The upgrade materials turned into golden light and poured into the Soul Ring. The ring changed from yellow to purple at a speed visible to the naked eye, and when the golden light faded, a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring quietly circled him.
Xiao Wu, standing nearby, was dumbfounded.
"Th-this... even Soul Rings can evolve?"
She was fiercely envious.
How could a hundred-year First Soul Ring possibly compare to a thousand-year First Soul Ring?
She loved showing off-or rather, displaying her might before others-more than anything. When she had fought Xiao Chenyu and revealed her Hundred-Year Soul Ring, everyone around her had cried out in astonishment. She had secretly thrilled at the sight; that was exactly the effect she wanted.
After a few days of reading, she had also learned just how remarkable it was for a One-Ring Soul Master to possess a Hundred-Year Soul Ring. More than seventy percent of Soul Masters had a ten-year First Soul Ring.
For one thing, they lacked backing; for another, they lacked money. They simply couldn't get one.
Those with a hundred-year First Soul Ring either had parents or relatives who were Soul Masters, or had taken a Soul Master of considerable strength as their teacher. If they had none of those things, then they were simply wealthy. One Gold Soul Coin could cover a family of three's expenses for several months, while even the worst Hundred-Year Soul Ring cost dozens of Gold Soul Coins. An ordinary family would have to go without food or drink for more than a decade, perhaps even decades, to save that much.
That showed just how valuable a Hundred-Year Soul Ring was.
But none of that was the point.
The point was that Gu Chen had actually turned his First Soul Ring into a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
As far as she knew, the limit for a First Soul Ring was a little over four hundred years, and a Second Soul Ring barely reached seven hundred. A thousand-year First Soul Ring simply didn't exist in this world.
If, if she could go out and show off with a thousand-year First Soul Ring like that, how amazing would that feel?!!!
Xiao Wu was so envious that she was almost drooling.
"Brother Chen! Brother Chen! I, I, I want a thousand-year First Soul Ring too! I'm your loyal underling! If you strike it rich, don't forget me!!!"
In the end, she couldn't resist the temptation. She lunged forward, wrapped her arms around Gu Chen's leg, and shouted. Seeing her act so shamelessly, Da Ming wanted to sink straight into the Lake of Life, where he wouldn't have to look at her.
"Well... I'm afraid that's a little difficult!"
Gu Chen looked troubled. It wasn't as though he hadn't seen Xiao Wu's Soul Ring upgrade panel before. It was precisely because he had seen it that he found himself even more troubled.
Some time ago, after he had evolved Xiao Wu's Martial Soul into a Void Rabbit, the Soul Skill in her First Soul Ring had changed to Space Jump. The Soul Skill in the Second Soul Ring she had recently condensed was also a spatial Soul Skill called Space Transposition.
So if he wanted to help upgrade Xiao Wu's Soul Ring into a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, meeting the upgrade requirements would be extraordinarily difficult.
"Whatever you need, just say it! Da Ming and Er Ming will get it for me!"
Xiao Wu patted her chest, her face brimming with confidence.
"All right, then. If you can gather ten Hundred-Year Soul Rings produced by spatial Soul Beasts, plus a hundred-year-old spatial medicinal herb, I'll help you evolve your Soul Ring."
Gu Chen shrugged. Since she was so confident, he would let her look for them. Hopefully, she could gather the upgrade materials.
"Huh?!!!"
The expression on Xiao Wu's face froze instantly.
"Wait, why?! Just now, Brother Chen, didn't you only use ten Hundred-Year Soul Rings from life-type Soul Beasts and any old hundred-year medicinal herb to get it done? Why are the requirements so high for me?!"
"Th-this, this isn't fair!"
Xiao Wu pouted, tears welling in her eyes, looking as though she might burst into tears without another word.
"First of all, that wasn't just any hundred-year medicinal herb. It was a hundred-year-old life-type medicinal herb. As for why? Obviously, it's because my Martial Soul follows the life path, so the evolution materials it needs are life-type. What's wrong with that?"
"If you want to blame something, blame your own spatial Martial Soul!"
Gu Chen spread his little hands, indicating that there was nothing he could do.
The utterly abnormal upgrade requirements for her Soul Ring were entirely due to her spatial Martial Soul. After her Martial Soul evolved into a spatial one, Xiao Wu's Soul Rings had become spatial Soul Rings as well. So what was wrong with the upgrade materials requiring rings from spatial Soul Beasts and spatial medicinal herbs?
At the same time.
He was secretly relieved that his Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass and followed the life path.
Across the entire Douluo Continent, and even across Douluo Star, there was a whole sea of life-type Soul Beasts. He didn't have to worry about finding upgrade materials at all. Xiao Wu's spatial type, on the other hand, had upgrade materials that were far too difficult to find.
In the entire Soul Beast Realm, spatial Soul Beasts could certainly be considered a rare breed. They were nothing like life-type Blue Silver Grass, which grew everywhere in the wilderness.
Then there were spatial medicinal herbs.
Those were the rarest of rare resources, their scarcity comparable to the national treasures of his previous life.
"Th-this is just bullying!"
Xiao Wu's nose reddened as she spoke aggrievedly.
"Give up. Evolving Soul Rings isn't for you. You should think about evolving your Void Rabbit first. Spatial Martial Souls are valuable, but the Void Rabbit's grade is too low. You can only use spatial abilities through Soul Skills, which shows just how low its affinity for space is."
"You should hurry and find a thousand-year spatial Soul Beast, then find a thousand-year spiritual herb, Heaven-Containing Leaf. When the time comes, I'll help evolve your intermediate Martial Soul, the Void Rabbit, into the high-grade Space-Rending Rabbit. Its spatial affinity will improve considerably, and you might even be able to use that to develop some spatial Self-Created Soul Skills."
"So until then, don't think about anything else."
Gu Chen offered her a few words of advice.
In short, she shouldn't think too much about upgrading her Soul Ring. Where would she find that many spatial Soul Beasts to upgrade it?
"I..."
Xiao Wu let go of Gu Chen's leg and sighed, her face full of regret.
What a pity!
She had wanted Gu Chen to help evolve her Hundred-Year Soul Ring into a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, but her venture had collapsed before it was half finished. Just like that, the chance to display her might before others and show off to her heart's content had slipped through her fingers. For a social terrorist like Xiao Wu, this was far too painful!
And when she thought about how only Gu Chen would get to show off like that, she felt even worse.
You feared your brother might suffer, yet you also feared he might drive a Land Rover!!!
Xiao Wu only felt miserable for a little while. With her big heart, she soon got her emotions back in order, then ran off to discuss the upgrade materials needed for her Martial Soul Evolution with Da Ming. Since there was little hope of evolving her Soul Ring, she would evolve her Martial Soul instead.
She would strive for the day when she could reveal her Martial Soul and draw envious gazes from every onlooker. It would be even better if they cried out in astonishment.
Soon after.
Er Ming returned with a hundred-year Ten Thousand Leaf Grass.
Ten Thousand Leaf Grass didn't have ten thousand leaves. Rather, its regeneration was incredibly fast. If one leaf was cut off, it could grow back in just a few minutes. Even if all its leaves were cut off, they would be fully restored within an hour or two at most.
That was only what the records said about ten-year Ten Thousand Leaf Grass. The greater a Soul Beast's cultivation, the stronger its abilities. Given the Ten Thousand Leaf Grass's growth rate, once it reached a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years, it would regenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye. It might even recover in the blink of an eye.
That was exactly what Gu Chen wanted.
His Blue Silver Emperor was already a top-tier Martial Soul. Even when driven by Soul Power alone, its growth rate was extraordinary, and with the help of Blue Silver Domain, it was already astonishing.
But he felt it still wasn't enough.
He needed a Soul Skill of his own to assist him, to make the Blue Silver Emperor regenerate even faster-fast enough that when an enemy cut down one stalk of Blue Silver Grass, ten more would grow in its place the next second.
As usual.
It was time to chop wood. He struck six times per second-oh, no, he slashed six times per second-and before the Ten Thousand Leaf Grass could even scream, its Soul Ring had condensed.
With that.
Gu Chen summoned his Martial Soul, the Blue Silver Emperor, and guided the Hundred-Year Soul Ring produced by the Ten Thousand Leaf Grass with his Soul Power. It drifted over and finally settled around his Martial Soul.