A Shallow View on Spirit Rings

A sharp whoosh rang out as the Blue Silver Emperor's leaf shot forward with tremendous force, like an arrow, piercing into a golden vine.

Xiao Yan immediately understood—the Golden Thread Vine was heavily poisoned. Its vines had been corroded to a critical point, completely losing their former toughness.

Rubbing his hands together, Xiao Yan drew a short sword from his storage belt, then used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to dash toward the Golden Thread Vine.

Fifteen sword strikes flashed, and the vines sprouting from the core of the Golden Thread Vine were all severed, each break leaking thick black pus like ink.

The pus spread across the ground, instantly corroding and assimilating the already-dead nearby plants.

Xiao Yan approached the source of the vine. Extending his right hand, he channeled his internal energy, causing the soil on the ground to writhe and shift.

Two or three minutes later, several strands of Blue Silver Emperor pulled out a watermelon-sized crystal, half black and half yellow, from underground.

"Is this the core of the Golden Thread Vine? Looks like it's deeply poisoned too. If I'd waited any longer, it might have died from the poison completely."

With a flick of several Blue Silver Emperor strands, Xiao Yan tossed the crystal-like object onto a clean patch of ground.

Unlike its derivative vines, this core lacked the terrifying durability.

Holding his short sword, Xiao Yan slashed downward, and with a crack, the crystal split in two.

In an instant, countless black light particles burst out, rapidly gathering mid-air into a black spirit ring.

"Here it comes—my second spirit ring. I hope you can pass your attributes perfectly onto my Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul. Then, I might be able to..."

Xiao Yan paused and didn't finish his thought. He sat cross-legged on the grass, gathering internal energy into his right palm. A blue-gold light shimmered, and the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul appeared, swaying gently in the evening breeze.

Attracted by the Blue Silver Emperor's light, the Golden Thread Vine's spirit ring slowly floated toward Xiao Yan.

As it approached, Xiao Yan felt a faint pressure.

The black spirit ring hovered above his head, then suddenly shrank into a black iron ring the size of a bracelet, falling directly onto the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul in his palm.

Xiao Yan felt as if he were holding burning coals in his hand—scorchingly hot.

Immediately after, a searing energy surged madly through the Blue Silver Emperor, flooding into his body.

The energy was intense, like a wild horse, charging through Xiao Yan's meridians.

Unfortunately for the energy, Xiao Yan had been cultivating since childhood. His meridians were extraordinarily tough—unshakable like a fortified stronghold—making it impossible for any foreign energy to invade.

"So this is the secret to a Spirit Master's breakthrough? Let's absorb it and see what it's all about."

Xiao Yan muttered and ceased resisting the energy from the spirit ring.

The searing energy flowed into his meridians and merged with the Mysterious Heaven Technique's internal force. The hot current coursed through his body, tempering it from the inside out.

Xiao Yan felt like he was soaking in an overheated hot spring—uncomfortably hot for most, yet not causing any real harm to his body.

Thanks to childhood medicinal baths, Xiao Yan wasn't uncomfortable. On the contrary, he found it quite pleasant, akin to his usual bath cultivation sessions.

As he absorbed and refined the spirit ring's energy, Xiao Yan began to form some hazy theories about spirit rings and their role in a Spirit Master's advancement.

Spirit rings were like the inner core of spirit beasts—containing the essence of a beast's lifelong cultivation and inherent attributes.

By absorbing it, a Spirit Master could gain massive energy in a short time, thus breaking through levels that would otherwise take years of effort.

More than that, they could also absorb the core's unique attributes into their Martial Soul, directly forming a new ability—what this world called a spirit skill.

Xiao Yan couldn't be sure if his ideas were entirely accurate. He simply didn't have enough information. Besides, he didn't even need spirit rings to level up.

His twelve regular meridians were like channels, while his eight extraordinary ones were like rivers and seas. Once the channels were filled, energy would flow into the seas.

Internal energy cultivation had no end.

As for the need for spirit rings, Xiao Yan was very clear—he didn't rely on them the same way most Spirit Masters did.

However, his case was unique.

Cultivating since childhood—and not being a pure-blood human—set him apart from ordinary Spirit Masters.

Once the spirit ring's energy was completely refined, Xiao Yan felt like the first time he'd gained a spirit ring: his internal energy increased, along with improvements in spiritual power, meridian toughness, and overall physical strength.

The only difference was that this second gain was far less significant than the first.

Having personally merged with a spirit ring, Xiao Yan now had a better grasp of why they were so crucial.

A single spirit ring could equate to years of painstaking cultivation.

Take someone like Wang Sheng, a civilian Spirit Master. If he wanted to gather enough energy through basic meditation to match even a hundred-year spirit ring, he'd need ten to twenty years—minimum.

But how many decades does a person really get? And this was just the energy needed for early-stage breakthroughs.

As one rose through the ranks, the energy requirements grew exponentially, likely far surpassing a human lifespan.

Besides that, Xiao Yan also developed a surface-level understanding of spirit skills.

Once a spirit ring was absorbed, the Spirit Master would automatically gain a new ability—highly attuned and ready to use, even without training.

In other words: instant mastery.

Absorbing a spirit ring for a Spirit Master was somewhat akin to Xuzhu's experience in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

First, he inherited Wuyazi's deep internal force. Then he received martial arts instruction from Tianshan Tonglao, skyrocketing his strength.

The spirit ring brought a dual reward: spirit power and spirit skill.

When Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes, his long-time martial instincts immediately noticed the changes.

His already tall-for-six-years-old body had grown taller again, and his build had become even more solid.

Xiao Yan felt his now-snug clothes and stood up slowly.

"I used to think growing taller after activating my first spirit ring was a coincidence. But now... it seems spirit rings really accelerate physical growth."

Fortunately, his usual clothes were a bit oversized. Though his body had grown, it wasn't uncomfortable.

"Xiao Yan! What spirit skill did you gain? The Golden Thread Vine is extremely tough—if you absorbed its spirit ring, you must've gained a binding skill, right? That would make you a powerful Blue Silver Grass control-type Spirit Master in the future!"

Yu Xiaogang walked over excitedly, asking with a grin.

A ten-thousand-year-level spirit ring! Over fifty thousand years, no less!

And this was only Xiao Yan's second ring. His future was destined for greatness.

The more he saw, the more he wanted to take this genius as his disciple.

In the future, he would do everything in his power to make Xiao Yan kneel before him as a student!

(End of Chapter)