"Jinge, we can't hit it. Should we keep tangling with it?"
Zhu Zhuqing stared at the fox shrouded in black mist, the claws extending from her fingertips gleaming coldly.
Dai Jinge said gravely, "It can turn intangible to evade attacks, but in that state, it can't attack us either."
Zhu Zhuqing knitted her slender brows, thinking it over carefully.
Dai Jinge said gravely, "Zhu Zhuqing, don't act rashly. You only have one ring right now, so you can't withstand this fox's attacks. Let me try first!"
He gauged the distance between himself and the Demon Fox, then lunged forward, his figure vanishing in an instant.
First soul skill-Instant Teleportation!
Dai Jinge appeared beside the Demon Fox and unleashed a powerful, heavy punch.
True to its strength as a thousand-year soul beast, the Demon Fox's pupils contracted slightly, and it instinctively activated its intangibility.
Boom!
Dai Jinge's punch struck empty air. He immediately pressed the Demon Fox relentlessly, his fierce attacks raining down like a sudden storm without pause.
[Growing stronger through combat, active...]
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Demon Fox used its intangibility to ignore Dai Jinge's attacks as it retreated continuously. The disdain and unruffled composure in its eyes gradually gave way to panic and agitation.
Watching from the sidelines, Zhu Zhuqing could already tell that the Demon Fox had fallen on the defensive.
"Let's see how much longer you can maintain that ability!"
Dai Jinge didn't believe the Demon Fox could remain intangible forever. Sooner or later, its soul power would run out.
But he was different!
The [War God Feng Yao Template] took effect at that moment. Even though repeatedly using Instant Teleportation to pursue it consumed enormous amounts of soul power, he could also recover rapidly through combat!
"Hiss!"
The Demon Fox hissed viciously, clearly enraged. It suddenly formed two black light blades and shot them at Dai Jinge's face.
"You still dare hiss at me!"
Dai Jinge's eyes lit up. Seizing the instant when the Demon Fox attacked, he used his soul skill, Instant Teleportation, appeared behind it, and slammed his fist down.
Thud!
Dai Jinge's heavy punch struck the back of the Demon Fox's head. It let out a muffled groan, its eyes rolled back, and it collapsed motionless on the ground.
Thwack! Thwack!
Dai Jinge turned to look and saw that the two black light blades the Demon Fox had just launched had gouged two deep marks into a meter-thick boulder.
"Taking those head-on would really hurt."
"Zhu Zhuqing, come here."
Dai Jinge beckoned to her.
Zhu Zhuqing hurried over. Only after witnessing Dai Jinge's fight with the Demon Fox had she realized how vast the gap between a One-Ring Soul Master and a two-ring Soul Master truly was.
But...
How was Dai Jinge, a two-ring Soul Grandmaster, so much stronger than her older sister, Zhu Zhuyun?
Zhu Zhuqing found this deeply puzzling.
Unaware of what Zhu Zhuqing was thinking, Dai Jinge saw her staring blankly at him and waved a hand before her face. "Zhu Zhuqing, stop staring. This Demon Fox will be your second soul ring."
"Huh? Mine?"
Zhu Zhuqing pointed at herself in disbelief. "I'm supposed to absorb a thousand-year ring as my second soul ring?"
Dai Jinge nodded. "Of course. If I can do it, you can too."
Zhu Zhuqing swallowed and murmured, "Jinge, how could I possibly compare to you?"
Dai Jinge sighed. "Zhu Zhuqing, you need to have confidence in yourself. Besides, you tempered your body in the ice and fire spring waters and fused with half of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red. Your physical strength can't even be mentioned in the same breath as before. It's enough to absorb a soul ring between one and two thousand years old, and that's only my conservative estimate."
"I understand!"
Zhu Zhuqing's expression gradually grew resolute. Most importantly, she had faith in Dai Jinge.
"First soul skill-Hell Stab!"
The Demon Fox, already grievously injured and knocked unconscious by Dai Jinge, breathed its last under Zhu Zhuqing's strike.
A purple soul ring slowly formed, hovering above the Demon Fox's corpse.
Dai Jinge carefully sensed the strength of the soul power emanating from the purple soul ring. It was about as strong as his second soul ring, somewhere between one thousand and fifteen hundred years old. Zhu Zhuqing would have no trouble absorbing it now.
Dai Jinge smiled. "Zhu Zhuqing, focus on absorbing it. Leave your safety to me."
"All right~"
Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath. This was the first time in her life that she would absorb a soul ring beyond the usual age limit, and she was a little nervous and afraid.
But when she saw Dai Jinge's encouraging gaze, filled with trust, she felt considerably calmer.
Hum!
Zhu Zhuqing circulated the soul power within her body, drawing the purple soul ring toward her and beginning to fuse with it.
At first, sweat beaded on her forehead and her delicate body trembled slightly. But as time passed, she gradually withstood the pressure from the soul ring, and the unusual reactions in her body disappeared.
This showed that successfully fusing with the purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring was now only a matter of time for Zhu Zhuqing.
Dai Jinge stood guard beside her, calming the soul power that had grown restless during his earlier battle with the soul beast.
It was then that he suddenly discovered his soul power had improved considerably after just one brief fight.
The [War God Feng Yao Template] was starting to show its power!
As time passed, four hours slipped by unnoticed, and the sky had grown dark.
Hum!
At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing finally finished fusing with the purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
A surge of soul power rippled out from her, stirring gusts of wind.
"Jinge, I did it!"
The first thing Zhu Zhuqing did upon waking was share the good news with Dai Jinge. She said excitedly,
"Guess what kind of soul skill I got! You'll definitely be able to guess. Come on, guess!"
Dai Jinge smiled. "Is it the soul skill that Demon Fox used to turn intangible and evade attacks?"
Zhu Zhuqing drooped dejectedly. "How did you get it on the first guess?"
Smiling warmly, Dai Jinge reached out and pinched Zhu Zhuqing's delicate nose. "Actually, both skills that Demon Fox used were excellent. Whichever one you got, you'd come out ahead."
Zhu Zhuqing sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't maintain my second soul skill for as long as that Demon Fox could yet."
Dai Jinge asked, "Then how long can you maintain it?"
Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers before sighing. "If I keep it active continuously, I can only last ten seconds at most before my soul power runs out. But... once my soul power improves in the future, the duration will increase too."
Dai Jinge praised her. "That's already very good. Let's test your soul power now and see what level you've reached."
Dai Jinge took out a crystal ball.
Zhu Zhuqing placed her hand on it. She was curious herself just how much she had improved by absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as her second soul ring!
Hum!
The crystal ball in Dai Jinge's hand could measure soul power below level fifty.
Now, the light within the crystal ball filled more than half of it.
"Level twenty-seven. Very good."
Dai Jinge nodded in satisfaction.
Shaken to her core, Zhu Zhuqing covered her cherry lips in surprise. "How could it have increased so much?"
Dai Jinge smiled faintly. "That's only natural. It would be strange if the increase were smaller!"
Before you continue