feet flashed once more.

"Thud!"

Turning from illusion to reality, the axe that the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow had dismissed as a phantom struck true.

The heavy back of the axe slammed squarely into the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow's head.

With that blow, the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow fell unconscious, its body dropping like a stone and landing on the thick layer of fallen leaves.

At the same time, the other thirty-one axe shadows pierced through the dense canopy like phantoms before dissolving into bubbles, vanishing without a trace.

To treat the false as real, and the real as false; the transformation between illusion and reality—this was the effect of Zhang Lingyue's first soul ring skill.

"Hmph, as expected. No matter how clever a soul beast is, it is still just a beast."

Zhang Lingyue retracted his martial soul and summoned it again. A moment later, Zhu Ranqing landed, leaping to the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow's side and pinning its wings down firmly.

"Yangyang, come quickly. Your soul ring is ready."

Hearing his mother's call, Zhang Yang hurried over to Zhu Ranqing's side, his face full of excitement. "Mom, Dad, you two were just so cool!"

Zhang Yang had stood in place, taking in the entire process of the two surrounding the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow.

Whether it was the sky full of axe shadows from Zhang Lingyue's soul skill or Zhu Ranqing's continuous direction changes that left afterimages, Zhang Yang felt a sense of awe.

What fascinated Zhang Yang even more were the soul rings at their feet.

The colors of the optimal soul ring combinations, and the way those colorful rings rotated and pulsed in the air as they fought, looked incredibly cool.

"Save the compliments for later. Hurry, kill it and absorb the soul ring." Zhang Lingyue flipped his hand to produce a cold-glinting dagger, handing it to Zhang Yang.

The environment in the Star Dou Forest was complex and fraught with danger; the sound of a gunshot was too loud and abrupt, clashing with the surroundings.

Therefore, before entering the Star Dou Forest, Zhang Lingyue had instructed Zhang Yang that he was not allowed to use his firearm without permission.

Zhang Yang took the dagger and thrust it firmly into the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow's chest, right where the wing met the body.

"..." With a barely audible sigh, the chest of the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow shriveled.

Faint yellow specks of light began to coalesce above the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow's body, quickly forming a clear yellow ring.

"Son, manifest your Martial Soul, use your soul power to guide the soul ring onto your Martial Soul, and then immediately begin meditating to absorb the soul ring's energy."

Feeling the energy contained within the soul ring, Zhang Yang nodded, returned the dagger to Zhang Lingyue, and sat cross-legged with Lord M14 appearing in his hands.

As Zhang Yang released his soul power, the soul ring of the Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow seemed to receive guidance, floating directly to Zhang Yang's side and settling onto the barrel of Lord M14.

Zhang Yang felt as if boiling water were surging through his veins, a scorching energy instantly spreading throughout his entire body.

"Stay conscious. Son, remember, if you stay conscious, you win. If the soul ring's power cannot suppress you, it will become all the more obedient and serve you."

Zhang Lingyue's voice seemed to drift down from the heavens. At the very last moment of his remaining consciousness, Zhang Yang opened his system interface.

The next moment, a cooling sensation instantly permeated every nerve in Zhang Yang's body, so comfortable that he couldn't help but let out a soft groan.

Looking at the system interface again, a flash of yellow light swept across it, and the entire interface was rimmed with a golden border.

Subsequently, that golden border began to disintegrate, turning into countless specks of light. One by one, the specks drifted from the edges of the interface and gathered beneath Zhang Yang's feet.

Slowly, a pale yellow ring of light took shape beneath Zhang Yang.

It was not over yet.

The golden border continued to disintegrate into specks of light, which incessantly gathered into a ring beneath Zhang Yang, growing wider and more solid.

Once the golden border had completely disintegrated, all the specks had gathered, and the ring of light had fully solidified, a pale yellow pillar of light rose from below, enveloping Zhang Yang's entire figure within the interface.

As the pillar of light soared, the ring beneath Zhang Yang's feet began to transform, with profound patterns rotating and pulsing in harmony with nature...

Until all changes were complete, a new interface popped up:

10>>>11-->11>>>12

Lv.1up↑,3120EXP↑

4235/0-->7355/20000

The soul ring absorption was complete, and the system level automatically rose to level 11.

The experience Zhang Yang had previously accumulated was automatically carried over to the level 11 experience bar.

Furthermore, absorbing a soul ring also increases experience, with the experience value being 10 times the age of the soul ring.

This was another 9,000 experience points.

Immediately following this, the system interface went black, and then a line of artistic, large characters slowly emerged.

"Season 2: New Star Before the Palace"

This image paused for ten seconds before slowly fading away.

The next moment, a new system prompt popped up.

"Congratulations, you have unlocked [Season Mission: Prove Yourself]."

"You can view it in the Season Mission section."

Two more pale blue system light screens popped up.

"Gun Modification Bench has been unlocked. You can now unlock the first accessory slot for your Martial Soul."

"Soul ring age enhancement function has been unlocked. Please learn the details via Gun Modification Bench - Enhance Martial Soul Age."