With Gangzi's reminder, Lin Gu and Tang San attacked the spot between the Boulder Turtle's brows together!
Sure enough, its impregnable defense crumbled in an instant. The Boulder Turtle howled, and broken stones churned up from the ground.
"Great, it's working! Keep attacking!"
Lin Gu spoke and threw a punch, while Tang San attacked with both Blue Silver Grass and his dagger. After absorbing the Mandala Snake's Soul Ring, the Blue Silver Grass had gained offensive capabilities and potent poison.
Yu Xiaogang nodded repeatedly from the sidelines, his face brimming with smug satisfaction!
"Just as I thought, without me, the Grandmaster, you wouldn't be able to kill it!"
Lin Gu had no time to listen to Big Gangzi brag. Even without you, finding its weakness would only have been a matter of time. He attacked with all his might.
Before long, blood flowed from between the Boulder Turtle's brows. It was clearly about to die.
But just then, the Boulder Turtle roared, knocking Tang San and Lin Gu away, then began retracting into its boulder-like shell.
Seeing this, Lin Gu shouted:
"Oh no! If the Boulder Turtle retreats into its shell, we really won't have any way to deal with it!"
Seeing this, Tang San activated his first Soul Ring and unleashed Entanglement, trapping it.
Meanwhile, Lin Gu grabbed the Boulder Turtle by the neck with all his strength, keeping it from retracting.
"Xiao San, it's up to you!"
Lin Gu's attack power was insufficient, so he focused entirely on restraining the Boulder Turtle and keeping it from retreating into its shell.
With the two of them fighting and Yu Xiaogang observing beside them, it took a full two hours to bring it down.
Both of them were drenched in sweat as the Boulder Turtle collapsed to the ground, barely breathing.
At this point, Tang San wiped the sweat from his face, handed his dagger to Lin Gu, and said:
"Xiao Gu, give it the finishing blow and absorb its Soul Ring!"
Lin Gu nodded, took the dagger, and killed it. He watched a purple Soul Ring slowly emerge from the enormous Boulder Turtle.
"Purple?"
Tang San asked upon seeing it.
"Yes, Soul Rings over a thousand years old are purple!"
Yu Xiaogang explained from beside him. At this point, Tang San distinctly felt that perhaps his own Soul Ring's age was a little too low.
Seeing this, Lin Gu was very excited. He was finally going to become a Soul Master, and his first Soul Ring would even be a thousand-year one. Not bad at all.
He returned the dagger to Tang San and said:
"Xiao San, sorry for the trouble. I'm going to absorb the Soul Ring!"
Tang San nodded, a hint of envy in his eyes. But they were from the same village, so he congratulated him:
"Congratulations, Xiao Gu! Go ahead and absorb it. I'll guard you!"
Lin Gu nodded, but ignored Yu Xiaogang.
At this point, Yu Xiaogang was just about to say something when Lin Gu sat down cross-legged and focused on absorbing the Soul Ring!
"Heavens! This-this is truly reckless! Xiao San, yours was over four hundred years old, so there was still a chance. But a thousand-year ring as a first Soul Ring? That's completely impossible! Such ignorance. If you lose your life, don't blame me for not warning you!"
Tang San remained silent beside him, deep in thought. By comparison, he was the truly ignorant one. He kept feeling that he had lost out.
Seeing Tang San remain silent, Yu Xiaogang could only sigh and wait nearby.
Lin Gu concentrated on absorbing the Soul Ring. For a six-year-old child, absorbing a thousand-year Soul Ring placed extremely high demands on the body.
However, Lin Gu had the bonus from [Heartsteel], and during the two-plus hours of fighting just now, he had triggered "steel" twice more.
After Lin Gu and Tang San found the Boulder Turtle's weakness, Lin Gu had stopped losing health and had only expended stamina.
Thus, his health had mostly recovered, and those two additional "steel" triggers had added forty thousand health.
Now Lin Gu had a full 186,000 health!
Even accounting for the health he had lost, he still had over 120,000 left, more than enough to absorb this Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Then Lin Gu felt a hot current surge through his body. It was as though his body was being reconstructed, with fierce, tearing pain and an agitated heat like being roasted over a fire.
Lin Gu was not only drenched in sweat; his entire body was trembling.
Seeing Lin Gu's poor condition, Tang San's brows tightened slightly.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang folded his arms and said, "I told you. A thousand-year Soul Ring-how could a six-year-old child possibly withstand it?"
But Tang San still said nothing, only watching Lin Gu quietly.
Lin Gu gasped for breath, then suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. His health dropped by ten thousand, leaving over 110,000.
"Look, he's coughing up blood! It's over, it's over!"
Yu Xiaogang grumbled beside them, convinced that Lin Gu was doomed.
At this, Lin Gu did everything he could to steady his Soul Power. The burning heat and impacts within him felt as though they would shatter his body. Suddenly, he spat out another mouthful of blood.
Again and again, he spat blood a full nine times.
Even Tang San was getting anxious. Could it be? Did I really overestimate Lin Gu? Maybe Teacher was right.
"This Lin Gu certainly has a lot of blood. He's spat out so much and can still hold on. I'd say he won't last beyond one more!"
The moment those words fell, Lin Gu abruptly spat out another mouthful.
But at this moment, Lin Gu felt a cool current surge through his body, making him much more comfortable. His body seemed to be gradually accepting the Boulder Turtle's Soul Power and Soul Ring, merging them with itself.
Lin Gu still had over ten thousand health left, and he gradually relaxed.
Beside him, Tang San saw that his Soul Power had become much steadier and knew that he should be about to succeed.
Yu Xiaogang swallowed, momentarily at a loss for words. No way? He found it somewhat hard to believe.
Sure enough, just a quarter of an hour later, Lin Gu had stabilized completely. He no longer spat blood, and his health had even begun to recover.
Faint red Soul Power floated around him. He suddenly opened his eyes, his whole being brimming with vitality.
"I finally absorbed it!"
Lin Gu said excitedly, a purple Soul Ring floating up and down around him.
"No way, he actually succeeded? This doesn't make sense! This... this... this..."
Yu Xiaogang was already speechless, frozen in place and unable to collect himself.
"Congratulations, Xiao Gu!"
Seeing that Lin Gu had successfully absorbed a thousand-year purple Soul Ring as his first Soul Ring, Tang San felt even more strongly that he had absorbed the wrong one. But there was nothing he could do now, so he could only congratulate him.
Lin Gu nodded and looked at his first Soul Ring. By absorbing beyond his limits, his Soul Power had also risen three levels.
Lin Gu was now a rank-thirteen Soul Master!
"His Soul Power rose three levels too. This..."
Yu Xiaogang noticed it as well. His face flushed, and for a moment he had no idea what to say. He only felt his cheeks stinging terribly!
Tang San, meanwhile, was only rank eleven. He could only offer his congratulations as well!
"Xiao Gu, congratulations!"
Lin Gu said little. At this point, Tang San pressed:
"Xiao Gu, what's your first Soul Skill?"
Lin Gu smiled, folded his arms across his chest, and said slowly:
"My first Soul Skill is called Solid as a Rock. It gives me and one teammate a shield equal to thirty percent of my health, and as my Soul Power increases, I can shield more teammates!"
Tang San nodded. "It's a pretty good skill. Looks like you're suited to a defensive support build, Xiao Gu!"
Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang thought, Isn't it just adding a shield? What's so special about that? So he said:
"It doesn't look all that impressive, does it?"
But Lin Gu chuckled without explaining further. Going by that, won't I become the number-one shield on the Douluo Continent someday? Hahaha!
At this moment, with his first Soul Ring successfully absorbed, his second Equipment Slot also opened-a small white knife!
"Xiao Gu, why do you have another knife?"