The Two-Thousand-Year Flame Spirit Fox Soul Ring (Part Three)

The instant he dodged the surprise attack, Lin Chen felt a slight easing in his heart, but he remained inwardly vigilant. Even a dying soul beast still had the power to launch a lethal counterattack. He could never afford carelessness while hunting.

Seeing this, Mo Yuan frowned slightly beside him, unwilling to let any complications branch out.

Since the spirit fox still retained the instinct to resist, there was no need to hold back.

His gaze darkened slightly, and a vast, invisible surge of soul power descended at once, locking precisely onto the Flame Spirit Fox's body.

There was no dramatic surge of force, nor any pressure spilling outward—only the restraint of pure soul power.

In the next instant, the Flame Spirit Fox, which had still been barely able to raise a paw in retaliation, abruptly stiffened, pinned firmly to the ground.

Its limbs, torso, and head could no longer move even a fraction. It could barely blink, and the last trace of soul power within it was sealed off completely, leaving it without the slightest strength to strike back.

Every possibility of an unforeseen mishap had been eliminated.

"Do it," Mo Yuan said evenly, adding a quiet reminder. "Make it clean and quick. Don't drag it out."

"Yes, Teacher."

Lin Chen nodded in acknowledgment. Without further hesitation, he quickly reached to his waist with his right hand and drew an exquisite short sword barely an inch long.

He bent down and steadied himself, his gaze locking precisely onto the vital core within the Flame Spirit Fox's chest. With a flex of his wrist, he thrust the short sword straight forward.

Shhk.

The soft sound of the blade piercing flesh rang out clearly.

The short sword pierced the spirit fox's body with precision, reaching straight into its core and extinguishing the last spark of life in this two-thousand-year Flame Spirit Fox.

The Flame Spirit Fox's body shuddered violently, then went completely limp. The light in its eyes quickly faded, and its last lingering spark of vitality dissipated, leaving not the slightest sign of life.

As its life came to a complete end, the fire-attribute soul power essence that had settled within it over two thousand years, along with the vital essence accumulated over those years, was no longer bound by life and slowly seeped from its corpse.

Wisps and strands of soul power rose from the spirit fox's corpse, swirling and intertwining as they slowly gathered, compressed, and condensed.

The gathering soul power grew ever denser and heavier. The scattered, luminous threads of soul power continually fused into one, their color gradually deepening to reveal the purple hue of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Within moments, a purple Soul Ring, dense throughout and uniform in its deep coloration, slowly took shape within the soul power vortex, rose, and hovered steadily above the Flame Spirit Fox's corpse.

Looking at the purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring that had formed before him, Lin Chen remained composed, without the slightest agitation or wild delight.

He slowly sat cross-legged, straightened his posture, and regulated his breathing, preparing to absorb the Soul Ring and break through to the next realm.

Almost the instant he settled into place, Liuli, who had been quietly hiding behind a tree, seemed to sense a familiar presence and came running over with light little steps. The little fox obediently lay beside Lin Chen, its furry body pressed against his leg, keeping him gentle company.

Just then, the purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring hovering above the spirit fox's corpse began to sway slightly, as though answering some invisible, mysterious summons.

It slowly rotated of its own accord, then left its original position and drifted leisurely toward Liuli at Lin Chen's side.

The purple Soul Ring moved slowly, its motion light and steady. Finally, it settled securely over Liuli's small body, slipping gently along its soft fur until it encircled Liuli completely.

The instant the Soul Ring entered its body, an incomparably vast, incomparably Rampage surge of scorching energy erupted without the slightest delay.

This energy came from the accumulated essence of the two-thousand-year Flame Spirit Fox, pure to the extreme and equally Rampage.

The surging, scalding energy immediately coursed through Liuli's body, then flooded madly into Lin Chen through the soul power channel that had long since formed a stable connection between them.

Boom—

In an instant, Lin Chen felt his entire body burn as an indescribably immense torrent of heat abruptly flooded every limb and bone.

This torrent was nothing like ordinary, nourishing warmth. It was as though molten lava had suddenly poured into his body—scorching, heavy, and domineering, carrying tremendous force as it scoured every inch of his meridians, every piece of flesh, and every cell.

Normally, absorbing a Soul Ring meant bearing and refining its power alone. But now, Liuli shared his life and breath, willingly taking on more than half of the Rampage energy and bearing the fiercest impact for him.

Yet even with Liuli sharing the burden, diverting the flow and cushioning the impact, the remaining energy pouring into Lin Chen was still so Rampage it verged on spiraling out of control, utterly domineering.

Scorching energy rampaged through him, burning his meridians and flesh. A tearing pain swept through his entire body alongside the searing heat. The twin torment of bone-piercing agony and scalding heat sent waves of prickling numbness across his scalp, and his body instinctively tensed.

Lin Chen's nerves immediately drew taut, and he dared not slacken his focus in the slightest.

He knew full well that absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring was fraught with danger. The slightest mistake could damage his meridians and send his soul power running wild. At best, he would suffer grave injuries and lose his cultivation; at worst, his body would burst, killing him outright.

He immediately focused his mind and steadied his breathing, driving his own soul power with all his strength to accelerate its circulation between himself and Liuli.

The soul power channel between the human and his Martial Soul was stretched fully open, its circulation speed climbing to the limit.

He continuously diverted, guided, softened, and refined the Rampage heat pouring into his body, little by little transforming the savage, chaotic essence of the Soul Ring into gentle, controllable, pure soul power.

But the energy of this Two-Thousand-Year Soul Ring was simply too immense, too frenzied.

Even with the two of them sharing the burden and refining it to the utmost, they still could not immediately suppress this overbearing force.

The Rampage energy continually scoured his flesh, swelling and crashing about without restraint, trying to burst through the confines of his body.

Within moments, the extreme heat and swelling energy had stretched Lin Chen's skin taut, turning it scarlet and scalding, as though he had been roasted over a fierce fire for hours. His skin tightened and bulged, unbearable heat filled his entire body, and the distending pain and burning sensations within him piled atop one another, making his suffering ever more intense.

Liuli beside him was likewise enduring tremendous pressure.

An enormous quantity of fire-attribute energy poured madly into its tiny body, far beyond what its current size could bear. Its formerly small, soft body was continually filled and stretched by that vast energy, gradually becoming round and swollen.

Its once sleek, slender figure visibly bulged and rounded. Energy puffed its fur out in every direction, while its short limbs drew inward. The little fox was almost inflated into a round ball of fluff, looking both adorable and painfully pitiful.

Liuli let out low whimpers, but continued silently enduring the relentless scouring of energy. It lay obediently in place without moving an inch, doing everything it could to share Lin Chen's burden.

Not far away, Mo Yuan, who had been quietly watching and keeping guard, saw the perilous scene before him, and intense tension immediately flooded his usually steady eyes.

He had witnessed countless soul masters hunt soul beasts and absorb their rings, and countless dangerous attempts to absorb Soul Rings beyond their limits. Yet even he had rarely seen such Rampage energy backlash.

The bodies of both the human and his Martial Soul were being forcibly stretched, compressed, scoured, and remade by the energy. Their condition hung by a thread, and at any moment they could face the mortal danger of an energy overload and bodily collapse.

Mo Yuan's fingers tightened slightly, soul power quietly gathering in his palm. He was already prepared to intervene at any moment, interrupt the absorption, forcibly strip away the Soul Ring's energy, and save Lin Chen's life.