Chapter 71: Thousand Year Old Soul Ring

For the next half an hour, Xia Yi and Mu Xi continued to delve deeper into the Star Dou Forest. Along the way, they encountered numerous soul beasts, ranging from ten-year to hundred-year varieties.

Ordinary hundred-year soul beasts were no match for Xia Yi. A single hammer strike from him could leave them severely injured, and if any were slightly more difficult to handle, his Dark Phoenix would step in to finish the job. Mu Xi's role was simply to collect the spoils.

In just half an hour, she absorbed the spiritual energy equivalent to a hundred-year soul beast.

"At this rate, within another hour at most, my first soul spirit will break through to the millennial level," Mu Xi exclaimed, her gaze towards Xia Yi becoming increasingly fervent.

Given her status, she could easily access the Spirit Ascension Platform whenever she wanted. Mu Chen, her father, could secure her a ticket for each session and even arrange for several soul masters of comparable cultivation to protect her during the experience.

Yet despite these advantages, her gains from the Spirit Ascension Platform had always been modest.

There was even an instance where she stayed in the platform's chaotic period for over five days, accompanied by six soul masters, only to gain spiritual energy equivalent to a little over a hundred years per person by the end.

Following Xia Yi, however, she achieved the same results in a mere thirty minutes—a feat she had never experienced before.

Xia Yi seemed incredibly familiar with the Star Dou Forest. A glance at the surroundings was enough for him to discern which direction would yield a soul beast.

It was as if he had returned home, navigating the forest with uncanny ease, always leading her to suitable soul beasts in the shortest amount of time.

"Let's take a break to recover some soul power," Xia Yi suggested. Though hundred-year soul beasts posed no threat to him, the consecutive battles had still consumed a considerable amount of his soul power.

"Alright!" Mu Xi nodded. While her soul power wasn't significantly depleted, the continuous absorption of spiritual energy had taken a toll on her mental energy.

After resting for the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Xia Yi led Mu Xi deeper into the forest. The further they ventured, the stronger the soul beasts they encountered became. At one point, they faced a pack of wild boars led by a hundred-year Wild Boar King. With Xia Yi's help, Mu Xi swiftly absorbed the spiritual energy of the entire pack.

The two pressed on and, after another incense stick's time, encountered a millennial soul beast.

It was a millennial Scarlet Dragon Snake, carrying a faint trace of scarlet dragon bloodline.

Even with its diluted bloodline, any creature bearing a dragon bloodline was inherently powerful.

Among millennial-level creatures, the Scarlet Dragon Snake was far stronger than a Shadow Panther.

Unlike Tang Wulin, Xia Yi couldn't suppress soul beasts with dragon bloodlines using his own bloodline aura.

As a result, the battle was far more grueling.

Together, Xia Yi and Mu Xi fought the Scarlet Dragon Snake for nearly an entire incense stick's time before finally defeating it. Mu Xi suffered significant injuries in the process.

"That's enough for today. If you absorb any more, I'm worried your body won't be able to handle it," Xia Yi said, glancing at Mu Xi.

Generally speaking, spirit craftsmen, due to the intense focus required for forging, tended to have above-average mental energy.

Divine craftsmen, in particular, needed mental energy equivalent to the Spirit Domain realm.

Mu Xi, aiming to become a Saint Craftsman, had been nurtured from a young age by Mu Chen, who used various precious herbs to enhance her mental energy. Although her mental energy wasn't as extreme as Xia Yi's or Gu Yue's, it far exceeded that of ordinary soul masters.

However, her physical endurance was still lacking, and bearing three millennial soul rings was already close to her limit.

"Alright," Mu Xi agreed, activating the distress signal on the back of her hand. Although their time in the Spirit Ascension Platform had been short, the gains were more than sufficient for her.

Xia Yi glanced toward the depths of the Star Dou Forest and also activated his distress signal.

His soul ring had already evolved, and his harvest this time was more than satisfactory. Now, he wanted to find Gu Yue to ask about the Spirit Ascension Platform's secrets.

Only by entering the Spirit Ascension Platform could one truly sense its peculiarities.

Suspended between reality and illusion, it undoubtedly held earth-shattering secrets.

However, Xia Yi's current cultivation was too weak. If he were to investigate on his own, it might take a century without any progress.

Given Gu Yue's special status within the Spirit Pagoda, she was bound to know some of the answers.

As Xia Yi contemplated how to approach Gu Yue for information, a sudden warmth began to radiate within him. Initially faint, it quickly intensified, spreading through his limbs and entire body. The warmth enveloped him in a comforting embrace, washing away all his exhaustion and fatigue.

Under this soothing sensation, Xia Yi soon fell into a deep sleep.

"Soul Spirit Evolution!" Long Hengxu exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock as he watched Xia Yi.

He still remembered how Tang Wulin's soul spirit evolved during his first trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform.

But while Tang Wulin's soul spirit evolved from ten years to a hundred years, Xia Yi's leaped from a hundred years to a thousand.

Although Long Hengxu had anticipated Xia Yi's soul spirit evolving after witnessing his performance in the Spirit Ascension Platform, seeing it happen in person left him utterly speechless.

After all, Xia Yi was only a one-ring soul master. For his soul spirit to evolve now meant his physical and mental strength had already reached the level required to bear a millennial soul spirit.

This realization left Long Hengxu deeply shaken.

What he didn't know was that Xia Yi didn't have a soul spirit—only soul rings.

Thus, there was no soul spirit evolution involved; it was merely his soul ring evolving.

Even so, Xia Yi remained asleep until the next day. Upon waking, he summoned his martial soul, and a purple soul ring appeared, hovering around him.

Gazing at the purple ring, Xia Yi drew a blade-like edge with his fingers, slicing his palm.

Before blood could flow, his first soul skill, Starshift, activated, instantly healing the wound.

"My soul power consumption has decreased by a third," Xia Yi observed, his eyes lighting up. He hadn't expected the difference between hundred-year and millennial soul rings to be so significant.

In battle, conserving a third of one's soul power could be a game-changer, allowing for numerous additional options.

Just then, Xia Yi's soul communicator began to ring.

Glancing at the unfamiliar number, he furrowed his brows. "Who is this?"

"I'm right here!" a sweet voice called out—not from the communicator but from behind him.

As Xia Yi turned, he saw a massive black bell hovering behind him.

Clang!

The clear chime resonated before Xia Yi could react, completely engulfing him in its sound.

When he came to, he found himself in an unfamiliar location. Before him stood a burly man with a ferocious face and blood-red eyes, charging toward him.

Frowning, Xia Yi struck the man with a lightning-fast punch to the chest.

Boom! His fist pierced through the man's chest, leaving Xia Yi stunned. There was no blood, and he hadn't used much force—how could he have done such damage?

Before he could process what had happened, the man's body dissipated like the soul beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform, leaving behind a wisp of black mist that merged into Xia Yi's body.

Instantly, a bone-chilling cold spread through Xia Yi's entire being, freezing him to the core.

"A wraith!" Xia Yi realized. The burly man had been a wraith, a remnant spirit filled with pure resentment.

This wraith's resentment was far more potent and concentrated than anything he had absorbed from Wu Jin's spirit realm.

What Xia Yi didn't know was that ordinary wraiths constantly devoured each other to grow stronger.

Lina, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult and a Super Douluo in cultivation, had cultivated these wraiths meticulously.

Although the wraiths weren't particularly powerful in combat, the sheer density of resentment within them could cause even an ordinary Soul Douluo to lose their sense of self and fall into darkness as an evil soul master.

This method of control was one of the Holy Spirit Cult's most frequently employed tactics.

Under normal circumstances, Xia Yi's level of strength wouldn't warrant the personal attention of someone like Lina.

However, the allure of Xia Yi's potential to become a Divine Craftsman was simply too great. Not only did Gu Yue covet it and was determined to help Xia Yi achieve this goal, but the Holy Spirit Cult also desired to turn him into a Divine Craftsman under their control.

To ensure success, they had sent one of their Heavenly Kings to personally execute this mission, despite Xia Yi being merely a one-ring Soul Master.

(End of Chapter)