What Do You Mean I Can Increase a Soul Ring's Age?

As the days passed, Jin Yang consumed more and more sunlight and nectar. At last, one day, he reached level ten.

He had planned his Soul Hunting target well in advance: a century-old Sunflower in the Soul Hunting Forest. Judging by its age, it was around four hundred years old.

With his current physique, he should be able to withstand it.

Besides, his Martial Soul was a Sunflower too. They shared the same roots and origins, making them highly compatible. Absorbing a four-hundred-year-old Sunflower's Soul Ring should pose no problem.

"Don't worry, Jin Yang. A century-old Sunflower has hardly any offensive power. We just need to watch out for other Soul Beasts."

Seeing Jin Yang's furrowed brow, Su Yuntao offered him reassurance.

The information about the Sunflower Soul Beast had come from Su Yuntao himself. He had stumbled across it last month while taking students on a Soul Hunting trip.

Because Jin Yang's Martial Soul was a Sunflower, Su Yuntao had made a point of remembering where the Soul Beast stood in the Soul Hunting Forest.

"Thanks, Brother Tao."

Jin Yang spoke with heartfelt gratitude.

Su Yuntao had given him the information for free, and his fee was ten percent lower than what professional Soul Hunting Soul Masters charged.

If Jin Yang wanted, he could even forge a connection with Spirit Hall.

It was more than worth the price.

As one of the rare good-hearted people in the original Douluo Continent story, Su Yuntao had earned Jin Yang's affection.

Jin Yang hoped he and Sisi would get together soon.

Plant Martial Souls had their advantages.

At the very least, this was better than having a Century-Old Mandala Snake kill two people at once.

A Soul Beast that was old enough, posed no danger, and could even be cultivated by hand—now that was the ideal match for Soul Masters.

If the people of Douluo Continent ever took up cultivation, perhaps in ten or twenty thousand years, by the era of Legend of the Dragon King,

century-old and thousand-year-old Plant-type Soul Beasts would be everywhere.

Lower-level Soul Masters would no longer lack Soul Rings. The price of Soul Rings might even be cut down to that of cabbages.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking.

Before long, Jin Yang passed through Spirit Hall's guarded entrance and entered the Soul Hunting Forest.

The Soul Hunting Forest was not nearly as full of life as Jin Yang had imagined.

Instead, it felt lifeless.

The entire forest lay silent.

Now and then, they heard a bird Soul Beast or a cat Soul Beast cry out.

Compared with the animal Soul Beasts, though, the Plant-type Soul Beasts were thriving.

His school had taught him simple ways to estimate a plant's age.

They were not particularly precise, but they worked well enough.

Century-old peach trees and century-old thunder bamboo—he could spot several at a glance.

Plant-type Soul Masters were relatively few, so demand was low. As a result, the Soul Hunting Forest had always had a fairly abundant supply of Plant-type Soul Beasts.

The Sunflower was not far away. After walking for less than an hour, they spotted the vigorous plant.

Its flower head was as broad as a millstone, held aloft by a stem as thick as a thigh. Every seed in the head was plump, each at least as long as an adult's middle finger.

The flower head rose high above them, at least four meters off the ground.

"Hunting Plant-type Soul Beasts is different from hunting animal Soul Beasts. When we attack a Plant-type Soul Beast, we usually can't tell which blow will kill it. So I suggest you make every attack on the Sunflower yourself."

As he spoke, Su Yuntao handed him a machete.

Su Yuntao had carried it on his back since morning and sharpened it specially before coming. Now it was time to put it to use.

He did wonder why Jin Yang wanted to absorb a four-hundred-year-old Soul Ring.

But he respected Jin Yang's choice.

"Go on. I'll keep watch beside you. Don't worry, Sunflower Soul Beasts aren't aggressive. You only need to chop it down, then you can absorb its Soul Ring."

Jin Yang took the machete from Su Yuntao and walked up to the Sunflower Soul Beast.

Perhaps the Sunflower Soul Beast sensed the threat of death, or perhaps a gust of wind happened to pass overhead. Its flower head began swaying from side to side.

It seemed to want to flee.

Naturally, Jin Yang had no intention of worrying about what an ordinary Sunflower wanted.

He raised the machete, swung it in a wide arc, and struck the Sunflower's stem.

Thwack! A deep notch appeared in the stem.

But that was nowhere near enough.

Jin Yang widened the notch as he would when felling a tree, chopping away bit by bit until the Sunflower toppled to the ground.

"Look, the Soul Ring's about to appear." At Su Yuntao's reminder, Jin Yang noticed a pale yellow ring of light slowly rising from the fallen Sunflower Soul Beast. Its yellow glow drifted through the air with slow resolve, looking remarkably solid.

"Jin Yang, hurry and absorb the Soul Ring. Use your Soul Power to draw it toward you, then start meditating at once to absorb its energy." Su Yuntao had guided many One-Ring Soul Masters and was naturally experienced in this.

He calmly directed Jin Yang through the process of absorbing the Soul Ring.

Jin Yang raised his right hand and slowly gathered Soul Power in his palm. A smiling Sunflower grew from it, giving off a faint aura of light that swayed as the Sunflower danced.

Come on, my First Soul Ring.

Let me see what sort of Soul Skill you bring me.

And what changes you'll bring to my Martial Soul.

Drawn by that golden light, the four-hundred-year-old Sunflower Soul Ring slowly flew toward Jin Yang.

Jin Yang sat cross-legged and focused on the Sunflower Martial Soul in his right hand.

As the sunflower Soul Ring approached, he felt a powerful pressure. Fortunately, he could bear it.

Every muscle and bone in his body tensed under the strain.

The Soul Ring soon reached the space above Jin Yang's Martial Soul. It suddenly contracted to the size of a collar, becoming an intensely solid golden ring that slipped around his Sunflower Martial Soul.

Scalding energy invaded Jin Yang's body through his Martial Soul, and everything it touched burned with heat.

In the space of a breath, Jin Yang felt like a steamed crab.

Heat seared through every part of him.

Yet though the heat burned, the pain was not severe.

Instead, Jin Yang felt another force flowing steadily through him, mingling with the Soul Ring's energy, calming its frenzy, and gradually becoming one with it.

He knew that force well. It was the power of the sunlight he had eaten, one piece at a time.

While the Soul Ring's power washed through his body, a large portion also poured into his Martial Soul.

Light suddenly filled Jin Yang's mind. He seemed to be drifting through a sea of Sunflowers. The largest Sunflower at its center, smiling, was his Martial Soul. The smaller ones all seemed to have formed from the Soul Ring's energy.

The large Sunflower drew the smaller ones into itself without pause, turning them into firm, plump seeds.

The Sunflower Martial Soul's roots, stem, and leaves grew sturdier, and it seemed much larger too.

But the changes were not entirely good: the Sunflower Martial Soul looked considerably more ferocious.

With the sound of a barrier shattering, the remaining heat in his body spread out and merged into his Soul Power.

Jin Yang leaped to level thirteen. The four-hundred-year-old Sunflower had given him enough Soul Power to rise from level ten to level thirteen.

Jin Yang opened his eyes and stood, hearing Su Yuntao congratulate him.

"Congratulations, Jin Yang! Starting today, you're officially a Soul Master. Remember to visit Spirit Hall every month to collect your Soul Master stipend."

Su Yuntao's face was full of delight, as though he, rather than Jin Yang, had obtained his First Soul Ring.

"I will, Brother Tao. I'm truly grateful to Spirit Hall for giving us common-born Soul Masters such a generous stipend."

Su Yuntao smiled even more broadly and patted Jin Yang on the shoulder.

The Soul Skill contained in Jin Yang's First Soul Ring was a support skill, and its effect was utterly outrageous.

It could increase the age of his own Soul Rings—and other people's Soul Rings as well.

He could choose to make the increase permanent or temporary.

If he had not known his Soul Ring came from an ordinary Sunflower, he might have thought he had hunted some rare divine beast.

Of course, a Soul Ring could not produce such effects. Jin Yang had looked into it: Soul Masters who obtained Sunflower Soul Rings generally gained support skills that improved the efficiency of gathering Soul Power, or offensive skills that fired rays of sunlight.

His Soul Ring's skill must have come from his Sunflower Martial Soul.

After all, even before it had a Soul Ring, his Sunflower Martial Soul could produce sunlight and nectar with effects that defied the heavens.

One could strengthen the body and grant extraordinary power.

The other could improve meditation and speed up cultivation.

So a Soul Skill that could increase the age of Soul Rings should not be too strange, right?

Even so, he did not volunteer any details of his Soul Skill to Su Yuntao.

A Soul Skill like that had never been seen before.

It could easily bring disaster down on him.

Only after he had said goodbye to Su Yuntao and returned to his dormitory at the academy

Jin Yang then summoned his Martial Soul again.

Looking at the Sunflower that now stood a head taller than him, Jin Yang's mouth twitched.

The Sunflower's smiling lips looked even more frightening.

Jin Yang had the strange impression that if the Sunflower opened its mouth now, it could swallow his six-year-old self whole with ease.

The Sunflower Martial Soul also seemed tougher than before.

When he tugged at its petals, he could clearly feel how much tougher they had become.

If pulling off a petal had once been like tearing a sheet of white paper, now it was more like trying to tear plastic sheeting. He could not pull one off at all.

Next, he needed to test whether the sunlight and nectar it produced had improved.

Jin Yang took the opportunity to wash up.

Although he had not ventured deep into the Soul Hunting Forest, he had still worked up quite a sweat.

He had sweated especially heavily while refining the Soul Ring.

After scrubbing himself thoroughly and changing into clean clothes, Jin Yang saw the Sunflower swaying on his bed finally spit out its first piece of sunlight since growing larger.

The newly produced sunlight was the same size as before, but its color was deeper, and it held more energy.

Its sunflower-seed fragrance was richer too, intoxicating him with a single breath.

Jin Yang took a bite. It was indeed tastier than the previous kind, with a better texture and a flavor as rich as he had imagined—crisp and fragrant.

Its effect on his physique seemed much stronger too. A long-forgotten current of warmth surged through his body, and every cell seemed to cheer.

As his physique had steadily strengthened, the sunlight he had been eating had become less and less effective.

Now he felt as he had the first time he ate sunlight.

Jin Yang clenched his fist and casually threw a few punches through the air. The sound of his fists cutting through it rang in his ears.

"Maybe one day I'll be able to match the Golden Dragon King in a contest of strength?"