Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Two and a Half Years
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"Alright, you can absorb the soul ring now. We'll protect you," they said.
Su Yu nodded and sat cross-legged on the ground.
Instead of immediately drawing in the soul ring, he first took a moment to adjust his state, using meditation techniques to normalize his breathing and achieve a calm mindset.
In this meditative state, Su Yu could feel the aura of the soul ring surrounding him.
He drew the soul ring down onto his martial soul.
A Blue Silver Grass sprouted from Su Yu's back, enveloping the two companions in a protective layer.
An overwhelming surge of soul power flooded into his body, causing Su Yu to grunt softly.
"Resist the impact of the soul power and refine it; that's the first step in absorbing the soul ring," he instructed himself.
Su Yu endured the surge and used his own soul power to guide the incoming energy from the soul ring to circulate within him.
Perhaps due to the body refinement technique he had practiced, Su Yu found his meridians strengthening, allowing him to quickly withstand the influx of energy.
He even utilized this soul power to further refine his internal meridians and enhance his entire body.
Sitting cross-legged, Su Yu could hear the cracking sounds of his bones.
"This absorption speed is remarkable," he remarked.
"It seems Su Yu has a strong constitution," came the response.
It is well known that the stronger one's constitution, the higher the maximum age limit of the soul ring that can be absorbed.
For soul rings of the same age, a stronger constitution allows for quicker and easier absorption.
"Once the soul power is fully refined, the soul ring will be absorbed."
After enduring and refining the impact of the soul power within the soul ring, the next step was to truly assimilate the essence of the soul beast.
In Su Yu's spiritual world, a vine emanating a faint starlight appeared.
The Blue Silver Grass surged upward, entangling the vine, and using the grafting technique, it began to disrupt the interior of the vine.
"In my spiritual world, all foreign entities will be suppressed!" he declared.
Before the ten-thousand-year soul ring, Su Yu's self-suggestion technique was indeed effective.
As he shattered the illusion, the Blue Silver Grass absorbed the essence that dissipated from the remnants of the defeated form.
However, these energies could not be absorbed carelessly.
The most beneficial approach is to allow the absorption to occur naturally, which increases the likelihood of acquiring the most suitable soul skill. If one has specific needs and absorbs it in a particular way guided by their intent, the resulting soul skills and the effects of the soul ring will undoubtedly differ.
This difference could be beneficial or detrimental.
Su Yu allowed the absorption to unfold naturally, refraining from rash actions. Yet, during the process, he remained attuned to the various energies within the essence he was absorbing.
"This is how I should absorb it," he thought.
Su Yu could sense the changes and growth in his martial soul.
Thus, with a shift in his focus, he altered his absorption method, drawing in the scattered essence.
"This seems to relate to the power of the stars."
"And this essence seems to enhance vitality," he noted.
Fully immersed in the absorption of the soul ring, time passed swiftly.
Three hours flew by.
"Why is it taking this kid so long to absorb the soul ring?"
"This doesn't make sense; he was progressing so quickly earlier," Zhao Lei and Zhang Yuan exchanged worried glances.
At that moment, an intense fluctuation of soul power erupted within the still Su Yu.
"I did it!"
His soul power surged significantly.
The soul ring that had enveloped him began to gradually shrink, ultimately converging back into his body.
"Thank you both, big brothers," Su Yu said as he got to his feet.
The three exchanged pleasantries before quickly departing the scene.
Having obtained his first soul ring, Su Yu chose not to leave. He decided to remain in Wangyue City to continue his training.
Before long, two and a half years had passed.
After absorbing the star vine soul ring, Su Yu's soul power directly broke through to level twelve.
Upon reaching the rank of soul master, Su Yu's training speed decreased significantly; it took him an average of three months to break through each level.
The threshold to level twenty was manageable.
After absorbing the star vine, the life essence of his Blue Silver Grass was enhanced, allowing Su Yu to break through smoothly this time, taking only six months.
He did not choose to absorb the nine-hundred-year Dragon Scale Vine.
After absorbing the star vine, Su Yu's Blue Silver Grass could harness the power of the stars for training. By using this star power to circulate his body refinement technique, his physical strength was greatly enhanced.
Over the course of two and a half years, including the three months following his breakthrough to level twenty, he focused on improving his physique.
His goal was to absorb a thousand-year soul ring at level twenty!
In the meantime, Su Yu sold the soul-guided dagger to Qian Tong.
With the first enhancement of his Blue Silver Grass's life essence, many of Su Yu's plans became a reality, and he developed numerous self-created soul skills. The dagger's usefulness diminished significantly, prompting him to sell it.
The dagger was a level three soul-guided weapon; although it was relatively ordinary, it still held considerable value. Even as a second-hand item, it sold for one hundred and fifty gold soul coins.
After two and a half years of expenses, he still had about one hundred gold soul coins left.
His spending had been significantly higher than in the previous year, as Su Yu purchased a wealth of books to acquire knowledge.
"I need to find Qian Tong; this time, searching for a thousand-year soul ring may take quite some time," he thought.
To absorb a thousand-year soul ring at a higher level is quite demanding, requiring strict limits on age and the quality of the soul beast.
Finding one would be a hassle.
Without Qian Tong, it would be difficult to find assistance.
"You want to absorb a thousand-year second ring?"
Qian Tong was taken aback by Su Yu's request.
However, after considering it, he found Su Yu's reasoning quite compelling and persuasive.
"Are you sure your body can handle a thousand-year soul ring?"
"Don't worry. When I absorbed my first soul ring, I felt that my limit was well above four hundred years," Su Yu replied confidently.
He felt that his choice of a more conservative first soul ring might have been a mistake; if not six hundred years, it was at least five hundred.
After undergoing body refinement with the power of the stars and consistent training, Su Yu was confident in his ability to withstand the soul power impact from a thousand-year soul ring.
As for absorbing the essence of the soul ring, Su Yu had no concerns. He had gained practical experience from his first attempt and improved his self-suggestion technique over the past two and a half years.
As long as the soul ring wasn't ten thousand years old, he believed that he could easily manage the absorption of its essence if he could withstand its soul power impact.
"Alright, since you believe you can do it, I won't try to dissuade you," Qian Tong said, feeling excited about the prospect. If successful, Su Yu would become a soul master with a second thousand-year soul ring.
Even with the Blue Silver Grass as his martial soul, Su Yu's future potential would be substantial; reaching the rank of Soul Sage would be a minimum.
The hopes of becoming a Soul Douluo were also not out of reach.
Everything was possible!
Qian Tong harbored no bias against the Blue Silver Grass martial soul; after all, Su Yu had trained it to match the capabilities of other top martial souls, showing no slowdown in his training speed.
"Do you have any specific preferences for your second soul ring?"
"Actually, I still want the same thing as last time—a soul beast with robust life energy that can provide an enhancement to vitality."
Su Yu's requirement was for a soul beast that primarily increased life force, and it needed to be of good quality.
Adding the additional hidden condition that it should have recently reached the thousand-year mark made it even harder to find.
"It's probably very difficult to find in the Hunting Soul Forest. We'll have better luck in places like the Star Dou Forest, where large groups of soul beasts gather, to find one that meets your criteria."
(End of Chapter)