Strength Wanes, The First Soul Ring is a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!

"Thousand-year soul ring... do you know the upper limit for a Soul Master's first soul ring?"

"According to Yu Xiaogang, who once proposed the Ten Great Martial Soul Theories..."

"The limit for the first soul ring is 423 years."

"The limit for the second soul ring is 764 years. The fact that you can absorb an eight-hundred-year soul ring now..."

"...is already the result of your special martial soul, combined with your constant body tempering."

"A thousand-year first ring is simply impossible."

Qin Ming looked at Qin Qi, his gaze full of seriousness.

"But reality has proven that Yu Xiaogang's theory is wrong."

"Different Soul Masters have different martial souls and different physical qualities."

"They also have different willpower and absorb different types of soul beasts."

"The age limit of a soul ring can change. For example, the soul ring limits for assault-type tool martial souls and beast martial souls are different."

Qin Qi had not spent this time merely tempering his body. He had not neglected Soul Master theory in the slightest.

"That 423-year figure may seem accurate, but in reality, it is nothing more than wishful speculation."

"It was precisely because of such errors that Yu Xiaogang was mocked as the clown master of the Soul Master world."

Qin Qi looked at his older brother and continued.

Qin Ming looked at his younger brother, surprise showing in his eyes.

He had not expected Qin Qi to spot the flaw in his words so quickly.

And rebut it with such sound reasoning.

"Brother, with my current physical condition, I can theoretically handle a thousand-year soul ring."

"Tell me—if you were in my position, would you choose a hundred-year soul ring or a thousand-year soul ring?"

Qin Qi looked at Qin Ming and pressed on.

Qin Ming fell silent for a while, seemingly left speechless.

But a moment later, he pushed up his glasses.

"If it were me, I'd risk my life trying."

"When I was young, I had nothing. If I wanted to succeed, I had to fight with my life."

"Otherwise, I would have had no way forward. Before me, it was either advance or die."

"But you're different. You still have me. You don't need to gamble with your life."

"As your brother, I absolutely cannot let you risk your life to absorb a thousand-year soul ring."

"Compared to becoming a genius, I would rather my brother stay safe and sound."

Qin Ming looked at Qin Qi. His tone was calm, but his eyes were sincere.

"Brother, you... that's an instant kill."

Qin Qi could not help laughing. In the middle of an argument, his brother had brought out genuine feelings.

What else could he say?

"Brother, I have nothing more to argue about, but I really want to try."

"Will you support me?"

Qin Qi no longer argued. At this point, no argument would work.

"..."

"I will."

Qin Ming sighed helplessly. In Qin Qi's eyes, he saw the light of someone unwilling to live an ordinary life.

He knew that if he kept stopping him, Qin Qi might listen.

But it would surely become Qin Qi's lifelong regret.

"Thanks, brother."

Qin Qi smiled, reached out, and lightly punched Qin Ming as he spoke.

Over the next few days, Qin Ming requested leave from the instructor, then took Qin Qi to the Star Dou Great Forest.

After three days of searching, they found a soul beast that looked somewhat like a ball and somewhat like a pig.

"This kind of soul beast has rather ordinary attack and defense."

"But its digestive ability is extremely powerful."

"That is useless to most Soul Masters, but for you, it is the best choice."

"Judging by this soul beast's physical condition, it should be around a thousand years old."

"It won't be more than 1,100 years old at most. That fits your requirements perfectly."

Qin Ming couldn't directly determine a soul beast's age, but by observing its physical characteristics, he could roughly infer how many years it had lived.

Of course, that required extensive knowledge of soul beasts.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, bro, to wear down that soul beast's stamina."

"I'll charge up over here."

Qin Qi held a halberd in his hands, gripping the end of the shaft as he began gathering strength.

"Go for it."

Qin Ming cheered Qin Qi on before stepping forward to drain the soul beast's stamina.

Once it was sufficiently exhausted, he drove it toward Qin Qi.

"It's coming!"

Qin Ming called out a warning while readying himself to rescue him at any moment.

"Whew."

Watching the soul beast charge toward him, Qin Qi took a deep breath.

Then, dragging his halberd behind him, he charged forward. When the soul beast entered his attack range—

"Behold my ultimate move, Thunder Half-Moon Slash!"

Qin Qi shouted as he swung with all his might, using the momentum of his charge to smash the halberd into the soul beast before him.

Bang!

In an instant, the enormous soul beast stopped moving.

Numerous spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground.

A purple soul ring slowly emerged from the soul beast's body.

"What kind of soul skill was that? How come I've never seen you practice it before?"

Qin Ming wore a stunned expression. Judging by the destruction from that one strike alone, even a Soul Master in their twenties would probably only manage this much with a soul skill.

"Bro, I'm only level ten. What the hell soul skill could I possibly know?"

"I just swung as hard as I could and smashed it down."

"Put simply, I'm just ridiculously strong."

Qin Qi smiled. He had no mechanics—only raw stats.

"Then what was that thing you shouted just now...?"

Qin Ming had clearly heard Qin Qi yelling something about an ultimate move, Thunder Half-Moon Slash.

"I just shouted something to psych myself up, build momentum, and help myself exert force."

"Like how other people yell 'hup, ha.'"

Qin Qi said.

"..."

"Fine. I'll stand guard for you. Absorb the soul ring now."

Qin Ming couldn't quite understand his younger brother's lively, eccentric way of thinking.

But he did think that his little brother was absurdly strong.

"Alright."

Qin Qi sat down and began drawing in the soul ring. When the soul ring enveloped his body, a vast surge of power flooded into him, as though he were facing a river bursting through its dam.

But the next instant, that flood split into two streams.

One flowed into Qin Qi's body, while the other flowed into the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu.

After being buffered by the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu, it then entered Qin Qi's body steadily.

"A split flow!"

"The detached beast martial soul shares its senses with the main body."

"If the martial soul is injured, the main body is injured as well. But when absorbing a soul ring..."

"Part of it can be absorbed by the main body, while another part can be absorbed by the detached beast martial soul before being transferred to the main body."

"Though it's only a minor change, it's enough to halve the pressure and impact of the soul ring!"

"This... perhaps a detached beast martial soul can endure greater pressure than an ordinary martial soul when absorbing a soul ring."

Even as Qin Ming stared in shock, his mind rapidly organized the information.

Detached beast martial souls were simply too rare; people knew nothing about them.

The only detached beast martial soul on record had been useless.

As a result, no one studied them at all.

While Qin Ming was still in shock, Qin Qi had already finished absorbing his first soul ring.

He rose from the ground, the purple soul ring behind him glowing brightly.

"A thousand-year first soul ring... You really did it."

"What soul skill did this ring give you?"

Qin Ming immediately stepped forward to examine Qin Qi's condition.

Once he confirmed that Qin Qi was unharmed, an expression of relief and pride appeared on his face as he asked.