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Su Wen had always been extremely meticulous about understanding his own condition.
After all, from his second ring onward, he was destined not to follow the conventional path of spirit ring age configurations.
And in order not to waste his own potential, each of Su Wen's spirit rings ideally needed to be as close as possible to the age limit that suited him best.
This required him to have an extremely thorough understanding of his own body.
"Uncle Zhan, rest assured, I won't joke around with my own life." Su Wen's expression was firm, leaving no room for doubt.
Clearly, he was dead set on absorbing this 5,300-year Stone Golem's spirit ring.
"Sigh, fine. You've done no shortage of research on this yourself. As long as your judgment isn't wrong, there shouldn't be an accident."
Xiao Zhan stopped trying to dissuade him.
Dugu Yan still wore a look of utter shock.
5,300 years...
Oh, my heavens!
Is it possible I won't even be able to reach that age for my fourth ring?
She discovered this tragic fact.
"Uncle Zhan, I'll have to trouble you."
A thousand-year spirit beast's strength was already considerable.
Hunting one often required a team of Spirit Elders, and they needed to coordinate well to have a hope of succeeding.
And that was just for an ordinary thousand-year beast, only one or two thousand years old.
A 5,300-year Stone Golem like the one Su Wen had targeted was no longer something a Spirit Elder could handle. Many Spirit Ancestors might not even be a match for it.
"Alright, leave it to me!" Xiao Zhan said.
Looking at the dying Stone Golem, Su Wen's expression was dazed.
Just now, he had truly witnessed Xiao Zhan's combat style.
It was... truly berserk.
Su Wen's own combat performance, at best, was that of a normal power-attack Spirit Master. Xiao Zhan, on the other hand, was a genuinely, incomparably ferocious power-attack type.
Xiao Zhan had also used the battle to force out the Stone Golem's various abilities, allowing Su Wen to get a good look at all of its techniques.
"It's a perfect fit for me."
He confirmed once again: he needed this Stone Golem's spirit ring.
He injected a stream of berserk, fire-attribute spirit power, detonating the flames Xiao Zhan had left inside the Stone Golem's body.
Boom!
Su Wen had killed the Stone Golem.
A spirit ring glowing with a deep purple light floated up from the golem's body.
Su Wen took a deep breath, sat down cross-legged, and drew the spirit ring over himself.
"Hsss—"
A berserk torrent of spirit ring power flooded his body. Su Wen's meridians shattered in an instant.
Contrary to what he had told Xiao Zhan, Su Wen's physical constitution had not reached the point where it could withstand this ring.
His greatest reliance, his confidence in absorbing this ring, was his ability to actively guide the spirit ring's power to permeate his spirit space, reducing the pressure on his meridians.
It was, in effect, a way to lower the physical requirements for spirit ring absorption.
Xiao Zhan didn't actually know how effective the Fire Demon Style's tempering was, especially for a Spirit Master at Su Wen's stage. He couldn't guarantee what effects cultivating the style to a high level would have.
That was why he had been fooled by Su Wen.
Even with both internal and external cultivation, Su Wen's constitution still hadn't been enough, let alone with just the Fire Demon Style's tempering...
But, the deception was complete. Su Wen was now attempting to absorb this 5,300-year spirit ring.
The berserk spirit power slammed into him, instantly causing fractures to appear in Su Wen's meridians.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Su Wen circulated his own spirit power while simultaneously mobilizing the Source Spirit Power within his spirit space.
His exploration of 'Source Spirit Power' cultivation had given him a much more thorough understanding of the principles of energy permeation between his spirit space and his body. He was now extremely skilled at guiding the power.
But even so, even by rapidly diverting the spirit ring's power into his spirit space, the remaining portion that continued to assault his meridians was still immense and violent.
No matter how much he diverted, Su Wen himself still had to withstand the impact from the remaining power.
"The most important part is the quality."
The age determines the quality of the spirit ring's power. The higher the quality of the foreign power, the greater the damage it inflicts when rampaging through the meridians.
While a large quantity would make a Spirit Master explode, a high quality was just as terrifying.
What Su Wen was currently trapped by was its quality.
Under this horrifying tempering, an agonizing pain spread through his meridians and, indeed, his entire body.
"I... can still take it!"
Su Wen gritted his teeth and held on, guiding the metamorphosis within his spirit space.
If my spirit can just transform faster, I can suffer less.
...
Outside.
Watching as wisps of blood mist instantly began to rise from Su Wen's body, Xiao Zhan's and Dugu Yan's hearts leaped into their throats.
As time passed, Su Wen's face twisted in agony, and cracks began to appear on the surface of his skin, with large amounts of blood seeping out. This terrified them both.
This state continued for a full half an hour.
Fortunately, after thirty minutes, the blood began to scab over, and Su Wen's expression started to calm.
Only then did Xiao Zhan and Dugu Yan finally let out a breath of relief.
"Absorbing a ring beyond the limit... is this terrifying?"
Just now, it felt as if Su Wen was about to explode at any second.
No... the "explosive" feeling wasn't that obvious, but Su Wen's reaction gave them that level of shock.
It was as if the ring's energy was enough to make him explode, but it lacked the 'follow-through' and was being slowly, agonizingly worn down by Su Wen.
"Little Wen was truly at his limit this time. If even the slightest thing had gone wrong, his absorption would have failed," Xiao Zhan said, his face grave.
This was the first time he had ever seen such a situation.
Exceeding the limit, and by so many years... he observed every single detail of this case with utmost seriousness.
Su Wen's absorption this time was extremely long.
Approximately two... and a half... shichen (ancient Chinese time unit, 1 shichen = 2 hours)... that is, after more than six hours...
Su Wen slowly opened his eyes.
That ring, glowing with a deep purple light, had settled outside his original two rings.
One yellow, two purple.
The three spirit rings pulsed up and down. A "Heavenly Book" floated above Su Wen's head.
Compared to its previous splendid and ornate appearance, Su Wen's book was still splendid and ornate, but it now carried an additional sense of "weight" and "solidity."
Even more, while his Book Spirit was still magnificent, it had a more 'introverted' feel.
At the same time, rock-like patterns had appeared on its cover.
"Little Wen, how's the effect?" Xiao Zhan was incredibly excited.
He really did it!
He had seen the effects of many 5,000-year spirit skills, but he had never seen one as a third ring.
Moreover, what he cared about most was the enhancement this ring brought to Su Wen.
"If I'm not mistaken, my spirit can be said to have evolved again. A minor evolution," Su Wen said, very satisfied with this absorption.
"My third spirit skill: 'Great Stone Formation'!"
Pages from the Heavenly Book above his head flew out, transforming one by one into giant boulders that smashed into the ground. An invisible, oppressive force began to permeate the area sealed off by the rocks.
As always, Su Wen chose to "package" his spirit skill's effects before displaying them.
(End of this chapter)