Life-Bound Soul Ring!

With both her grandfather and father urging her on, Dugu Yan had no choice but to nod.

She silently gave Xiao Cai, her tangible martial soul, a command. Then she buried her face in Dugu Bo's chest, squeezed her eyes shut, and pretended she couldn't see a thing.

Across from them, the tangible Seven-Colored Rainbow Phosphorus Serpent slowly slithered toward the snake's corpse and began devouring the flesh of the body it had possessed in its previous life.

Lu Xuan and Ye Renxin crouched together, their eyes fixed on the snake as they watched the unprecedented sight with rapt attention.

"A Soul Beast's body contains residual source energy. This is a bit like using the original broth to cook the meat." Lu Xuan turned to Ye Renxin, his expression grave. "Master, can you tell whether Xiao Cai is getting stronger?"

"He's eating too slowly for me to sense any definite change yet." Ye Renxin stared at Xiao Cai so intently he barely dared to blink. "But I've detected faint fluctuations of Soul Power, so he should be gaining something. Besides, they come from the same source. He ought to absorb that energy with the greatest possible efficiency."

"Yanyan's mutated, tangible martial soul seems no less impressive than Lingling's Twin Martial Souls." Lu Xuan rubbed his chin and sighed. "My Jade Flute evolved into the Divine Black Jade Bamboo Flute, but compared with their transformations, it almost feels left behind."

"What, worried you won't be able to keep these two girls in line someday?" Ye Renxin teased, clearly enjoying himself. "If the prodigy Lu Xuan can't even beat his own wives in the future, I'll laugh at him for the rest of my life."

"What's there to fear? If I can't beat them, I'll just live off them."

Lu Xuan was stunned that Ye Lingling had awakened Twin Martial Souls and Dugu Yan's martial soul had become tangible after awakening. Still, he knew their opportunities fell a little short of his own.

His first martial soul, the Divine Black Jade Bamboo Flute, already had a foundation no weaker than theirs.

And he still had a second martial soul up his sleeve, one he had yet to reveal to the world.

Rare Immortal Herbs grew all around them. With so many extraordinary opportunities at hand, improving his strength would hardly be difficult.

Before long, the tangible Seven-Colored Rainbow Phosphorus Serpent had devoured the entire corpse.

At that moment, the Soul Ring around Dugu Yan rose into view beyond her control.

The ring was only a little over a thousand years old and should have been light purple. Instead, it suddenly transformed into a strange ring shimmering with seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet.

"How can this be?" Dugu Bo cried.

Ye Renxin's pupils contracted. "I've lived all these years and never seen anything like it!"

Lu Xuan frowned. "Could this be the legendary Life-Bound Soul Ring?"

"Life-Bound Soul Ring?" Dugu Bo and Ye Renxin looked to Lu Xuan for an answer.

"I read about it in a book once. Under special circumstances, some people can obtain a Life-Bound Soul Ring," Lu Xuan said after considering his words. "Legend says it can grow alongside its Soul Master. If Yanyan's ring is one, her First Soul Ring will grow as she grows stronger. It might even become a ten-thousand-year ring, or a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"

Lu Xuan's explanation gave Ye Renxin and Dugu Bo a clearer idea of what had happened.

"So that's a Life-Bound Soul Ring."

"Yanyan's lucky!"

Dugu Bo and Ye Renxin accepted it as a possibility for now, though they would need to study it further.

Dugu Yan was delighted. For a child her age, looking pretty mattered too!

Lu Xuan felt a little bitter. I'm the transmigrator, so why do Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling feel more like the chosen heroines?

Dugu Yan had a tangible martial soul and a Life-Bound Soul Ring.

Ye Lingling had Twin Martial Souls!

With gifts like those, aren't they the real protagonists?

Ye Renxin carefully sensed Dugu Yan's martial soul and Soul Ring, then nodded. "It's just as Xiao Xuan predicted. Yanyan's tangible martial soul can cultivate on its own. But what it needs isn't flesh and blood essence—it's all kinds of potent poison. As it absorbs poison, her First Soul Ring can grow quickly too."

"Poison?" Dugu Yan straightened up from Dugu Bo's embrace, her eyes bright with curiosity. "Grandpa Ye, does that mean my cultivation will improve as long as the Seven-Colored Rainbow Phosphorus Serpent eats poisonous things?"

"That's the principle, but we'll need time to work out how efficiently it converts them." Ye Renxin continued examining Dugu Yan's condition. "I checked carefully just now. Your physical foundation has improved slightly since it ate the corpse. It isn't a dramatic increase, but the upper limit of Soul Ring you can absorb has risen by several decades."

"And that's only a secondary benefit, caused by your increased Soul Power strengthening your body," Ye Renxin added. "After the Seven-Colored Rainbow Phosphorus Serpent ate that poison, your Soul Power should have risen by half a level!"

"That's good." Dugu Yan let out a long breath, the worry vanishing from her face. "If all that trouble had accomplished nothing, we'd have suffered a terrible loss."

She gently stroked the brilliant seven-colored scales of Xiao Cai, perched on her shoulder. There was still a trace of lingering fear in her voice, but genuine joy finally shone in her eyes.

"Brother Dugu," Ye Renxin said, turning to Dugu Bo, "let's arrange the First Soul Ring for Lingling's Seven-Heart Begonia first. Tomorrow, we can seek second Soul Rings for all three children."

"Very well." Dugu Bo smiled and nodded, then glanced at the Rainbow Dragon and Rouge Dragon nearby. "Brother Ye, do you think these two Soul Beasts would suit the three of them?"

"In the past, these two would indeed have been good choices." Ye Renxin glanced at Lu Xuan before continuing. "But things have changed. We need to think it over more carefully."

Ye Lingling had used up almost all her luck the moment she awakened her martial souls.

Her First Soul Ring came from an Emerald Jade Cicada with eleven hundred years of cultivation. Its quality was exceptionally high, and the skill it granted already rivaled the Third Soul Skill of an ordinary Nine Heart Begonia Soul Master.

Ye Lingling smiled, her eyes curving. "The Seven-Heart Begonia may be limited to seven Soul Rings, but my First Soul Skill is already as strong as someone else's third. By that reckoning, when I become a seven-ring Soul Sage, my healing shouldn't be any weaker than that of a Nine Heart Begonia Titled Douluo."

"It's an excellent result." Ye Renxin was pleased as well. "We'll rest here tonight and arrange your second Soul Rings tomorrow."