Douluo: A Fake God in Peerless

"..."

Su Luoheng, however, showed no fear. A cold glint flashed beneath his calm gaze. Every reaction from the Red Gold Bear thus far had been entirely within his expectations.

"Rumble!"

The Red Gold Bear's sharp, pointed claws arrived with a whistling wind, seemingly tearing the air apart and sending out ripples of dark red.

"Whoosh!"

At this critical moment, Su Luoheng's nimble figure flickered like a ghost, vanishing from before the Red Gold Bear in an instant.

The Red Gold Bear lunged at empty air, pounding its chest in a fit of impotent rage.

Taking advantage of this brief opening, Su Luoheng pressed forward once more, sweeping his sword across to slice through the beast's thick fur. Before a third-class soul tool, even the thickest hide was as fragile as paper.

"Rip!"

Blood splattered instantly, and the Red Gold Bear let out a continuous, pained howl.

Su Luoheng raised the longsword in his hand, and another spray of blood bloomed.

"Awoo..."

Another pained whimper followed.

"Rumble—"

Su Luoheng pressed his advantage.

By now, the Red Gold Bear no longer possessed its earlier domineering aura; it had no power left to parry Su Luoheng's attacks.

Before long, with one final mournful cry, the Red Gold Bear's body collapsed with a crash.

Crimson blood gushed out, soaking the ground in a deep red.

The Red Gold Bear lay on the verge of death, completely devoid of any ability to resist.

"Phew! Finally done!"

Su Luoheng exhaled a breath of stale air, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

After nearly a month of effort, he had finally managed to hunt a suitable soul beast.

It hadn't been an easy journey...

Fortunately, his second soul ring was now beckoning to him!

Hearing the rustling of footsteps behind him, Su Luoheng turned around, sensing someone approaching. Ran Yuming was walking toward him, a gentle and kindly smile on his face.

"Teacher."

"Well done. Finish off this soul beast." Ran Yuming nodded in satisfaction. He had initially thought he might need to intervene, but it seemed that would not be necessary.

"Understood."

Su Luoheng nodded in response.

After a brief adjustment, he brought his longsword down.

With a "thwip," the blade pierced the neck, blood sprayed out, and the last of the Red Gold Bear's life force faded away.

Immediately, a deep yellow light began to condense above the corpse.

Just as the soul ring was about to take shape, the ring of light paused, and a final ray of light suddenly shot out from the Red Gold Bear's body, merging into it.

This disrupted the balance of the forming soul ring, and the chain reaction caused the entire ring to tremble violently.

However, just as Su Luoheng was left bewildered, the deep yellow ring before him suddenly stopped shaking. A flash of purple light appeared, filling the entire soul ring in a split second before the condensation continued.

In no time at all, the soul ring finished forming completely.

The deep yellow hundred-year soul ring that had been there before was gone, replaced by a pale purple thousand-year soul ring!

"..."

"A, a thousand-year?"

Su Luoheng stood frozen in place, his clear eyes filled with nothing but confusion.

He had no idea what had just happened. Why had a hundred-year soul ring, which was on the verge of completion, suddenly turned into a thousand-year one?

What was going on?

Where was his second soul ring?

Such a thing was absolutely unheard of!

Standing to the side, Ran Yuming also furrowed his brows; this was the first time he had ever seen a soul ring change color.

"..."

He cast his gaze toward the Red Gold Bear's corpse on the ground.

The color of a Red Gold Bear's fur changed as its strength increased; if it reached the thousand-year level, its dark red fur would shift toward a bright crimson, and at the ten-thousand-year level, it would turn gold.

Although the specific age of the Red Gold Bear before him was unclear, the fur on its body was still a dark red, which confirmed it was definitely under a thousand years old!

Logically speaking, it should have produced a century-level spirit ring...

Thinking of this, Ran Yuming furrowed his brows, unable to find any leads at all.

"What on earth happened..."

Ran Yuming muttered in a low voice, his gaze constantly scanning the carcass of the Red Gold Bear, observing it carefully!

Just then, his eyes narrowed, as if he had discovered something.

"Hmm?"

He leaned down, reached out to pluck a strand of hair from the Red Gold Bear's neck, and after rubbing it between his fingertips to remove the bloodstains, he focused his gaze and began to examine it earnestly.

Although it was not obvious, it was indeed a crimson hair.

But why...

Ran Yuming, his brows tightly locked, stood up. His gaze inadvertently swept over the remains of the honeycomb on the ground, and he suddenly froze. A flash of inspiration struck his mind, and a possibility emerged.

Could it be...

Ran Yuming suddenly thought of something.

Looking at the honeycomb on the ground, a look of realization appeared in his eyes. He finally understood why the spirit ring had changed so unexpectedly!

"So that's how it is~"

After a moment of silence, Ran Yuming sighed softly.

"..."

Hearing the sound, Su Luoheng, who was still in a daze, turned his head and asked hurriedly, "Teacher, have you found the reason?"

"Yes."

Ran Yuming nodded, then turned to look at the remains of the honeycomb on the ground, a trace of regret flashing across his expression.

"The honey of the Blood Flame Bee is indeed attractive enough to the Red Gold Bear, but I forgot that the reason for the honey's appeal is that it helps them level up. So, this Red Gold Bear was indeed within the nine-hundred-year range at the start, but after eating the honeycomb on the ground, it broke through from nine hundred years to a thousand."

"Teacher, then why didn't it have the characteristics of a thousand-year spirit beast?"

Su Luoheng was even more confused; he had some understanding of the various traits of Red Gold Bears.

"You finished it off too quickly. It takes time for physical characteristics to change after a breakthrough."

As he spoke, Ran Yuming pointed to the neck of the Red Gold Bear. "Look, Luoheng, the hair on its neck was already changing toward a crimson red. Perhaps if you had been a moment later, it would have fully transformed. Although its physical features remained at the century level, its spirit power level was already at the thousand-year threshold before it died. That is why your spirit ring mutated at the last moment, changing from a century-level to a thousand-year-level."

"So that's it..."

Su Luoheng nodded in realization.

Ran Yuming sighed softly, walked up, and patted his shoulder. "Luoheng, this is my fault for not considering it thoroughly, causing you to miss out on this decent spirit ring."

"Teacher, this is not your fault."

Hearing this, Su Luoheng shook his head.

Neither he nor Ran Yuming could have guessed that the age of this Red Gold Bear would be such a coincidence, breaking through from a century to a thousand years just by eating some honeycomb.

Therefore, this could not be blamed on Teacher Ran; it could only be said that their luck was poor.

His luck was truly terrible!

First, he spent over half a month in the Jingyang Mountain Range with no results, and now that he had finally encountered a suitable spirit beast, the guy had to go and have a sudden breakthrough. To run into something that rarely happens even in a century—his luck was truly absurd, and his timing was just rotten.

"..."

"Luoheng, wait until you recover your spirit power, and we will look for the next one. I still have plenty of stock on hand; I will definitely be able to help you find a suitable second spirit ring."

As he spoke, Ran Yuming looked at the thousand-year spirit ring with regret.

After all, it was the most suitable spirit ring they had encountered in the past few days; it was a real pity to let it go to waste...

It was a shame that the spirit ring produced by this Red Gold Bear was of such a good age, yet it had become a thousand-year ring by a single step. Although it only looked like a difference of a dozen years from the original, the gap between a thousand years and a century was a qualitative change. The energy and impact contained within would be difficult for a Great Spirit Master to bear.

He could try, but it wasn't worth it.

In any case, Ran Yuming did not want his prized student to take such a risk.

Besides, it wasn't as if he only had one chance; as long as they had the honey, they would eventually encounter a suitable one.

"..."

Ran Yuming shook his head and sighed with regret. Just as he was about to turn and leave, Su Luoheng, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up.

"Teacher, wait a moment."

Ran Yuming's eyes flickered, and then his brows furrowed.

"Luoheng, you don't mean to..."

"Teacher, you said that the Blood Flame Bee royal jelly you gave me to consume could increase the upper limit of spirit ring absorption, and before this, you also purchased thousand-year whale glue for me to take."

"So... I think my physical constitution should be sufficient."

After a brief pause, Su Luoheng raised his hand to point at the pale purple soul ring, his tone firm and exceptionally earnest.

"I want to try this thousand-year soul ring."

"..."

Ran Yuming had already guessed Su Luoheng's intentions and said in an extremely serious tone, "Luoheng, don't be reckless. The difference between a thousand-year and a hundred-year ring is not just a little bit. You can absorb a nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine-year soul ring, but a thousand-year soul ring carries too much risk. I will absolutely not allow you to take such a gamble."

"Teacher, aren't you here with me?" Su Luoheng gave a brilliant smile.

"What could I possibly do—"

Before he could finish, Ran Yuming suddenly recalled something. His eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "You... have you seen the structural blueprints for the Soul Ring Inhibitor?"

"Mm."

Su Luoheng revealed a sly smile and nodded in admission.

"I caught a glimpse of them while cleaning the laboratory the other day, so... with your design, Teacher, even if something goes wrong during the second soul ring absorption, you would be able to interrupt it."

Ran Yuming's brows furrowed tightly as he emphasized, "That is still only in the experimental stage!"

Su Luoheng said with a beaming smile, "Teacher, I believe in you, but surely you don't doubt yourself?"

"You brat, don't try to goad me!"

Ran Yuming snorted coldly, remaining unmoved; he had long since seen through his intentions.

With the provocation failing, Su Luoheng put away his smile and said earnestly, "Teacher, I want to try."

"..."

One wanted to attempt it, while the other did not want him to take the risk; the master and disciple locked eyes, neither willing to yield even an inch.

"You, you brat!"

"Sigh, forget it. If you want to try, then try..."