Absorbing Beyond His Level

Immediately afterward, Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo Chen Xin strolled in as well.

Ning Fengzhi's expression turned more serious. He waved his hand, dismissed all the attendants, and activated the courtyard's soundproof barrier.

"Gu En, regarding your second martial soul, that Blood Dragon, your two grandfathers and I have discussed it."

Ning Fengzhi sat down and said earnestly, "Before you have the ability to protect yourself, you must never attach any soul rings to the Blood Dragon."

Gu En nodded. Naturally, he understood the cultivation principles of twin martial souls. "Uncle Ning, I understand.

I'll attach soul rings to the Bone Dragon martial soul first, strengthening my physical constitution and control over space. Once I reach a high enough level, I'll attach high-year soul rings to the Blood Dragon martial soul. Only then can I bring out the greatest advantage of twin martial souls."

"Good. Steady-minded, neither arrogant nor impatient."

Sword Douluo Chen Xin nodded approvingly. A streak of sword energy slid across his fingertips. "Your Bone Dragon martial soul inherited Old Gu's talent for space, but it is even purer than his.

As for your first soul ring, we have already chosen a target for you."

Gu Rong took over, a domineering gleam flashing through his eyes. "An ordinary hundred-year soul ring isn't worthy of my grandson.

Tomorrow, that old bastard and I will personally take you to the Star Dou Great Forest. We will seek either a top-tier space-attributed soul beast, the Void Terror Beast, or a highly defensive draconic subspecies."

"Grandpa, I want to try challenging my body's limits."

Gu En suddenly spoke, his gaze resolute. "I can feel that, nourished by the Blood Dragon martial soul, my physical strength far surpasses that of others my age. For my first soul ring, I want to try for one over seven hundred years old—perhaps even close to a thousand."

The moment he said this, all three people in the courtyard were shocked.

The limit for an ordinary soul master's first soul ring was four hundred and twenty-three years, yet Gu En wanted to double it right away?

Although Ning Rongrong did not understand the specific ages involved, she could still sense the danger in Gu En's words. Nervously, she grabbed his sleeve. "Big Brother Gu En, don't do anything reckless."

Gu Rong was about to refuse, but Chen Xin pressed down on his shoulder. "Old Bones, don't reject it so quickly. En'er possesses the Blood Dragon martial soul, a symbol of ultimate life and strength. His physical toughness truly cannot be judged by common sense."

Ning Fengzhi pondered for a moment before making the final decision. "Fine! Tomorrow, we'll go into the forest first. If we encounter a suitable target, my two uncles and I will protect you. At the first sign of danger, we will immediately force the process to stop."

"Thank you, Uncle Ning. Thank you, Grandpa, Grandpa Sword!" Gu En's heart settled.

Gu En spent that night amid Ning Rongrong's endless chatter.

The little girl pestered him for stories until she fell asleep sprawled over the stone table, and Gu En finally carried her gently back to her room.

Under the moonlight, Gu En looked at his hands. One black and one red glimmer swirled around his fingertips.

"The future of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will be protected by me. Spirit Hall, this time, your soul beast hunt is destined to run into an iron wall."

"..."

Star Dou Great Forest, outer region.

The trees here blotted out the sky, while the air was filled with the scent of earth and the unique wild aura of soul beasts.

For ordinary soul masters, this was a perilous land where every step could be fatal, but to Gu En, it felt like taking a stroll through his own backyard.

Ning Fengzhi stood in the center, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda appearing in his hand. Seven soul rings pulsed around him. Though he had not activated any amplification, his bearing as sect master alone was enough to make the weaker soul beasts nearby flee.

Meanwhile, Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong guarded Gu En from the left and right.

"Old Bones, your sensory range is wider. Look for something."

Chen Xin spoke blandly, his two fingers held together as an invisible sword energy roamed around them, slicing through the brambles blocking their path.

Gu Rong closed his eyes, and an obscure spatial ripple spread outward from him.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Found one. Three kilometers southeast, there's a Space Bone Lizard. Judging by its size and the crystalline quality of its bones, it is around nine hundred years old—perhaps even close to a thousand."

"A nine-hundred-year Space Bone Lizard?" Ning Fengzhi frowned slightly. "This soul beast possesses extremely powerful spatial-jumping abilities, and its bones are as hard as iron. Even a Grand Soul Master would have trouble dealing with it. En'er, are you sure you want to try?"

Gu En took a deep breath, sensing the restless Blood Dragon martial soul within him, then nodded.

"Uncle Ning, I'm confident. My physical strength improved again last night. The Blood Dragon martial soul seems to be gradually transforming my blood and vitality."

"Good. Then it will be this one."

Gu Rong swept his hand, and space instantly twisted. The next second, everyone had crossed several kilometers and appeared amid a field of jagged rocks.

Ahead of them, a gigantic lizard five meters long, covered head to toe in silvery-white bone armor, warily stared at the uninvited guests.

With every breath it took, faint ripples spread through the surrounding air. It was sensing fluctuations in space.

"Roar!" Sensing a lethal threat, the Space Bone Lizard suddenly opened its jaws, sending a silver spatial rift hurtling toward them.

"Playing with space before this old man?" Gu Rong snorted. With nothing more than a focused gaze, the spatial rift vanished without a trace, and the flow of space across the entire area seemed to freeze instantly.

"En'er, go. Deliver the final blow."

Gu En stepped forward, his right hand opening slightly as the pale Bone Dragon martial soul instantly possessed him.

A layer of dense bony scales covered his arms, and his eyes turned cold as ice.

He did not use soul power. Relying solely on the physical strength bestowed by the Bone Dragon martial soul, he shot forward like a fully drawn bowstring.

"Crash!"

Gu En's fist slammed heavily into the Space Bone Lizard's head, which Gu Rong had frozen in place.

This punch carried a faint dragon's roar. The Space Bone Lizard's skull, hard enough to withstand soul skills, cracked apart inch by inch beneath Gu En's blow.

A yellow-purple soul ring slowly emerged from the bone lizard's corpse. Though its color was extremely deep, it had not yet reached the purple that represented a thousand years. Instead, it was an immensely deep yellow tinged with a faint trace of violet—an unmistakable sign of a nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine-year soul ring!

"This age... it is already the absolute limit for a first soul ring."

Ning Fengzhi's expression was grave. "En'er, begin. If you cannot endure it, abandon it immediately."

Gu En sat cross-legged and drew in the dark-yellow soul ring.

"Boom—!"

The instant the soul ring entered his body, Gu En felt a violent surge of energy rush wildly through his meridians like roaring magma.

This was not an ordinary impact of soul power, but violent energy infused with the attribute of spatial severance, as though it intended to slice his body into pieces.

"Hmph!" Gu En let out a muffled groan, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

"This is bad. The energy is too violent!" Gu Rong clenched his fists nervously, ready to intervene and save him at any moment.

At that moment, the deep blood-red radiance in Gu En's left palm suddenly lit up on its own.