Meanwhile, elsewhere on the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest, in the shadowy zone.
Luo Chen was absorbing the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's Thousand-Year Soul Ring, but the process was not going very smoothly.
Boom! A surge of violent power erupted inside Luo Chen.
The 1,780-year Soul Ring was far harder to absorb than he had imagined.
Although two years of tempering his body with the Scorpion Emperor Body Tempering Technique had long since given him a physique beyond the reach of ordinary people,
Luo Chen still felt excruciating pain, as though someone were slicing his flesh away, cut by cut.
The pain came in wave after wave, unbroken and without end.
Luo Chen gritted his teeth, beads of sweat the size of beans forming on his forehead, his face as pale as paper.
"It hurts so much..." he murmured. "This pain feels like my soul is being sliced to pieces by a thousand blades. I made every preparation, so why does it hurt even more than absorbing my First Soul Ring?"
After all, Luo Chen's First Soul Ring had been over seven hundred years old, and he had successfully absorbed it after tempering his body with Netherworld Scorpion Emperor venom just once.
Now, after two years of tempering with Netherworld Scorpion Emperor venom, his body was nothing like it had been before. In principle, the stronger his physique, the easier absorbing a Soul Ring should have been. Yet Luo Chen was in unbearable pain, even worse than when he had absorbed a Soul Ring for the first time.
Soul Power scoured Luo Chen's meridians again and again, even tearing some places apart with its violence.
Had Luo Chen's will not been firm, he might truly have passed out from the pain and become a complete cripple.
I can't stop... Luo Chen told himself over and over. If I stop, the Soul Ring will backlash. At best, I'll be severely injured. At worst, all my meridians will be severed, leaving me a complete cripple.
I have to... hold on...
Time ticked by, second after second.
Luo Chen's clothes were soaked through with sweat, his face frighteningly pale, his lips bitten bloody.
The meridians inside his body had been torn apart countless times, barely healed, then torn apart again. It was clearly a vicious cycle.
Luo Chen knew that if this continued, he would never make it through.
I'm consuming Soul Power faster than I can absorb it, and my meridians are tearing faster than they can heal. Luo Chen forced himself to calm down, his mind racing. To absorb this Thousand-Year Soul Ring successfully, I need a way to replenish my Soul Power and enhance my healing.
But... where would I find some miraculous treasure that replenishes Soul Power and enhances healing in this shadowy zone?
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Luo Chen's mind.
He remembered that the Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Sword had a special function: it could pierce an enemy's body and devour their flesh-and-blood essence and Soul Power source to nourish him.
The Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's corpse was right beside him. Although it was already dead, its flesh-and-blood essence remained, and there might even be some residual Soul Power inside it.
I'll give it a try!
Enduring the agony, Luo Chen drove the Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Swords behind him toward the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's abdomen!
Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft...
All nine Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Swords pierced the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's corpse together.
"Devour!"
As Luo Chen mentally activated the Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Swords' devouring ability, a faint stream of power flowed from the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's corpse through the swords and into his body the next instant.
Luo Chen could clearly feel his Soul Power recovering rapidly. Even his torn meridians were slowly healing.
It works! Joy stirred in Luo Chen's heart. Hahaha, Heaven truly never seals off every path! Now I just need to focus on absorbing the Soul Ring.
As time passed, Luo Chen soon discovered another problem.
The Netherworld Stinger Scorpion was already dead, and the Soul Power inside it was dissipating rapidly. Meanwhile, the Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Swords primarily devoured flesh-and-blood essence. Unless he changed what they targeted, he would soon return to a state where replenishment could not keep pace with consumption.
"No!" Luo Chen gritted his teeth. "This is too inefficient. I have to... strengthen the absorption of Soul Power."
At this thought, Luo Chen looked at his scorpion pincers, suddenly recalling a saying from his previous life: you replenish what you eat.
Right now, the Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Swords mainly devour flesh-and-blood essence. What if I mash all the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's flesh into a sticky mass, then have the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor cook it? What would happen if I ate it?
With that thought, he endured the agony, extended his scorpion pincers, and plunged them straight into the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's body.
His pincers began pounding and tearing. A short while later, Luo Chen had pulled out all the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's flesh and piled it beside him.
He looked at the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor crouched beside him and ordered it to slowly roast the flesh with karmic fire.
Under the karmic fire's heat, the outer layer of the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's flesh actually began to disappear. At the same time, the Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Swords pierced the flesh again. This time, what they devoured was actually the Soul Power steadily dwindling within the corpse.
As the karmic fire continued refining it, the small mountain of flesh condensed into a palm-sized ball of cooked meat that gave off a delicate fragrance.
"What is this?"
"Where did all my flesh-and-blood essence go?"
Just as Luo Chen was puzzling over it, the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor explained.
It turned out that the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's karmic fire contained the ultimate power of flame and purification. The Netherworld Stinger Scorpion itself was relatively small, and impurities filled its entire body. As the karmic fire roasted it, those impurities burned away completely. The remaining cooked meatball was the purest essence of the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's flesh and blood, and eating it would have no adverse effects.
Upon learning this, Luo Chen excitedly swallowed the meatball at once.
In an instant, a rich surge of blood vitality flowed from his stomach into his limbs. Wherever it passed, his ruptured meridians healed at an astonishing speed, even becoming tougher than before.
Through continuous refinement, Luo Chen finally absorbed the Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
At the same time, Luo Chen's Soul Power soared, only gradually slowing at level twenty-four before finally stopping at level twenty-five.
Luo Chen let out a long breath of stale air, his face exhausted, but his eyes shone ever brighter.
"A 1,780-year Soul Ring. I successfully absorbed it!"
He stood up, feeling the surging Soul Power inside him. "Next, let's see what my second Soul Skill is."
As he activated his Soul Power, information about his second Soul Skill instantly flooded Luo Chen's mind.
His second Soul Skill was called Scorpion Emperor Netherworld Stinger, and it had two effects.
The first allowed him to fire extremely fast scorpion needles from his scorpion tails, capable of ignoring seventy percent of defenses. The needles carried the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's potent venom. Once they struck, the venom would swiftly invade the target's body and corrode their Soul Power.
And that was not even the most important part. Each scorpion tail could fire up to five Scorpion Emperor Netherworld Stingers in succession.
Luo Chen had a full ten scorpion tails, meaning he could fire fifty Scorpion Emperor Netherworld Stingers at once.
The second effect concentrated all the penetrating scorpion needles into his scorpion hooks, temporarily increasing their attack power by one hundred percent. The first three attacks achieved one hundred percent penetration, and their damage could neither be dodged nor negated by immunity. Subsequent attacks and penetration decreased by twenty percent each time until they disappeared.
Heavens, what kind of luck have I stumbled into? Luo Chen secretly rejoiced. To gain such a powerful Soul Skill.
Just as Luo Chen was about to test the power of his second Soul Skill,
He suddenly noticed an itching sensation in his right forearm.
The itch came from deep within his bones, as though something were growing.
Luo Chen's pupils contracted slightly.
"This feeling..."
"Could it be?"
Luo Chen's heartbeat inexplicably quickened, and he murmured, "Could I have gained another External Soul Bone?"