Nine Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings

All was silent.

The entire world seemed to contain nothing but that bizarre black-and-white ice sculpture and a... fifty-thousand-year black Soul Ring slowly rising from within it!

Just as everyone was left utterly stunned by this scene beyond comprehension, an indifferent yet clear voice suddenly descended from the Sky Curtain, resounding in every ear.

There was no image, only a voice.

"Thunderclap Tyrannosaur bones, flesh, blood, and soul can all be used as medicine. It is fairly decent alchemy material."

The voice was calm and unruffled, as though it were evaluating an ordinary herb rather than a fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast capable of destroying an entire city.

That casually spoken sentence sent those who had only just recovered from the freezing into an even deeper stupor.

Alchemy material?

A fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast... was merely material?!

Before they could digest that shocking statement, the voice rang out again. This time, it seemed to be addressing the barely breathing figure on the ground.

"What is your name, young man?"

Yu Tianlin struggled to speak. "My name is Yu Tianlin. Please, Senior, save the ordinary people in the village."

"Just now, did you choose to risk your life to protect those ordinary people in the manor, despite sharing only a faint bloodline with them?"

On the ground, Yu Tianlin's consciousness was fading, and the breath of life within him was like a candle flickering in the wind. He heard the question, but he no longer had the strength to move even a finger.

He did not answer.

Or rather, he could no longer answer.

At that moment, the image in the Sky Curtain shifted.

An ancient-looking pill furnace appeared out of thin air before Yu Tianlin.

The furnace was dark red all over, covered in complex and ancient patterns. A vast, primordial aura rushed toward them.

Yet what drew everyone's attention was not the pill furnace itself.

It was the... Soul Rings surrounding it!

Buzz—

The first Soul Ring lit up.

Red!

A blinding, bloodlike red! One hundred thousand years!

Everyone's breathing stopped at once!

Buzz—

The second Soul Ring lit up.

It was red as well!

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

A series of soft hums rang out as blood-red halos emerged one after another, layering over each other and shrouding the pill furnace!

Three... five... seven...

Nine!

A full nine, all of them one-hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings, symbols of the supreme beings of the Soul Beast world!

With all nine rings revealed, heaven and earth lost their color!

The terrifying pressure passed through the Sky Curtain, making every Soul Master across Douluo Continent, regardless of where they were, tremble from the depths of their souls!

"Nine... nine... one-hundred-thousand-year..."

Before the gates of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Yu Yuanzhen's legs gave way, and he nearly fell to his knees. The nine Soul Rings he had always been so proud of were nothing more than a joke before that pill furnace!

Shrek Academy.

"No... impossible... This is absolutely impossible!"

Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang staggered back two steps and slammed into the wall behind him. He muttered in a daze as the theoretical system he had built over his lifetime was smashed to dust by an irresistible force!

One Martial Soul with nine one-hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings?

This was not a crack in theory. This was myth! It overturned the rules of the entire Soul Master world!

Tang San stared fixedly at the nine red rings, his heart pounding wildly. He possessed Twin Martial Souls and had always considered himself exceptionally gifted, but compared to this unknown existence, what did his little accomplishments amount to?

Inside Spirit Hall.

Bibi Dong's delicate body, which had just risen, trembled uncontrollably.

Looking at the nine red rings, she was utterly shocked. After all, her second Martial Soul only had several black Soul Rings and was nowhere near the level of nine one-hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings. For the first time, a trace of... bitterness appeared on that breathtakingly beautiful face.

She had exhausted her entire life and survived countless brushes with death to attain what she had today.

Yet this Mysterious Person, who had appeared from nowhere, had crushed all her pride with a single Martial Soul!

However, the shock was far from over!

The Mysterious Person in the Sky Curtain seemed to think displaying one Martial Soul was not enough.

He summoned flames once more.

This time, it was no longer a pill furnace, but a flame!

A strange, ghostly white flame that radiated endless coldness floated quietly in midair.

Then, the Soul Rings belonging to it lit up as well!

The first ring was purple!

The second ring was purple!

The third ring was black!

The fourth ring was black!

The fifth ring was black!

The sixth ring was black!

The seventh ring was red!

The eighth ring was red!

The ninth ring was red!

Purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red, red, red!

When the configuration of those nine Soul Rings was clearly displayed before everyone, all of Douluo Continent went completely mad!

Twin Martial Souls!

Another person with Twin Martial Souls!

And that Soul Ring configuration...

"The first Soul Ring... is a thousand years old?!"

At Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang let out a shrill scream. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and he looked utterly deranged!

"With Martial Soul Possession, the limit for the first Soul Ring can never exceed four hundred and twenty-three years! That is the law! An iron rule! Why... why is it a thousand-year Soul Ring?!"

His theories, his faith, the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul he had spent his entire life summarizing, were completely torn apart at that moment, then trampled beneath someone's feet and crushed without mercy!

Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai... everyone from Shrek looked at the Sky Curtain as though they were staring at a monster.

Their "Grandmaster," the theories they believed in, seemed so laughable and so utterly fragile at that moment!

"So the upper limit of the first Soul Ring can be a thousand years? Then with the support of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, can't I absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring too? Grandmaster, my ass. He has truly ruined my life and deserves death!"

Tang San could not help feeling displeased as he looked toward Yu Xiaogang.

Within Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong swayed.

A Title Douluo from a thousand years ago? Twin Martial Souls? A Soul Ring configuration even more heaven-defying than hers?!

How was that possible!

There had never been such a record in the continent's history!

Who exactly was this person?!

At the same time, in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

By the Lake of Life, the sleeping giant beasts were awakened one after another by the terrifying aura passing through the Sky Curtain.

Di Tian abruptly opened his golden vertical pupils and looked gravely toward the sky.

Bi Ji, Zi Ji, and the other Beast Kings all revealed horrified expressions.

Even they felt their hearts tremble beneath the pressure of those nine one-hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings!

Just then!

An incomparably violent roar exploded from the depths of the forest!

Roar—!!!

A terrifying giant bear over fifteen meters tall suddenly rose onto its hind legs. Its body was covered in dark golden fur, and the claws extending from its paws glinted with chilling light.

It was the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, renowned among the Beast Kings for its strength and brutality—Xiong Jun!

At that moment, endless fury and grief filled its savage bear eyes as it stared fixedly at the pill furnace in the Sky Curtain.

More precisely, it was staring at one of the nine blood-red Soul Rings surrounding the furnace!

"It is it! It is this pill furnace!"

Xiong Jun's voice echoed throughout the Star Dou Great Forest, filled with bone-deep hatred.

"This aura... I will never forget it! Brother!!"

It threw back its head and roared, its voice shaking all directions.

"In that Soul Ring... there is the aura of my elder brother!!"