Bibi Dong was not worried about whether Gui Yuan could absorb this thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring.
After all, he had a divine artifact protecting him. The Soul Shock from a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring posed no substantial threat to him.
The only concern was time. The older the ring, the slower the fusion.
The facts proved her judgment correct.
This time, Gui Yuan spent three full days and nights absorbing the thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring.
His physique could withstand the pressure brought by a thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring, but his mental strength still fell short.
Even though he had already taken the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, he was still at least a tier below what was needed to face a thirty-thousand-year Soul Shock.
Unless he absorbed the Spirit Condensation Wisdom Skull he carried.
But he did not want to.
So he could only rely on the Darkin Bow's "Mental Protection" to slowly grind away at the resentment within the Soul Ring.
Over those three days and nights, a tug-of-war played out repeatedly within Gui Yuan's mental space.
The Six-Winged Golden Cicada's remnant soul took the form of a golden phantom, launching mental assaults at him without pause.
Each assault crashed against his mental barrier like a wave.
But the Darkin Bow's protection was like an impregnable city wall, keeping every attack outside.
Gui Yuan only needed to steady his mind and wait for the power of the other's resentment to dissipate on its own.
By the second day, the Six-Winged Golden Cicada's phantom had clearly dimmed considerably.
At noon on the third day, the last trace of its remnant soul finally dissolved unwillingly into specks of light, vanishing completely.
The Soul Ring's power began to truly merge with his body.
That evening.
Watching the Soul Ring around Gui Yuan gradually stabilize, Bibi Dong had just breathed a sigh of relief.
But the next moment, a sudden change occurred.
Six points of light suddenly bulged out around the shoulder blades on Gui Yuan's back. Golden light shone through his skin, growing brighter and brighter.
Immediately afterward, six translucent, gilded wings stretched out from his back.
The wings were as thin as cicada wings, their edges flowing with tiny golden patterns of light that refracted a dazzling gleam beneath the setting sun.
Bibi Dong's pupils contracted slightly.
"An External Soul Bone..."
She murmured, her voice carrying unmistakable surprise, "Isn't Xiao Yuan's luck a little too good?"
Gui Yuan already had a Dark Gold Dreadclaw External Soul Bone, and now he had obtained another.
The reason External Soul Bones were second in value only to Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones was not merely their potential to grow.
It was also because absorbing an External Soul Bone greatly increased all of a Soul Master's attributes.
The more Bibi Dong thought about it, the more absurd her disciple's fortune seemed.
Gui Yuan: ...Teacher, your fortune is no less than mine.
Another three days passed.
All the light around Gui Yuan finally faded completely. The Soul Ring and Soul Bone had fully fused, and his presence stabilized.
He slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.
Bibi Dong stood two paces away, curiosity in her eyes.
"How was it? How much did your Soul Power improve? Did you get the Food System Soul Skill you wanted?"
Gui Yuan first sensed the changes within his body, and his expression tightened slightly.
He fell silent for two seconds, then sighed. "Ah... I'm at rank forty-three, Teacher."
"But the Soul Skill I got this time isn't an all-attribute boost."
Bibi Dong paused slightly. "Could your luck with the Soul Ring have been poor?"
There was a trace of puzzlement in her voice.
Judging by Gui Yuan's previous performance, he did not seem like someone with poor luck.
Gui Yuan lowered his eyes, looking dejected.
Watching him like this, Bibi Dong frowned slightly.
But the next moment, the corners of Gui Yuan's mouth suddenly lifted.
He raised his right hand, and the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum Martial Soul bloomed in his palm as his fourth, black Soul Ring slowly rose from beneath him.
"Sky-reaching golden chrysanthemum, golden cicada protection."
He recited the soul incantation, and a golden-yellow singular velvet sky chrysanthemum condensed in his palm.
Its petals were gilded throughout, their edges shimmering with a cicada-wing sheen, like an exquisite work of art.
Gui Yuan looked up and said with a grin, "Teacher, I tricked you."
"My fourth Soul Skill is called Singular Velvet Golden Body Chrysanthemum. After you consume it, it forms a golden body over you."
"It lasts three seconds and grants immunity to attacks of any kind."
He added, "Of course, this golden body can't grant immunity to defense-ignoring Soul Skills like the one you used before, Teacher."
"The mechanics of your Soul Skill take precedence over mine."
Thwack!
A finger flicked him squarely on the forehead.
Gui Yuan clutched his forehead in pain, looking somewhat aggrieved. "Teacher, isn't my Soul Skill good? Why did you hit me?"
Bibi Dong snorted coldly. "That's for being mischievous."
Despite her words, her gaze softened somewhat. "Your Soul Skill is much better than an all-attribute boost. It's a lifesaving Soul Skill for you."
Gui Yuan chuckled. "That's not all."
"If I make a Singular Velvet Golden Body Chrysanthemum while using my External Soul Bone, the golden body lasts another second."
Hearing this, the corners of Bibi Dong's mouth lifted slightly.
When a Soul Ring and Soul Bone produced by the same Soul Beast worked on the same person, they could indeed yield this kind of enhancement.
From three seconds to four-it was only one extra second, but on a battlefield of powerful combatants, that was enough to do many things.
"Does making this Golden Body Chrysanthemum cost much Soul Power? How long can it be stored?"
Gui Yuan sighed. "Making a Golden Body Chrysanthemum this time takes quite a while, and its storage life is much shorter than before."
"Right now, I can only make five at a time, and they only keep for two days."
"Also, a Soul Master can consume at most three a day. Any more won't have an effect."
Bibi Dong smiled. "Two days? That's very long."
"For an ordinary Food System Soul Master, food that lasts more than twelve hours already counts as top-tier."
"Your two-day storage life is already an exceptionally high standard."
"Besides, it's only normal for this kind of Food System Soul Skill to limit how many times a Soul Master can consume it each day."
"If it could be consumed without limits, it would be invincible."
She looked at the cicada wings slowly folding behind Gui Yuan. "What skill did this External Soul Bone give you?"
"I imagine it has something to do with spatial movement?"
Gui Yuan chuckled. "You're so clever, Teacher."
"I call this External Soul Bone the Six-Winged Golden Cicada Wings. The Soul Bone Skill it currently gives me is Spatial Shuttle."
"I can teleport short distances at will."
Bibi Dong nodded. "Not bad. Lifesaving Soul Skills are exactly what you need right now."
"All right, we've been away for quite some time. We should head back."
On the way back, with nothing else to do, he started chatting with Bibi Dong, not caring in the slightest whether her expression was cold.
"Teacher, when cultivating Twin Martial Souls, can the circulation of Soul Power cause any conflicts?"
"Teacher, what direction do you think I should take with my Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum's future Soul Rings?"
"Teacher, what Soul Beasts would be suitable to absorb for my second Martial Soul later?"
Bibi Dong initially kept a cold expression, but Gui Yuan kept asking questions like a chatterbox, leaving her no choice but to answer them one by one.
As they talked, he even exasperated her into laughter several times.
Ever since being locked in that secret chamber, it had been a long time since she had laughed like this.
Even if most of the time, she was laughing out of exasperation.
Walking behind her, Gui Yuan watched the lingering curve at the corner of her mouth.
Although he felt it was somewhat impossible, he had to increase his importance in Bibi Dong's heart as much as possible before she saw Yu Xiaogang again.
After all, he knew that Yu Xiaogang was ultimately an enemy of Spirit Hall.
Between Spirit Hall and him, it was either one side's death or the other's!
Bibi Dong, meanwhile, knew nothing of Gui Yuan's little schemes. She was considering something.
As Gui Yuan's teacher, what could she give him?
It was not merely because he was her disciple, but also because of the Soul Core Theory.
The value of this theory was no less than that of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
But a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone... she truly could not produce one.