Increasing the Soul Ring's Age Limit

The interior of the forest was darker than imagined.

Sunlight was blocked by the dense branches and leaves, filtered into faint specks of light scattered across the thick layer of fallen leaves.

A peculiar scent permeated the air. It was not the fragrance of flowers, but the territorial markings left behind by Soul Beasts.

Fang Mo walked behind Bibi Dong, maintaining a distance of three steps.

The moment he entered the forest, his senses became extraordinarily sharp. Dong'er was assisting him.

"Three hundred meters ahead, there are two Shadow Wolves," Dong'er's voice sounded in his mind. "One is around three hundred years old, and the other is around five hundred."

Fang Mo relayed the information to Bibi Dong. "Teacher, there are two Shadow Wolves ahead."

Bibi Dong did not stop walking. Somewhat surprised, she asked, "You can sense them?"

Fang Mo hesitated briefly, then nodded.

"My Martial Soul... seems to be more sensitive to Dark-type Soul Beast auras."

Bibi Dong did not press further.

After all, for her, detection was effortless.

She raised her right hand and made a gesture. The guards behind her immediately split into two groups and circled around from both flanks.

Moments later, a brief commotion came from deep within the forest: the howls of Shadow Wolves, clashes of Soul Power, and the guards' shouts.

The disturbance quickly died down.

A guard captain hurried back and dropped to one knee.

"Your Holiness the Pope, the three-hundred-year-old one has been driven away. We have surrounded the five-hundred-year-old one."

Bibi Dong nodded slightly.

"Lead the way."

They arrived at a clearing surrounded by enormous trees.

At the center of the clearing, a Shadow Wolf the size of a calf was encircled by five Soul Masters.

Its fur was dark gray, with dim violet light shimmering along its edges. Fierce light glinted within its vertical pupils.

But it was trembling.

Not because it feared the five Soul Masters, but because of Bibi Dong's aura.

After killing Qian Xunji, Bibi Dong had formally entered the rank of Title Douluo and successfully begun the Rakshasa Nine Trials.

Thus, merely releasing a little pressure made her seem like a superior being to any Dark-type Soul Beast.

Not to mention that the Extreme Shadow Wolf before them only had a cultivation of several hundred years.

The Shadow Wolf's hind legs had already buckled. Whimpers squeezed from its throat, and terror filled its fierce vertical pupils.

Bibi Dong walked to the edge of the clearing and stopped.

She did not look at the Shadow Wolf. Instead, she lowered her gaze to Fang Mo.

"Five hundred years. That is one hundred years beyond the limit. Perhaps you can absorb it."

"Try absorbing it first. If you cannot, give up as soon as possible."

Fang Mo looked at the Shadow Wolf.

Five hundred years was an absurdly high age limit for a Soul Master who had only just awakened and did not yet possess a single Soul Ring.

Theoretical masters had said that an ordinary Soul Master's first Soul Ring would generally not exceed three hundred years.

But Fang Mo was not an ordinary Soul Master.

He had the physical foundation of Innate Full Soul Power.

He had meridians strengthened by Whale Rubber, the enhancement brought by Twin Martial Souls, and the Rakshasa God's Remnant Soul within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Are you ready?"

Bibi Dong asked from beside him.

Fang Mo took a deep breath.

"I'm ready."

Bibi Dong stepped forward. Her right hand slowly rose, and a dark, shadowy current of Soul Power surged from her palm like invisible chains, instantly pinning the Shadow Wolf to the ground.

"Come. Kill it with your second Martial Soul."

Bibi Dong's tone was exceptionally calm.

She showed no gentleness simply because Fang Mo was only six years old.

Fang Mo swallowed.

He tilted his right hand downward at a forty-five-degree angle, and a scythe proportionate to his height slowly appeared in his hand.

Fang Mo walked forward step by step.

To be honest, this was the first time he had killed something so large. At most, he had only killed chickens and ducks before.

Fang Mo raised the scythe and aimed at its neck, then slashed straight across. Blood sprayed out and splattered across his face.

The Shadow Wolf let out a miserable howl as its body convulsed wildly. Its life force rapidly faded until it finally stopped moving altogether.

A yellow ring of light condensed above the wolf's corpse and floated in the air: the Soul Ring of a five-hundred-year Shadow Wolf.

Fang Mo stared at the ring of light, his heartbeat racing to the extreme.

Bibi Dong's voice came from behind him. "Sit down. Adjust your Soul Power and guide the Soul Ring into your body."

Fang Mo sat down cross-legged.

He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his Spirit Sea.

Dong'er's phantom was already floating at the center of the Sea of Consciousness. Her dark red eyes were fully open, and the outline of her phantom was clearer than ever.

"Listen carefully. The instant the Soul Ring enters your body, I will activate the Rakshasa Scythe's ability.

You will have an opening of roughly three breaths. Before the Soul Ring is completely absorbed, inject the Soul Power devoured by the Rakshasa Scythe into the Soul Ring."

"Three breaths?"

"Only three breaths. If it exceeds three breaths, the woman outside may notice."

Fang Mo memorized the timing.

"And..." Dong'er's voice lowered, "during the devouring process, your meridians will endure twice the impact.

The Soul Power carried by the Soul Ring will flood in from outside, while the devoured Soul Power will also add pressure. The two forces will converge within your meridians.

Compared with an ordinary Soul Master absorbing a first Soul Ring, this process will be even more painful, and success or failure will be decided in one stroke."

Fang Mo nodded solemnly.

"Alright, let's do it."

A complicated emotion flashed through Dong'er's eyes. "Don't worry. The woman outside will help stabilize your meridians."

The Soul Ring floating in the air moved.

The yellow ring of light descended from midair, slowly and precisely settling over Fang Mo's head.

Fang Mo's body suddenly shuddered.

Soul Power poured into him like a tide. The essence of the five-hundred-year Soul Ring was compressed into a raging torrent in that instant and directly flooded into Fang Mo's meridians.

Pain.

Not ordinary pain.

It felt as though a red-hot iron wire were threading through his meridians, violently tugging and expanding every passage it traveled through.

Fang Mo gritted his teeth and refused to make a sound.

Bibi Dong's Soul Power immediately followed, tightly wrapping around Fang Mo's meridians and controlling the Soul Ring's impact within a bearable range.

The first breath.

The Soul Power of the Soul Ring advanced through his primary meridians. Fang Mo sent a signal to Dong'er within the Sea of Consciousness.

"Now!"

Dong'er's phantom suddenly erupted.

A force of absolute darkness surged from the deepest part of the Spirit Sea.

It was not Soul Power, but a force deeper, more primordial, and of a higher order than Soul Power.

The divine power contained within the Rakshasa Scythe.

It supplied the Soul Ring with all manner of energy devoured by the Rakshasa Scythe, imitating a deity's blessing.

That force raced downward along his meridians, passed through his dantian, flowed against the Soul Ring's current, and crashed into the Soul Ring being absorbed.

The Soul Ring's age limit began to rise.

The Soul Ring, originally yellow, gradually deepened in color until it became dark yellow.

Shock suddenly appeared in Bibi Dong's violet eyes.

Because she discovered that the Soul Ring, which had originally been only five hundred years old, had risen to six hundred and fifty years.

Such a thing was unheard of.