Soul Ring Changes

The air was saturated with an incredibly dense concentration of soul power, even more abundant than in the forbidden grounds of Martial Soul Hall.

"Well come."

Qian Daoliu looked calm as six wings unfurled behind his back. With his Angel Martial Soul Possession active, nine soul rings—eight black and one red—circled his body, radiating a suffocating pressure.

The space ahead distorted, and a massive creature stepped out from the void.

It was a giant dragon, pitch-black from head to tail, over fifty meters long with wings that blotted out the sky.

Its dragon eyes were dark gold, filled with brutality and murderous intent.

Most alarming was the aura surrounding it, black as ink; it was a terrifying soul beast of ninety thousand years, nearing the hundred-thousand-year mark!

"A dark-attribute sub-dragon?" Qian Daoliu raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

The dark giant dragon let out a roar, and dragon breath surged forth like a tidal wave.

Qian Daoliu did not dodge or evade, allowing the breath, which could melt steel, to slam into him.

Golden light exploded, and as the dragon breath dissipated, Qian Daoliu remained unmoved, not even a wrinkle appearing on his clothes.

"Is that all you've got?"

He spoke indifferently, his right hand gripping the air as the Angel Holy Sword condensed in his palm.

In the next instant, Qian Daoliu's figure vanished from where he stood.

The dark giant dragon turned abruptly, only to see a streak of golden light flash past its side.

Puff—

A spray of blood erupted from the dragon's neck, and a massive dragon head soared into the air.

Decapitated with a single strike.

The dark giant dragon didn't even have time to let out a second scream before its massive body crashed to the ground.

In its death throes, it struggled frantically, its tail sweeping across the ground and carving out trenches dozens of meters deep.

But Qian Daoliu was already standing in mid-air, looking down at the dying beast.

A moment later, the giant dragon ceased all movement.

Just then, a dense orb of soul power drifted out from the dragon's corpse and submerged directly into Qian Daoliu's body.

He shuddered, clearly feeling that energy traveling along his meridians and finally converging on one of his black soul rings.

That black soul ring began to tremble violently, its color changing at a speed visible to the naked eye—shifting from ink-black to dark red, then from dark red to a blood-red hue.

"This is... one hundred thousand years?!"

Even with Qian Daoliu's composure, his pupils couldn't help but constrict.

He had originally assumed that the Spirit Pagoda Lv.1 could only elevate rings to the ten-thousand-year level, and that pushing a black soul ring to seven or eight thousand years was the limit.

Yet at this moment, that soul ring had actually broken through to one hundred thousand years!

Not only that, he could clearly feel his soul power limit rising frantically.

The limit of level ninety-nine was increasing... that barrier that had plagued him for so long was actually beginning to loosen.

"What a Spirit Pagoda!" Qian Daoliu laughed toward the sky. "It seems my limits are far beyond this!"

When he exited the trial space, the soul rings around his body had become seven black and two red.

The two hundred-thousand-year soul rings shone in tandem, their vast aura causing even the bottom hall of the Spirit Pagoda to tremble.

On the other side, Golden Crocodile Douluo's trial was equally thrilling.

He had stepped into a swampy land where corrosive mist filled the air.

With the Golden Crocodile King Martial Soul Possession active, Golden Crocodile Douluo's body expanded to three meters in height, covered in dark golden scales, with nine soul rings—two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red—circling his body.

His opponent was a ten-thousand-year earth dragon; though not as large as the dark giant dragon Qian Daoliu had faced, it was still twenty meters long, covered in rock-like armor, and possessed a steady, heavy aura.

Golden Crocodile Douluo grinned. "Just what I wanted!"

Without any flashy moves, he charged forward and wrapped his arms tightly around the earth dragon's head.

The earth dragon thrashed wildly, churning the swamp into chaos, but Golden Crocodile Douluo's arms were like iron pincers, remaining completely still.

"Get up!"

With a roar, Golden Crocodile Douluo actually pulled the entire earth dragon out of the swamp and slammed it hard against the ground.

The earth dragon's armor cracked, and blood splattered everywhere.

Pressing his advantage, Golden Crocodile Douluo rained down punch after punch, each one carrying the force to shatter mountains and split stones.

After ten punches, the earth dragon finally breathed its last.

As the orb of soul power surged into his body, Golden Crocodile Douluo shuddered.

He could feel one of his two hundred-year yellow soul rings beginning to pulse frantically, its color fading from yellow to purple, then deepening from purple... finally settling into a profound black!

"A ten-thousand-year soul ring!"

Golden Crocodile Douluo's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.

He originally thought it would at most reach the thousand-year mark, but he never expected it to directly leap to ten thousand years!

And the other yellow spirit ring also advanced to a purple thousand-year level.

The overall increase in strength far exceeded his expectations.

"Good! Good! Good!" He said "good" three times in a row, his eyes shooting out brilliant light, "At this rate, it won't be long before this Lonely One's spirit rings are all black, or even all red!"

Guangling Douluo's trial was the most straightforward.

He stepped into an ice field, where the cold wind howled and the world was a vast expanse of white.

This perfectly matched his spirit's attributes.

His spirit, the Guangling Divine Bow, manifested. Guangling Douluo's right hand formed a fist in the air, and a long bow, entirely ice-blue with golden patterns flowing along its body, materialized in his palm.

The bowstring was a combination of Extreme Cold Ice Silk and Radiant Silkworm Silk, emitting a dual fluctuation of ice and light.

Nine spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and five black—circled his body, shining brilliantly under the reflection of the ice field.

His opponent emerged from the depths of the ice field: a ten-thousand-year Ice Bear, five meters tall at the shoulder, its body covered in ice crystal armor. Every step it took made the ground tremble.

The Ice Bear roared, spewing forth an extreme cold breath from its mouth, freezing the air into ice crystals wherever it passed.

Guangling Douluo neither dodged nor evaded, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"Ice and light dual attributes, perfect for testing my bow!"

He stepped forward with his left foot, drawing the bow until it was as full as the moon.

An arrow materialized out of thin air on the bowstring. The arrow shaft was ice-blue, but the arrowhead burned with golden flames.

The two distinct energies of ice and light merged perfectly, emitting a heart-palpitating fluctuation.

The Ice Bear seemed to sense the threat and roared as it charged forward.

Guangling Douluo released the string.

Whoosh—

The arrow tore through the air, leaving a trail of ice-blue light behind it.

The arrow precisely pierced the Ice Bear's left eye and exited from the back of its head.

The Ice Bear's massive body froze in place. Immediately, ice crystals began to spread from the wound, while golden flames burned from within.

In less than three breaths, the ten-thousand-year Ice Bear crashed to the ground, its entire body encased in ice, yet its interior completely carbonized.

"Fifth spirit ability, Ice-Light Demon-Breaking Arrow." Guangling Douluo retracted his bow, nodding with satisfaction. "The power is quite good."

A ball of spirit power flowed into his body.

Guangling Douluo's body trembled, and his two hundred-year yellow spirit rings began to vibrate violently.

The yellow faded, and purple appeared—and not a common light purple, but a deep, almost purplish-black hue, just a hair's breadth away from ten thousand years!

He could feel that these two spirit rings had reached the level of over nine thousand years. With one more opportunity, they would definitely break through to ten thousand years.

"Two thousand-year spirit rings nearing ten thousand years!" Guangling Douluo's eyes shot out brilliant light. "The ice-light dual attributes are indeed ferocious. Next time, I'll aim directly for ten-thousand-year spirit rings!"

He excitedly did a few somersaults in the trial space, then laughed heartily as he exited.

After about fifteen minutes, the portal flashed, and Qian Daoliu and the other two walked out.

However, when everyone saw the changes in the three of them, they all gasped.

Nine spirit rings floated around Qian Daoliu. His original eight black and one red had now become...

Seven black and two red!