Soul Evolution, Hundred-Year Soul Ring

Tang Wulin was only a nine-year-old child; the word "death" did not seem to instill a very strong sense of fear in him.

"You aren't joking, are you?" Tang Wulin's face still turned somewhat pale.

Old Tang looked at Tang Wulin without speaking, his deep blue eyes becoming increasingly profound.

"He is not lying to you!"

At this moment, Yao Lao, who was standing to the side, spoke up: "There are indeed eighteen layers of seals within your body. Those seals are incredibly powerful, and one can only imagine how violent the power contained within them must be."

Tang Wulin plopped down onto the bed. The small bottle containing his spirit soul rolled to the side, and the little snake inside slowly slithered out, extending its slender tongue to lick Tang Wulin's calloused palm.

These successive pieces of bad news had already dealt a blow to Tang Wulin.

"However, my existence is meant to help you resolve those eighteen layers of seals. As long as you follow my methods, it is possible to survive. This is both a crisis and an opportunity; once you fully absorb the essence of the Golden Dragon King, your future will be limitless." Old Tang's ethereal body moved closer to Tang Wulin, reaching out to stroke his head as he spoke.

For some reason, Tang Wulin always felt an inexplicable sense of closeness to this Old Tang before him, as if he were speaking with a relative. Despite it being their first meeting, he was filled with trust toward him.

"Then what do I need to do? I just turned nine, I still have one year!"

"The Golden Dragon King's power in the first nine layers of the seal is not that violent. As for that first layer..."

Old Tang fell silent for a moment, and then three objects formed from mist appeared before him.

"A Century Ice Crystal Fruit, a Century Red Flame Fruit, and ten drops of blood from a century-level dragon-type spirit beast. As long as you gather these three things, the first layer of the seal will not be much of a problem."

"I have never heard of these things, especially how to find the blood of a dragon-type spirit beast. Spirit beasts on the Douluo Continent are already few and far between." Tang Wulin looked at the three items before him, his heart feeling a bit sour.

Old Tang fell silent again, seemingly unsure of how to answer Tang Wulin's question.

"I can help you with those two herbs," Yao Lao, standing to the side, suddenly interjected.

"Oh?"

The gazes of both Tang Wulin and Old Tang turned toward Yao Lao.

"I have been absorbing this little guy's life force for three years, after all. If I don't provide some compensation, word might get out that I'm bullying a child!"

Yao Lao's fingertips lifted slightly, and a bone-chilling white flame danced upon them.

When Old Tang saw this flame, a look of surprise seemed to cross his indistinct face: "Your flame is very unique. It is extremely cold on the outside, yet intensely scorching on the inside. This contrast of cold and heat reminds me of an old place."

"In my own plane, I am a top-tier alchemist. I could tell at a glance that those two herbs were intended to use that extreme cold and heat to temper his body, and then absorb the power within the first layer of the seal through the so-called dragon-type spirit beast blood," Yao Lao said, his face full of confidence.

"Your flame is indeed more effective than those two herbs, but correspondingly, the pain he must endure will be much greater. Tang Wulin, can you handle it?" Old Tang asked, looking at Tang Wulin.

"Old Tang, those two herbs you mentioned sound very precious. If Yao Lao's flame can replace them, I can endure it." Tang Wulin's expression was very serious, not as if he were joking.

Old Tang sighed softly: "Since that is the case, then you should first find a way to collect those ten drops of dragon-type spirit beast blood. However, don't be in a rush once you have them collected; your first seal will begin to loosen within a year, and it will be better to absorb it then."

Tang Wulin nodded vigorously.

Old Tang looked at Yao Lao again: "As for him, you can trust him. An existence in his soul state is more solid than my divine consciousness state. You can consult him more if you have questions in the future. However, it is best not to tell others about our existence. I am going to sleep now and will not appear often."

Before the words had even faded, Old Tang transformed into a streak of golden light and merged into Tang Wulin's body.

"Alright, little guy, that old thing won't be appearing for a while. You don't need to be too anxious with a year left. Let me give you a small welcoming gift first!"

After saying this, Yao Lao walked toward Tang Wulin, and the mass of bone-chilling white flame in his hand began to sway violently.

Seeing this, Tang Wulin couldn't help but lean back: "Yao Lao, what are you doing? Didn't you say there was no rush?"

"What are you thinking, little guy? I am going to help you improve the quality of your spirit soul." Yao Lao pointed at the little snake curled into a ball on the bed.

Hearing this, Tang Wulin was pleasantly surprised: "Really? Can the quality of a spirit soul be improved?"

"It should be possible. This kind of so-called artificial spirit soul is essentially similar to alchemy in some ways. Using the Bone Chilling Flame to improve it a bit should be doable." Yao Lao felt quite confident about this.

"Then I'll trouble you, Yao Lao!" Tang Wulin pushed the little snake forward. He didn't ask for the spirit soul to reach any particular level; he only hoped it would no longer be a defective product.

Yao Lao nodded slightly, quickly condensing the Bone Chilling Flame into a point at his fingertip and gently tapping the little snake.

Instantly, the previously docile little snake began to slither violently. The Bone Chilling Flame was burning inside its body, tempering it as it went.

Watching this scene, Tang Wulin was actually quite nervous. He was afraid the little snake would die; after all, this was a spirit soul he had obtained after three years of savings.

After about ten minutes, the little snake slowly calmed down.

Yao Lao smiled faintly: "It seems it went very smoothly. Its quality should have been raised to a century-level spirit soul, specifically nine hundred and ninety-nine years. It's a pity it cannot withstand a higher quality right now, otherwise, I would have certainly raised it to the thousand-year level."

"A century-level spirit soul!" Tang Wulin felt as if he were dreaming: "A century-level spirit soul is worth one million Federation credits!"

But before Tang Wulin could be happy for long, a look of worry appeared on his face: "Yao Lao, perhaps you don't know, but the maximum limit a spirit master can withstand for their first spirit ring is about four hundred years. So, I might not be able to fuse with this spirit soul."

Yao Lao patted Tang Wulin's head: "Rest assured, I am not that foolish. The limit for a first spirit soul that an ordinary person can withstand is indeed as you say, but you are different. You have the essence of the Golden Dragon King in your body, as well as a constitution brimming with life force. There will be no problem absorbing this spirit soul."

"Really?" Tang Wulin still felt a bit skeptical.

"Don't worry. If I had any intention of harming you, that old fellow in your body would immediately rush out to fight me to the death. Hurry up and fuse with it; I will personally guard you," Yao Lao said with a smile.

Only then did Tang Wulin dispel the doubts in his heart and sit cross-legged on the bed to begin fusing with the spirit soul.

Perhaps because it had been tempered by the Bone Chilling Flame, the little snake did not put up any resistance, and the fusion process went exceptionally smoothly.

Half an hour later.

Tang Wulin slowly opened his eyes. The Blue Silver Grass in his hand was released once more, and a yellow spirit ring appeared beside him. At the same time, a little snake, its body covered in golden scales with some white scales mixed in, appeared beside his Blue Silver Grass.

"It really is a century-level spirit soul!" Tang Wulin looked at the spirit ring beside him, his voice choking with emotion. He stood up, walked before Yao Lao, and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Yao Lao!"

Yao Lao merely waved his hand dismissively. "I already told you it was a welcoming gift. Very well, this old man needs to rest his soul. Oh, right—the place where I store my soul is that ring inside the drawer. Carry it with you from now on; it will be more convenient."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yao Lao transformed into a wisp of white light and dove into the drawer.

Tang Wulin stepped forward quickly and opened the drawer. Indeed, a ring lay inside. Tang Wulin had found it on the beach three years ago; at the time, he had simply thought it looked nice, so he had kept it.

Tang Wulin looked at the small snake in his hand and said with a smile, "I'll call you Golden Scale from now on!"

Golden Scale seemed to understand Tang Wulin's words, gently nudging his palm with its head.