I Had Everything I Needed!

A storm swept through Ning Tian's mind, but her face remained as composed as ever.

She quickly recalled Wu Feng's strange behavior on the first day of school.

Ning Tian had asked her to test Lu Yi's abilities, but Wu Feng had arrived late to class that afternoon and seemed to harbor a grudge against him.

At the time, Ning Tian had only seen Lu Yi's poor performance in physical training. She had ruled him out without giving it much thought.

But what if things had not happened the way Wu Feng said? What else could have happened?

If Wu Feng had met Lu Yi that afternoon and the two had sparred—if Wu Feng had lost—then a great many things would make sense.

But it would also mean Ning Tian had already offended Lu Yi once.

Faced with Wang Yan's request, Ning Tian did not answer at once. She kept her guard up and asked, "Teacher, who needs this male Lion Mastiff's Soul Ring?"

"I do, Class Monitor Ning!"

Lu Yi could not leave everything to Wang Yan. Since Ning Tian was his classmate, he intended to speak to her himself.

"So it's the Deputy Class Monitor!" Ning Tian's face brightened with a smile as gentle as a spring breeze, though inwardly she thought, Just as I suspected.

Whatever the case, she had clearly misjudged him back then.

There had to be something special about Lu Yi. Otherwise, he could not have risen three levels in two months or dared to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring as his second ring.

I can't offend the same person twice, Ning Tian thought.

"Since you need it, I should look after my classmates as class monitor. That male Lion Mastiff's Soul Ring is yours." Ning Tian yielded without hesitation.

Lu Yi smiled too. "Thank you, Class Monitor Ning!"

"You must have worked hard lately, Deputy Class Monitor, to make such a tremendous breakthrough."

Ning Tian seemed unwilling to leave it at that. Her concern was only a cover as she probed him indirectly. "But that male Lion Mastiff is rather old. Shouldn't you reconsider, Deputy Class Monitor? I wouldn't want anything to go wrong."

Lu Yi understood what she was getting at, but he kept smiling.

"Thank you for your concern, Class Monitor. I was lucky enough to obtain some Whale Rubber a while ago. Without it, I couldn't have made one breakthrough after another. A Soul Master of average talent like me has to take more risks to keep up."

Ning Tian nodded, revealing little of what she felt. "I see. Go ahead, then. I wish you a smooth absorption."

With that, she turned to the female Lion Mastiff, drew an ornate dagger from her waist, and finished off the unconscious beast.

A magnificent purple Soul Ring rose from its corpse. Ning Tian calmly sat cross-legged, ready to absorb it.

Lu Yi went to the male Lion Mastiff and cupped his hands toward Ning Tian and the middle-aged man before finishing it off as well.

Another purple Soul Ring rose, though its color was slightly paler than the one before Ning Tian.

Still, as Lu Yi's second ring, that purple was stunning enough.

In fact, the two-thousand-year Soul Ring Ning Tian was absorbing also exceeded the normal age limit.

An ordinary Soul Master from a commoner background could not challenge a thousand-year Soul Beast without a reliable team's help. For such people, even a thousand-year third ring was uncommon.

Soul Masters with better talent, if they did not have to worry about safety, could manage a third ring between fifteen hundred and seventeen hundred years old. Anything beyond that would be too much for their bodies to bear.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul did little to strengthen the body, so there was not much difference between Ning Tian and Lu Yi in that respect.

Both were absorbing rings beyond the normal age limit, but they felt very differently about it.

Ning Tian had the confidence to challenge a two-thousand-year Soul Ring for her third ring because she knew she was prepared. She had benefited from her family's abundant resources since birth; everything had simply fallen into place.

Lu Yi, on the other hand, was still uneasy. Every estimate he had made about himself rested on two months of training and help from outside sources.

By comparison, Ning Tian was like a top student who knew the answer to every question.

He was more like a student who had only crammed for the exam. Now that he was sitting in the exam hall, everything ahead was unknown.

Lu Yi took a deep breath and began the trial.

Unlike the first time he had absorbed the Furious Dragon Lizard's Soul Ring, the energy in this one was far more violent.

The moment he began, turbulent Soul Power charged through his meridians. The level-twenty bottleneck in his Soul Power seemed to shatter under its blows.

Then a vast surge of Soul Power poured into his body all at once. That familiar feeling of being pumped full spread through him, and his meridians ached from the strain.

Even so, Lu Yi felt his body could withstand it. He even had a little room to spare before reaching his limit.

Thank goodness I absorbed that Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue! Lu Yi could not help feeling relieved.

The Whale Rubber had strengthened his body remarkably. The process had left him unbearably pent up, burning hot all over and so restless he could have clawed at his own heart and liver. His whole body had felt as though it were on fire. It had been far from pleasant.

Looking back, though, the suffering had clearly been worth it.

It also made Zhou Sichen's ordeal worthwhile: for weeks, he had spent nights frightened out of his wits, wrapping himself tightly in a blanket even in the summer heat.

As time passed, Ning Tian finished absorbing her ring first.

Rather than immediately testing her new Soul Skill, she opened her eyes and looked across at Lu Yi.

The purple Soul Ring circled steadily around him. She had no choice but to set aside her earlier contempt.

It looks like I'll need to find an excuse to clear up that earlier misunderstanding, Ning Tian thought.

Lu Yi had no idea what Ning Tian was thinking. His own absorption was nearing its end, and he was sensing his new Soul Skill.

Berserk: Once activated, Soul Power consumption doubles. Strength, defense, constitution, and attack power all increase by 50%, while pain is halved.

The skill did not look like something a wizard who cast spells from a distance should possess. It seemed more like the standard skill of a Berserker wielding an axe in the thick of battle.

But it was exactly what Lu Yi needed. His slight frame lacked raw power, and what he feared most was an enemy Agility Attack Soul Master circling behind him and taking him out.

With this Soul Skill, he would not be so helpless when it mattered. At the very least, he could trade a few blows with such an opponent.

And after absorbing the ring, not only had his Soul Power risen by roughly a level and a half, but its surge through his body, aided by the lingering effects of the Whale Rubber, had strengthened his constitution considerably.

That improvement pleased him even more than the increase in Soul Power.

Lu Yi suddenly recalled how, on the first day of school, someone had openly questioned in class whether he had truly defeated Wang Dong despite the gap in their levels.

Now he felt that student's doubts had not been entirely unreasonable.

If he fought the version of himself from a few hours ago, his former self would stand no chance.

But battles between Soul Masters were never contests of strength alone. Skill, power, adaptability, and much else all played a part.

Back then, he had had no choice but to defeat Wang Dong through practiced technique and a versatile set of abilities.

Now, though, he had everything he needed.