A Soul Ring on the First Try

A dozen breaths later, Tang Ya withdrew her Dark Blue Silver Grass, her eyes filled with delight.

"How was it? Did your Soul Power increase?" Lu Chen stepped forward and asked with concern.

Tang Ya nodded vigorously, excitement written all over her face. "My Soul Power increased by about ten percent!

"And even more unexpectedly, after absorbing this Mountain-Shaking Dragon Rhino, my body seems to have become stronger!"

Lu Chen's gaze shifted. "It has that effect too?"

"It should be because of the Mountain Dragon King bloodline."

Luo Wei explained, "Xiao Ya's Martial Soul has the Devouring Attribute, allowing it to devour all life force.

"And the thin trace of Mountain Dragon King bloodline within the Mountain-Shaking Dragon Rhino possessed life essence of a higher grade.

"After devouring it, it naturally nourished Xiao Ya in return and strengthened her body."

Lu Chen nodded slightly. It matched his own guess.

Long Aotian's eyes widened, his face full of shock.

"Isn't this Devouring Power too terrifying?

"By that logic, Xiao Ya doesn't even need to cultivate deliberately. She just needs to keep devouring the life force of different Soul Beasts.

"She can raise her cultivation and strengthen her body at the same time?"

"That's not wrong."

Luo Wei nodded, then changed the subject. "But what is truly terrifying is not Xiao Ya's Devouring Attribute, but Xiao Chen's special Ultimate Light.

"The reason Evil Soul Masters improve so quickly yet remain so few in number is because they do not dare absorb resentment without restraint.

"Once they lose control, their consciousness will be completely controlled by evil energy, turning them into puppets that know only slaughter.

"And Xiao Chen's special light attribute can cleanse the negative energy Xiao Ya picks up while devouring.

"This ability is extremely rare throughout the entire Soul Master world."

Long Aotian suddenly understood, and the look in his eyes as he watched Lu Chen became even more admiring.

Lu Chen secretly shook his head. It seemed Aunt Luo's impression of Evil Soul Masters was still stuck in the past.

Or perhaps the Holy Spirit Cult had concealed itself too well, with most of its forces entrenched on the Sun Moon Continent.

Only a few branch members came to Douluo Continent to operate or obtain Soul Rings.

That was why people on Douluo Continent mistakenly believed Evil Soul Masters were still a scattered rabble.

Little did they know that, in order to improve their strength, the Holy Spirit Cult had already developed methods to increase Soul Ring age limits, along with all sorts of other ways to control evil energy.

But now was not the time to think about that.

Seeing that Tang Ya had finished absorbing it, Lu Chen took a deep breath and adjusted his condition.

He then sat cross-legged and raised his hand, drawing in the deep black Soul Ring that had condensed.

"Aunt Luo, I'm going to start absorbing it."

Luo Wei nodded, her spiritual power suddenly spreading out as she kept watch over the surroundings.

When the Soul Ring's energy surged into him, that violent energy, like a vast river, instantly tore through Lu Chen's meridians.

Intense pain spread throughout his body.

But after experiencing the Innate Secret Art's Bone-Shattering Rebirth and the baptism of his first Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, his physique was already incomparable to before.

The pain now was actually much easier to endure than last time.

What was truly troublesome was the soul shock left behind after the Mountain-Shaking Dragon Rhino's death.

It made Lu Chen's Brain buzz, the stabbing pain incomparably intense.

Even with the amplification of his Head Soul Bone, he could feel his soul tearing from within.

That was only because his spiritual power already rivaled that of an ordinary Soul King.

Otherwise, he would never have been able to absorb this Thirty-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Lu Chen frowned slightly. *Looks like I need to focus on strengthening my spiritual power next. Otherwise, I might fail when absorbing Soul Beasts with even higher age limits later on.

It would be best if I could obtain another Head Soul Bone with a higher age limit.

With Super Recovery, he was not afraid of prolonged strain on his body.

What he truly feared were spiritual attacks.

Once his Sea of Spirit was breached and he died completely, the absorption would be declared a failure.

Even if he were reborn, he would be unable to absorb that Soul Ring again.

But where can I find a Head Soul Bone?

Head Soul Bones were already rare, and only spiritual-type Soul Beasts had a chance of dropping them.

Suddenly, Lu Chen's heart stirred.

There were not many spiritual-type Soul Beasts on Douluo Continent, but there was no shortage of them on the Sun Moon Continent!

Wasn't the Evil Eye Clan, the overlords of the Evil Demon Forest, made up of pure spiritual-type Soul Beasts?

Whether it was an Evil Eye Tyrant or an ordinary Evil Eye, both had a high chance of dropping Head Soul Bones.

*What a pity. If we're talking about the best choice, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm would be ideal. Absorbing it could even grant me a Second Martial Soul.

*But I've been in the Star Dou Forest for so long and haven't even caught a glimpse of it.

I wonder whether the planet's will deliberately reserved it for that lucky child Huo Yuhao, or whether this was Tang San's doing.

Lu Chen was helpless. Before following Luo Wei to the Mixed Zone, he had even specifically taken a detour through the general area where Huo Yuhao fought the God-Eating Wind Baboon in the original story.

He had encountered plenty of ten-year and hundred-year Wind Baboons, but still failed to attract Tian Meng's attention.

All he could say was that Tian Meng was far too unpredictable.

Lu Chen could only abandon his plans to include him among his planned Soul Rings.

*But I can give the Second Martial Soul a try.

*I remember that when the Snow Empress Embryo appeared at the Star Luo Auction House in the original story, Xu Jiujiu said something.

*Absorbing a Soul Beast embryo not only guaranteed a Soul Ring and Soul Bone, but also offered a chance to fuse it into a Second Martial Soul.

*I wonder if that was true.

*If I can make the Evil Eye Tyrant into my Second Martial Soul, my final weakness will be completely filled.

At that point, at the limit, both my body and spirit will reach perfection. Maybe I really can punch open heaven's gate and attain Godhood!

But this method did not have a high success rate either.

Perhaps he could head to the Far North early and lie in wait for the Ninth-Level Soul Tool, the God-Sealing Platform.

But Soul Beast re-cultivation depended far too much on luck. He had no idea how those people in the original story had so precisely determined the timing of the Snow Empress's transformation.

Could some special Martial Soul have helped them?

Looks like I'll still have to investigate the Far North later.

Lu Chen shook his head and withdrew his scattered thoughts.

He focused, beginning a tug-of-war with that deep black Soul Ring.

The violent energy within the Soul Ring continuously battered his meridians.

Relying on his powerful body and spiritual power, he guided it step by step, gradually taming the unruly energy.

Two hours later...

That ink-black Soul Ring finally completely restrained itself and merged into the rhythmic Soul Power surrounding Lu Chen.

"Success!"

Lu Chen abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

And it seemed the cushion had worked!

"Lu Chen, how was it? What Soul Skill did you obtain?" Luo Wei stepped forward and asked.

Lu Chen smiled faintly and rose to his feet.

Two ink-black Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings instantly rose beneath his feet.

Such an utterly unreasonable Soul Ring configuration made Tang Ya, Long Aotian, and Luo Wei's hearts tremble at once.

"Second Soul Skill, Dark Gold Body!"

With Lu Chen's low shout, a dark golden dragon-rhino phantom suddenly appeared over the surface of his golden figure.

The phantom transformed into fine patterns, branded into his Skin Martial Soul like markings.

In an instant, an incomparably heavy aura carrying domineering pressure erupted from his body and rippled outward.

Long Aotian's pupils suddenly contracted.

Looking at Lu Chen now, he felt as though he were facing a genuine Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Lu Chen merely stood there quietly, yet Long Aotian could clearly sense the violent power contained within him, as though it could burst free at any moment.

"What terrifying pressure!"

Tang Ya's eyes widened, her voice full of amazement. "Little Chen, isn't your second Soul Skill way too frightening?!"

A smile lingered at the corner of Lu Chen's lips as he said calmly,

"My second Soul Skill is called Dark Gold Body.

"After activation, a dark golden dragon-rhino phantom appears over my body, granting extremely powerful physical defense, strength, and resistance to vibration-type attacks.

"At the same time, my base strength instantly increases by 200%.

"Also, under normal circumstances, as long as I stand on the ground, my Soul Power recovery speed increases by 30%."

As for endurance and physical strength, those were hidden improvements.

Without counting the Soul Bone's enhancement, his body was already comparable to a Soul King's.

With the Soul Bone, it was close to a Soul Emperor's!

"Gasp—!"

After hearing this, Long Aotian sucked in a cold breath, his face full of shock.

"Th-this is way too outrageous!

"Not only does it double your strength, it can defend and restore Soul Power too. Brother Lu, your Soul Skill is practically all-purpose!"

Tang Ya opened her mouth but could not say anything for a long while.

Even Luo Wei, who had seen much, stared at Lu Chen in shock. Only after a while did she speak.

"This Soul Skill truly defies common sense.

"In terms of strength enhancement alone, only top-tier strength-focused Soul Beasts like the Thousand-Jun Ant Emperor and Vajra Baboon King can achieve this.

"Yet it also accounts for defense, resistance, and Soul Power recovery. It is simply an all-around improvement."

One had to know that Soul Skills usually each had their own focus.

Achieving multiple powerful enhancements within a single Soul Skill was already exceptionally rare.

Not to mention that every one of them was a top-tier enhancement.

"It's powerful, but its Soul Power consumption is truly terrifying."

Lu Chen suddenly withdrew his Martial Soul, looking helpless.

Two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings were simply enormous drains.

Long Aotian's mouth twitched slightly upon hearing that.

"People really can die of envy. Others dream of having something like that, yet Brother Lu is standing here complaining about it."