Eyes That Look Down on All Beings (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

The next day.

Flender arranged for Zhao Wuji to lead the team, with Grandmaster and the rest of the group accompanying them.

The goal was to head to the Star Dou Great Forest so Tang San could obtain his second soul ring.

Also joining them were Gu Han, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing, along with an "uncle" who possessed a sausage-type martial soul.

They had only just enrolled, yet they were already being taken to the Star Dou Great Forest; the official excuse was to increase their practical combat experience.

In reality, Flender also wanted to borrow the strength of Gu Han and Zhao Wuji to ensure this soul-hunting trip would be safer.

After the group entered the Star Dou Great Forest, Grandmaster's state was clearly off; he seemed to be lost in some chaotic thoughts again.

If someone who didn't know him saw the bloodshot veins in his eyes, they would have assumed he had contracted pink eye.

As Grandmaster walked in the center of the group, he kept muttering to himself, his gaze toward Tang San filled with a particularly frantic sense of anticipation.

"Little San, this time, you must prove it to everyone."

Grandmaster gripped Tang San's shoulders with such force that Tang San frowned.

"Blue Silver Grass is absolutely not a trash martial soul. Under the guidance of my theories, it can definitely surpass the age limit for soul ring absorption. Your second soul ring must be a thousand-year one."

Tang San felt a bitter smile in his heart; how could he not want to obtain a more powerful soul ring?

However, there were rules to how a soul master absorbed soul rings, and the consequences of exceeding the limit were extremely severe. Furthermore, Tang San was only a level 20 Great Soul Master.

But looking at his teacher's paranoid expression, he could only swallow his words of persuasion and nod silently.

Zhao Wuji could barely stand to watch from the side, but out of respect for Flender, he found it difficult to say anything.

Under the deterrence of Zhao Wuji's Soul Saint aura, soul beasts below the hundred-year level fled far away.

After some searching, the group finally discovered a suitable soul beast—a Ghost Vine with approximately 1,300 years of cultivation.

It wasn't just similar to the second soul ring Tang San had previously absorbed; one could say it was exactly the same.

This type of soul beast possessed immense toughness and carried paralyzing toxins, making it a perfect fit for Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.

"This is it! 1,300 years, just approaching the limit for a second soul ring. If that Gu Han could absorb one, you certainly can too!" Grandmaster shouted excitedly.

Under Zhao Wuji's suppression, and with the support of Ning Rongrong and the "uncle," the group worked together to beat the Ghost Vine into a critical state without much effort.

Finally, Tang San delivered the finishing blow.

A purple soul ring condensed from the corpse of the Ghost Vine, its intensity indeed reaching the standard of an average thousand-year ring.

"Quick, Little San, absorb it immediately. With me here, you will definitely succeed."

Grandmaster urged Tang San, as if he could already see the glorious moment when his theory would be proven after Tang San's successful absorption.

Tang San took a deep breath, sat cross-legged, and guided his soul power toward the thousand-year Ghost Vine soul ring.

Just as he was about to begin the absorption, Gu Han, who had been watching from the sidelines, felt a flicker of light in his eyes.

He quietly circulated his soul power, and the phantom of the Karma Scissors flashed across his palm and vanished.

"Karma Inversion."

A force of law crossed space and enveloped the Ghost Vine's soul ring.

The effect of this soul skill was to briefly invert the causality and essence of an object.

Under the expectant gazes of everyone, especially Grandmaster, Tang San began the absorption.

Tang San had expected the process to be extremely difficult, but to his surprise, it went unexpectedly smoothly. He felt almost no violent soul power impact.

The energy of the soul ring flowed like a stream, and within a few breaths, he had completely absorbed it.

Tang San stood up joyfully; clearly, he hadn't expected it to go so smoothly. A soul ring slowly rose from beneath his feet.

However, the color of the soul ring was not purple. The result was something no one had anticipated.

A ten-year soul ring!

"This... how is this possible?!"

The anticipation and excitement on Grandmaster's face froze instantly, replaced by a dull, vacant expression. "Impossible. It was absolutely a thousand-year soul ring. I saw it with my own eyes, and you all must have seen it was a thousand-year ring too, right?"

Tang San was also stunned. He felt the slight increase in his internal soul power and the information the soul ring had imprinted in his mind—it was a very ordinary parasitic effect, perfectly matching the quality of a ten-year soul beast.

The reason his absorption process had been so smooth was not because his physique was special, but because the quality of the soul ring was only ten years.

"Pfft..."

Ning Rongrong was the first who couldn't hold it in and suddenly burst into laughter. Although she immediately covered her mouth, the sound was exceptionally clear in the forest.

Zhu Zhuqing's lips twitched slightly. Xiao Wu, even more brazenly, made a face, as she seemed to have developed a dislike for Tang San.

Zhao Wuji scratched his head and spoke at the right moment:

"Grandmaster, did you see wrong? This is clearly a ten-year Ghost Vine. We all saw it was a ten-year soul ring."

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible."

Grandmaster jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his face turning beet red with shame and indignation.

His gaze swept fiercely across everyone present. After scanning each person, he still found nothing, and though he prepared to say something, the words did not come out.

He had noticed the entire process, though no one else present had.

A massive sense of humiliation and the shock of his convictions collapsing made Yu Xiaogang tremble all over, nearly unable to stand steady.

Tang San looked at the white spirit ring at his feet, then at his teacher who was on the verge of a breakdown, unable to fathom why it was that every time he absorbed a spirit ring, he never managed to gain any benefit from it.

Just as this awkward atmosphere hung in the air, Gu Han suddenly felt the threads of causality around him shudder. When he looked up, the light in the entire Star Dou Great Forest dimmed for a fleeting moment; the sun, which had been hanging perfectly in the sky just a moment ago, was now reduced to a mere speck.

At the same time, an indescribable, terrifying pressure descended from the heavens as if it were a physical force.

Everyone felt their souls tremble, unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

Zhao Wuji's expression changed drastically. He instantly released his Avatar of the Martial Soul to shield the others behind him, sensing that an existence he could not possibly oppose was about to arrive.

High above the clouds, within the void, an eye formed from pure laws suddenly manifested.

It swept over the Star Dou Great Forest below with indifference. Wherever its gaze fell, there was not a sound to be heard; all the spirit beasts prostrated themselves on the ground, shivering, daring neither to flee nor to move.

That eye seemed to be searching for something, but it quickly found its target. It first glanced toward Xiao Wu's position, then immediately locked its gaze onto Gu Han.