Columbina's Power!

As the sun set, the moon rose.

It wasn't until the moon hung high in the sky that Kong Deming realized how long they had been away from the Ming Capital.

But seeing how eager his nephew was to continue and obtain his Second Soul Ring, he considered it and decided there was no harm in indulging him a little.

The Evil Demon Forest was several times more dangerous at night than during the day, but with the continent's foremost Soul Engineer protecting him, surely nothing would go wrong.

"Tianming, since you think you're ready to absorb your Second Soul Ring, then let's get started. Your uncle will guard you and make sure nothing goes wrong."

Xu Tianming froze at his words, then realized that he hadn't expressed himself very clearly just now.

"Uncle, when I absorbed my First Soul Ring, I didn't feel any pressure at all. Based on that, I've made a bold guess... I might be able to challenge a higher-year Second Soul Ring, perhaps... one that's eight thousand years old!"

Kong Deming had thought that after being shocked so many times today, he might have grown immune to his nephew's heaven-defying talent. But after hearing those words, he couldn't help being shocked all over again.

What did he mean, he could try to challenge an eight-thousand-year Second Soul Ring?

Was he even human?

Even an ordinary Soul Master on the continent might not be able to withstand the pressure of an eight-thousand-year Soul Ring as their fifth. And his nephew wanted to challenge one as his second?

What Kong Deming didn't know was that Xu Tianming had actually been rather conservative.

The eight-thousand-year limit had only been Mavuika's rough estimate before he absorbed his First Soul Ring. After absorbing it and growing stronger, she had just told him that she felt she could guarantee he'd withstand the pressure of a nine-thousand-year Soul Ring as his second.

If Xu Tianming improved his physical constitution with some heavenly treasures before absorbing his Second Soul Ring, he might even be able to challenge a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!

However, a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring came with an additional soul shock compared with a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Xu Tianming was confident in his physical strength, but he really wasn't sure whether his Mental Sea of Consciousness could withstand the impact of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

To be safe, he still planned to proceed cautiously. After all, an eight-thousand-year Second Soul Ring was already beyond what Soul Masters across the entire continent would even dare imagine.

Just as the thought crossed Xu Tianming's mind, Columbina, who had been silent in his Mental Sea of Consciousness for some time, suddenly spoke.

"Though I may not be much help in battle right now, I can protect your Mental Sea of Consciousness."

Her voice was gentle, yet filled with unshakable confidence.

Her words were like charcoal delivered in a snowstorm, rekindling Xu Tianming's hope of absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as his second after he'd nearly given up on the idea.

But the matter was far too important. Though he trusted that Columbina wouldn't lie to him, it would be best to test things first.

Worried she might misunderstand, Xu Tianming explained what he had in mind.

"Columbina, I trust you, but I need to test the limits of the impact you can withstand first... Do you understand?"

"Mhm, I understand. We really should test it first. Don't worry, I'm not upset."

Hearing Columbina's calm reply, Xu Tianming nodded, then turned to Kong Deming again.

"Uncle, I suddenly want to test how strong my spiritual power is. Could you simulate the impact a Soul Beast's Soul Ring would have on a Soul Master's Mental Sea of Consciousness?"

Kong Deming was still recovering from his shock when he heard the request. Though he didn't understand what his nephew was planning, he nodded all the same.

"Of course. I'll start with the spiritual impact of a hundred-year Soul Beast... No, a thousand-year one, then increase it gradually. If you're about to reach your limit, tell me right away."

For a powerhouse at the Titled Douluo level, simulating a Soul Beast's soul shock was as easy as could be, so long as he paid a little attention.

After Xu Tianming nodded, Kong Deming focused on controlling his spiritual power and began applying pressure at about the level of a thousand-year Soul Beast.

An invisible impact instantly enveloped Xu Tianming's body. But an unseen barrier of moonlight appeared, firmly blocking Kong Deming's spiritual assault at the surface of Xu Tianming's body, preventing it from advancing even an inch.

Kong Deming was a little surprised when he noticed this, but not shocked. After pausing for only two seconds, he began gradually increasing the strength of his spiritual power.

Fifteen hundred years, two thousand years, twenty-five hundred years, three thousand years...

The strength of the spiritual power steadily increased, but Xu Tianming's condition didn't change at all. To him, it was as though nothing had happened.

When the spiritual power reached the level of a six-thousand-year Soul Beast and Xu Tianming still seemed untroubled, only one thought remained in Kong Deming's mind:

Monster!

An absolute monster!

An ordinary Soul Master would be gravely injured after at most two seconds under a spiritual impact of this strength—even a level-thirty Soul Elder—or might even drop dead.

Yet his nephew had only a little over twenty levels of Soul Power, and hadn't even begun cultivating spiritual power, but could withstand an impact this strong without any pressure!

Noticing the shock in his uncle's eyes, Xu Tianming thought for a moment. To avoid seeming too unbelievable, he deliberately twitched the corner of his mouth a few times, pretending to be under some strain.

Then he released his Frost Moon Martial Soul. Bathed in the moonlight of the full moon overhead, the Frost Moon Martial Soul gave off a burst of moonlight imbued with a sacred aura, covering Xu Tianming from head to toe.

After that, Xu Tianming's expression returned to normal, and he gestured for Kong Deming to keep increasing the strength. He could still take it.

That simple sequence of actions gave Kong Deming a reasonable explanation.

So his nephew's other Martial Soul had been helping him block the spiritual impact!

But was the imperial family's Silver Moon Martial Soul really that heaven-defying?

Kong Deming's own Martial Soul was the Silver Moon. It was fair to say that no one in the imperial family understood it better than he did. If his nephew had awakened only the Silver Moon Martial Soul, he absolutely couldn't have done something so astonishing!

The only explanation was that his nephew's Martial Soul had undergone some kind of beneficial mutation Kong Deming didn't know about.

With that thought in mind, and seeing that his nephew still looked perfectly relaxed, Kong Deming simply continued increasing the strength of the spiritual impact as he spoke.

"Tianming, the Twin Martial Souls you awakened probably aren't the imperial family's inherited Sun and Silver Moon Martial Souls."

"Uncle, you feel that way too? I sensed something was off as soon as I underwent Martial Soul Awakening, but I didn't know what was going on back then, so I didn't dare say anything. Now that I've heard what you said, I'm sure of it... But, Uncle, what Martial Souls did I awaken?"