Golden Soul Ring!

The other two miniature stars dispersed, leaving only the one infused with soul liquid.

It abruptly expanded, enveloping the "golden disk."

It expanded again, and the blazing, almost tangible star swallowed Jiang Dongjun whole.

For a moment, the ravine seemed to have become the Ancient Sun Valley, with a new sun rising within it.

On the distant cliff face.

The sudden turn of events sent Jiang Ming into a complete panic.

He feared that when his son next appeared before him, he would already be a heap of charcoal.

"Dongjun? Dongjun! Are you all right? Something's wrong! Stop this attempt right now!"

Yet Jiang Dongjun's strong, clear voice rang out from the blazing star, which had expanded to roughly ten feet across.

He was hurriedly putting away the little metal bottle, returning it to his storage ring so the remaining soul liquid inside would not go down the drain.

At the same time, he called out to reassure his father and keep him from doing anything rash.

"Dad, don't worry. I'm fine. This is an opportunity. Keep yourself safe first, and don't come near me."

Hearing this, Jiang Ming could only suppress his restless anxiety.

After wrestling with the decision, he chose to trust his son, activated his Flying Soul Tool, and continued retreating out of the ravine.

The blazing star only stopped expanding when it reached ninety-nine feet in diameter, nearly filling the entire ravine. The heat radiating from it evaporated the stream, while the soil and cliff rocks turned pitch-black before quickly melting into something like magma and flowing down.

This was only the beginning.

Boom!

A vast, earth-shaking presence descended.

It was as though the setting sun in the west had come alive, casting its gaze across an endless expanse of space and pouring forth its power.

As Jiang Ming retreated out of the ravine, he turned toward the west in bewilderment. The crimson sun was about to sink below the horizon, showing nothing unusual, as though everything he had just sensed had been an illusion.

"No! There's no mistaking it!"

"To trigger something like this... could that disk be a fragment of a divine artifact? And one belonging to a deity who wielded authority over the sun?"

Jiang Ming speculated, his gaze burning and his emotions surging. He could not help but grow hopeful.

"If only our Jiang family could produce a deity too. There's no reason the Sea God Pavilion couldn't become the Sun King's Court..."

What Jiang Dongjun appreciated most about his family in this life was both his parents' pragmatic attitude and their tireless pursuit of self-improvement.

Although they had settled in Shrek City, they had only coveted its benefits and wanted to provide him with an excellent environment to grow up in. They had no faith in Shrek Academy or the Sea God. They respected them, but did not fear them.

Within the blazing star spanning the ravine, Jiang Dongjun was wrapped in brilliant light and could no longer see. He felt as though a golden ocean had submerged him. His surroundings were incredibly hot, yet there was a sense of separation that kept him from feeling scorched or uncomfortable.

Jiang Dongjun felt that he had become the center of this golden ocean, and that he was like the mythical Guixu, devouring the golden seawater surging around him.

The distant setting sun kept projecting its power toward him. No matter how much he devoured, the golden seawater around him remained abundant.

As the golden seawater flowed into him, an unprecedented warmth coursed through Jiang Dongjun's body, yet he had no sense that the terrifying flood of energy would burst him apart.

His body's adaptive mechanism activated. A deep-red fireball rose from behind him and hovered three feet above his head.

With his Martial Soul's manifestation, the warm current found an outlet.

The warmth poured forth, forming an illusory golden ring around Jiang Dongjun.

The instant it appeared, the surrounding golden motes surged into it even more wildly, rapidly solidifying this Golden Soul Ring.

As this unprecedented Soul Ring came into being, Jiang Dongjun received its feedback and underwent a transformation of his own.

He grew taller, his facial contours became more defined, and his features grew more handsome.

Those were only the most basic changes.

The somewhat feminine air his years of cultivating the yin spirit had given him was swept away. As he sat there now, he could not be ignored. He was like a resplendent sun, grand and upright, his majesty as forbidding as a prison.

As for the most crucial part, his Martial Soul... that had changed too.

The fireball looked denser. Its flames grew hotter, and their color gradually shifted from deep red to golden orange, becoming more vivid.

A Martial Soul could not undergo an earth-shattering transformation so easily.

Everyone had thought Tang Ya could ascend the imperial throne with the help of a hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year-old Blue Silver Emperor Soul Spirit, right? In reality, hers was still Blue Silver Grass. Bestowing a Ferocious Beast Soul Spirit on her was like casting a pearl into the dark.

Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King had stated that Tang Wulin possessed one of only two Blue Silver Emperor Martial Souls in history. The Blue Silver Emperor would only be born within the Tang bloodline.

The modest improvement in his Martial Soul's quality was actually within Jiang Dongjun's expectations.

First, his fireball Martial Soul's starting point was simply too low.

It was deficient from birth, with a low ceiling.

For an earthworm to become a divine dragon soaring through the nine heavens, there was a great deal to make up for. Such a leap could not happen overnight.

Second, this transformation had been brought about by only 10 drops of soul liquid.

Broadly speaking, it had worked like a thousand-year-old spiritual treasure, so its effects were truly limited.

What about the God of Elves' relic?

It was broken, and it had languished for who knew how many tens of thousands of years. Its divine wonders had long since been washed away, leaving only its exceedingly hard material.

Jiang Dongjun now had serious doubts about whether the God of Elves had even placed an "opportunity" inside it before falling.

It looked as though the soul liquid was unlocking an "opportunity."

Jiang Dongjun was more inclined to believe that, with the soul liquid's help and the divine artifact fragment as a medium, the Light of Time and Space had crossed time itself, bringing back a sliver of the Elven Divine Clan's ancient glory and manifesting it in the present.

The MVP award should go to the Light of Time and Space.

Perhaps replacing the "golden disk" with a relic of Qian Renxue would likewise recreate the Angel God's Legacy and produce another Golden Soul Ring.

Key point-a peculiar theory. Note it down and test it later.

One extraordinary, brilliant-gold Soul Ring was only the beginning.

Jiang Dongjun believed that the opportunities unlocked with 100 and 1,000 drops later on would bring even greater transformations.

Would they still be Soul Rings?

He was not sure, but he could try again at level 20.

Although he was confident he could earn enough for 100 drops of soul liquid within the year, he did not really dare attempt it ahead of time.

What would happen if it produced another Soul Ring, but he had not met the conditions to absorb it?

Would it burst him apart outright?

Or would it be like Tang Wulin and the Tyrant Dragon Soul Spirit, with the latter temporarily merging into his body and taking its place once a slot opened up?

Jiang Dongjun remained conscious the entire time, sensing the changes in his body.

He had long since lost track of time and had no idea how much time had passed.

Only when the brilliant-gold Soul Ring around him had fully solidified, expanding and contracting freely, did the surrounding golden motes stop flowing into it.

Jiang Dongjun realized that this opportunity was drawing to a close.

The golden motes dispersed, no longer surrounding him like an ocean. The ninety-nine-foot blazing star disintegrated, revealing his figure within.

Above the ravine, stars filled the sky. Below, devastation lay everywhere.

Only the roughly ten-foot area around Jiang Dongjun remained untouched, forming a lone island. The surrounding ground had sunk, and charred, molten matter lay everywhere. Streams of water once again cascaded down the cliffs, striking the ground and raising billowing clouds of sour, foul-smelling smoke.

"Dad, quick! Get me out of here!"

Jiang Dongjun hurriedly called for help.

At the same time, a golden-orange fireball rose behind him, and an awe-inspiring Golden Soul Ring circled beneath his feet.

The Golden Soul Ring lit up, turning a dazzling, brilliant gold.

First Soul Skill, Dusk's Blessing!

The golden-orange fireball three feet above his head showered him with Flames of Dusk. The flames joined together over Jiang Dongjun's body, forming a dusky-yellow gauze robe of energy that shielded him from the surrounding heat and the rising harmful gases.

Woo-hoo~ A battle aura gauze robe!

Jiang Dongjun let out a strange cry in his mind.

The bizarre form his newly acquired first Soul Skill had taken really made it impossible for him to resist poking fun at it.

Of course, this brilliant-gold Soul Ring, one of only two in history, had more than just this one Soul Skill.

Jiang Dongjun even suspected that Dusk's Blessing had formed because he had received the sun's power at dusk, making it the additional skill.

If he had made this attempt in the morning or at noon, the Golden Soul Ring would have formed a Soul Skill with characteristics belonging to either of those periods.

In the morning, perhaps it would be some kind of recovery ability?

At noon, perhaps it would be a domain-type Soul Skill?

There was no medicine for regret in this world. To confirm his theory, he would have to wait until his next attempt and deliberately choose the right time.

Of course, he might simply be overthinking it.

Whether the opportunities corresponding to 100 and 1,000 drops of soul liquid would still yield two Soul Rings remained unknown.

Whoosh-

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out beside his ear. It was the Flying Soul Tool.

The moment the star spanning the ravine disappeared, Jiang Ming had rushed inside, unable to wait any longer. Now, he scooped up Jiang Dongjun and flew toward a more distant cliff top to the northwest.