Absorbing a 3000-Year Soul Ring! Martial Soul Evolution

Above the canopy, Su Changge's gaze swept over the ruins left behind by the great battle like a blade.

With every breath, the pungent scent of blood flooded his nostrils, nauseating enough to make him gag.

Su Changge's line of sight finally locked onto the massive corpse of the Red Gold Fire Python and the Titan Giant Ape, which lay limp on the ground in a near-death state.

An opportunity!

A heaven-sent opportunity.

A Titan Giant Ape in a near-death state, and a three-thousand-year spirit ring.

If not for this stroke of luck, he might not have encountered such a thing even if he waited until the end of time.

To ignore a gift from the heavens is to invite disaster.

Su Changge's eyes burned like fire, a great sun seemingly blazing within his heart.

He leaped from the tree, sliding down the trunk to the ground.

"Hey, Su Changge, what are you doing?"

"That Titan Giant Ape isn't dead yet. Even if you want to scavenge, you should wait until it's actually dead."

Seeing Su Changge creeping toward the Titan Giant Ape, Murong Ruyan looked anxious, yet she followed him, driven by some inexplicable impulse.

Was it the adrenaline after the battle? Or the subtle attraction between a young man and woman in the depths of this desolate forest?

Who could say for sure?

Upon reaching a distance of one hundred meters from the Titan Giant Ape, Su Changge stopped hiding his presence.

He rose from the ground, brushed the thorns from his clothes, drew a poison-coated dagger, and gripped it firmly, walking toward the Titan Giant Ape with his back straight.

"Su Changge, hey, you bastard, can't you listen to reason?"

Seeing Su Changge's actions, Murong Ruyan turned pale. She hurried forward, grabbed Su Changge tightly, and finally ended up clinging to his back.

The soft, rising and falling sensation against his back caused Su Changge to lose focus for a moment.

"Get down!"

Su Changge forced himself to remain calm.

"I won't."

Seeing Murong Ruyan's stubbornness, Su Changge slapped her on the buttocks, startling her into jumping off, her face flushing red as she retreated.

"Su Changge, you... you're shameless."

"I'm doing this for your own good, and you're taking advantage of me."

"I appreciate your good intentions, but I have a reason why I must do this."

"Don't stand in my way, or... I wouldn't mind taking you right here."

A dangerous glint flickered in Su Changge's eyes.

Those explicit words seemed to truly stun Murong Ruyan; she crossed her arms over her chest and backed away, keeping a distance of several meters from Su Changge.

However, doing it in a place like this... it seemed so wild, so thrilling.

Murong Ruyan seemed to think of something, her face turning so red it looked as if it might bleed.

Rustle. Rustle.

Crisp footsteps echoed through the silent ruins.

Seeing Su Changge, the Titan Giant Ape instinctively wanted to roar, but due to its severe injuries, it couldn't make a sound. It could only twitch its lips, baring its sharp fangs to warn him.

However, this bluffing display clearly couldn't shake Su Changge's resolve.

Squelch.

The dagger sank into the Titan Giant Ape's wound, and over a dozen types of toxins surged into its bloodstream.

The wound turned a bruised purple in the blink of an eye, and the creature's aura grew increasingly faint.

After witnessing this, Su Changge took no further action, simply standing to the side and waiting quietly... for the Titan Giant Ape's life to reach its end.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the Titan Giant Ape finally ceased breathing.

Under the watchful eyes of Su Changge and Murong Ruyan, a purple spirit ring floated up from the Titan Giant Ape's massive corpse, as if calling out to something.

"A three-thousand-year spirit ring!"

Su Changge whispered, looking at the purple ring before him. His heart felt no agitation; instead, he became incredibly calm.

Sixteen years!

He had finally reached this step.

Once he absorbed this spirit ring, he would be a true Spirit Master.

"Su Changge... what are you doing? Wait, wait a moment."

Seeing that her repeated calls went unanswered, Murong Ruyan ran ahead and blocked Su Changge's path.

Her chest heaved, as if she had mentally prepared herself to be "taken."

"Su Changge, this is your first soul ring, isn't it?"

"Do you have any common sense at all?"

"Who is your teacher? Did they never teach you anything?"

"For a soul master's first soul ring, a hundred-year ring is optimal, and it carries the lowest risk for absorption."

"Even the top geniuses from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and the Seven Great Sects rarely exceed a four-hundred-year limit when absorbing their first soul ring."

"But this soul ring of yours is a full three thousand years! That is a level of intensity that even ordinary soul grandmasters wouldn't dare to absorb lightly."

"The violent soul power contained within is enough to burst a mere soul scholar like you in an instant... Wake up, don't let the temptation before you cloud your judgment."

"I know all of that. Move aside!"

Su Changge's gaze swept over Murong Ruyan's delicate face as he pushed her aside by the waist. Without stopping his stride, he reached out toward the purple soul ring.

"Fine, fine! It's hard to save a soul bent on its own destruction."

"Su Changge, if you die, I won't even bother to collect your corpse."

Seeing Su Changge's hand make contact with the soul ring, Murong Ruyan's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, sobbing and cursing at him.

However, Su Changge no longer had the energy to pay any attention to Murong Ruyan.

Almost the moment he touched the soul ring, a vast surge of soul power rushed into his body like a tide returning to its cave, constantly restructuring and widening the meridians throughout his entire body.

His aura also began to climb steadily under this violent transformation.

The reason he dared to be so reckless was not because he was truly gambling his life for a slim hope of a future.

It was because, when he was six years old, shortly after awakening his martial soul, his parents—who were still alive at the time—had sought out many precious artifacts for him, among which were two pieces of whale glue that were several thousand years old.

He knew of the miraculous effects of whale glue and had consumed them long ago.

The combined effect of those two pieces might not have equaled a ten-thousand-year whale glue.

But he was not absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring; he was absorbing a three-thousand-year one.

In this situation, it was more than enough.

Half an hour later, as Su Changge drained the last wisp of energy from the soul ring, the purple ring shattered with a boom.

The scene before her eyes dealt a massive blow to Murong Ruyan's understanding, no less than a complete restructuring of her worldview.

"This... how is this possible? He actually succeeded."

"A soul scholar actually absorbed a three-thousand-year soul ring from a top-tier soul beast species like the Titan Giant Ape?"

"No, this is impossible! This is impossible."

Murong Ruyan stared in a daze, her body moving mechanically as she retreated backward.

Hum!

At the same time, the aura around Su Changge reached its peak.

The barrier that had plagued him for countless days and nights shattered in response.

A purple soul ring emerged from beneath his feet, radiating an aura of violence and power.

"Hahaha... I did it! I actually did it!!!"

Ding! Host has hunted the first soul ring. Martial soul evolution: Goblin Cub promoted to Goblin. Obtained first trait reward: Many Children Many Blessings.