"..."
A deep, powerful voice reverberated throughout the mental world.
The little angel hurriedly wrapped himself in his wings when he heard it. You can't see me, you can't see me.
"..."
Qian Daoliu rose and stared speechlessly at the "snow-white egg." It was a divine martial soul, for heaven's sake. Surely it didn't have to act like this.
"Well, wasn't that because you were ignoring me?" Qian Daoliu spread his little hands.
"Boy, I do not know how I awoke here, or how I came to be connected to you."
"Had you and I not come from the same world, I would have annihilated you just now."
The Chaos Bell swayed, its deep, powerful voice ringing out.
"Haha, we came from the same world?"
Qian Daoliu was rather excited that the Chaos Bell was willing to speak to him, but in his original world, all of that had been mythology.
"Boy, a power from your body flows into me. Clearly, you know of me."
"Well, I do know a little. In my world..."
Qian Daoliu then told the Chaos Bell the myths he knew, beginning with the great war between the shamans and demons.
He told it every myth he knew.
"Ah, I never imagined that not only would so much time have passed when I awoke, but that I would find myself in another world."
The Chaos Bell's voice carried a note of wistfulness.
"Still, since I have arrived somewhere new and met you in this world, you and I must share a fated bond."
"I imagine my appearance here means I have become a part of you, just like that little sprite over there."
Qian Daoliu scratched his head sheepishly, then introduced this world to the Chaos Bell.
"Martial souls? Interesting. But those injuries of yours..."
The Chaos Bell circled Qian Daoliu once before stopping in front of him.
"Senior, do you have a way to heal my injuries?" Hope instantly filled Qian Daoliu's eyes when the Chaos Bell mentioned them.
He had started with a max-level character, but because of these injuries, it was now practically no different from having nothing.
Even his angel martial soul had turned into an "egg" and was cowering over there.
If the Chaos Bell could help him recover, he could start out invincible again.
"I cannot heal your injuries directly for now. An invisible power in this world constantly restrains me, so I cannot unleash much of my strength yet."
"But now that I have become your martial soul, I can sense that those black circles on the little angel can unlock some of the power under my restrictions."
"Once that power is unlocked, some of your injuries will heal as well."
Qian Daoliu understood immediately after hearing the Chaos Bell's explanation. Wasn't that just adding soul rings to a martial soul?
"All right, I know what to do."
"Those black circles are called soul rings. People in this world use them to increase their strength."
"Senior, now that you've become my martial soul, you probably need to follow this world's rules to recover your strength too."
"Do as you wish, as long as you know what to do. I will be here. Contact me whenever you need me."
After the Chaos Bell gave him that reminder, Qian Daoliu nodded and left the mental world.
Back in reality, Qian Daoliu brought up the newly generated status panel.
[Host]: Qian Daoliu (near-death state) [Age]: 120 [Identity]: Great Enshrined of Spirit Hall, one of the world's three Peerless Douluos... [Soul power]: Level 99 (temporarily unavailable due to near-death state) [First martial soul]: Six-Winged Angel (temporarily unavailable due to near-death state) [Second martial soul]: Chaos Bell (seal unlocked: 1%) [First set of soul rings]: Black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, red! (temporarily unavailable due to near-death state) [Second set of soul rings]: No soul rings attached yet [Bound target]: Bibi Dong
Only 1% of the seal is unlocked. Could it work like soul master levels?
From what the Chaos Bell just said, unlocking its seal should follow the soul master system. Does that mean cultivating soul power again will unlock more of it?
Qian Daoliu pondered.
Meanwhile.
Outside.
The "cocoon" enveloping Qian Daoliu's body transformed into a phantom image of the Chaos Bell. It swayed once, then vanished, revealing him.
"Teacher!"
"Big Brother!" ×6
Bibi Dong, Golden Crocodile, and the others cried out joyfully when they saw Qian Daoliu.
After all, their teacher and big brother now had another martial soul. Once Qian Daoliu acquired his second soul ring configuration, he would be the strongest on the continent.
Hearing their cries, Qian Daoliu's swordlike brows twitched. He opened his eyes to find everyone gathered around him.
"Big Brother, what martial soul did you awaken? That was quite a show of power. It nearly tore down the Worship Hall," Lion said bluntly.
"Oh?" Qian Daoliu instinctively looked around the hall.
He breathed a sigh of relief. As long as nothing had happened.
"It's fine, Big Brother. If you tear it down, we can just rebuild it," Jiang Mo said with a laugh.
Qian Daoliu's expression stiffened. He raised his hand, paused, then looked at Golden Crocodile.
Golden Crocodile understood at once. Catching Jiang Mo off guard, he restrained him and gave him a knock on the head.
"As an enshrined, how could you talk about tearing down the Worship Hall?"
"Big Brother, I've learned my lesson."
Jiang Mo clutched his head as he spoke in pain.
"I think this happened because the martial soul was divinely bestowed and awakened later in life."
Qian Daoliu displayed the martial soul formed from the Chaos Bell's true spirit.
A deep, mighty aura emerged. Looking at the Chaos Bell, which was smaller than a palm, none of them could believe this was the martial soul they had just struggled to withstand.
"Then, Teacher, what sort of soul ring configuration does your second martial soul need?"
Bibi Dong stared at the little dark-yellow bell, her eyes full of shock. After all, "it" had just sent her flying, and it didn't even have any soul rings yet.
"This martial soul is rather unusual. I'll need to study it further."
Improving the Chaos Bell was tied to healing his injuries, so Qian Daoliu dared not be careless in the slightest.
Guang Ling studied the miniature Chaos Bell. "Big Brother, none of us have ever seen a martial soul like this. Is it a defensive type?"
Qian Daoliu examined his body. Its toughness seemed to have increased by far more than a little, and he had only fused with the Chaos Bell by 1%.
"No. This bell is called the Chaos Bell, and it combines offense and defense. Judging by its awakening, its offensive power should be considerable."
"I can clearly feel that my body's toughness has nearly doubled."
Even the initial fusion had produced such an effect. It truly lived up to its status as a supreme treasure.
"What?!"
Everyone was stunned. His body's toughness had nearly doubled-and that was double Qian Daoliu's own physical toughness.
The tougher a soul master's body, the more soul power they could store. Moreover, Qian Daoliu had a second martial soul. When adding soul rings, he would be able to withstand rings of greater age. By then, he could wear an opponent down to death through sheer soul power alone.
"Then, Big Brother, does that mean you can properly take Tang Chen head-on now?" Golden Crocodile asked solemnly.
The others had never witnessed Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen's battle at their peak, but who was Golden Crocodile? He was a towering figure in the soul master world.
Qian Daoliu's expression froze at Golden Crocodile's words, and his past battle with Tang Chen surfaced in his mind.
Back then, Qian Daoliu, hailed as invincible in the sky, had gone to fight Tang Chen, hailed as invincible on land. Not only had he confronted Tang Chen head-on, but he had also fought on land, never using his own advantage.
He had fought Tang Chen head-on the entire time, pitting himself against his opponent on the man's own favored ground.
His angel defenses had been broken by just a few hammer blows, and he had ultimately lost.
Thus, every enshrined present knew about Qian Daoliu's battle with Tang Chen.
Before you continue