Chen Jin raised his eyes and looked at the woman in red before him, her face filled with panic.
"Something you need?"
Huo Wu pointed at the deep purple Soul Ring, her fingertips white from the force.
"You really intend to absorb this Soul Ring?"
"This is a six-thousand-year-old Blazing Fire Azure Sparrow!"
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Chen Jin remained composed, barely even moving his eyelids.
"I know."
"Six thousand years is just right."
At those words, Huo Wu stamped her foot in fury.
"Just right, my ass!"
"The accepted theory in the Soul Master World puts the limit for a third Soul Ring at a little over seventeen hundred and sixty years!"
"Even the geniuses of those great sects, with their elders protecting them, only dare attempt Soul Rings of around two thousand years at most!"
"You're only level thirty! How could your body possibly withstand that much energy?"
"Once the Soul Ring enters your body, its violent energy will instantly burst your meridians and make your body explode!"
Huo Wu poured out all of this in one breath, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead from anxiety.
Yet Chen Jin's face held only calm, without the slightest ripple in his eyes.
"Rules are made for the mediocre."
Chen Jin answered mildly, then reached his right hand toward the purple Soul Ring hovering in the air.
"You!"
A thought suddenly surfaced in Huo Wu's mind.
She remembered what Chen Jin had said earlier.
"A phoenix stained by the mortal fires of lust is unworthy of soaring above the nine heavens."
He would rather endure the agony of Evil Fire backlash and every meridian snapping than suppress the Evil Fire through that kind of indulgence.
In the foul Soul Master World of today, he was like an ascetic obsessed with purity, stubbornly guarding the nobility in his heart.
But was the agony of Evil Fire backlash truly something an ordinary person could endure?
Huo Wu looked at Chen Jin's handsome yet cold face.
Was it because it hurt too much?
Was he choosing to end his life this way because he could no longer endure the Evil Fire's ceaseless torment, yet refused to compromise?
Yes, that had to be it.
He was seeking death.
Using a dignified way to preserve his last shred of pride.
At that thought, Huo Wu's heart clenched sharply, and an indescribable ache and sorrow welled up within her.
How could someone so astonishingly gifted, someone of such noble character, simply die here?
She watched as Chen Jin's fingers were about to touch the purple Soul Ring.
The thread of reason in Huo Wu's mind snapped.
She stepped forward and seized Chen Jin's warm wrist.
"Don't do this!"
Chen Jin's hand stopped in midair. He frowned and turned to look at her.
Huo Wu looked into his eyes, those clear eyes reflecting her utterly flustered appearance.
"If it's because of the Evil Fire..."
"If it's because your body can barely withstand that pain anymore..."
Huo Wu bit her red lip, her voice trembling badly, even her breathing growing rapid.
"I can help you!"
"Please don't seek death!"
The center of the clearing fell silent.
Charred trees stood all around, with only lingering sparks crackling faintly in the wind.
Chen Jin froze in place.
He looked at the woman before him, momentarily wondering whether something was wrong with his ears.
"What did you say?"
Chen Jin spoke, his voice carrying bewilderment.
Hearing Chen Jin's question, Huo Wu finally gathered her scattered thoughts.
She opened her eyes and looked at Chen Jin's face, so close to hers. A buzz rang through her head, and her mind instantly went blank.
Heavens.
What had she just said?
She was Huo Wu of Blazing Fire Academy, the proudest among countless favored daughters of heaven.
Ordinarily, any suitor who so much as looked at her a moment too long would be driven away by blazing flames.
Yet now, she had actually taken the initiative to say something tantamount to offering herself to a man she had known for less than a day.
Huo Wu's face flushed crimson at once, the blush spreading from her cheeks down her fair neck, even the tips of her ears turning red enough to drip blood.
She stood rooted to the spot, unsure whether to release Chen Jin's wrist or keep holding it, so mortified that she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Chen Jin looked at the woman in red before him.
Her body trembled slightly with shyness, and her close-fitting red combat outfit outlined her alluring figure with particular clarity.
Long legs, a slender waist, and a face made all the more lovely by her overwhelming embarrassment.
Chen Jin was indeed surprised.
In his memories of the original story, Huo Wu was a hot-tempered, stubborn, and intensely competitive woman.
He had never imagined that this proud, fiery rose would say something like that to save him when faced with a choice between life and death.
Looking at her helpless expression, so close to tears, Chen Jin's bewilderment gradually faded.
"Thank you for your kindness."
Chen Jin spoke softly and gave his wrist a flick, gently freeing himself from Huo Wu's hand.
"But you've misunderstood."
"I'm not seeking death. A six-thousand-year Soul Ring isn't enough to take my life."
Before his words had faded.
Chen Jin hesitated no longer. He straightened the fingers of his right hand into a flat palm, and a stream of pure Gold-Red Soul Power burst forth.
The deep purple Soul Ring began trembling violently, as though answering some kind of summons.
Then it transformed into a purple streak so dense it was almost solid, surging madly into Chen Jin's body through his right palm.
Boom!
The instant the violent energy touched Chen Jin's body, a powerful wave of air erupted around him.
The wave forced Huo Wu back again and again.
She stared blankly at Chen Jin, enveloped in purple light, her eyes filled with worry and despair.
In the end, she still hadn't managed to stop him.
The Soul Ring entered his body.
Chen Jin's body shuddered sharply.
The lingering savage will of the six-thousand-year Soul Beast rampaged through his meridians alongside energy like an erupting volcano.
In that instant, Chen Jin felt as though a rampaging beast had been stuffed inside him, tearing his meridians apart inch by inch wherever it went.
Agonizing pain surged over him, toppling mountains and overturning seas.
Veins instantly bulged on Chen Jin's forehead, and his face grew several shades paler.
Submit!
Chen Jin barked coldly in his heart.
A sacred seven-colored phantom flickered into view behind him.
Upon sensing the bloodline pressure of the Nine-Heaven Divine Phoenix, the Blazing Fire Azure Sparrow's violent energy immediately weakened in its frenzied struggle.
It was the absolute suppression of a superior being.
Gold-Red Divine Phoenix True Fire surged from his dantian, beginning to ravenously devour and refine the purple energy.
Nourished by the flames, his torn meridians swiftly healed, becoming broader and tougher than before.
Time passed little by little.
The disturbance in the clearing gradually subsided.
The violent fluctuations around Chen Jin began to recede, and his pale face regained its healthy color.
His breathing grew long and steady, and the Soul Power fluctuations radiating from him were more substantial than before.
After a while.
Chen Jin slowly opened his eyes.
A gleam of Gold-Red divine light flashed through them.
He slowly rose to his feet and stirred his intent.
One ring, two rings, three rings.
Three Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath his feet, circling his body as they pulsed up and down.
Feeling the abundant power within him, Chen Jin's lips curved into a satisfied smile.
Not only had he successfully absorbed the Soul Ring, but his Soul Power had also broken through to level thirty-four.
And beside him.
Huo Wu stared at the purple Soul Ring circling Chen Jin, utterly petrified.
Her mouth hung open, her beautiful eyes filled with dazed confusion.
He... succeeded?
Before you continue