Absorbing the Soul Ring! Thirteen Thousand Years!

As the Soul Ring passed over the cave entrance,

its outer layer rippled slightly.

But it did not stop.

Hu Liena felt her scalp tingle.

"If Grandpa Gui saw this with his own eyes, he'd probably start wondering if he'd lived the past few decades for nothing."

After entering, Li Zha sat down cross-legged on the spot.

He laid the Flaming-tipped Spear across his lap.

The black Soul Ring immediately stopped before him.

"My body has been tempered by the Undying Lotus Root for years, and I also consumed Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue.

"The Undying Lotus Root should have absorbed quite a bit of its life attribute as well.

"Right now, the strength of my meridians and body can absolutely be called the best among people my age.

"And the Red-Mane Explosive-Flame Wolf willingly left behind its Soul Ring, so its resentment won't be forcibly imposed on me.

"For this Soul Ring absorption, I have every advantage on my side. Whatever the chances of success are,

they are definitely the highest success rate possible for me to absorb the highest possible age limit."

After analyzing the situation, Li Zha used his Soul Power to pull the black Soul Ring completely toward the top of his head.

Leaning against the cave entrance, Hu Liena still looked at Li Zha worriedly and asked,

"What exactly is this highest success rate you mentioned?"

"Ten percent, or twenty?"

Li Zha closed his eyes. "One hundred and twenty percent."

"There you go again!"

"Nana."

"What?" Hu Liena pouted at him.

"During the absorption, no matter what happens, even if I'm already dead,

as long as the Soul Ring I'm absorbing hasn't disappeared, do not touch me."

Hu Liena opened her mouth.

In the end, she retreated to outside the cave entrance.

"Hmph! I wouldn't touch you while you're alive, much less after you're dead!"

Though she said that, her palms were already sweating slightly.

Li Zha, you have to make it through this.

Thirteen thousand years...

I don't believe anyone else could succeed.

But I believe in you, Li Zha.

Li Zha's Soul Power began circulating through his meridians.

The black Soul Ring instantly sent black ripples spreading outward!

Buzz!

In only an instant, Li Zha's entire body

turned fiery red and scorching hot!

His skin looked as though it were about to be cooked!

Li Zha abruptly clenched his teeth, hot sweat trickling down his forehead.

The initial surge is already this fierce... This isn't good...

At the same time, the rocky ground on the other side completely collapsed.

The Crimson Flame Heavy-Armored Beast crawled out from the rubble, its shell completely covered in black mist.

It shook its body, scattering dozens of ghostly shadows.

Gui Mei stood in midair, confirming that Li Zha and Hu Liena's auras had already left the battlefield.

He raised a hand and tugged at his sleeve.

"Those two troublesome brats have finally gone far enough away."

"Now, I can deal with you without restraint."

The Crimson Flame Heavy-Armored Beast threw back its head and roared, all the armor on its back lighting up crimson.

Gui Mei raised his right hand, slowly curling his five fingers inward.

The surrounding black mist rapidly compressed.

Hundreds of ghostly shadows crawled out of the ground, grabbing the Crimson Flame Heavy-Armored Beast's limbs, neck, and tail.

"A mere forty-thousand-year Soul Beast dares roar at me? Kneel!"

Boom!

The Crimson Flame Heavy-Armored Beast's limbs buckled.

Its enormous body was forcibly pressed into the ground!

"First Soul Skill—Giant Ghost Hand!"

In an instant, one of Gui Mei's arms enlarged from shoulder to palm!

The skin of the enlarged arm turned entirely purple!

Without the slightest hesitation, just as the Crimson Flame Heavy-Armored Beast struggled to rise,

"Boom—!"

A thunderous explosion shook the heavens!

A purple arm seven or eight meters thick and long descended from above!

It slammed brutally into the Crimson Flame Heavy-Armored Beast.

Then came a relentless barrage of rapid blows!

"Boom boom boom boom boom!!"

Meanwhile,

inside the stone cave,

Li Zha's entire body had turned red, and his expression was extremely grim.

Faint white smoke rose from every pore!

Hot!

Unbearably hot!

At this moment, the Soul Power he was trying to absorb from the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring was like water!

Continuously heated and brought to a boil by the Red-Mane Explosive-Flame Wolf's Soul Ring!

And Li Zha's body, constantly tempered by the Undying Lotus Root,

was like a boiler!

His internal organs had already been heated to an utterly terrifying temperature!

If it were any other Soul Master, they would already have exploded and died.

Or rather, even if Tang San, with his Twin Martial Souls, were the one absorbing it,

as long as he did not have an Undying Lotus Root Martial Soul constantly tempering and purifying his body, he would die instantly!

Yet the situation did not improve just because Li Zha had withstood the high temperature with the Undying Lotus Root.

"Rip!"

The next second, something even more terrifying happened.

A tearing sound actually came from inside Li Zha's body.

"What was that sound?"

Hu Liena, who had been leaning against the cave entrance, abruptly turned around.

At a glance, she saw a bloody gash split open on Li Zha's right arm!

The blood was scalding hot!

It flowed down Li Zha's arm!

White smoke rose wherever it passed!

That was the sign of instant burns!

And at that moment, Hu Liena witnessed a shocking sight she could not understand.

A thin, pale lotus fiber extended from Li Zha's wound!

In an instant, the lotus fiber began stopping the bleeding and repairing the gash!

"So it's because the Undying Lotus Root has such terrifying healing abilities! No wonder Li Zha dared to absorb a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring!"

Hu Liena let out half a sigh of relief.

But before Li Zha's wound could fully heal, a second tearing sound followed immediately!

This time, it came from Li Zha's left leg!

Blood instantly soaked through half his pant leg.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring left behind by the male wolf hummed back and forth above Li Zha's head!

Layers of black ripples spread around it!

Li Zha had initially thought that willingly offering up the Soul Ring would reduce the resistance during absorption.

And that was indeed true.

There was no wolf soul in the Soul Ring attacking his mind, nor did it deliberately reject his Soul Power.

But the pressure brought by its age had not diminished in the slightest.

It was far too difficult to cram more than thirteen thousand years of Soul Power into the body of a level-ten Soul Master in a short time!

The very first surge had already exceeded the limits that most genius Soul Masters could endure!

Li Zha could only stabilize the absorption of the Soul Power!

He adjusted his breathing and continued guiding the Soul Power from the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring into his meridians.

The Red-Mane Explosive-Flame Wolf's scorching Soul Power entered his body through the top of his head,

passed through his arms, flowed to his shoulders, and then entered his chest.

Li Zha's upper body suddenly tensed.

"Rip!"

Large beads of blood quickly seeped from the skin on his chest as well.

Hu Liena stood at the cave entrance, both hands clenched so tightly they had turned white.

Li Zha, don't force yourself...

She desperately wanted to warn him, but she feared disrupting his state.

In the end, the stone cave was left with only Li Zha's suppressed breathing.

A moment later, the Flaming-tipped Spear lying across his legs suddenly trembled.

Buzz!

The heat carried by the spear suddenly intensified.

Scorch marks began appearing on Li Zha's clothes.

Hu Liena hurriedly released Soul Power, blocking the flames rushing toward his body.

She did not dare touch Li Zha and could only deal with the fire from the side.

"It's only just begun, and the pressure is already this intense... Can Li Zha really do it...?"

Hu Liena bit her lower lip.

She did not dare imagine what would happen if Li Zha failed.

"Rip! Rip!"

As the sounds of Li Zha's muscles tearing apart grew increasingly frequent,

the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring above his head also shrank little by little.

But the shrinking black ring was not positive feedback.

It was negative feedback!

Every time the black ring shrank another circle, the pressure Li Zha's body endured did not lessen,

but instead increased by another layer!

The faster his muscles tore, the more frantically the Undying Lotus Root accelerated its repairs!

Li Zha's body was madly pushing itself to its limit!

Trying to catch up with the continuous damage being inflicted upon it!

By now, Li Zha was already covered in blood!

Not a shred of his skin still looked human!

Hu Liena's pupils trembled as she quickly turned to look outside the cave.

She did not dare watch anymore.

She did not even want to hear those piercing sounds of muscles tearing apart!

She was afraid she would truly see Li Zha explode and die before her eyes!

Li Zha... You'll be alright, won't you...?