Fusing with a soul ring was an extremely lengthy and dangerous process. This was Jiang Hai's first time fusing with a ten thousand year soul ring, and even with the filtering of his three nested coffins, the energy was far too immense for him. As he enjoyed the rapid rise in his soul power, he also had to endure excruciating pain.
Gradually, a black soul ring appeared around Jiang Hai, shining alongside his first two soul rings, one yellow and one purple. For now, however, the black ring still seemed somewhat illusory and unreal.
With his eyes tightly shut, Jiang Hai devoted all his attention to guiding and refining the soul power surging from the Azure Wind Spirit Bird's soul ring. Though this immense power subjected him to intense pain, it also greatly tempered his body.
Whenever a soul master fused with a soul ring, the older the ring, the greater the benefits. These extended beyond increases in soul power and the strength of soul skills to the tempering of the soul master's body. Each fusion tempered the body once, allowing it to hold more soul power and making it stronger. The more powerful the soul ring, the more pronounced these effects became.
The three nested coffins reduced the impact of the soul ring's energy on Jiang Hai's body without diminishing any of the benefits the fusion brought him. They acted like a control valve, regulating the flow of energy and keeping it at the very limit of what Jiang Hai could absorb, while leaving the total energy within the ring undiminished.
In a daze, Jiang Hai seemed to enter a peculiar space. A vicious Azure Wind Spirit Bird lunged at him, and in an instant, he realized what he was facing: the Azure Wind Spirit Bird's lingering consciousness.
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