Two Thousand Five Hundred Years, Absorption Successful

Inside the cave, the light was dim.

Bao Liang sat cross-legged in the center of the cave. The purple light above his head grew ever brighter-the 2,500-year Soul Ring hovered there, slowly rotating.

Jing Hongchen stood three paces away, his hands clasped behind his back. He appeared at ease, but a hint of gravity lurked in his eyes.

The next second, the Soul Ring slammed down.

In an instant, the Soul Power contained within the Thousand-Year Soul Ring, along with its tremendous pressure, surged into every meridian in Bao Liang's body.

Just as Jing Hongchen had said, a 2,500-year Soul Ring was within the age range Bao Liang could absorb-but the swelling of every meridian in his body as he absorbed a Soul Ring for the first time, along with the physiological fear brought on by the external pressure, still placed him under enormous strain.

In an instant, he felt as though every meridian in his body had been forcibly filled with molten iron, swollen and aching.

His heart pounded wildly, and his ears were filled with the sound of his own blood rushing.

That moment of panic caused the circulation of Bao Liang's Soul Power to falter for an instant as he absorbed the Soul Ring.

And that instant brought an increase in the pressure of absorbing the Soul Ring.

The pressure suddenly spiked, and Bao Liang's face turned several shades paler.

Beside him, Jing Hongchen, who had noticed something was off with Bao Liang from the moment he began absorbing the Soul Ring, understood what was happening to him.

When all was said and done, it was down to his lack of experience.

But there was nothing to be done about that. Everyone had to have a first time-it was just that Bao Liang's first time absorbing a Soul Ring was a little harder than most people's.

A 2,500-year Soul Ring-another family's child probably wouldn't even have dared touch it.

But as he watched Bao Liang's face grow increasingly pale and the sweat pour from his body, Jing Hongchen couldn't help growing nervous.

He had met countless people in his life and seen geniuses as numerous as carp crossing a river.

But a monster like Bao Liang, capable of bearing a 2,500-year Soul Ring at six years old, was a first for him.

That was precisely why he was all the more afraid something would happen to Bao Liang.

Just as Jing Hongchen was wondering whether to forcibly interrupt the Soul Ring absorption-

At Bao Liang's heart, the Explosion Martial Soul began to "breathe" in time with its beat.

The mass of orange-red elemental Martial Soul seemed to come alive, contracting and expanding with each heartbeat, like a slumbering behemoth slowly awakening.

At the same time, waves of orange-red Soul Power heat spread to every part of Bao Liang's body with each beat of his heart.

As Jing Hongchen looked on in surprise, Bao Liang's breathing steadied, but heat began pouring out of his entire body.

White steam curled up from his head, shoulders, and back, making him look just like a basket of freshly steamed buns.

Jing Hongchen's suspended heart settled a little-he knew that the Ultimate Martial Soul inside Bao Liang was actively "digesting" the Soul Ring's power.

Half an hour later, everything was about to settle down.

Jing Hongchen could see that Bao Liang's condition was improving, and the stone weighing on his heart finally fell.

But just as Jing Hongchen let down his guard, something unexpected happened to Bao Liang again.

His Soul Power was clearly beginning to stabilize, and the Soul Ring had already begun to contract, yet Bao Liang's face was contorted with pain, veins bulged on his forehead, and his whole body was straining.

The sudden development left Jing Hongchen stunned.

What's going on? The Soul Ring has clearly been absorbed, and his Soul Power is stable. How could he suddenly...

Just as Jing Hongchen laid a hand on Bao Liang's shoulder, intending to use his strength as a Titled Douluo to forcibly stabilize the situation-

Bao Liang's eyes snapped open.

And in Jing Hongchen's eyes, Bao Liang's right eye had undergone a complete transformation.

Its once dazzling amber color had turned deep red. Ring after ring of spiraling lines seemed to turn slowly at the center of the pupil, giving it an eerie, bewitching quality.

The instant he saw that eye, four words sprang into Jing Hongchen's mind-

External Soul Bone.

This is an External Soul Bone from the Evil Eye Clan!

External Soul Bones were even rarer than ordinary Soul Bones.

The Soul Masters on the entire continent who possessed an External Soul Bone could be counted on one hand!

And on their Sun Moon Continent, there wasn't a single Soul Master with an External Soul Bone!

A powerful surge of greed flooded Jing Hongchen's mind. He had lived for over a hundred years; what treasures had he not seen? But he truly had never seen an External Soul Bone.

Yet Jing Hongchen quickly suppressed it.

He's my granddaughter's husband, he's my granddaughter's husband, he's my own granddaughter's husband...

Only after Jing Hongchen repeated it three times in his heart was that greed finally suppressed.

He let out a long breath of stale air, and clarity returned to his eyes.

Bao Liang's open eyes closed again, and his breathing returned to normal. The same was true of Jing Hongchen.

Ten minutes later, Bao Liang slowly opened his eyes and raised his right hand, palm up. The Explosion Martial Soul appeared in his hand, accompanied by a purple Soul Ring encircling it.

Purple-a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

A circle of faint light flowed across the Soul Ring's surface, showing how extraordinary it was.

Explosion Martial Soul, thousand-year First Soul Ring, Evil Eye External Soul Bone-absorption successful.

Seeing that Bao Liang had completely succeeded, Jing Hongchen's heart, which had been tossed up and down through nine bends and eighteen turns, finally came to rest for real.

"Brat, you really did nearly scare Grandpa to death." Jing Hongchen stepped forward and gave Bao Liang a disgruntled smack on the back of the head.

"Sorry, Grandpa Jing. I didn't expect my luck to be this good either." Bao Liang scratched his head sheepishly.

"Good luck?" Jing Hongchen snorted. "A 2,500-year Soul Ring, plus an Evil Eye External Soul Bone, and all you call that is good luck?"

"Hehe." Bao Liang grinned foolishly.

"So, Little Bao Liang, what Soul Skill did your First Soul Ring give you?" Jing Hongchen asked.

"Grandpa Jing, a surprise is more surprising if I tell everyone when they're all here, isn't it?" Bao Liang winked his right eye, which had just returned to its normal color.

"Oh, you." Jing Hongchen smiled helplessly. "All right, we'll talk about it when we get back."

"Grandpa Jing, wait!"

Just as Jing Hongchen was about to take Bao Liang into the air again, Bao Liang urgently stopped him, pointing at the corpse of the 2,500-year Evil Eye Tyrant.

"Grandpa Jing, can we take this corpse with us?"

"Hmm?" Jing Hongchen raised an eyebrow. "What do you want it for?"

"It's useful." Bao Liang gave him a mysterious smile. "Very useful."

Jing Hongchen looked at him for two seconds and asked no more.

He nodded, put the Evil Eye Tyrant's corpse into his Storage Soul Tool, and took Bao Liang back toward the Hongchen residence.

Meanwhile-

Ever since Bao Liang and Jing Hongchen had left, Meng Hongchen had stood atop the residence wall like a stone wife gazing for her husband's return, staring into the distance in the direction they had gone.

Seeing his little sister act like such a losing investment, Xiao Hongchen couldn't help speaking up. "Come on, Meng, Grandpa and Bao Liang have only been gone for half a day.

"Factoring in the time needed to absorb the Soul Ring, they should only just be starting back now."

"I'm worried," Meng Hongchen murmured. "It's Little Baozi's first time absorbing a Soul Ring... What if something happens..."

"What could happen?" Xiao Hongchen rolled his eyes. "Grandpa is a Titled Douluo. With him there, it'd be hard for Bao Liang to get into trouble even if he wanted to."

That was what he said, but Xiao Hongchen hadn't gone back inside either, staying there to wait with his sister.

Just then, Meng Hongchen saw a dark shape in the distance, growing steadily larger.

Sensing the familiar Soul Power fluctuations coming from the shape, Meng Hongchen was overjoyed.

"Xiao, look! It's Grandpa! They're back!"

Meng Hongchen took off at once, leaping down from the wall and dashing toward the gate.

Xiao Hongchen looked utterly helpless. "Meng, you're going the wrong way. Grandpa said we only needed to wait at the training ground."

"I know! But I want to be the first to see Little Baozi!"

Before long, Xiao and Meng met up with Jing Hongchen and Bao Liang, who had reached the training ground ahead of them.

"Grandpa!"

Seeing his darling granddaughter running toward him, Jing Hongchen opened his arms with a broad smile.

Then-Little Meng went straight past her grandfather and ran toward Bao Liang behind him without looking back.

"Little Baozi, how are you? Did absorbing the Soul Ring go smoothly? Were you hurt?"

Jing Hongchen remained where he was, petrified, his arms still outstretched.

Xiao Hongchen looked at his sister, who let the wind blow through, his petrified grandfather, and Bao Liang, whose face was covered with the words My life is over, and let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm tired. Let it all be destroyed."