The Rock Crystal Beast let out a despairing howl. It gathered the last of its strength, and the remaining Adamant Crystals on its back suddenly lit up.
This was its ultimate life-saving move.
A massive ball of energy condensed at the tips of the crystals, radiating dazzling light and terrifying fluctuations. In the next instant, it blasted toward the nearby Azure Wood Puppet!
This attack contained every last bit of the Rock Crystal Beast's remaining strength.
Yet the Azure Wood Puppet neither dodged nor retreated. A palm-sized azure shield simply appeared before it.
The small shield expanded with the wind, instantly becoming a man-height Azure Wood Shield that stood firmly in the energy ball's path.
Boom!
The energy ball struck the Azure Wood Shield with a thunderous explosion.
Light burst in every direction, and shockwaves rolled outward, sending the surrounding rubble flying.
But when the light faded, the Azure Wood Shield had not moved an inch. Not even a single crack had appeared on its surface.
The Azure Wood Shield was a defensive technique capable of blocking the full-force attack of a power-attack Battle Soul Ancestor.
And the Rock Crystal Beast was already at the end of its rope. How could its dying strike possibly break through this defense?
The Rock Crystal Beast's final hope was shattered, and the light in its orange-yellow vertical pupils rapidly dimmed.
The Azure Wood Puppet followed up with another punch.
The Rock Crystal Beast's massive body swayed before it finally gave out and crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Its limbs still twitched faintly, and weak whimpers escaped its mouth, but it had completely lost the ability to resist.
The Azure Wood Puppet stepped forward and confirmed that the Rock Crystal Beast was truly on its last breath. Only then did it bend down, seize one of its forelimbs, and drag the colossal creature step by step back to Ning Chen.
When the massive Rock Crystal Beast was dragged before him, Ning Chen looked at its body covered in wounds and its gradually unfocusing eyes, then slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
However, Ning Chen did not absorb the Spirit Ring immediately.
The commotion from the battle between the Azure Wood Puppet and the Rock Crystal Beast was one thing, but the explosions of the eight Thunderfire Thunderbolt Bombs had been far too loud and had already drawn some low-year Soul Beasts over.
This place was no longer safe, especially since there were other Soul Masters in the Soul Hunting Forest.
So Ning Chen had the Azure Wood Puppet carry the Rock Crystal Beast's corpse and find a quiet, secluded location.
With the Azure Wood Puppet standing guard beside him and protecting him, Ning Chen then used a single slash to finish off the Rock Crystal Beast completely.
A bright yellow Spirit Ring slowly emerged above the Rock Crystal Beast's corpse.
Ning Chen took a deep breath, sat cross-legged on the ground, and summoned his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
An exquisite seven-colored treasure pagoda slowly spun in his palm. Its body shimmered with flowing light, and each of its seven eaves bore a different color, radiating a gentle glow.
He closed his eyes, circulated his Soul Power, and began drawing the floating yellow Spirit Ring toward himself.
The moment the Spirit Ring touched the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, a vast, heavy energy surged into his body like floodwaters bursting through a dam!
Ning Chen had already prepared himself mentally.
A seven-hundred-year Spirit Ring had long exceeded the theoretical absorption limit for a Soul Master who had only just broken through level ten.
He had even secretly resolved that if he found his body unable to endure it, he would immediately call the Azure Wood Puppet to interrupt the absorption process.
He would rather give up this Spirit Ring than risk his life.
Yet the moment that energy truly entered his body, Ning Chen realized he had been wrong.
At that moment, the perfected Nine Yang Divine Skill displayed its true power.
Nine Yang True Qi circulated on its own, like an experienced helmsman guiding the violent Spirit Ring energy steadily through his meridians.
The Eight Extraordinary Meridians throughout his body had long since been opened. At that moment, they were like broad, unobstructed rivers; no matter how violently the energy surged, they could steadily contain and absorb it.
The violence and impurities contained within the Spirit Ring's energy were stripped away and purified layer by layer under the tempering of Nine Yang True Qi. Only the purest, gentlest source energy remained, flowing into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda like a trickling stream.
After absorbing this energy, the exquisite treasure pagoda's glow grew brighter and more solid, as though it were undergoing a transformation.
Ordinary Soul Masters took at least half a day, or even an entire night, to absorb a Spirit Ring.
Ning Chen had originally expected the absorption process to last a long time as well, but the Nine Yang Divine Skill's absorption efficiency far exceeded his expectations.
By the time the sky had fully darkened and the moon had just risen above the eastern ridge, Ning Chen slowly opened his eyes.
He lowered his head and looked at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in his palm. Its body was more crystalline than before, and its seven eaves each emitted a gentle glow.
He could clearly sense an additional heavy, steady power within the pagoda. It belonged to the Rock Crystal Beast and had completely fused with him.
A deep bright-yellow Spirit Ring slowly rose behind him, declaring that Ning Chen had transformed from a Soul Master into a one-ring Soul Master.
As expected, the Rock Crystal Beast's Spirit Ring had granted him the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's classic strength-amplification Soul Skill as his first Soul Skill.
And its Power Amplification reached thirty-five percent!
One had to know that with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul, each additional Spirit Ring granted one type of attribute amplification. This amplification was not fixed; it increased along with the user's strength.
An ordinary Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master gained twenty percent attribute amplification at one ring, thirty percent at two rings, and so on.
In the original work, even when Ning Rongrong was a Soul Grandmaster, her strength and speed amplification were only thirty percent.
Yet because Ning Chen had absorbed the seven-hundred-year Rock Crystal Beast's Spirit Ring across ranks, his initial amplification had already surpassed the amplification ratio Ning Rongrong possessed at two rings.
Furthermore, the Endless Life quality of his Soul Power brought about by perfecting the Nine Yang Divine Skill meant that Ning Chen did not need to worry about endurance like other Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Masters.
With Ning Rongrong's talent and Soul Power reserves, even at the Soul Grandmaster level, her single-target amplification could only last for about the time it took an incense stick to burn. After that, her Soul Power would be depleted, and she would need to recover it before she could continue supporting others.
Even so, she was already in a league of her own among Support-type Soul Masters and Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Masters of the same level.
But Ning Chen's Soul Power was practically inexhaustible.
In theory, Ning Chen could keep the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's amplification Soul Skills active indefinitely.
Of course, that was only in theory. In reality, Ning Chen still had to account for physical exertion and other factors.
But even that was terrifying enough.
Insufficient endurance was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's weakness, yet it had still earned the reputation of the Douluo Continent's number one support Martial Soul.
Without the burden of endurance, it would not be an exaggeration to call Ning Chen's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda the number one support Martial Soul on the Douluo Continent!
And Ning Chen's gains were far from over.
Ning Chen's own Soul Power had also soared to level fifteen!
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