Preparing to Absorb the Second Soul Ring

Leugocyte had devoured so many planets, yet it never suffered from having its intellect corrupted by the desire to consume. Aside from the one whose perception was altered by Tregear, the others seemed quite well-received, didn't they?

By comparison, he had only just consumed the corpse of an eight-thousand-year soul beast; what was this compared to that?

Of course, Lu Chen would not say these words aloud.

Therefore, he simply stood obediently in place, allowing Bibi Dong to inspect his condition.

Yue Guan walked over, his expression no longer as relaxed as it had been moments ago.

"Xiao Chen, you should use this ability sparingly in the future."

Lu Chen looked at Yue Guan.

Yue Guan continued, "It is not that this soul skill is bad. On the contrary, it is incredibly powerful. However, the act of devouring life is inherently dangerous."

"Even if you are not affected now, there is no guarantee that you will remain free of issues later on."

Gui Mei also spoke up, "Especially, do not easily devour living creatures."

His voice remained low, yet it carried a clear note of warning.

Bibi Dong added, "Yue Guan and Gui Mei are right. You may use this devouring ability as a trump card, but it must not become a conventional method."

Lu Chen nodded.

"I understand."

This time, his promise was sincere.

In truth, even without the trio's warning, he had no intention of using the ability to devour life casually.

Devouring a corpse and devouring life were two different things.

The former was merely the decomposition and absorption of residual matter that had already lost its life, while the latter treated life itself as mere nourishment.

Such things were too contrary to the natural order.

Even Leugocyte mostly devoured ruined planets devoid of any vitality, rather than slaughtering living beings simply for the sake of consumption.

Therefore, Lu Chen did not reject this ability, but he would control how he used it.

Seeing Lu Chen agree, Bibi Dong did not dwell further on the matter.

She turned her attention to observing the fluctuations of soul power on Lu Chen's body.

The first soul ring had been successfully absorbed.

A deep purple soul ring circled steadily around Lu Chen, proving that he had indeed successfully obtained an eight-thousand-year first soul ring.

However, because Lu Chen had yet to absorb a second soul ring, his soul power level appeared to remain at level twenty.

This was not strange.

He was born with level twenty soul power, and he would only be able to formally reflect further progress after absorbing two soul rings.

Bibi Dong said, "Since you have not yet absorbed your second soul ring, your soul power level remains at level twenty."

Lu Chen nodded.

"I can feel it."

His soul power was actually denser than it had been before absorbing the ring, but his level had not broken through any further.

It was as if his body was already brimming with power, simply lacking the opening of the second gate.

Bibi Dong continued, "Once you absorb your second soul ring, the accumulated soul power will be released all at once, and your level should see a significant breakthrough then."

Yue Guan laughed from the side, "With an eight-thousand-year first soul ring, once you finish absorbing the second, your starting point will truly be terrifying."

Gui Mei nodded in silence.

Lu Chen did not show any signs of arrogance, simply feeling the changes within his body with focus.

Bibi Dong looked at Lu Chen, her tone turning serious once more.

"Xiao Chen, regarding the second soul ring, you have already spoken to me about it."

Lu Chen looked up.

Bibi Dong said, "You wish to choose a ten-thousand-year soul ring; that is fine. But a ten-thousand-year soul ring is different from a thousand-year one."

"Thousand-year soul rings primarily test the body's endurance and the compatibility of the martial soul, whereas ten-thousand-year soul rings also produce soul tremors."

Lu Chen listened intently.

Bibi Dong continued, "Soul beasts over ten thousand years old have significantly higher intelligence and mental power. After they die, the residual mental shock will backlash against the soul master during the absorption of the soul ring."

"This kind of shock cannot be resisted by physical constitution alone."

"If your mind cannot withstand it, at best the absorption will fail, and at worst, your consciousness will be damaged."

Yue Guan added, "Many soul masters whose bodies could withstand a ten-thousand-year soul ring ultimately fell to the soul tremors."

Gui Mei looked at Lu Chen, "So, you must not be careless."

Lu Chen understood their meaning, of course.

But he was not worried.

His sea of consciousness was not occupied by himself alone.

Leugocyte itself resided there.

Outside, if the spiritual remnant of a ten-thousand-year soul beast were to strike him, he might not have many ways to counter it.

But once that spiritual power entered his sea of consciousness, things would be entirely different.

When that time came, Leugocyte would let that unlucky ten-thousand-year soul beast understand what a Colored Dragon was, and what a Universe Devourer truly meant.

Lu Chen thought this to himself, but he did not explain much on the surface.

He simply said, "Teacher, I can handle it."

Bibi Dong looked at him.

"Are you certain?"

Lu Chen nodded.

"Certain."

His expression was very serious, without the slightest hint of joking.

Bibi Dong frowned slightly.

She was still somewhat worried.

The soul shock produced by a ten-thousand-year soul ring was no trivial matter.

Even if Lu Chen had successfully absorbed an eight-thousand-year soul ring as his first, it did not necessarily mean he could directly absorb a ten-thousand-year one for his second.

However, looking at Lu Chen's resolute expression, Bibi Dong recalled the situation when he absorbed his first soul ring.

At that time, she had also felt it was too risky.

As it turned out, not only did Lu Chen succeed, but the entire process had been so smooth it was almost unbelievable.

There were too many things about this child that could not be explained by common logic.

In the end, Bibi Dong made her decision.

She looked toward Gui Mei.

"Gui Mei."

Gui Mei bowed his head slightly.

"This subordinate is here."

"Go and capture a ten-thousand-year dragon-type soul beast."

Gui Mei did not ask any questions.

"Yes."

As his voice fell, his figure merged directly into the darkness and soon vanished into the depths of the forest.

Yue Guan watched the direction Gui Mei had left in and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Bibi Dong spoke up.

"Before Gui Mei returns, adjust your state."

Lu Chen nodded.

"Yes, Teacher."

In the time that followed, the camp grew quiet once more.

Lu Chen did not waste this half-day.

He sat cross-legged to the side, recovering his soul power while continuing to ponder his first soul skill.

Void Dragon Form was very powerful.

But fully transforming into a gaseous cloud dozens of meters wide created too much of a disturbance and lacked flexibility, so it could only serve as a trump card for survival.

If he could mobilize a portion of the devouring power without fully transforming into a gaseous cloud, or speed up the transformation process, the practicality of this soul skill would be much higher.

Lu Chen tried several times.

It did not go smoothly at first.

The devouring power seemed better suited to being fully unleashed while in Void Dragon Form; if he maintained his human-form martial soul possession, he could only draw out a very faint portion of it.

However, after half a day of exploration, Lu Chen still made some progress.

At the very least, he was already able to condense a wisp of dark purple devouring fluctuation at his fingertips.

It was just that this level was still very unstable and would require continued practice in the future.

Bibi Dong did not disturb him.

Yue Guan only glanced over occasionally.

They both knew that Lu Chen had just obtained his first soul skill and needed to familiarize himself with it.

Half a day passed quickly.

From the depths of the forest, a heavy dragging sound suddenly echoed.

Gui Mei had returned.