Su Mo: "I Condensed Them Myself!"

P.S.: I revised the previous chapter a little. Su Mo had focused on developing his Void ability, which allowed him to become immune to any attack and leave at any time with teleportation.

The Spirit Hall Branch's certification hall was deserted. The staff member responsible for Soul Master rank certifications was dozing over the counter, his drool nearly reaching the tabletop.

Su Mo walked over and rapped his knuckles against the counter.

Knock, knock, knock.

The staff member jolted upright, groggily wiping at the corner of his mouth. When he saw the young man and woman standing before him, he visibly froze.

"Are you two... here to certify your Soul Master ranks?"

He had not seen anyone come in for rank certification for more than half a year.

Su Mo nodded.

The staff member rubbed his eyes and pulled himself together somewhat. He dug out a registration form from a drawer. "Name, age, Martial Soul, Soul Power Level."

"Su Mo, nineteen years old, Blood Shadow Sword Martial Soul, level seventy-eight Soul Saint."

His pen stopped.

The staff member looked up and sized Su Mo up, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Young man, that kind of joke isn't funny. Level seventy-eight? You can't be more than twenty at most. If you said you were a Soul Ancestor, I'd still have my doubts, and you're claiming to be a Soul Saint?"

It was no wonder he said that. Now that there were no Soul Rings, countless Soul Grandmasters and Soul Elders were stuck at bottlenecks. Many had been trapped at their original rank for over a decade. Their Soul Power had long since accumulated to astonishing levels, yet they simply could not break through.

In such an environment, who would believe that a Soul Saint under twenty had suddenly appeared?

Su Mo did not waste words. He made a loose grasp with his right hand, and the Blood Shadow Sword silently appeared.

The dark crimson blade gleamed with eerie blood-red light beneath the certification hall's lamps. The bloodline running down its ridge pulsed faintly as though alive. Then, his Soul Rings lit up.

One ring, two rings, three rings, four rings, five rings, six rings, seven rings.

Yellow, black, black, black, black, black, black.

Seven Soul Rings slowly revolved around him, each one solid to the extreme. Their black radiance congealed in the air like ink, and the pressure they gave off seemed to freeze the air throughout the entire hall.

"Th-this..."

The staff member's mouth opened, closed, then opened again.

His pupils shook.

The registration form in his hand silently drifted down onto the counter. It was not that he had failed to hold it properly; his fingers had already gone stiff.

"A S-S-Soul Saint?!"

That final word was practically squeezed from his throat, his voice breaking beyond recognition.

His second Soul Ring was a black Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. He had never even heard of such a configuration!

Su Mo withdrew his Martial Soul, and the Soul Rings faded with it. He picked up the registration form again and placed it in front of the man, his tone as calm as if he were commenting on the weather. "Please register me."

The staff member remained stunned for over a dozen breaths before coming back to his senses. He picked up the form with trembling hands and stammered, "P-please wait. I'll call the supervisor... No, no, no, I'll call the branch bishop directly! Please don't leave. Please, don't leave!"

He did not even dare have Su Mo wait there. Instead, he ran to the doorway and shouted outside, calling over a deacon to escort Su Mo and Xiao Wu into the reception room before scrambling upstairs.

Su Mo and Xiao Wu had barely sat down on the reception room sofa, and tea had not even been served when hurried footsteps sounded outside.

There was more than one set of footsteps. A whole group was coming. Shoes struck the marble floor in a dense, frantic jumble, like a flock of startled birds taking flight at once.

The reception room door was shoved open. The first to enter was an elderly man in red robes: the bishop of the Suotuo City Spirit Hall Branch.

Seven or eight others followed behind him. Deacons, supervisors, clerks—everyone who could come had come, crowding the doorway shut.

Every face wore the same expression: disbelief, excitement, and suspicion.

The staff member had already told them about Su Mo, but they still had to confirm it with their own eyes.

"This little brother... Your Excellency," the Suotuo City Bishop said. His breathing was visibly unsteady, and he forcibly suppressed his urgency into respect. His form of address twisted several times before settling. "Could you allow us to see your Soul Rings in person?"

Su Mo set down his teacup and rose to his feet.

Within the reception room, the Blood Shadow Sword appeared again.

Seven Soul Rings slowly revolved above his head. The black second Soul Ring was especially glaring beneath the lights, like a black sun hanging deep within everyone's pupils.

"It's real!"

"It's actually real!"

"You really are a Soul Saint!"

The Suotuo City Bishop's hands trembled faintly inside his sleeves.

It was not as though he had never seen a Soul Saint. He himself was one. Yet in all his life, he had never seen such a Soul Ring configuration.

The second Soul Ring was ten thousand years old, and every Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring after it was of an even greater age. Even if one searched the entire continent, they would not find another configuration like this.

But none of that was the most important thing. What mattered most were the Soul Rings on Su Mo's body.

In this era, when Soul Beasts had gone extinct, where had Su Mo's Soul Rings come from?

"Your Excellency, how did you add your Soul Rings?"

The Suotuo City Bishop asked in a trembling voice, his gaze locked tightly on Su Mo.

"I condensed them myself!"

Su Mo answered calmly.

"What?"

"You condensed them yourself?"

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Your Soul Rings were really condensed by yourself?"

"How did you do it?"

"When did this happen..."

"..."

Upon hearing Su Mo's words, everyone present cried out in shock, staring at him with incredulous yet intensely inquisitive gazes.

"That's because my Brother Su Mo is amazing, of course!"

Xiao Wu, who had been standing to the side, immediately giggled when she saw everyone's stunned expressions.

Su Mo was so impressive that she felt proud as well.

Back then, when Su Mo had been able to create the Ring Condensation Technique, she had provided him with her experience of Self-Condensed Soul Rings.

So she deserved some credit for it too.

"Y-you... Could you be a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Transformation?"

Amid his shock, the Suotuo City Bishop suddenly thought of the most reasonable possibility and asked again.

The others immediately came to the same realization.

That possibility was indeed far more likely.

But after understanding it, a powerful sense of disappointment rose in their hearts.

How they wished Su Mo were a true human Soul Master who had condensed his Soul Rings through his own efforts!

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Transformation isn't bad either. You could share your experience with Self-Condensed Soul Rings with the Creation Institute!"

One of them quickly brightened and laughed.

The others' eyes lit up as well.

Yes, that would be good too.

"No. Have you ever seen a Soul Beast that was a sword?"

Su Mo looked at them speechlessly and summoned his Martial Soul again.

The dark crimson Blood Shadow Sword swiftly appeared in Su Mo's hand.