"Little Yang, you aren't planning to absorb this Thousand-Year Soul Ring, are you?!"
When Su Yuntao's astonished voice rang out, Lu Yang merely nodded silently. His original plan had only been to try challenging a Soul Ring of seven or eight hundred years, but this mutated Flame Sparrow was a rare find that could only be encountered by chance. Now that he had come across one, he had to give it a try.
"No, Little Yang, this is far too dangerous!" Su Yuntao stopped him. "You said you wanted to challenge a Soul Beast of seven or eight hundred years. With your physical condition, you might be able to give that a try. But choosing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as your first soul ring is simply too risky!"
Originally, Su Yuntao had not even wanted to let Lu Yang try a Soul Ring of seven or eight hundred years, much less this thousand-year one.
"Master Su Yuntao, just let me try. It doesn't make much difference to me anyway." Lu Yang spoke very seriously, as though he truly did not care whether a moment of impulsiveness would cost him his life.
But that was exactly how Lu Yang felt. To him, transmigration itself was certainly fantastical, but transmigrating to a world like the Douluo Continent, technologically backward and full of danger, was hardly a pleasant experience. That was especially true after he had enjoyed a convenient, comfortable life in his previous world.
During the six years since he had transmigrated to the Douluo Continent, he had tried to settle into his new life, but the results had been far from ideal. Even after awakening his Martial Soul and obtaining one as powerful as The Winged Dragon of Ra, his mindset had not changed much.
That was precisely why Lu Yang had insisted on trying to absorb an older Soul Ring when choosing one. To him, only by becoming stronger-stronger than everyone else-could he have choices of his own in the future and live the life he wanted.
As for failure, he would just kick the bucket. This world held little appeal for him as he was now, anyway, leaving him with few attachments.
Seeing how stubborn Lu Yang was, Su Yuntao scratched his head and ears in frustration. Yet after agonizing over it for ages, he still could not find a way or a reason to stop him.
"Master Su Yuntao, don't worry. I feel that absorbing this Thousand-Year Soul Ring shouldn't be much of a problem for me," Lu Yang said.
Lu Yang was not making an idle boast. He genuinely had that feeling. As for why he felt that way, he could not explain it either. Perhaps it was the confidence his divine-tier Martial Soul gave him.
Hearing Lu Yang say that, Su Yuntao finally had no choice but to nod in agreement. "Then give it a try. But if anything goes wrong, I'll interrupt your absorption of the Soul Ring."
As a Soul Grandmaster, Su Yuntao knew very well that being interrupted while absorbing a Soul Ring could, in less severe cases, cause a backlash that destroyed all of one's cultivation, or, in worse cases, damage the meridians and leave one unable to cultivate for the rest of one's life. But compared to exploding and dying from being unable to withstand the Soul Ring's energy, that would at least preserve his life.
Lu Yang nodded. He steadied his breathing, then sat cross-legged and mobilized his Soul Power to begin absorbing the Soul Ring.
As the violent energy within the Soul Ring surged into his body, Lu Yang trembled slightly a few times. Yet none of the anticipated agonizing pain or other symptoms appeared. Instead, he felt as though everything was smooth sailing.
In reality, however, the absorption process was not quite that smooth. At least in terms of the time it took, it was not.
Lu Yang spent more than half a day absorbing the Soul Ring. It was not until late that night that a surge of Soul Power erupted from within his body.
"He broke through?! Does that mean he succeeded?" Seeing this, Su Yuntao, who had been standing guard nearby, finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was the first time he had ever seen someone spend more than half a day absorbing a Soul Ring.
As Lu Yang slowly opened his eyes, then stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff body, Su Yuntao's heart rose into his throat again. "How are you feeling, Little Yang? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"
"Uncomfortable? No! I feel great right now. Really great!" Lu Yang replied with a smile.
Having successfully absorbed a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, Lu Yang felt that his Soul Power had increased considerably. Exactly how much it had increased would require a test to determine. By his own estimate, however, his Soul Power had reached at least rank thirteen or fourteen.
Absorbing a Soul Ring already came with an increase in Soul Power, and Lu Yang had never slacked off in his cultivation since awakening his Martial Soul. His cultivation speed under the sun was already faster than other people's, and the Soul Power he had accumulated over more than half a month could provide a considerable increase as well. Once he absorbed the Soul Ring and broke through his bottleneck, that accumulated Soul Power naturally revealed itself.
"I never imagined you would actually succeed. This is a major discovery! If we can find a reliable method, it'll be a tremendous blessing for every Soul Master!" Su Yuntao said excitedly.
Although he was not devoted to proving himself through theories the way Yu Xiaogang was, such a major discovery had happened right before his eyes. How could he possibly not be excited?
Lu Yang smiled without immediately responding to Su Yuntao. He could sense that his successful absorption of the Thousand-Year Soul Ring had a great deal to do with his Martial Soul.
While absorbing the Soul Ring, Lu Yang had clearly felt the impact of the energy it carried. Throughout the process, it had caused him some slight discomfort without ever placing too much strain on his body. If that had nothing to do with his Martial Soul, he could not think of any other explanation.
Su Yuntao's excitement did not last too long. Once he had calmed down, he put an arm around Lu Yang's shoulders and said, "Come on, let's hurry back. I'll report exactly what happened to Supervisor Ma Xiunuo and have him write a letter to the higher-ups. When the time comes, you're sure to catch their eye."
Lu Yang nodded silently. Ever since he had chosen to seek help from Spirit Hall to hunt for a Soul Ring, he had already considered the possibility of attracting the attention of its senior figures in the future.
His aversion to Spirit Hall was entirely because the person currently in power was that crazy woman, Bibi Dong. He could not be sure whether joining Spirit Hall would drag him into trouble if she took an interest in him.
Now, Lu Yang had even more to worry about. If that crazy woman Bibi Dong learned that Yu Xiaogang wanted to take him as a disciple, would she do something incomprehensible? After all, Yu Xiaogang carried a great deal of weight in Bibi Dong's heart.
As for whether Bibi Dong knew Yu Xiaogang was in Nuoding City, Lu Yang had no doubts whatsoever. Given how thick-skinned that fellow was, Lu Yang could hardly imagine him leaving Spirit Hall's stipend unclaimed. After all, he was a genuine Soul Grandmaster.
But with things having come this far, Lu Yang could only take one step at a time and see where it led.
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