First Spirit Ring

A roughly 0.9-meter-wide eyeball floated there. It had no limbs, no torso, no head. Only two dark purple tentacles connected to the eyeball.

It looked rather creepy.

Perhaps Kong Deming's cry of surprise had startled it, or perhaps it could not sense Kong Deming's aura. It first launched a tentative attack toward where the grandfather and grandson stood, only to find that it had no effect.

Then it turned and fled.

Seeing its target trying to escape, Kong Deming moved as though he had teleported, appearing directly above the Mutated Evil Eye. At the same time, he pressed down with the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield in his hand, trapping the Evil Eye inside.

"Chen'er, come quickly. This Mutated Evil Eye has developed the destruction attribute and is nearly nine hundred years old. It is just right for your current physical strength. I'll severely injure it until it has only its last breath left. Then use the soul ray gun I previously placed in your soul tool to deliver the final blow."

"Understood, Grandfather."

Xu Tianchen quickly walked up to the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield and looked at the dying Evil Eye inside.

There was no pity in his eyes, only curiosity toward this novel species.

He had been too far away earlier to see clearly. Now that he was closer, he could see not only its dark purple tentacles, but also the purple patterns flowing across its huge eyeball. They had already grown dim, even somewhat dried up.

Xu Tianchen pulled out the soul ray gun. With a "pew," the beam pierced through the Evil Eye's brain.

The completely defenseless Evil Eye convulsed once, then thoroughly lost all signs of life.

After the Evil Eye died, a trace of yellow light emerged above its corpse and finally condensed into a dark yellow Spirit Ring tinged with purple.

"This Evil Eye was under ten thousand years old. Otherwise, it would have formed a crystal containing its soul. By crushing that crystal, whoever crushed it could absorb the final Spirit Ring. What a pity. That would have been much more convenient."

Kong Deming looked at the Spirit Ring that had appeared and spoke to Xu Tianchen with some regret.

"Begin absorbing it. I'll stand guard for you."

"Alright, I'll begin."

Xu Tianchen took a deep breath and sat directly in front of the Spirit Ring. He crossed his legs and followed the method he had learned before.

First, he summoned his martial soul. Then he entered meditation and used the soul power within his body to draw the Spirit Ring down.

The instant the Spirit Ring drifted toward his martial soul, the martial soul and Spirit Ring seemed to resonate. The Spirit Ring settled steadily onto Xu Tianchen's body.

It slowly descended from the top of his head, finally hovering around his torso, rising and falling at that position.

Kong Deming was not idle either. He watched over Xu Tianchen's condition while also keeping part of his attention on the surroundings. Then, from who knew where, he produced a wooden stick and began poking at the Mutated Evil Eye to see whether it would drop something good.

Although the odds were low for a hundred-year soul beast, there was always a chance. In any case, poking it would not cost him anything.

Just as the wooden stick in Kong Deming's hand poked toward the Evil Eye's central eyeball, he felt something foreign obstructing it. Then he sensed an unusual fluctuation of soul power. Kong Deming froze on the spot, so stunned that he did not even notice the stick falling from his hand.

No way, it really dropped something good!

And it was a rare one!

Meanwhile,

Xu Tianchen was still absorbing the Spirit Ring, enduring the pressure from the Evil Eye's Spirit Ring.

Because it had not reached the strength of a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring, even though the Evil Eye was a soul beast with both spiritual and destruction attributes, it did not possess Soul Shock.

Therefore, as long as Xu Tianchen's physique could withstand the soul power pressure brought by the Spirit Ring and absorb the enormous amount of soul power pouring from it, he would be able to successfully absorb this Spirit Ring.

This uncontrollable soul power exerted tremendous pressure on Xu Tianchen's body and meridians.

Xu Tianchen's physique was exceptionally strong. If it had been an ordinary Spirit Master, they might have died from being unable to endure such immense soul power and pressure from the very beginning.

Although this Spirit Ring brought immense pressure, it was not enough to burst him apart.

As time passed, the moon gradually set, while the morning sun slowly rose and shone over the ancient forest.

Just as sunlight streamed through the gaps between the trees and fell upon Xu Tianchen, who was absorbing the Spirit Ring on the ground,

a sound like shattering glass rang out in Xu Tianchen's mind. It felt as though the shackles on his body had broken, and the strength within his body began to surge violently.

His soul power was rising, his martial soul was growing stronger, and his physical fitness and spiritual power had both improved accordingly.

The final strand of soul power within the Spirit Ring was refined by Xu Tianchen. The Spirit Ring that had originally floated around his torso also completely merged into his body.

His first Spirit Ring had been successfully absorbed!

Xu Tianchen opened his eyes. A blackish-purple gleam flashed through his golden pupils, carrying a faint trace of pressure.

He rose to his feet and activated his martial soul. A purple-black fluctuation of soul power immediately spread from his dantian throughout his body, and the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Roar—"

A low dragon roar that pierced the soul emerged from Xu Tianchen's throat. Countless purple-black bolts of lightning danced across the dragon scales on his body, each one resembling a purple-black wyrm.

His five fingers crackled as the bones lengthened, his nails transformed into purple-black dragon claws sharp as blades, and arcs of electricity leaped from their tips. They looked exceedingly imposing. His pupils also became vertical dragon eyes. If someone with weak spiritual power met his gaze, they might feel an oppressive sensation so intense it stole their breath.

"Chen'er, congratulations on successfully absorbing your first Spirit Ring and officially becoming a Spirit Master."

Kong Deming nodded at Xu Tianchen in satisfaction. Then he took an extremely familiar crystal ball from his storage ring and handed it over.

"Come, test your soul power now."

Xu Tianchen accepted the crystal ball and poured his soul power into it. Immediately afterward, a small number appeared on the surface of the crystal ball.

13.

Normally, tenth-level Spirit Scholars absorbed Spirit Rings that were only three or four hundred years old. After absorbing one, they could only increase by a single base level. However, Xu Tianchen had absorbed an over-limit Spirit Ring of more than nine hundred years. In addition, before he awakened his martial soul, the royal residence had given him all kinds of medicinal baths and used various precious treasures to strengthen his foundation.

Although those precious treasures mainly improved physical strength and reinforced one's innate foundation, they inevitably also had some effect on increasing soul power.

It was because of all these factors combined that Xu Tianchen had managed to leap three levels, jumping from level ten to level thirteen.

However, Xu Tianchen could feel that the energy in his body had not yet been completely exhausted. He only needed to settle it further and cultivate for a few more days, and he might be able to break through to level fourteen.

Yet Kong Deming showed little interest in Xu Tianchen's thirteenth-level soul power, without any surprise at all. Compared to Xu Tianchen's soul power level, Kong Deming clearly wanted to know what soul skill Xu Tianchen had gained from this Mutated Evil Eye.

"Chen'er, quickly tell Grandfather what soul skill you obtained."

Xu Tianchen looked at the Spirit Ring around him. With a thought, the Spirit Ring began to rotate, releasing a yellow glow.

A dark purple ripple then spread outward from the Spirit Ring for a distance of ten meters. Kong Deming, standing within that range, immediately felt a weak suppression that affected not only his attributes, but also his spiritual power.

"Destruction Force Field. It's an auxiliary area-of-effect soul skill, somewhat like a domain. At the beginning, it can only unfold a Destruction Magnetic Field with a radius of twenty meters centered on me. Anyone I haven't specially marked will suffer dual suppression of their spiritual power and attributes, while I receive a fifty-percent boost," Xu Tianchen said to Kong Deming.

"What is the percentage of suppression?" Kong Deming asked upon seeing this heaven-defying skill.

"The percentage depends on the difference in strength between me and the opponent. For example, if the opponent is at the same level as me, they will suffer fifty percent suppression. The greater the gap in strength, the weaker the suppression becomes. It also has absolute applicability. No matter how great the cultivation gap is, it will still cause suppression. Against a Title Douluo like you, Grandfather, I can only inflict a weak suppression."

Xu Tianchen's tone was full of satisfaction with this soul skill.

"Absolute applicability. What about the consumption? How much does it consume? And can the range grow?" Kong Deming asked again.

"The consumption is manageable. With my current amount of soul power, I can keep it active for around seven minutes. As for the range... it can increase. Every time I advance by a major rank, the radius will expand by twenty meters. At the same time, I can also concentrate the force field in a single direction."

This demonstrated one of the greatest advantages of the martial soul system on Douluo Continent. As long as one obtained and successfully absorbed a Spirit Ring, the skill within that Spirit Ring would become like an innate ability of the Spirit Master, almost like instinct. With a single thought, it could be released.

Thus, after obtaining the Spirit Ring, Xu Tianchen naturally understood every function and use of this soul skill.

"Since you have successfully absorbed this Spirit Ring, it would be best for you to absorb this item as well."

After saying that, Kong Deming took out another item and held it before Xu Tianchen.

Xu Tianchen looked at the item in Kong Deming's hand. His pupils immediately widened, and a shocked expression appeared on his face.