How Could the Second Spirit Ring Be Worse Than the First?

Qian Renxue's First Spirit Ring came from an eleven-hundred-year Light Spirit Cat, granting her the first soul skill, Angel Assault. It was also an offensive soul skill, gathering Soul Power into her fist before unleashing a holy light charge.

Her Second Spirit Ring came from a thirteen-hundred-year Holy Light Beast, granting her the second soul skill, Angel Wings. It enhanced all of her attributes, especially her speed, strengthened her purification effect, and dealt additional damage to evil soul masters and dark-attributed soul beasts.

Both rings had only just passed the thousand-year mark. Their age was neither too high nor too low, sitting right at the edge of what the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul could endure. This maximized the benefits without damaging her foundation.

At first, Qian Daoliu had firmly refused.

His original plan had been for her First Spirit Ring to come from a four-hundred-year Light Deer and her Second Spirit Ring from a six-hundred-year Holy Light Sparrow, building her foundation steadily and securely. After all, Xue'er was still young and her body was still developing. The energy of Millennium Soul Rings was too powerful, and he feared it would harm her foundation.

But Qian Renxue refused to accept it no matter what.

The little girl raised her chin, her golden eyes filled with stubborn determination. "No! Ah Xu will definitely choose Millennium Soul Rings! He dared to take one for his First Spirit Ring, so how can I be worse than him? I have the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. I'm the Angel God's heir. How can I lose to him?"

"Nonsense!" Qian Daoliu's face darkened at once. "Is this something you can gamble on out of spite? If it damages your meridians and delays your development or the Angel Legacy, who will take responsibility?"

"I will!" Qian Renxue refused to yield an inch. "Grandpa, examine my body first. I've eaten Whale Rubber for so long that my body is already much stronger than those of children my age. I can feel it—I can withstand Millennium Soul Rings. If the examination says I can't, then I'll listen to you. All right?"

Seeing the resolute look on his granddaughter's face, Qian Daoliu was both angry and helpless. Who did this child inherit such a stubborn temperament from?

Unable to outargue her, he ultimately examined her body carefully. He would never have known otherwise, but once he checked, even he was astonished.

After a year of refinement through Whale Rubber, Qian Renxue's physical strength and the width of her meridians far exceeded those of gifted soul masters her age. She was not even inferior to Soul Elders in their teens.

In particular, the Divine Power inherent to her angel martial soul had an extremely strong neutralizing effect on spirit ring energy. Absorbing spirit rings that had only just passed a thousand years truly carried little risk.

Moreover, the better Qian Renxue's talent and the firmer her foundation, the higher the level of her future Angel God Trial would be, and the greater her chances of inheriting the divine position.

The balance in Qian Daoliu's heart soon tipped. After all, this was his own granddaughter, whom he had cherished in the palm of his hand as she grew up.

As long as the risk was controllable, he was naturally willing to indulge her.

Thus, he relented and personally selected two Millennium Soul Beasts with the most suitable ages and the most compatible attributes for the Angel Legacy. He stood guard throughout the process, helping her suppress the energy of the spirit rings.

With a Limit Douluo protecting her, along with Qian Renxue's exceptional talent, the absorption of both spirit rings went extraordinarily smoothly. She suffered almost nothing, and everything was completed within half a day.

"Grandpa, look!" Qian Renxue put away her sword and ran before Qian Daoliu, tilting up her little face with sparkling eyes. "I'm a Soul Grandmaster now! Two Millennium Soul Rings—Ah Xu definitely can't compare to me!"

"Yes, yes, our Xue'er is the best." Qian Daoliu smiled as he stroked his beard, his face full of affection. "But you mustn't be arrogant. High spirit ring age is a good thing, but you still need to polish your soul skills and learn to use them skillfully."

"I know." Qian Renxue nodded vigorously, then grew a little restless. "Grandpa, when are we going back? I want to return to Spirit City quickly and let Mom see my spirit rings. If she finds out that both of mine are Millennium Soul Rings, will she... will she praise me even once?"

By the end, her voice had grown quieter. Her eyes were filled with anticipation, but also a trace of unease.

Wanting Millennium Soul Rings so desperately was partly because she did not want to lose to Bibi Xu, but more importantly, she wanted her mother to see how impressive she was.

She wanted to prove that she was not a useless child, that she was worthy of her mother's love.

Qian Daoliu looked at his granddaughter's cautious expression and sighed inwardly. This child was good in every way, except that when it came to Bibi Dong, she was too obsessive and too easily hurt.

He stroked Qian Renxue's head and said gently, "We'll set off tomorrow morning. When your mother sees how outstanding you are, she'll definitely be happy."

Though he said that, he was not truly certain. How could the knot in Bibi Dong's heart be untied by merely two Millennium Soul Rings?

But he could not bear to extinguish his granddaughter's hopes, so he could only go along with her for now.

"Wonderful!" Qian Renxue immediately broke into a smile, her curved brows and eyes resembling a blooming little golden flower. She skipped away to pack her things, humming an off-key tune under her breath. She was clearly delighted beyond measure.

Qian Daoliu watched her retreating figure and shook his head with a smile.

Fine. As long as the child was happy. As for the matters between mother and daughter, they could only be left to time.

At daybreak the next morning, while a thin morning mist still drifted through the forest, Bibi Dong set off with Bibi Xu.

Today's target was the Thousand-Thread Demon Spider.

Unlike the Venom Soul Demon Spider, Thousand-Thread Demon Spiders did not like staying in dark valleys. They preferred to dwell beside damp streams and amid dense forests, hunting by spinning webs.

Their spider silk was as thin as hair and nearly transparent, carrying a faint Soul-Eating attribute. Once prey crashed into their webs, it would not only become entangled, but its spiritual power would slowly be eroded until it ultimately became their food.

These soul beasts were more cunning and harder to find than Venom Soul Demon Spiders.

"Stay close to me, and watch your footing and overhead." Bibi Dong walked ahead, condensing a black Soul Power blade in her hand as she cut through the crisscrossing transparent threads in the forest.

"If the silk of a Thousand-Thread Demon Spider touches your skin, mental toxins will seep in. It isn't fatal, but it will make you dizzy and affect your Soul Power circulation. Don't let your guard down."

"Mm." Bibi Xu nodded and followed behind her with his full attention focused. As he walked, he released a faint thread of spiritual power to sense the Soul Power fluctuations around them. The aura of spider-type soul beasts shared the same origin as his Spider Empress Martial Soul, making his perception especially sharp.

As they went deeper into the gorge, the webs in the forest became denser and denser, and the figures of Thousand-Thread Demon Spiders gradually became more numerous.

Most were only two or three hundred years old, no larger than washbasins. They lay motionless on their webs, camouflaged extremely well. The occasional four-hundred-year one was already considered a rare high-quality specimen.

Bibi Xu shook his head at all of them.

"This one is five hundred and twenty years old. Its age isn't high, but its silk is very tough. It's more than enough for a Second Spirit Ring." Bibi Dong pointed at a Thousand-Thread Demon Spider on a nearby tree trunk and turned back. "There's no need to be too aggressive with your Second Spirit Ring. Wouldn't it be better to play it safe?"

"Mom, my First Spirit Ring is already twelve hundred years old. If my Second Spirit Ring is only five hundred years, it won't match at all." Bibi Xu frowned. "My martial soul has One-Soul Two-Forms. Spirit rings enhance both forms. If the age is too low, the improvement to the Soul-Eating Form will be too small. It isn't worth it."

His requirement was clear. His Second Spirit Ring had to be at least a thousand years old.

His First Spirit Ring had already touched the thousand-year threshold. There was no reason for his Second Spirit Ring to be worse than the first.