Dugu Bo said with surprise:
"Good! A ten-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider. With its concealment ability, it can hunt weak opponents and escape from powerful ones with great effectiveness."
"Now that Yanyan has this soul bone skill, and with her identity as a control-type soul master, she can seize the initiative in battle and control the enemy first, defeating them in a single move."
"If she encounters danger, it is also a powerful life-saving skill. Trading for this soul bone was definitely worth it."
Wang Li thought of the original story. A ten-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider had relied on this very skill to ambush the path where Tang San was escaping with Xiao Wu, cutting off their chance of survival.
Later, Tang San was pushed to the brink of death and Xiao Wu sacrificed herself. At that time Tang San already had a soul bone and even a domain, yet he still failed to detect the Man-Faced Demon Spider lying in ambush ahead. This clearly showed how powerful this skill was.
Thinking of this, Wang Li smiled and said:
"Indeed, it can be called a divine skill. Our long wait wasn't in vain. Now that everyone outside knows we possess soul bones, this life-saving ability has come at just the right time."
Dugu Yan felt even more determined. She had already absorbed the Wisdom Skull of Spiritual Concentration, and now she had absorbed the left arm soul bone of the Man-Faced Demon Spider. Absorbing two soul bones in such a short period of time meant she had to work even harder and break through as soon as possible.
She said seriously:
"I'm already at level fifty-nine soul power. As long as I train hard and consume some more potent poisons, I will definitely be able to break through to level sixty before the end of the year."
Dugu Bo was extremely pleased. If Dugu Yan could break through before the end of the year, she would become a Soul Emperor at around twenty-two years old. Across the entire continent, probably only Wang Li could surpass her.
Dugu Yan immediately acted on her words and began preparing a medicinal cauldron. Dugu Bo assisted her from the side. Among everyone, he was the most familiar with the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
As for Wang Li, after greeting the two of them, he entered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Since he had consumed the Ice and Fire Immortal Herbs, the place was completely safe for him, and no one would disturb him there.
The intense heat and cold inside felt merely warm and cool to him.
"Level sixty-five. I'll use this place to push all the way to level seventy in one go. Then I'll upgrade my soul ring ages, temper my body, and refine my soul power so I can absorb higher-level soul rings in the future."
With that thought, Wang Li assumed a cultivation posture, opened his panel, and began cultivating using experience points.
Boom! Boom!
In an instant, the soul power within Wang Li's meridians surged like a torrent. Starting and ending at his dantian, it began circulating at high speed. With every cycle it grew stronger, and the increasing speed could be clearly felt.
Although it was not like absorbing a soul ring or a soul bone, which could raise power instantly, this steady increase in soul power was still far faster than normal cultivation.
Five days passed in a flash. Wang Li opened his eyes and stretched his body, producing a series of crisp crackling sounds.
Looking inward at his dantian, he found that the total amount of soul power had doubled, reaching the level of a seventy-level quasi Soul Sage.
He only needed to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring to expand his meridians and open his dantian further. Then he would truly become a Soul Sage and continue cultivating.
A good soul ring could widen a soul master's meridians, enlarge their dantian, and increase the total amount of soul power they could hold.
To put it bluntly, Wang Li's soul rings, which all exceeded their normal age limits, had already expanded his meridians and dantian far beyond his current level. In other words, although he was only a level-seventy quasi Soul Sage, the total amount of soul power he possessed was no less than that of some real high-level Soul Sages.
In this world, the laws of heaven and earth had been forcibly altered. Soul masters could not open their dantian by themselves. To break through major realms, they had to absorb soul rings.
Wang Li was originally very satisfied. However, when he looked at the panel again and saw that one hundred thousand experience points had disappeared, he could not help but take a deep breath.
At the Soul Emperor stage, raising five levels of soul power had cost a full one hundred thousand experience points.
One hundred thousand experience points was equivalent to a one-hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
Thinking of one-hundred-thousand-year soul rings, Wang Li thought:
"After Xiao Wu sacrificed herself, Tang San obtained her soul ring and soul bone, yet his soul power only increased by six levels."
"When I think about it that way, it seems both unreasonable and somewhat reasonable, since my soul power realm increased directly."
"But if the consumption is already this huge at the Soul Emperor stage, and there are still Soul Sage, Soul Douluo, and Title Douluo levels ahead, it looks like I'll have to keep running around for experience points in the future."
Looking at the remaining two hundred sixty thousand experience points, Wang Li felt slightly relieved. At least it was enough to comprehensively upgrade his soul rings once.
He then left the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, informed Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan that he was safe, ate a full meal, and rested for the night.
The next day he returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. This time he planned to upgrade his soul rings.
He started with the first soul ring. With a single thought, the yellow soul ring seemed to come alive. As it expanded and contracted, boundless energy from all directions poured into it, and it began to evolve.
The returning energy surged into Wang Li's body, just like when absorbing a soul ring. His body was tempered once again. However, since he had already absorbed ten-thousand-year soul rings before, his physical strength was extraordinary.
The color of his soul ring grew darker and darker. Purple gradually appeared within the yellow until it completely turned into a purple soul ring.
The evolution continued. The purple deepened further, eventually tinged with black, and finally became completely black.
Wang Li's expression changed slightly. The feedback from a ten-thousand-year soul ring and the tempering it brought would greatly strengthen his body, but the pain was also extremely intense.
The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth soul rings all reached fifty thousand years in age. Finally, he used all the remaining experience points on the sixth soul ring.
The sixth soul ring, which was already close to sixty thousand years, directly broke through the sixty-thousand-year mark and headed toward seventy thousand years.
Wang Li's face was now filled with pain, and his body trembled. Yet amid the extreme suffering, his body was also improving to an extreme degree.
That deep black soul ring was gradually tinged with a trace of blood-red until it eventually turned completely crimson.
One hundred thousand years. It had crossed the threshold and become a genuine one-hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
When the last bit of experience was used up, all the pain disappeared. Endless power surged through every part of his body.
Wang Li wanted to let out a long roar, but he was inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. If he opened his mouth he would end up drinking his own bathwater, so he held it back.
Even so, he felt incomparably exhilarated. He felt as if his strength had increased dozens or even hundreds of times.
With his first soul skill he could now create a vast Blue Silver Forest, and with his sixth soul skill he could seal an entire fortress city. He could definitely face a Title Douluo head-on.
Looking inward at his dantian again, Wang Li's expression became strange.
His dantian was incredibly vast, and his meridians were extremely wide. His original soul power was like a small stream, completely unable to fill them.
"This feeling… even though I'm already level seventy, it seems like I can still contain more soul power."
Thinking of this, Wang Li activated his fourth soul skill. In an instant, a massive amount of energy surged toward him. After refining it with his cultivation technique, the soul power within his body seemed not to increase at all.
Refusing to believe it, he continued. The energy within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was endless. He did not believe he could not fill his meridians and dantian.
"Could it be that once I completely fill my meridians and dantian, the total soul power of my level-seventy quasi Soul Sage will directly reach the level of a Title Douluo?"
However, the protagonist's growth is intentionally suppressed in the setting. The further he progresses, the more experience he needs. But once he obtains his Martial Soul True Body and has at least seven soul rings of ten thousand years or more, both his body and soul power will be at the Title Douluo level.
When he later fights Title Douluo in prolonged battles, rather than just passively taking a few hits from Dugu Bo, he can gain tens of thousands or even more than a hundred thousand experience points in a single battle.
Therefore, his leveling speed will not be slow.
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