Absorbing Soul Rings (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendation)

In the outer reaches of the Star Dou Forest, ancient trees towered into the sky.

Sunlight was sliced into shards of gold by the overlapping canopy, scattering sparsely across the forest clearing.

The air was thick with the damp scent of rotting leaves, and the low growls of unknown soul beasts occasionally drifted from the distance.

Jiang Lin sat cross-legged atop a moss-covered boulder, his eyes tightly shut.

He had just turned ten this year, his frame tall and sturdy for his age, his black hair plastered to his temples by sweat.

Before him, a purple soul ring rotated slowly, continuously merging with the martial soul in front of him.

Purple.

A thousand-year soul ring.

Yet, this was his third soul ring.

A ten-year-old child, absorbing a third soul ring.

If any soul master were to see this configuration, their eyes would pop out of their sockets—most normal soul masters at ten were still fretting over their first soul ring, and having a yellow hundred-year ring was already considered a sign of decent talent.

Beneath Jiang Lin's feet, one yellow and two purple soul rings were already floating; the third one currently merging was a deep purple thousand-year soul ring, originating from a nine-thousand-three-hundred-year-old Blood-Armored Berserk Bear.

The absorption process was not easy.

The soul power of the Blood-Armored Berserk Bear carried a natural, ferocious aura, rampaging through his meridians. Jiang Lin's brows were furrowed, his teeth gritted with a rattling sound, and the veins on his forehead bulged slightly.

Yet, he never showed any intention of giving up, his spine held straight as he methodically guided that violent power through his meridians with his own soul power.

Not far away, an old man with white hair and beard, standing as straight as a pine, watched him closely.

The old man wore a simple grey cloth robe, and nine soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—revolved rhythmically beneath his feet. He was, quite clearly, a Titled Douluo.

His name was Chen Xuan, and he was Jiang Lin's guardian.

About two hours later, the look of agony on Jiang Lin's face slowly faded. The purple soul ring had shrunk by a circle, becoming more solid as it merged into the halberd before him, which was wreathed in dark red divine thunder.

After an unknown amount of time passed, Jiang Lin's body gave a violent jolt.

The purple soul ring settled completely onto the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd, and a wave of air rippled outward from him, sending the dead leaves and dust on the ground swirling into the air.

As the light dissipated, one yellow and two purple soul rings rose from beneath Jiang Lin's feet, rotating slowly.

Level thirty-three. It was done.

Jiang Lin opened his eyes, looked down at his hands, and felt the soul power in his meridians, which was more than twice as thick as before. The corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably.

Chen Xuan retracted his martial soul and walked over to Jiang Lin, a faint smile appearing on his withered face.

"In all my hundred years, I have never seen such a soul ring configuration."

"Just a stroke of luck."

Jiang Lin wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood up.

His martial soul, the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd, hovered beside him. Three soul rings pulsed rhythmically along the shaft, dark red baleful energy and lightning intertwining on the blade.

To be honest, only gaining twenty levels in four years made Jiang Lin feel he was losing face for his fellow transmigrator predecessors.

Those heaven-defying predecessors could beat up Qian Daoliu and bully Bibi Dong within four years, yet he was still struggling against a nine-thousand-year-old bear in the outer reaches of the Star Dou Forest.

But there was no helping it; his golden finger was weak in the early stages. That was why he had spent the last four years primarily tempering his physical body, raising his physical fitness to ensure he could absorb higher-year soul rings.

Accumulating strength for a greater breakthrough—it wasn't a total loss.

Now that the foundation was mostly laid, the main plot was about to begin.

Jiang Lin calculated that it was time to secure his starting capital and officially begin his journey of cheating.

Thinking of cheating, Jiang Lin subconsciously opened his system.

His system was a shop with an extremely simple function:

Recycle valuable items for points, and use points to buy goods. There were only four items in the shop, which refreshed once a day.

He hadn't checked the refresh last night because he was resting, and since it was past midnight, the new items should be listed.

Jiang Lin's gaze swept over the shop interface, and his pupils constricted sharply.

Dog Talisman, Price: 500,000 points.

God-Bestowed Soul Ring, Price: 10,000 points.

His heart skipped a beat.

Two golden items hung in the shop, nearly blinding him.

He immediately clicked on the description of the Dog Talisman—Immortal and indestructible, immune to all fatal damage, aging, and disease; eternal youth; passive effect active at all times.

Originating from a world called "Jackie Chan Adventures."

Jiang Lin stared at the description for several seconds, then shifted his gaze to the top right corner.

Balance: 13 points.

"...Fuck."

He closed the shop with an expressionless face.

Fifty thousand points; he didn't even have a fraction of that right now.

This system was great in every way, except for being far too expensive.

Nearby, Chen Xuan had already severed the paws of the Blood-Armored Berserk Bear and stowed them away in his storage Soul Tool. He swept his spiritual power over the carcass once more, but found no spirit bone.

Jiang Lin wasn't disappointed, though. Expecting a spirit bone from every spirit beast was the privilege of a protagonist, and he clearly hadn't reached that level yet.

Come to think of it, last night's events were purely accidental.

They had originally planned to rest for the night before searching for a suitable spirit beast, but they happened to run into a pack of Cold Peak Beast chasing this Blood-Armored Berserk Bear.

The bear was cornered with nowhere to run, so Jiang Lin tearfully accepted the spirit ring it offered and the honeycomb he had just dug out.

Although absorbing a spirit ring at night carried risks, with a level 92 Titled Douluo like Chen Xuan there to guard him, those risks were negligible.

"You brat are already level 33 now. What are your plans for the next step?"

Chen Xuan stroked his beard as he asked. He had watched Jiang Lin grow from the day he awakened his martial soul at age six until now, eating Whale Rubber until he vomited and tempering his body until he collapsed from exhaustion. Looking across the entire Douluo Continent, few of his peers possessed such perseverance.

"Leave the Star Dou Forest first."

Jiang Lin looked up at the sky; the horizon was already turning a pale white. Without realizing it, they had been at it all night. "The time is almost up. It's time to go collect my startup capital."

He shouldered the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd and strode toward the outer perimeter of the forest. Behind him, the system's shop interface still hovered in mid-air, the words Dog Talisman glowing with an alluring golden light in the morning sun.

Fifty thousand points.

Jiang Lin etched this number into his heart.