Merging Rings

Yue Guan and Gui Mei were preparing to depart when they noticed Lin Ze'an standing motionless, his gaze fixed in a trance upon the soul ring that was about to dissipate.

"Hmm? What is it, my apprentice?" Yue Guan stopped in his tracks and asked with confusion, "Do you find it a pity? It cannot be helped; your level is insufficient, and we..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Ze'an looked up, a hint of uncertainty in his eyes as he said, "Master, I think... I have a strange feeling."

Under the increasingly puzzled gazes of Yue Guan and Gui Mei, Lin Ze'an focused his mind and summoned his martial soul, a verdant green halo quietly emerging.

Immediately following this, a scene unfolded that caused the pupils of the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo to shrink, making them almost doubt their own eyes!

Lin Ze'an actually reached out his small, delicate hand and pinched the soul ring of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.

Yes, he pinched it; his seemingly fragile fingers had touched and grasped the soul ring, which should have been nothing more than an intangible construct of energy!

"Hum--!"

The moment Lin Ze'an's fingers touched the ring, the energy that had been violently restless and filled with a fierce, murderous aura suddenly turned docile.

Behind him, the verdant halo circulating around Mo Ruier glowed slightly, and an all-encompassing aura of life quietly permeated the air.

Yue Guan's eyes widened sharply, his mouth slightly agape: "This... how is this possible?! Apprentice, you...?!"

Even Gui Mei, who rarely showed any emotional fluctuation, was stunned: "Touching a soul ring with bare hands?"

In their understanding, soul rings were pure energy bodies that could only be guided by soul power and absorbed through mental strength; this was the first time they had ever seen anyone physically grasp one.

Lin Ze'an himself looked at the soul ring in his hand, feeling somewhat dazed.

Yue Guan walked over and reached out his own hand to touch the soul ring held in Lin Ze'an's grasp.

However, his fingers passed through the seemingly solid ring without any resistance, exactly as he had known soul rings to be for the past hundred years.

"This...?" Yue Guan retracted his hand, looking at his empty palm and then back at his apprentice's small hand, which was indeed holding the ring; his face was filled with confusion.

Lin Ze'an was also made even more confused by his master's reaction.

Is this? Is it caused by Mo Ruier's power?

Subconsciously, he moved his fingers, lifted the soul ring, and even gave it a casual shake in the air.

The energy within the ring remained stable in his hand, showing no signs of dissipating.

Yue Guan stared fixedly at Lin Ze'an's hand, then looked at Mo Ruier behind him, who was radiating an aura of life.

After pondering for a moment, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he gasped sharply: "I understand now! It is life!"

He looked at Mo Ruier and said excitedly, "Apprentice, the quality of your martial soul is far too high."

"Although this soul ring is an energy body, at its core, it is the condensation of a soul beast's life energy."

"If my guess is correct, your martial soul possesses an incredibly powerful control over life."

"That is why, in front of you, it acts as if it has encountered a monarch, allowing you to touch and even control it directly."

Yue Guan hurriedly looked at Gui Mei: "Old Ghost! Did you see that?! This is my apprentice!"

Hearing this, Gui Mei remained silent for a moment before hoarsely uttering a few words: "Unheard of."

Lin Ze'an, listening to his master's speculation while looking at the docile soul ring in his hand, felt a stormy upheaval in his heart.

No way? Who said his master was a fool? He was far too clever.

To guess the authority of Mo Ruier, the Otherworld Elf King, so easily... six-six-six, he isn't even pretending anymore.

Lin Ze'an looked up at his ecstatic master, a bold idea suddenly flashing through his mind.

He spoke up: "Master, please release your martial soul."

Hearing his apprentice's voice, Yue Guan's excitement calmed slightly; though he didn't understand why, he nodded: "Very well."

With a thought, golden light flickered, and the gorgeous, sharp Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum appeared in his hand.

At the same time, nine soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—emerged from beneath his feet, rotating slowly.

"Apprentice, what are you planning to do?" Yue Guan asked curiously, and Gui Mei, standing to the side, also cast an inquisitive gaze.

"Master, I was thinking..." he said softly, his eyes focused intently on the soul ring, "whether my hypothesis might hold true..."

As his words fell, he gave the soul ring a gentle pinch with his fingers.

A miraculous scene occurred!

The black soul ring, which had originally been solid and complete, suddenly dissipated, transforming into a stream of pure energy that flowed slowly toward Yue Guan's soul rings.

In particular, the four rings that were below the ten-thousand-year level seemed to feel the nourishment; they glowed slightly and actively absorbed this pure energy.

Watching this sight, Yue Guan froze, then widened his eyes as he looked at his apprentice.

"This... this is...?!" He could clearly feel that the age of his soul rings was increasing, and there was no sense of rejection.

Although the degree of improvement was not significant relative to the massive base of a ten-thousand-year soul ring, it was a tangible increase nonetheless.

"Apprentice! You... you can actually convert the energy of a soul ring directly..."

This ability could no longer be described as heaven-defying; it was simply a miracle.

It was an ability that would drive the entire soul master world into a frenzy!

A moment later, Yue Guan's original two yellow soul rings had evolved into thousand-year purple soul rings.

The two original purple spirit rings had even crossed their boundaries, transforming into black, ten-thousand-year spirit rings!

Although the color of the newly ascended ten-thousand-year spirit rings appeared slightly pale and their age was not high, their essence as ten-thousand-year spirit rings was beyond doubt.

Seeing that his bold hypothesis had actually proven true, a smile of pleasant surprise appeared on Lin Ze'an's face.

He looked up at Yue Guan, expecting to see an equally excited reaction from his master.

However, what he saw instead were the extremely unsightly, or perhaps even grave, expressions on the faces of Yue Guan and Gui Mei.

The smile on Lin Ze'an's face froze, and he asked in confusion, "Master? What's wrong?"

Yue Guan snapped back to his senses, took a deep breath, and instantly retracted the spirit rings beneath his feet.

He gripped Lin Ze'an's shoulders firmly and scanned their surroundings vigilantly. Only after confirming that no one was spying on them did he say, "Disciple! Listen well! This ability... never use it again in the future!"

"Not even for your master, not even for His Holiness the Pope—do not reveal it to anyone! Do you understand?!"

Lin Ze'an was startled by his master's stern attitude and nodded subconsciously, but he still couldn't help asking, "Why? Didn't you become stronger, Master?"

"Stronger?" Yue Guan gave a bitter smile, his eyes filled with complex emotions. "Disciple, do you have any idea what this ability of yours signifies?"

"It means you can create powerhouses out of thin air! You can shatter the ironclad laws of the spirit master world that have stood for ten thousand years!"

"Once this information gets out, every faction and every spirit master on the entire continent will go insane over you!"

"They will spare no cost to capture you; they will either imprison you to serve them, or they will destroy you completely before you have the chance to grow!"

Even though he belonged to the Pope's side, he knew all too well what kind of person the Pope was.

His disciple currently possessed only the ability, not the combat power, and could not protect himself.

If she were to find out that Lin Ze'an possessed such an ability...