Autonomously Condensing a Gold-Red Blood Essence Soul Ring!!! The Foundation of Invincibility, Slow Cultivation Speed

"This is the enhanced Lotus Needle Volley. Its piercing power has doubled, its range has tripled, and I can control its direction at will."

Gu Qing raised a hand and recalled the scattered Lotus Needles. His gaze fell upon the massive boulder in the distance, pierced through by five smooth, translucent holes that seemed bottomless. Not even a trace of crushed stone remained, showing just how terrifying the attack's penetrative force was.

He added softly, "As for the Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus, its base power has likewise increased twofold, and it comes with high-temperature burning and chained shockwave effects."

"However, after using it, I can't cultivate with my martial soul for a month. Besides, the forest here is dense and the terrain cramped, so it's inconvenient to demonstrate. I'll let you see its true power another day."

The moment he finished speaking, a violent tremor like raging seas suddenly erupted from deep within Gu Qing's dantian.

A tyrannical suction force born from the origin of his martial soul emerged out of nowhere. Like an abyss swallowing the sea, it frantically seized every last bit of Soul Power that had just surged to level fifteen after his breakthrough.

The immense Soul Power flowing through his meridians, the tempered blood essence accumulated within his muscles and bones, even the pure lotus essence energy left behind from absorbing the Golden Pattern Treasure Image Lotus—all of it was dragged away and devoured by that suction force, rapidly converging toward the Body Martial Soul dormant in the deepest part of his dantian:

Mystic Jade Body!!

Gu Qing swayed slightly, his expression instantly turning solemn as he immediately focused inward.

The long-silent Mystic Jade Body martial soul was now radiating dazzling, translucent white-jade light. The originally hazy and indistinct phantom of a soul ring was rapidly solidifying at a visible rate.

Endless blood essence and Soul Power intertwined and surged, frantically tempering his limbs, bones, flesh, skin, and meridians. A transformation that remade him from the inside out was quietly unfolding within his body.

"Brother Gu!"

"Brother Gu Qing, what's wrong?!"

Tang San and Xiao Wu immediately noticed something was amiss. Their faces changed drastically, and they instinctively rushed forward to support him.

"Don't come over!"

Gu Qing shouted in a low voice, gritting his teeth as he planted his feet firmly. Though his aura was violently churning, his eyes remained exceptionally clear.

"My Body Martial Soul is undergoing a change. It's autonomously condensing its exclusive soul ring. Anyone approaching will disrupt the flow of my blood essence."

Tang Hao's pupils abruptly contracted. In an instant, he flashed to Gu Qing's side, his eyes locked tightly onto him, filled with utter shock.

A Body Martial Soul autonomously condensing a ring?!!

No need to hunt a soul beast! No need for an external soul ring's empowerment! Condensing a soul ring solely through one's own blood essence and Soul Power?!

Such an unimaginable anomaly was even more subversive than directly absorbing the energy of a thousand-year soul beast for one's first soul ring. Throughout the ten-thousand-year history of Soul Masters, there had never been the slightest record of anything like it.

In just ten breaths, every bit of Soul Power filling Gu Qing's body was completely absorbed, leaving his dantian utterly empty.

At the same time, a brand-new soul ring slowly rose around him, quietly floating beside that tyrannical, profound purple-black thousand-year soul ring.

This was not one of the usual white, yellow, purple, black, and red soul rings of Soul Masters. It was an exceptionally rare, one-of-a-kind soul ring intertwined in gold and red!

Blood Essence Soul Ring!!!

Its golden patterns resembled gilded glass, clear and sacred, carrying the origin power of the Mystic Jade Body's ultimate tempering.

Its crimson radiance resembled boiling fresh blood, blazing and vast, flowing with an inexhaustible vitality and blood essence.

Gold and red intertwined around the ring, its surface suffused with a warm, weighty glow. It held none of the savage ferocity of ordinary soul rings, only the purest foundation of the physical body and the breath of life.

The instant the Gold-Red Blood-Qi Soul Ring completely fused into Gu Qing's limbs and bones, a series of fine yet crisp bone cracks echoed through the forest.

Gu Qing's flesh, muscles, bones, blood vessels, and meridians all trembled and roared in unison. Every inch of his body was rapidly being reshaped and transformed.

His once ordinary human physique had completely evolved into a crystalline Mystic Jade Body. A faint jade-colored sheen flowed over his skin, gentle and mild in appearance, yet containing terrifying resilience that could not be broken.

Gu Qing slowly stretched his limbs and clenched his fists. His joints collided with a crisp, solid sound.

Though the Soul Power within his body had been completely emptied, falling into a state of nothingness, his physical strength, defensive power, and bodily resilience had all undergone a qualitative leap, surpassing his previous peak state several times over.

Tang San and Xiao Wu stared wide-eyed at the strange gold-red soul ring around Gu Qing, their faces full of disbelief.

Tang Hao stood where he was, unable to recover for a long while. His eyes brimmed with shock and emotion.

He had spent half his life seeing geniuses from across the world and witnessing countless monsters rise to prominence, yet he had never encountered anyone like Gu Qing—an unparalleled freak who repeatedly shattered the iron laws of Soul Masters and overturned the world's understanding.

Only after the transformation within his body had completely settled did Gu Qing slowly speak, quietly revealing the heaven-defying ability of this exclusive Body Martial Soul.

"This is the first soul ring of my Mystic Jade Body, a unique Blood Essence Soul Ring condensed using all my own Soul Power and pure blood essence as its foundation. There is only one such ring in the world."

"The corresponding first soul skill is Mystic Jade Glazed Body!"

"It has two effects. The first is an ultimate enhancement of the physical body:"

"At present, it grants three times the overall attributes. Physical resilience, resistance to explosive force, corrosion resistance, and the ability to heal injuries—all completely crush martial souls of the same rank."

"Furthermore, every soul ring I condense will increase it by another factor of one."

"The second is elemental dulling and immunity:"

"All conventional elemental soul skills involving water, fire, wind, lightning, ice, and so on can be completely negated as long as the user's cultivation is below my own.

"Even attacks from higher-level elements will have their power weakened by more than sixty percent by the Mystic Jade Body."

"This is the foundation of all my physical combat strength. From now on, my body itself will be the finest divine weapon."

After saying that, Gu Qing smiled calmly, his tone relaxed. "The price is that my Soul Power is completely emptied, and after condensing a soul ring, I have to cultivate from the beginning again."

"But with Mystic Jade Glazed Body as my foundation and its threefold physique enhancement, my cultivation speed and the purity of my condensed Soul Power will undergo a qualitative leap. Returning to my peak is only a matter of time."

The truth was exactly as he had said.

With Gu Qing's original martial soul talent, Whale Rubber, and soul beast soul rings, he should have broken through to Soul King within five years.

However, relying on the soul-ring-condensing talent of Mystic Jade Glazed Body, Gu Qing's cultivation speed fell dramatically, becoming exceedingly slow.

After five years, he had only cultivated to the peak of level thirty-nine Soul Elder. He was still one step away from breaking through to Soul Ancestor, but his foundation and reserves surpassed those of ordinary Soul Masters of the same rank by more than ten times.

Over those five years, Tang San had continued cultivating bitterly alongside Gu Qing, completely abandoning the flaws of the traditional Blue Silver Grass control style.

She forged her own invincible path of Blue Silver Life Symbiosis plus powerful physical assault. Her Soul Power steadily reached the Soul Elder rank, and the explosive force and toughness of her body far surpassed those of Soul Masters at the same level. A single punch could shatter refined steel and solid rock.

Thanks to the innate advantage of her Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast origin, Xiao Wu's cultivation progressed even faster. Her Soul Power quietly broke through to Soul Ancestor, her cultivation steadily surpassing the other two by a tier.

But as for strength... no, no, the more said, the more tears there would be!

As for Tang Hao, after personally witnessing Gu Qing's heaven-defying talent and growth potential, he completely gave up on the thought of hiding his identity.

When Gu Qing reached level thirty, he revealed his identity to Gu Qing. Then he chose to remain hidden in the shadows, silently protecting the three of them, willingly becoming Gu Qing's most steadfast bootlicker and backer.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye.

Outside Suotuo City, before the gates of the dilapidated and desolate Shrek Academy.

Gu Qing stood ten paces from the academy gate.

Five years of refinement had washed away his youthful immaturity. He wore a simple light-colored martial outfit that accentuated his tall, slender frame, broad shoulders, and narrow waist.

The breeze through the woods gently stirred his black hair. Beneath the loose strands falling over his forehead, his eyes were dark and profound, cool and tranquil, carrying an aloof bearing that seemed to look down upon all living things.

Gu Qing looked at the impoverished-looking academy before him, its walls mottled and its signboard crooked, and a cold glint passed through his eyes.

He had not come this time to enroll or study under a master. He had come to seize the academy!!!