Artificial Soul Rings

There were many other souls that were extremely useful to Soul Masters themselves, but most were not very old and offered Lin Hao little benefit.

After planting the seeds of the immortal herbs and medicinal plants and finishing everything up, Lin Hao returned to Xiao Wu's side.

Xiao Wu had more or less finished catching up with Da Ming and Er Ming as well.

Seeing Lin Hao return, Xiao Wu took his hand and began introducing him to Da Ming.

"Da Ming, his name is Lin Hao. He's my boyfriend-that means my mate."

"Besides condensing my fourth Soul Ring and visiting you two while I'm here, I came back to the Star Dou Great Forest so Lin Hao could meet you."

Lin Hao smiled at Da Ming's enormous figure.

"Hello, Da Ming! I'm Lin Hao!"

Huge clouds of white mist billowed from Da Ming's nostrils.

"Hello! My name is Da Ming. Since you're Sister Xiao Wu's mate, you're a friend of mine and Er Ming's."

"Thank you for helping Xiao Wu's Martial Soul bloodline evolve."

Lin Hao waved at Da Ming and Er Ming.

"You're welcome. Xiao Wu is my girlfriend. It's what I should do."

"Oh, right!"

"Da Ming, Er Ming, I brought gifts for you two as well."

As he spoke, Lin Hao took a medicinal herb and a stone out of his Storage Soul Tool.

"This medicinal herb is called True Dragon Grass. Consuming it can greatly strengthen the dragon bloodline within you. It's for you, Da Ming. May you transform into a dragon as soon as possible!"

"This stone is called the Earth Core Stone. It's formed from the essence of the earth, a treasure that takes ten thousand years to condense.

"Consuming it will not only greatly enhance your earth-attribute abilities, but also increase your affinity with the earth attribute. It's for Er Ming. May you soon become a true king of the earth, moving beneath the ground as effortlessly as a shadow follows its form."

Looking at the two treasures Lin Hao held out, Da Ming and Er Ming exchanged glances. Both desperately wanted them, but neither knew whether they should accept, so they turned to Xiao Wu at the same time.

Seeing them look her way, Xiao Wu chuckled.

"Da Ming, Er Ming, since my boyfriend is giving them to you, just take them. We're all family now. There's no need to stand on ceremony!"

At that, Er Ming grabbed the Earth Core Stone and stuffed it into his mouth.

Da Ming was far more reserved. He first apologized to Lin Hao, then picked up the ten-thousand-year True Dragon Grass.

Once Da Ming and Er Ming had accepted the gifts, Xiao Wu spoke.

"All right, Da Ming, Er Ming, hurry and refine those two treasures. I need to condense my fourth Soul Ring too."

Da Ming swallowed the ten-thousand-year True Dragon Grass and submerged himself in the Lake of Life to begin refining it.

Er Ming went somewhere not far from the Lake of Life, lay on the ground, and began refining the Earth Core Stone in his stomach.

Only Lin Hao and Xiao Wu remained.

Xiao Wu chuckled, turned around, and spun once in front of Lin Hao before looking at him with a radiant smile.

"Brother, what do you think? Isn't the Lake of Life beautiful?"

Seeing Xiao Wu like that, Lin Hao reached out, wrapped an arm around her slender waist, and pulled her into his embrace.

"Beautiful! Beautiful!"

As he spoke, Lin Hao kissed Xiao Wu's soft, rosy lips.

Lin Hao gave her only a brief kiss, stopping after that fleeting taste.

"All right! It's time for you to condense your fourth Soul Ring. For your fourth Soul Skill, you should still condense your innate Soul Skill, Invincible Golden Body."

Looking at Lin Hao's handsome face, Xiao Wu nodded her little head vigorously.

"Mm-hmm!"

The condensation of Xiao Wu's fourth Soul Ring went exceptionally smoothly.

Having twice observed the entire process of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast condensing a Soul Ring after taking human form,

and with the support of the two traits, [Exceptional Comprehension] and [I Reckon], Lin Hao had now mastered the ability to create Artificial Soul Rings.

Others could also absorb Lin Hao's Artificial Soul Rings, but these rings contained no Soul Skills.

That did not prevent Soul Masters from absorbing them, however.

The sources of the Soul Skills within a Soul Master's Soul Rings had been explained before.

There were three types. In the first, the Soul Skill came entirely from the Soul Beast.

In the second, the Soul Skill came entirely from the Martial Soul itself.

In the third, the Soul Skill was formed by combining the Soul Beast's abilities with the Martial Soul itself.

Thus, anyone who absorbed Lin Hao's Artificial Soul Rings could only use the energy within them to obtain Soul Skills derived from their own Martial Soul.

After finishing her absorption, Xiao Wu opened her eyes.

Before Lin Hao could ask, she took the initiative to explain the effects of her fourth Soul Skill.

"Brother!"

"My fourth Soul Skill is called Invincible Golden Body."

"When I use it, an Invincible Shield envelops me. It lasts about thirty seconds, with no restrictions on its use. Its duration will increase as my Soul Power grows."

Hearing its effects, Lin Hao hurried to praise her.

"Amazing, amazing!"

Xiao Wu looked thoroughly pleased with herself.

"Of course! Who do you think I am? I'm Sister Xiao Wu!"

"Oh, right, Brother!"

"This is the second time I've let you observe the entire process of me condensing a Soul Ring."

"Have you figured out how to create Artificial Soul Rings?"

Faced with Xiao Wu's question, Lin Hao scratched his head.

"I have! I can create Artificial Soul Rings now."

As he spoke, Lin Hao extended his right hand and began using Soul Power to construct a Hundred-Year Soul Ring.

Before long, Lin Hao created a gleaming Yellow Soul Ring and tossed it onto the ground.

Looking at the Hundred-Year Soul Ring on the ground, which had not dissipated even after five minutes, Xiao Wu exclaimed in delight.

"Brother! You're incredible! With this, Soul Masters won't need to hunt and kill Soul Beasts to advance anymore."

Lin Hao slowly shook his head.

"Xiao Wu! You're too naive."

"Xiao Wu, do you still remember what I told you about where Soul Masters' Soul Skills come from?"

Xiao Wu nodded, puzzled.

"I remember!"

"I remember you saying there were three sources of Soul Masters' Soul Skills: entirely from the Soul Beast, entirely from the Martial Soul, or a combination of the Martial Soul and the Soul Beast."

"Is there some other problem with your Artificial Soul Ring?"

Lin Hao said, "Yes, there is a slight problem. This Soul Ring contains no Soul Skill, only pure energy. In other words, if I absorbed this Artificial Soul Ring, I could only obtain a Soul Skill derived from my Martial Soul itself."

After hearing Lin Hao's explanation, Xiao Wu asked in confusion.

"Isn't that still pretty good?"

"Xiao Wu!"

"It seems I've protected you too well all these years and kept you from seeing how sinister people's hearts truly are! That's my fault! On our way back, I'll make sure you get a good look!"

After saying this, Lin Hao began explaining the drawbacks of Artificial Soul Rings to Xiao Wu.

"Xiao Wu! Let me ask you this: besides dropping Soul Rings, what else can Soul Beasts drop when they're killed?"

"When Soul Beasts are killed, besides Soul Rings, what else can they drop... Soul Bones!"

After murmuring the words "Soul Bones," Xiao Wu's eyes widened as she stared at Lin Hao in disbelief.

"Brother! It's Soul Bones!"

"Could it be..."

Lin Hao said bluntly.

"Exactly! Soul Bones."

"Xiao Wu, take a guess. If I made the secret method for creating Artificial Soul Rings public, and Soul Beasts were no longer needed to produce Soul Rings, do you think other humans would slaughter Soul Beasts in vast numbers to obtain Soul Bones?"