Ouyang Ling: I Want to Absorb a Soul Ring Beyond My Level

Carrying the Whale Glue out of Ye Family Pharmacy, Qian Renxue dragged Ouyang Ling into a sparsely populated alley, where their footsteps came to a stop.

The next second, "duang~!"

Qian Renxue curled her fingers and brought her fist down hard.

"Ah! That hurts!"

Ouyang Ling cried out in pain, clutching his head with both hands. It felt as though a bump had risen on top of his head, yet his gaze was utterly guilty.

Who told him to do something so strange?

His past self was to blame for making his present self suffer.

Ouyang Ling forced his thoughts to wander, avoiding Qian Renxue's eyes for fear that her heavy fist would strike again.

First, he had to act obedient and let Sister Xue'er calm down.

"Go on. What do you have to explain to me?"

Seeing Ouyang Ling lower his head without moving, looking like he was "listening to a lecture," Qian Renxue forcibly suppressed her anger. She waved the packaged Whale Glue in her hand. "You know what this is used for, right?"

"I do."

Ouyang Ling raised his head slightly and glanced at Qian Renxue from the corner of his eye. Seeing her expression clearly say, "Let's hear how you plan to talk your way out of this," he hurriedly recited the description of Whale Glue from the book.

"—An extremely nourishing yang tonic, replenishing one's qi and blood..."

"Mm-hm?"

Qian Renxue crossed her arms, neither confirming nor denying it.

"What else? Recite the second half too."

"...for pleasures in the bedchamber."

Ouyang Ling's voice dropped so low that the words barely left his throat.

"Heh—"

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Qian Renxue's lips, and her gaze became exceedingly dangerous. "Then why did you buy Whale Glue?! This is an aphrodisiac! Do you understand what an aphrodisiac is? How old are you, and you're already getting into this sort of thing?!"

"Whoosh—"

Qian Renxue gave Ouyang Ling almost no time to react. She had already uncrossed her arms and shot out her right hand, grabbing his ear.

The instant he felt the warmth against his earlobe, Ouyang Ling's expression changed drastically. Before Qian Renxue could apply any force...

"Sister! Listen to my explanation!"

Qian Renxue frowned tightly and snapped, annoyed, "The evidence is conclusive. What else do you have to say?"

"But didn't you tell me to explain?"

In his panic, Ouyang Ling directly used Qian Renxue's own words against her, making her loosen her grip.

His ear might have been freed, but...

Qian Renxue's expression turned even colder.

She lifted her chin and said nothing.

Gulp—

Ouyang Ling secretly swallowed and hurriedly said, "Sister, I think people have misunderstood Whale Glue by believing it can only be used as an aphrodisiac. Look, the phrase 'for pleasures in the bedchamber' must have been a conclusion someone reached after experiencing its effects, right?"

"But isn't it a little too unrigorous to conclude from that alone that Whale Glue has only one effect—aphrodisiac properties?"

Afraid of getting beaten,

Ouyang Ling spoke quickly, but clearly.

Qian Renxue knew that her little brother was full of ideas, and his argument swayed her. She stood where she was, lost in thought.

"So what other effect did you discover Whale Glue has?"

"It improves physical constitution."

"Because isn't the truly important part the first sentence—'an extremely nourishing yang tonic, replenishing one's qi and blood'? That is a summary that directly points to the essence of Whale Glue. Perhaps many people simply overlooked it."

Ouyang Ling was very serious, because this concerned whether he could successfully absorb a Soul Ring beyond his level for his second Soul Ring.

After a moment of silence, Qian Renxue suddenly spoke.

"What you said makes sense. Once someone highly authoritative in medicine established Whale Glue's aphrodisiac effects, most ambitious people would dismiss it with contempt and leave it alone. Those interested in its 'aphrodisiac' effects would only be fools among the nobility, who would never study whether it had other uses besides being an aphrodisiac."

Ouyang Ling: "..."

He had not considered it from that angle.

Still, Qian Renxue's line of reasoning made quite a bit of sense. Otherwise, how could Whale Glue's true use have been discovered by later generations thousands of years from now?

After unleashing a broad attack on everyone and getting all her complaints out, Qian Renxue's mood immediately improved, despite the lingering irritation she had felt.

She glanced at the Whale Glue in her hand and held it out to the side.

The next second, She Long suddenly appeared and took it.

Ouyang Ling watched all of this from the side.

In any case, he knew that if there were benefits to be had, he certainly would not be left out.

"Elder She Long, find someone to test whether Whale Glue can improve physical constitution. It would be best to find an auxiliary-type Soul Master. Their constitutions are weaker, so it will be easiest to determine whether their physical condition improves."

"Yes, Young Mistress."

As soon as he finished speaking, She Long vanished again.

The silent Ouyang Ling: "..."

Well, well, well—they were not even hiding it anymore. Before this, they had been calling each other Grandpa and Miss in front of him.

"Little Ling, does it still hurt?"

As Ouyang Ling silently complained to himself, Qian Renxue placed her hand over his head. Guilt and heartache flashed through her eyes. Had she used too much force just now?

More importantly, she really had misunderstood him.

In that instant, Ouyang Ling threw his inner grumbling to the back of his mind.

"It doesn't hurt. Grandpa She Long hits much harder than that during training."

"Haha, you're tattling on him."

The interruption made Qian Renxue smile. She led Ouyang Ling out of the alley, asking as they walked, "What gift do you want?"

Ouyang Ling asked in confusion, "Is this an apology, or a reward?"

Qian Renxue did not care. She casually replied, "Then I'll give you two gifts. Choose carefully."

"Then I want Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue. Not a small piece."

"Fine."

Qian Renxue had her own judgment regarding Ouyang Ling's theory. The matter of improving physical constitution was probably eight or nine parts out of ten true.

Of course, if Elder She Long returned with a negative answer, that would not stop her from taking back her promise of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue as a reward. Perhaps once Little Ling found out himself, he would no longer want it anyway.

But recalling the market situation for Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue on the continent, Qian Renxue, who had just agreed, suddenly added, "Oh, right. If you want Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, you may have to wait quite a while."

"Why?"

Ouyang Ling looked up, confusion written on his face.

Qian Renxue then explained.

It turned out that in this era, where Whale Glue was treated solely as something for "bedchamber pleasures," Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue was exceedingly rare. Only Ten-Thousand-Year whale-type Soul Beasts had a chance of producing it.

But the sea was perilous. Ten-Thousand-Year whale-type Soul Beasts lived far out in the deep sea and were extremely powerful. Ordinary Soul Masters simply could not hunt them.

And the Soul Masters capable of hunting them?

Who would need to sell Whale Glue for money?

Under such circumstances, if someone needed Whale Glue as an aphrodisiac for pleasure, Hundred-Year or Thousand-Year Whale Glue was more than enough.

Ten-Thousand-Year? How weak would they have to be?

After hearing this, Ouyang Ling could not help looking troubled.

He was only one step away from level twenty.

Although his physique had improved considerably over the past two years with the resources Qian Renxue had provided, it absolutely had not reached the threshold where his second Soul Ring could leap from a Hundred-Year Soul Ring to a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

He still needed several pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue to be safe.

"What are you thinking about?"

Seeing that Ouyang Ling was distracted, Qian Renxue asked.

"I'm wondering if I can get several pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue before reaching level twenty, so I can improve my constitution a bit more."

The moment Qian Renxue heard that, she sensed something was wrong.

"What are you trying to do?"

"I want to absorb a Soul Ring beyond my level!"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Qian Renxue glared at Ouyang Ling. "Don't think I don't know what you're planning. With your current physical condition, absorbing an eight-hundred-year or nine-hundred-year Soul Ring would not be a problem. After getting several pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, you want to absorb a Soul Ring beyond your level—you want to leap straight to a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, don't you?!"

"Eh—"

Ouyang Ling, who was selectively listening, wore a surprised expression. "Sister, why didn't you say my second Soul Ring should absorb a 764-year one?"

"Don't try to change the subject."

Qian Renxue said irritably, "Everyone is different, so Soul Ring absorption limits naturally cannot be treated as the same for everyone. 764 years? That is the second Soul Ring limit given by that so-called Master. There are plenty of flaws in that book, Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls. At most, it can serve as reference material for commoner Soul Masters with poor talent. Who showed that to you?"

Who else could it have been?

Of course, he had found it himself.

Ahem—

Seeing that he had successfully changed the subject, Ouyang Ling wanted to make his escape.

But just as he was about to continue along the topic of "the Master," Qian Renxue forcibly steered their conversation back to the point. "Come on, tell me. Were you planning to make your second Soul Ring a Thousand-Year one?"

The instant she finished speaking, Qian Renxue pulled Ouyang Ling into her embrace. Before he could even feel the softness against his back, that slender yet powerful arm locked around his neck. Her curled fist pressed against the top of his head, and then...

"Ow—ow—Sister, go easy—"

"Go easy? Then tell me, was that what you were planning!?"

"Yes, yes, yes—"

"Thud—" The moment Ouyang Ling admitted it, Qian Renxue released her "restraint" and let him fall to the ground.

But when Ouyang Ling rubbed his backside and looked up, he met Qian Renxue's eyes, impossible to read or explain.

"Sister?"

Ouyang Ling's tone became hesitant.

"Little Ling, the energy level of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring is different from that of a Hundred-Year Soul Ring. Trying to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring is far too risky."

Qian Renxue bent down, but rather than firmly ordering Ouyang Ling not to do it, she said, "You have to convince me!"

It was the same thing she had said when he acquired his first Soul Ring. But one concerned the type of Soul Skill, while the other concerned the age limit of the Soul Ring.

"Then... does this count as the second gift?"

Ouyang Ling still tried to crack a joke and ease the tension.

But then, "Heh—"

Qian Renxue was directly angered into laughter!

"Bang—"

After a heavy, muffled sound, Ouyang Ling covered his head, which was radiating heat and slightly swollen, his face twisting faintly.

Qian Renxue clenched her fist, her tone calm.

"Be serious! Speak properly!"

"Then when the time comes, we'll let the facts speak for themselves."

Ouyang Ling lowered the hand covering his head, determination flashing in his eyes. A Thousand-Year second Soul Ring was only the beginning. He also wanted a Ten-Thousand-Year fourth Soul Ring and a Hundred-Thousand-Year sixth Soul Ring. At the very least, he had to surpass the original Tang San.

"What facts?"

"Actual combat. Soul pressure."

Qian Renxue lowered her gaze and looked deeply at Ouyang Ling.

"Fine."

To be honest, she did not understand why Ouyang Ling was so stubborn about having a Thousand-Year second Soul Ring.

This difference might be obvious in the early stages, but once one's cultivation truly grew powerful later on, such a distinction would become insignificant.

So in the early stages, being cautious was enough.

But in the end, Qian Renxue still chose to respect her little brother's decision.