The Soul Ring Limit

Ma Chengyuan's brows instantly drew together. "Uncle Jin, you didn't really let this little guy absorb a 400-year Soul Ring, did you?"

"What do you mean?" Golden Crocodile Douluo's urge to show off to his junior vanished at once.

"Using my own record from back then as a reference, a 400-year Soul Ring could already be considered the little guy's limit." Golden Crocodile Douluo forced the words out through his teeth. "Is there a problem?"

Golden Crocodile Douluo's narrowed eyes announced one fact: if Ma Chengyuan couldn't give him a good explanation, he would exercise his authority as an elder and give this fellow, who had become obsessed with theoretical research, a lesson even his parents might never have given him.

Yet Golden Crocodile Douluo's slightly narrowed eyes, glinting with cold light, did nothing to stop Ma Chengyuan from continuing.

He merely looked at his brother's father with something close to pity. "Uncle Jin, how many years has it been since you absorbed your first Soul Ring?"

"Hmm, a little over 120 years. Why?"

To be honest, Golden Crocodile Douluo considered it a point of pride that the current record for a Soul Master's First Soul Ring did not belong to Qian Daoliu, who had become a Peerless Douluo many years before he had.

"But have you considered whether Little Tian'en is weaker or stronger than you were back then?" Ma Chengyuan glanced at Mu Tian'en, whose presence was still fluctuating, his face showing a trace of feeling.

He had barely had time to reflect, however, when Golden Crocodile Douluo saw that Ma Chengyuan's face was practically proclaiming that he had led the boy astray. Rather than fly into a rage at once, he gave an objective assessment of Mu Tian'en's condition when they had first met.

"In terms of Martial Soul strength alone, Little Tian'en's is greater than mine was, but his physique is somewhat weaker. He's a little too thin, after all."

"As for Soul Power strength, Little Tian'en's is thirty percent greater than mine was at the time."

Watching Mu Tian'en continue to struggle against the cold, Ma Chengyuan gave his old companion a meaningful look, telling him to make amends by helping reduce the harm the cold was doing to Mu Tian'en.

At the same time, Ma Chengyuan took a deep breath. "But when absorbing the earlier Soul Rings, there's no such thing as a spiritual assault from the Soul Beast. Naturally, it comes down to three factors: Martial Soul strength, Soul Power strength, and physical strength."

"In my tests, Martial Soul strength provided the greatest advantage when absorbing the first few Soul Rings, followed by physical strength, and finally Soul Power strength. But in those three respects, Little Tian'en's overall qualities are greater than yours were. So how could he possibly fail to absorb a Soul Ring that you could absorb?"

"From all this, I believe the age limit of the Soul Ring Little Tian'en can absorb should exceed yours. It should be at least 600 years."

"And also..."

Once Ma Chengyuan started talking theory, the words poured out in an endless stream.

But Golden Crocodile Douluo picked out the crucial point with precision.

What did he mean, according to his tests?

Had that old habit of treating everyone as a test subject grown even worse here?

Golden Crocodile Douluo's gaze turned fierce.

Ma Chengyuan had clearly noticed the look Golden Crocodile Douluo was giving him, but he showed no sign of nervousness. "Rest assured, I didn't conduct any forced tests. I obtained the information by comparing records of identical Martial Souls absorbing identical Soul Rings, and gathering information from conversations with Soul Masters afterward."

Hearing this, Golden Crocodile Douluo let out a long breath.

He had almost—

Personally cleaned house.

He knew there were unsavory things going on under Spirit Hall, but those things needed to be contained within Spirit Hall rather than allowed to leak out, so that Spirit Hall's public image remained glorious, great, and righteous.

"By analyzing and comparing the pressure experienced by at least fifty Soul Masters with Martial Souls of the same type when they acquired Soul Rings of the same level, I obtained information confirming that, when absorbing the first Soul Ring, the prior strength of a Soul Master's Martial Soul greatly raised the maximum age of the Soul Ring they could absorb."

Ma Chengyuan was still talking.

But Golden Crocodile Douluo was growing a little impatient.

From beginning to end, it was all theory. Actual situations had never been something theory alone could resolve.

That was also why, back then, some of the lower-ranked worshippers in their Worship Hall had wanted to destroy Bibi Dong along with that good-for-nothing when they saw her planning to elope with him.

They had invested enormously in the Holy Maiden.

But if they failed to cut their losses in time, they would only lose even more.

Later—

Sure enough, leaving Qian Xunji's death aside, that good-for-nothing had actually dared to pass off the theories of Spirit Hall's forebears as the fruits of his own work and even announce them to the world.

And that madwoman had even used her power at the time to give that good-for-nothing an Elder Token.

Golden Crocodile Douluo rubbed the spot between his brows.

He was losing some of his patience.

As he looked around, Golden Crocodile Douluo had already begun considering what to say to interrupt Ma Chengyuan, who had launched into an endless torrent of words.

Hmm~

Golden Crocodile Douluo instinctively looked down at his fist, which had been open before but was now clenched.

But just as Golden Crocodile Douluo was preparing to speak, the change in Mu Tian'en's presence caught the attention of both him and Ma Chengyuan, who had still been hoping to have a "friendly" discussion about theories concerning Soul Masters and Soul Beasts.

Cold now seeped from every part of Mu Tian'en's body.

But when Bishop Xiunuo actually came to Mu Tian'en's side and brushed the thin layer of ice, frost, and snow off him, he discovered that Mu Tian'en, who might have been expected to suffer frostbite, had not been injured in the slightest.

The cold from earlier had been nothing to Mu Tian'en.

He had only been frozen because the Ice Seal had caught him off guard.

Now, Mu Tian'en instinctively took a deep breath, suppressing the weakness his body had developed from the shifts between extreme heat and extreme cold.

At the same time, he instinctively swallowed.

The others might not have noticed, but Mu Tian'en, whose appetite for energy and even food was almost terrifying, immediately smelled the high-quality energy in the cold air around him.

Top-quality stuff!

For no particular reason, Mu Tian'en's opinion of this energy was extremely high.

So high that, with a single suck, he swallowed every last bit of the cold air around him.

"Burp~"

The flush on Mu Tian'en's face was no longer the suffused redness of suffocation from a lack of air, but the pure, almost obsessive fervor that appeared only when he enjoyed a first-rate meal.

However, having broken through his previous Soul Power bottleneck and reached level thirteen, Mu Tian'en had gained the strength to control himself. He would not go mad at this moment and try to eat everything.

Even so, Mu Tian'en instinctively licked his lips, which had turned cold and slightly purplish from sucking in so much cold air.

Looking at the little smiling face, Bishop Xiunuo felt the creeping horror in his heart grow stronger.

Ma Chengyuan, however, whose Martial Soul was not a Beast Martial Soul and who could not sense the suppression and profound chill originating from the Martial Soul Origin, looked away from Mu Tian'en.

"Uncle Jin, Little Tian'en's Soul Ring came from the Sinking Sand Water Turtle I mentioned, didn't it?" Ma Chengyuan turned his gaze to Golden Crocodile Douluo.

Once he had confirmed that Golden Crocodile Douluo bore him no ill will, Ma Chengyuan had returned to the way he had been when he was still at Spirit Hall's main hall.

Golden Crocodile Douluo, however, did not pay much attention to the way he addressed him.

He was very satisfied with how the hunt for the little guy's Soul Ring had gone.

Thus, taking Ma Chengyuan back to Spirit Hall and revoking his punishment had become a certainty.

Once cleared of guilt, Ma Chengyuan would naturally be entitled to call him, Golden Crocodile Douluo, Uncle Jin, given his relationship with Golden Crocodile Douluo's son, Jin Yuan.

But while Golden Crocodile Douluo was still considering other matters, Ma Chengyuan looked at the smiling faces of Mu Tian'en and Golden Crocodile Douluo and had already formed an assessment.

Presumably, it had succeeded.

But he still needed to confirm it.

While he was at it, he also wanted to record the details of the Soul Skill Mu Tian'en had acquired.

Was Unfalling Sandcastle truly as flawless as the scroll described?