In the original story, even when the three Zhongli brothers tormented that pair of Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears so badly, Xiong Jun had never stepped forward. With Mu En's cultivation as a Limit Douluo, taking away a single Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear naturally would not alarm Xiong Jun either.
Master and disciple smoothly brought the twenty-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear back to Shrek Academy.
No blood could be spilled in the Sea God Pavilion, so this Soul Ring absorption took place in the training room at Ye Feng's residence on Sea God Island.
"Go on. Attack its eyes and pulverize its brain, and you'll get its Soul Ring." Mu En pointed at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's pale eyes.
Ye Qing nodded. Searing golden light suddenly blazed from his right arm, and an immense surge of Soul Power gathered in the index and middle fingers of his right hand.
"Light-Breaking Demon!"
When his Soul Power reached its peak, Ye Qing raised his right hand and jabbed toward the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's eyes from a distance. A dazzling golden streak burst forth, splashing a blossom of blood from its eye socket before instantly scorching its brain to charcoal.
The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's massive body abruptly stiffened. Its life force rapidly faded, and it soon died on the spot.
At the same time, a deep, dark Soul Ring carrying a weighty aura floated up from its corpse. A Soul Ring produced by such a top-tier Soul Beast, with an age as high as twenty thousand years, was something almost every power attack system Soul Master dreamed of obtaining.
Yet Ye Qing could enjoy this extraordinarily precious Soul Ring as early as his third ring.
On the Douluo Continent, having a strong background truly was indispensable.
If Ye Qing had not had Shrek behind him, how could he possibly have achieved what he had today? Thinking about it that way, being born in Shrek did not seem so bad. He just needed to guard against brainwashing, remember the kindness he had received, and stay true to himself.
"I'm going to begin." Ye Qing took a deep breath, sat cross-legged on the spot, and drew the Soul Ring down onto himself.
The moment the Soul Ring descended, its crushing power seemed ready to grind every bone in Ye Qing's body to pieces. Its age clearly had not reached his limit, yet the pressure he felt this time was even greater than when he had absorbed the Light Spirit's Soul Ring beyond his normal capacity.
The deep black Soul Ring released ripple after ripple. Vast amounts of Soul Power poured out of it and began rampaging through Ye Qing's body.
Even his sturdy physique, tempered by two and a half years of training, nearly failed to withstand that violent Soul Power.
Fortunately, Ye Qing had his cheats.
The three big players that had previously dragged down his cultivation speed now proved enormously useful.
The Wings of Light tore through the clothing on Ye Qing's back on their own and unfurled behind him. The instincts he had developed while enduring Ye Feng's striking drills allowed him to use the Wings of Light to absorb the excess Soul Power from the ring while also casting Holy Light Healing on himself.
The appearance of the Wings of Light immediately relieved the bulk of Ye Qing's pressure.
Next, the Light-Breaking Soul Bone and Ye Qing's sweet little Light Spirit wife also began helping him refine the energy within the Soul Ring on their own.
Whenever the Soul Power entered his right arm during a full circulation, the Light-Breaking Demon and the Light Spirit filtered it, using ultimate light to wash the violent Soul Power into something gentle and mild. They then took a portion of that power for themselves before the remainder finally flowed into the meridians of Ye Qing's torso.
Thanks to its powerful bloodline, although this Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's Soul Ring was only twenty thousand years old, the Soul Power it contained was actually far greater than that of an ordinary twenty-thousand-year Soul Ring.
Without those three Soul Power-guzzling players helping him, even if Ye Qing managed to absorb this Soul Ring, he would probably have needed some time to recuperate afterward.
The tremendous Soul Power would certainly have battered him into suffering hidden injuries throughout his body. Those injuries alone would have taken him more than half a month to recover from.
Now, that was unnecessary.
With their help, Ye Qing's Soul Ring absorption went exceptionally smoothly.
Of course, that only applied to refining the Soul Power.
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring had more tricks than that. Otherwise, Ye Qing would not have needed to spend so much time training his body and mind. Once the Soul Power refinement settled into its proper course, the greatest trial of absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring began.
Soul Shock!
Previously, Ye Qing had been unable to sense his own Sea of Consciousness. He could only feel another force in his head that, like Soul Power, he could wield.
That was spiritual power.
Many Soul Masters never saw their own Sea of Consciousness in their entire lives, even after reaching Soul Emperor or Soul Saint.
Ye Qing was still only absorbing his third Soul Ring. Even though his spiritual power could now more or less rival an ordinary Soul Emperor's after his training, he likewise could not sense his own Sea of Consciousness. After all, he was not a spiritual-type Soul Master.
Yet the sudden spiritual assault from the Soul Ring opened the gates to Ye Qing's Sea of Consciousness at that moment.
For the first time, he saw his own Sea of Consciousness. It resembled a golden lake, its faintly glowing golden waters rippling gently.
Apart from that lake, the entire space within his Sea of Consciousness was gray and empty, looking utterly lifeless.
"Roar-!"
The next moment, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's low, furious roar echoed through Ye Qing's Sea of Consciousness, churning the once-calm lake into waves.
The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's remnant soul. So this is Soul Shock? Ye Qing "watched" the translucent Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear rampage through his Sea of Consciousness with scarlet eyes, sending waves of agonizing pain straight into his soul.
"Since I decided to absorb your Soul Ring, I already prepared myself for this. Come on!!"
With a low roar, Ye Qing formed a body from his spiritual power and charged at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's remnant soul, fists swinging.
This was a battle of the spirit.
Outside.
Seeing Ye Qing's Soul Ring absorption gradually proceed more smoothly, Mu En nodded inwardly. With him standing guard nearby, he naturally would not let Ye Qing suffer hidden injuries from the impact of the Soul Power.
As a Limit Douluo, it would have been easy for him to help Ye Qing draw out some of the power he could not absorb. However, once he saw that Ye Qing could absorb it steadily, he naturally refrained from interfering.
Absorbing a Soul Ring was a tremendous opportunity. The energy it carried could greatly shorten a Soul Master's cultivation time and substantially raise their rank.
Drawing the energy out of a Soul Ring was undoubtedly a tremendous waste.
Only by fully absorbing the Soul Power within a Soul Ring could one obtain a Soul Skill at its fullest strength.
Mu En's gaze lingered on Ye Qing for a long time before he turned to look at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's corpse.
The corpse naturally had immense value as well, being an exceptionally rare and precious ingredient. But aside from its use as food, there was something even more important.
A Soul Bone.
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