A thousand years

What did an External Beast Martial Soul mean? It meant two living beings.

The Soul Master was one, and the Martial Soul was the other. The two living beings cultivated and grew separately, giving them more than twice the upper limit of an ordinary Martial Soul.

Moreover, Grandmaster, Flender, and Liu Erlong could combine their Martial Souls to form the Golden Sacred Dragon Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Luo Sanpao took the lead in that fusion. And what level of Martial Soul was the Golden Sacred Dragon? A top-tier dragon Martial Soul.

That was enough to show how strong the light attribute within Luo Sanpao was. His dragon bloodline was simply very weak.

If Grandmaster had been willing to feed Luo Sanpao the Soul Rings or flesh and blood of dragon Soul Beasts to make up for that deficiency, it would have been entirely possible for Luo Sanpao to evolve into a true Radiant Sacred Dragon.

And what had he given Luo Sanpao to absorb? Two farting Soul Rings. One shook the heavens and split the earth; the other farted like thunder. Their names shook the heavens, but in an actual fight, he was chased around and beaten.

At that thought, Wang Xingyu reconsidered. Those two Soul Skills weren't strong, but they were pretty good at grossing people out. He remembered someone in his previous life saying that Grandmaster could inherit the legacy of the Fart God.

Xiao Wu turned her head and saw that Wang Xingyu was still laughing. "Is it that funny?"

"No, no." Wang Xingyu changed his expression and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I've had professional training. I don't usually laugh."

After they had walked quite a distance, Xiao Wu glanced back. There was no one left beneath the trees. "He's gone." She turned around again, flicking her scorpion braid.

Wang Xingyu didn't look back. Neither did Tang San.

After walking for a while, Tang San spoke up. "What are your thoughts on the Second Soul Ring?"

Wang Xingyu turned his head and met Tang San's gaze. Then he looked away, his feet never stopping. "Offshoot Vine."

Tang San faltered for a step. "Offshoot Vine?"

"It's a kind of vine. A single plant can grow dozens of vines, and when they're injured or severed, new vines grow from the breaks. It wins through numbers."

Wang Xingyu spoke as he walked. "Your first Soul Skill, Iron Thorn Strangulation, strangles a single target. It gives you enough control, but its coverage is too narrow. Offshoot Vine can double the number of your Blue Silver Grass vines, letting you spread them across the entire battlefield and upgrade from controlling a single point to controlling an entire area."

Tang San thought it over. "Increase the number of vines. A seven-hundred-year-old Offshoot Vine?"

Wang Xingyu didn't answer.

Tang San turned to look at him. Wang Xingyu kept walking, and the expression on his face made Tang San frown slightly. "Not a seven-hundred-year-old Offshoot Vine? Six hundred years or eight hundred?"

Wang Xingyu shook his head.

"Then what is it?" Xiao Wu turned around ahead of them and walked backward.

"One thousand years."

Xiao Wu stopped in her tracks. Tang San stopped too. The three of them stood in the middle of the road, the setting sun shining from behind them and stretching their shadows long.

"A thousand years?" Xiao Wu's voice rose half a pitch. "Isn't the upper limit for a Second Soul Ring seven hundred years? A thousand-year Soul Beast-are you crazy?"

Wang Xingyu looked at the two of them. "An upper limit is an upper limit, not an absolute. I read in a Spirit Hall book that the meridians of Soul Masters with Innate Full Soul Power are much tougher than those of ordinary Soul Masters. In theory, they can absorb Soul Rings of a higher age beyond their level.

"Grandmaster's seven-hundred-year upper limit applies to ordinary Soul Masters. Little San has Innate Full Soul Power, so his foundation is different."

Tang San said nothing, but his brows were knitted, and he was clearly thinking.

"And there's more." Wang Xingyu summoned Blue Silver Grass from his palm, its pale yellow markings glowing faintly in the dusk. "Our Triangle Cycle. When we cultivate, our Soul Power can merge into a ring, so why can't it do the same when we add a Soul Ring? Absorbing a Soul Ring essentially means withstanding the impact of a Soul Beast's Soul Power. If the three of us share it at the same time, the impact will be divided three ways, and the pressure on each of us will be much lower."

Xiao Wu tilted her head and thought for a moment. "You mean, when Little San absorbs the Soul Ring, the three of us stay connected and bear it together?"

"Right."

"Will it work?"

"I don't know."

Wang Xingyu recalled his Blue Silver Grass. "In theory, it should. Our Soul Power can merge into a ring, which means the nature of our Soul Power is mutually compatible. When he absorbs the Soul Ring, the Soul Beast's Soul Power will rush in and spread among the three of us through the Triangle Cycle, with each of us bearing a third. If the impact of a thousand-year Soul Ring is divided three ways, even if it isn't divided evenly, it should still be within what we can withstand."

Tang San was silent for a long time. The setting sun sank a little lower, and the orange-red at the horizon grew a shade darker. Xiao Wu looked from one to the other without speaking.

"We can try," Tang San suddenly said.

Wang Xingyu looked at him. "The risk isn't small. The impact of a thousand-year Soul Beast's Soul Power can be split into three portions we can withstand, but that's theory. No one knows how much will actually be dispersed, or whether it might linger on one person for an extra instant. None of that is certain."

"The theory holds," Tang San said. "All that's left is to try. A thousand-year Second Soul Ring is worth the risk."

Wang Xingyu looked into his eyes. Tang San's eyes were bright in the dusk. He wasn't being impulsive; he had weighed it and decided it was worth it.

"All right," Wang Xingyu said.

Xiao Wu tossed her scorpion braid back. "If both of you can do it, then I definitely can too."

The three exchanged glances, smiles and confidence on their faces.

"But the Iron Rock Mercenary Group might not be able to hunt a thousand-year Soul Beast," Wang Xingyu said.

Tang San thought for a moment. "Let's go to the dean."

The dean of Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy was surnamed Fang. He was in his fifties, with graying hair, and rarely showed himself.

Wang Xingyu had spent three years at the academy, and he could count the times he had seen him on one hand. After hearing the three of them out, Dean Fang sat in his chair and tapped his fingers twice on the desk.

"A thousand-year Offshoot Vine. Do you know the theoretical upper limit for a Second Soul Ring? Seven hundred years. A thousand years is nearly half again as much as the upper limit."

"It's feasible in theory." Wang Xingyu explained the Triangle Cycle and his idea for sharing the impact.

Dean Fang didn't speak immediately after hearing him out. His gaze lingered on each of the three in turn before finally settling on Tang San. Tang San stood there without avoiding his gaze or saying a word.

Dean Fang stood up. "You three, connect and show me."

Wang Xingyu summoned his Blue Silver Grass, winding one vine around Tang San's wrist and another around Xiao Wu's. A third connected Tang San and Xiao Wu. The triangle was complete, and Soul Power began to circulate through the ring. Dean Fang studied the triangle formed by the three Blue Silver Grass vines for quite a while.

"Interesting," he said.

Wang Xingyu recalled his Blue Silver Grass. Dean Fang sat back down and tapped his fingers twice on the desk again. "A thousand-year Soul Beast-I can lend a hand. But I have one condition."

"Please, go ahead."

"If you can't withstand it during the absorption, I'll forcibly interrupt it. If the Soul Ring is destroyed, so be it. None of you can come to harm."

"Of course. We're not going there to throw our lives away," Wang Xingyu said.

Dean Fang stood up. "Good. Wait at the city gate tomorrow morning. Find a mercenary group yourselves; I'll only help with the hunt."

The three left the dean's office. The corridor had already grown dark, and only the last layer of gray-blue light remained in the sky outside the window. Xiao Wu skipped along at the front, her scorpion braid swaying back and forth.

"A Thousand-Year Soul Ring." She suddenly turned her head. "Little San, after you absorb it, will you be able to take on ten people by yourself?"

The corner of Tang San's mouth curved up. "Let's succeed first."

Wang Xingyu walked behind them. A thousand-year Offshoot Vine, with the Triangle Cycle sharing the impact. The theory held; all that remained was to try. It was worth the risk.