The Sun Moon Empire, the Su Clan.
After inspecting the contents of the ring once more, Su Yun nodded in satisfaction.
With a fifth-grade Pulse-Protecting Pill paired with a Sixth-tier Magic Core, the clan's supreme elder would have practically no trouble obtaining a hundred-thousand-year ninth ring.
Moreover, with those five Pulse-Protecting Pills and the Magic Cores Gu He had given him, aside from the supreme elder who could reach Titled Douluo, three Soul Douluos were guaranteed.
The clan did have several high-ranking Soul Saint elders. With the help of the Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pills and Dou Ling Pills, producing three Soul Douluos would be no problem.
As for why there were four Pulse-Protecting Pills but only three Soul Douluos, that was because there were only five fifth-grade Pulse-Protecting Pills in total right now, and Su Yun had to save one for his older sister.
His older sister Su Qingxue had a Soul Ring configuration of two yellow and one purple. To ordinary Soul Masters, this was already the optimal Soul Ring configuration.
But anyone who had read the original Douluo knew that having the so-called optimal Soul Ring configuration meant you were not one of the very greatest geniuses.
It was one thing in Douluo I, but in Douluo II, among Mu En, Long Xiaoyao, Ye Xishui, and all those Limit Douluos, which one had a normal optimal Soul Ring configuration?
Even in Douluo I, aside from Tang Chen, who might have been a Limit Douluo with the optimal Soul Ring configuration, Bo Saixi had eight black and one red, and Qian Daoliu probably would not have been much worse.
Tang Chen's Soul Ring configuration simply had not been written out. Otherwise, even his might not have been two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red.
Ultimately, the so-called strongest Soul Ring configuration would not take one very far. Before, when Su Yun's Martial Soul had not awakened, whether he could come to the Battle Through the Heavens World had not mattered. Now that he had come to the Battle Through the Heavens World and had its resources, he naturally could not let his older sister continue down the path of the strongest Soul Ring configuration.
However, a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring came with the added problem of Soul Shock. Normally, a Soul Master at only rank forty could not withstand it. He needed to find a way to solve that.
Su Yun thought it over, first considering some heavenly treasures that could improve spiritual power.
Unfortunately, heavenly treasures were truly limited in the Sun Moon Empire. Even Xiao Hongchen consumed ones with side effects, let alone a mere Su Clan.
There were good things at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, but with several Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts there, the current Su Yun did not seem to have any way of getting anything from it.
As for a spiritual-type Head Soul Bone, since this was neither Douluo I nor Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, but Douluo II, which had the most Soul Bones, buying a Soul Bone-even a ten-thousand-year Head Soul Bone-was not particularly difficult.
But the problem was also that this was Douluo II. If he really picked some random Soul Bone for his sister and called it a day, Su Yun felt he would be letting down all the care she had given him.
Yet if he wanted a Soul Bone that was extraordinary and could also improve spiritual power, the only option was an External Soul Bone.
But no one sold External Soul Bones, and even finding a way to obtain one himself would be difficult.
Soul Bone drops were a matter of probability. Unless the Soul Beast itself was willing, which Soul Beast could drop precisely the External Soul Bone he wanted?
As Su Yun pondered, he suddenly paused.
If the Soul Beast itself was willing, could it drop precisely the External Soul Bone he wanted?
Su Yun suddenly thought of Soul Spirits.
According to the setting in Douluo I, Soul Beasts had the greatest chance of producing Soul Bones when they were either extremely willing or extremely unwilling.
Logically, those Soul Beasts Huo Yuhao had helped form contracts to become Soul Spirits should have provided Bei Bei and the others with Soul Bones. Yet in the end, only Xu Sanshi's Soul Beast had given him a Soul Bone.
And that had been due to the inherent characteristics of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, not because the Soul Beast had willingly given him a Soul Bone.
But thinking carefully about the circumstances back then, those Soul Beasts had been forced by the situation to become Soul Spirits and had harbored reluctance. That was why they had not produced a single Soul Bone.
If he captured a Soul Beast and forced it to produce a spiritual-power External Soul Bone before it could become a Soul Spirit, could that work?
As for Soul Spirits, it was still far too early for Electrolux, but Su Yun could go to Battle Through the Heavens.
In the original Battle Through the Heavens, the Snake-People Tribe had a secret method of extracting the souls of snake-type magical beasts and merging them into the bodies of their people, allowing them to unleash those magical beasts' power.
Looking at it another way, what was that method if not Douluo's Soul Spirits?
It was just that the Snake-People Tribe could only use snake-type Soul Spirits.
But would that count as a problem in Douluo?
The Su Clan's inherited Martial Soul was a cloud. Surely they could not chase clouds through the sky and kill them?
As far as Su Yun knew, there was a snake-type Soul Beast called the Purple Lightning Netherworld Python. After reaching ten thousand years, it was highly compatible with the Su Clan's clouds, and its Soul Skills could be considered absolutely top-tier.
After handing the items over to the clan and arranging for its senior members to complete their breakthroughs, Su Yun immediately returned to the Battle Through the Heavens World.
The imperial capital of the Jia Ma Empire.
In a place belonging to neither the Imperial Family nor the Misty Cloud Sect, two old men sat facing each other.
One was Jia Xingtian, the guardian of the Imperial Family, and the other was Yun Shan.
Indeed, since it was still relatively early in the timeline, although Yun Shan had stepped down, he still handled any truly important matters.
It would probably be a while before Yun Yun took over completely.
"What did you wish to see the two of us about, young friend? If you are looking to choose between our two sides, the Imperial Family has at least as many resources as the Misty Cloud Sect. Moreover, we have no master like Gu He. If you join us, all of the Imperial Family's medicinal ingredients will be yours to use as you please."
Jia Xingtian spoke first. At that, Yun Shan opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
The talent Su Yun had displayed was exceptional, even greater than Gu He's, but as Jia Xingtian had said, the Misty Cloud Sect already had Gu He.
Although the Misty Cloud Sect had shown Gu He some kindness by recognizing his talents, the fact that Gu He, a sixth-grade alchemist, stayed in the sect and showed its sect master considerable respect was already enough to repay that kindness.
A faction whose greatest combat strength was limited to Dou Emperors was, logically speaking, not qualified to command a sixth-grade alchemist's allegiance.
"Sorry, but I have no intention of joining any faction. I asked the two of you here mainly to discuss a deal."
"What sort of deal?" Hearing Su Yun say he would not join a faction, Jia Xingtian's interest visibly waned. But considering that although Su Yun would not join the Imperial Family, at least he had not joined the Misty Cloud Sect either, he could accept it.
Otherwise, if both the Jia Ma Empire's current greatest alchemist and its future greatest alchemist were controlled by the Misty Cloud Sect, Jia Xingtian felt the Imperial Family would be nearing its end.
"I need the two of you to protect me on a trip to the Snake-People Empire. I want to make a deal with Queen Medusa. Right now, I don't have anything worthwhile to offer, so I'd like to make a deal with you."
"If you protect me on a trip to the Snake-People Empire, once I become a sixth-grade alchemist, I'll give each of you two Sect Breaking Pills and five Emperor's Extreme Pills. And once I become a seventh-grade alchemist, you may each ask me to refine pills three times without observing alchemists' rules. How does that sound?"
When Su Yun finished, Jia Xingtian frowned. "All of that lies in the future, yet you want us to risk a trip to the Snake-People Empire now?"
Su Yun did not get angry at Jia Xingtian's words. "That's right, it does lie in the future. But you should also understand, Senior, that once I truly reach that level, you won't be able to get this price from me."
"It's precisely because I can't provide those things now that I'm promising enough of them. As for the risks involved, Senior, you should know the saying: fortune is found amid danger."
Jia Xingtian drank a cup of tea without speaking. He knew that there was indeed a saying that fortune was found amid danger, but he knew even better the line that followed it.
[And lost amid danger too.]