The rain stopped.
The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword hovered before Su Chen, the lightning patterns on its blade flickering on and off.
Hu Liena crouched beside him and stared at the sword for a long while.
"Could that sword suddenly strike someone?"
"Yes."
"Then keep it away from me."
Su Chen reached out and gripped the hilt.
"If it strikes anyone, it'll strike you first. You're the one who kept leaning so close."
Hu Liena immediately stood up and took two steps back, though she still sounded defiant.
"I was checking your injury."
"Finished?"
"There's a burn mark on your palm. Are your meridians all right?"
"Senior Sister, when did you learn to care about people?"
"Don't get cocky."
Bibi Dong took no part in their bickering. Her gaze remained fixed on the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword.
After being tempered by two bolts of heavenly lightning, the ordinary iron sword had already transformed beyond its original state.
Su Chen's Soul Power Level was still at ten, and the faint purple energy inside him was no ordinary Soul Power.
"Su Chen."
"Teacher."
"You said the Soul Ring hasn't appeared yet. What are you planning to do next?"
Su Chen laid the sword across his knees and closed his eyes, sensing the changes within him.
The lightning had entered the sword, and it had entered his body, too.
The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword carried some of the lightning's intent, but more of the laws of the thunder attribute still lay scattered between his meridians and dantian.
Purple energy flowed slowly around his dantian. Each time it completed a circuit, the lightning patterns on the sword lit up in response.
What did a Soul Ring require?
A Soul Beast's age, Soul Power, attribute, and the imprint of laws left behind when it died.
When an ordinary Soul Master absorbed a Soul Ring, they drew outside power into their Martial Soul.
But the path he intended to take couldn't simply involve stuffing lightning into his sword.
He had to unite the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword and the thunder arts into one.
"First, I'll condense a seal."
Bibi Dong's gaze sharpened.
"What kind of seal?"
"A seal of the laws of thunder."
Hu Liena didn't understand.
"A Soul Ring is a circle, isn't it? How did it become a seal?"
"It only looks like a circle on the outside. At its core, it's the laws of power."
Su Chen raised his hand, and a wisp of purple lightning flickered in his palm.
"After a Soul Beast dies, its Soul Power dissipates, but its attribute laws remain because of the Martial Soul's pull. Since a Soul Beast can leave them behind, the laws of thunder can, too."
Bibi Dong said nothing.
She wanted to argue, but the lightning patterns on the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword were right before her eyes.
Su Chen hadn't tested the sword on a Soul Beast or absorbed a Soul Ring, yet he had already given an ordinary iron sword changes of the thunder attribute.
This child was forcing her to rethink the Soul Master system with sheer proof.
"How do you plan to do it?"
"Draw the lightning intent out of my body and drive it into my Martial Soul."
"And if you fail?"
"The lightning intent will disperse. At worst, all my work will come to nothing."
Bibi Dong looked at the burn marks on Su Chen's palm.
"And all that will happen is that your work comes to nothing?"
"My teacher's here. It'd be hard for anything serious to happen."
Hu Liena immediately chimed in.
"I'll keep an eye on you this time, too. If you try to be reckless, I'll go get Elder Ju."
Su Chen glanced at her.
"What would you get Elder Ju for?"
"To have Elder Ju tie you up and take you back."
"I'm six, Senior Sister. Don't you think that sounds like bullying a child?"
Hu Liena opened her mouth, then realized she really had no way to argue.
A hint of amusement passed through Bibi Dong's eyes. She raised a hand and laid a Soul Power barrier around the platform.
"Begin."
Su Chen sat cross-legged.
The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword lay across his legs as the Supreme Guidance Art began to circulate.
The moisture left by the rain still lingered in the air, and the energy of the thunder attribute was more active than usual.
Those subtle energies entered his body with each breath. They didn't flow directly into his dantian, but traveled along his meridians.
One circuit.
Two circuits.
Three circuits.
The purple energy in his dantian was slowly stirred.
Su Chen's mind sank into it, and the process of drawing down the lightning surfaced in his mind.
The sword had drawn down the might of heaven.
When the heavenly lightning fell, the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword had borne the lightning's form.
As it circulated through his meridians, his body had borne the lightning's intent.
What he lacked now was a way to unite form and intent.
[ Ding! ]
[By observing the lightning patterns on the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword, you have comprehended the circulation of your own lightning intent.]
[By combining the Violet Firmament Thunder-Attracting Art with your Martial Soul Origin, you have achieved enlightenment.]
[You have created the Soul Ring Condensation Method, Thunder Seal Ring Method.]
The new method flooded into his mind.
A Soul Ring couldn't be conjured from nothing. It had to be forged bit by bit, with one's Martial Soul as its root, the laws of heaven and earth as its material, and the Soul Master's mind as its hammer.
Without a Soul Beast's Soul Power to support it, spiritual energy could make up the difference.
Without interference from a Soul Beast's lingering will, the Soul Ring could be brought closer to the Martial Soul Origin.
Su Chen lifted both hands, placing his fingers on either side of the sword.
"Let the Violet Firmament guide me; let the thunder seal become a ring."
The lightning patterns on the sword began to move.
Hu Liena held her breath.
The purple patterns that had been scattered along the sword's spine seemed to be drawn by some force. They slowly broke away from the blade and floated before Su Chen.
One.
Two.
Dozens of tiny lightning patterns wound around one another.
Bibi Dong's gaze grew increasingly serious.
She could feel that the patterns were no ordinary Soul Power. They were genuine laws of the thunder attribute.
Compared with a Soul Beast's Soul Ring, this power had less ferocity and less impurity.
It was pure to an almost unbelievable degree.
The lightning patterns continued to contract, gradually forming a pale purple ring.
At first, the ring was faint, as if a gust of wind could blow it apart.
Su Chen furrowed his brows as the spiritual energy in his body circulated faster.
"It's still missing something."
Hu Liena grew anxious.
"What is it missing? Can I help?"
"If you mix in your Demon Fox Soul Power, this ring will turn pink."
"What's wrong with pink? It'd look pretty."
"A pink ring hanging on a sword? That'd be for girls' fights."
"Su Chen!"
Bibi Dong raised a hand to stop them.
"Quiet."
Hu Liena fell silent at once, but her fists clenched even tighter.
Su Chen no longer drew on the lightning outside him.
He could call down heavenly lightning once, but he couldn't count on heaven to grant him a favor every time.
If he wanted to condense a Soul Ring of his own, he had to use the lightning intent he had accumulated himself.
The purple energy in his dantian was drawn out bit by bit. A slight ache ran through his meridians, and the lightning patterns on the sword dimmed.
Without hesitation, Su Chen sent all his purple energy into the faint ring.
The next instant, the ring suddenly solidified.
Pale purple light spread through the air.
The ring was neither the white of an ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Ring nor the purple of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Deep purple mingled with silver-white streaks of lightning. Each streak seemed to extend from the sword, slowly circling Su Chen.
A mutated Soul Ring hovered above the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword.
Hu Liena's eyes widened.
"It really appeared..."
Bibi Dong didn't speak right away.
She had seen countless Soul Rings.
White ten-year rings, yellow hundred-year rings, purple thousand-year rings, black ten-thousand-year rings.
A Soul Ring's age represented the years a Soul Beast had accumulated, and also meant the limit of power a Soul Master could withstand.
But the Soul Ring before her couldn't be measured in years at all.
It had no lingering Soul Beast spirit, no resentment left behind by killing, and none of the clashes commonly seen when absorbing a Soul Ring.
It came from Su Chen himself, yet had also drawn upon the lightning of heaven and earth.
"Teacher, how many years old is it?"
Su Chen opened his eyes and studied it for a moment.
"There's no way to tell."
"How can there be no way to tell?"
"The number of years a Soul Beast has lived determines the number of years in its Soul Ring, but this isn't from a Soul Beast."
Hu Liena walked halfway around the Soul Ring.
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