The First Spirit Ring, a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring!

"Alas—mutual destruction!" Zhi Lin sighed. He had not expected the battle between these two soul beasts to end like this.

His gaze was as sharp as an eagle's as he swept the scene, then said in a deep voice:

"The Man-Faced Demon Spider is around 3,000 years old, while the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear is at least over 2,000 years old. Their soul rings are of excellent quality, but unfortunately, this is only your second soul ring. You can't absorb their soul rings."

As the vice dean of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, he naturally knew the optimal age limit for a soul master's second soul ring.

500 to 700 years.

Both of these soul beasts were close to 2,000 years old, so they clearly could not serve as Lin Ya's second soul ring.

However, Lin Ya's gaze was locked firmly onto the floating soul ring of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, his eyes flashing brightly!

"Uncle Xue Xing, Mr. Zhi Lin, wait for me. Something this good can't go to waste!"

As soon as he spoke, that yellow first soul ring appeared beneath Lin Ya's feet.

"First Soul Skill—Spirit Binding and General Summoning!"

Buzz!

The yellow soul ring turned into a black phantom circling Lin Ya—the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider soul spirit that had long been restless!

"Go!" Lin Ya ordered without hesitation.

The Soul-Devouring Demon Spider let out an excited hiss. Its eight legs propelled it forward, turning it into a streak of inky lightning that instantly pounced above the Man-Faced Demon Spider's corpse. It opened its savage mouthparts, aimed at the floating purple thousand-year soul ring, and bit down viciously!

Crack! Crack!

The teeth-grating sound of gnawing rang out once more! Fragments of the purple soul ring, like solid energy crystals, were greedily devoured, crushed, and swallowed by the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider!

A torrent of energy far more powerful than when it had devoured a hundred-year soul ring surged wildly into Lin Ya through the link of the soul skill, while rapidly strengthening the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider itself!

At that moment, the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, which had only one breath left, was dumbfounded.

What was going on? Where had this Soul-Devouring Demon Spider come from?

And in its more than two thousand years of life, it had never heard of a Soul-Devouring Demon Spider being capable of devouring soul rings!

But what shocked the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear even more was yet to come.

As the Man-Faced Demon Spider's soul ring was completely devoured, the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider's body continued to swell, and the aura around it grew increasingly terrifying!

Hiss, hiss!

The Soul-Devouring Demon Spider gave a satisfied "burp," then transformed back into a soul ring and returned beneath Lin Ya's feet.

But this time, it was no longer a yellow hundred-year soul ring! It was a deep purple thousand-year soul ring!!

"What?!" Zhi Lin was utterly stunned!

What had he just seen? One soul ring had devoured another, then actually evolved into a thousand-year soul ring!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Beside him, although Prince Xue Xing had already mentally prepared himself, witnessing Lin Ya's soul spirit devour a thousand-year soul ring with his own eyes still made his heart pound wildly.

"A first soul ring! A thousand-year soul ring!"

Prince Xue Xing and Zhi Lin, a Soul Douluo, had lived for so many years, yet neither had ever seen something so terrifying!

The upper limit a soul master could reach depended largely on the quality of their soul rings.

According to research from the eras of Douluo II and Douluo III, for a Soul Douluo to become a Titled Douluo, martial soul quality, physical fitness, and spiritual strength were all indispensable!

And the most important thing for improving all three was the soul rings a soul master attached!

The higher the quality of the soul rings, the greater the enhancement they granted a soul master, and the easier it became to break through to Titled Douluo!

"Your Highness Xue Xing! Who exactly is he?" Zhi Lin looked at Xue Xing, hoping to learn Lin Ya's secret from him.

However, all he received was a silencing gesture from Prince Xue Xing.

Zhi Lin's heart jolted. As expected, Lin Ya's identity was anything but ordinary!

With that thought, Zhi Lin's gaze toward Lin Ya became even more fervent!

Heavens! What kind of genius was he witnessing the birth of?!

Meanwhile, Lin Ya did not react much.

So what if my first soul ring is a thousand-year soul ring? It's only because this primitive era of Douluo I had not researched martial souls deeply enough. Body martial souls, soul bones, heavenly treasures... any one of those could raise the limit of soul rings a soul master could absorb. In later generations, plenty of people had ten-thousand-year first soul rings.

Lin Ya did not stop moving. He could sense that the quality of his first soul ring had already reached a terrifying 2,000 years! And this still had not reached the limit of his body!

In other words...

Lin Ya turned his gaze toward the dying behemoth—the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear! Then he strode toward it.

Sensing Lin Ya's approach, the weakened Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear barely forced open its heavy eyelids. Lin Ya's figure was reflected in its dim beastly eyes.

A low, feeble whimper escaped its throat, filled with unwillingness and rage, but even more so with the despair and helplessness of impending death.

It knew that it was going to die.

Even if this soul master did not kill it, the Man-Faced Demon Spider's venom would take its life.

I'm really unlucky.

Lin Ya stopped several steps away from the giant bear. He could feel the terrifying pressure radiating from it. Even on the verge of death, the ferocity rooted in its bloodline still made one's heart tremble.

He took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound calmer before he spoke:

"I know you can hear me!" Lin Ya's voice was steady and clear, drawing the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's attention. "You're in great pain right now. The poison is devouring your life, and you won't last much longer."

The giant bear's pupils contracted slightly, and a more furious growl rumbled from its throat.

"But I can save you! Or rather, give you a chance to continue existing!" Lin Ya's eyes burned as his tone carried an irresistible temptation.

"Give up struggling. Sacrifice yourself to me and become my second soul ring. I can preserve the source of your soul, just like it—" He pointed at the purple first soul ring beneath his feet.

Buzz!

Having just finished devouring its prey, the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider soul spirit appeared at its master's command! Its ferocious aura was no weaker than that of the Man-Faced Demon Spider that had still been alive moments ago!

Looking at the weakened Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider flaunted itself by flexing its foreclaws, signaling for the other party to behave. It would not mind having an extra meal later.

Then Lin Ya's beguiling voice rang out beside the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's ears once more:

"See? If you become my soul ring, you can become a ten-thousand-year soul beast like it! A hundred-thousand-year soul beast! Or even... a god! By then, not only can you be revived, but you can become an existence surpassing a million-year soul beast! Aren't you truly tempted?"

As it listened to Lin Ya's words, the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's huge eyes grew brighter and brighter.

If it had been at full strength, it would have answered Lin Ya's words with a swipe of its claws.

But now, it was nearly dead. How could it afford to care about all that?

Forget it! Death was death either way! It would gamble on this!!