Chapter 40: Absorbing the Spirit Ring – Too Strong for My Own Good.

Seizing the moment when the two spirit beasts were entangled in a fierce battle, Lin Ye acted decisively. He leapt from a towering tree, his iron sword in one hand and his summoned Xuan Yuan Sword in the other. With a single move—Hundred Steps Flying Sword—he struck from a distance, killing both the Emerald Aurora Bird and the Spiked-Horn Dragon Viper!

As the beasts perished, their bodies slowly lost the last remnants of life. From their corpses, countless yellow and purple light particles began to drift upward, coalescing above them into the embryonic forms of two spirit rings.

These were the spirit rings of the two beasts!

Lin Ye only needed one of them: the deep yellow ring, which belonged to the Emerald Aurora Bird, a beast with around 900 years of cultivation.

According to the master's notes, an ordinary spirit master can only absorb a spirit ring with a cultivation limit of up to 423 years when advancing to Spirit Master rank. If they tried to absorb a ring beyond that threshold, they faced the grave risk of their body exploding under the strain!

But this conclusion was drawn based on the experience of ordinary spirit masters. Lin Ye was far from ordinary.

Setting aside the effects of his body-strengthening Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique, the passive enhancement from his hidden third martial soul alone was enough to allow him to absorb a spirit ring far beyond the 423-year limit. In fact, with his current strength, which could rival a Spirit Elder's martial soul possession form, Lin Ye was confident that he could even absorb a millennial ring—a privilege usually reserved for those advancing to Spirit Ancestor rank!

However, millennial spirit beasts were exceedingly rare in the Soul Hunting Forest. Even if Lin Ye encountered one, it might not be suitable for him. Thus, he had settled for the ring of the Emerald Aurora Bird. After all, his first martial soul was merely for concealment; choosing an overpowered ring wasn't necessary. A ring around 900 years was barely sufficient.

...

While waiting for the spirit rings to fully form, Lin Ye glanced at the Spiked-Horn Dragon Viper's still-twitching body. After a moment of thought, he retracted the Xuan Yuan Sword that had pierced the Emerald Aurora Bird's heart and summoned it again, launching another Hundred Steps Flying Sword to stab the viper through the head.

Though the viper was already dead, snakes possessed a unique trait—their bodies could continue to move after death. In some cases, even a dead snake's head could still bite a person.

Lin Ye had no desire to be bitten by a thousand-year-old venomous viper while absorbing a spirit ring. To ensure his safety, he destroyed its head completely.

Once its brain was destroyed, the Spiked-Horn Dragon Viper finally ceased all movement.

After confirming its demise, Lin Ye didn't immediately withdraw his Xuan Yuan Sword. Instead, seeing that the spirit rings had yet to fully coalesce, he approached the viper's body. He extracted the iron sword he had previously lodged in the viper's weak spot and returned it to its scabbard on his back. Then, summoning his third martial soul, Nine-Spirit Immortal Tang, he suspended it above his head, allowing its pure white glow to rejuvenate his internal Nine Yang True Qi.

Next, Lin Ye took up his Xuan Yuan Sword again and set about hacking at the viper's spiked horn, aiming to sever it.

According to the Soul Beast Compendium, the viper's venom sac, fangs, and horn were all prime ingredients for crafting potent poisons, highly sought after on the market. The venom sac of a thousand-year-old Spiked-Horn Dragon Viper alone could fetch over a hundred gold soul coins!

After considerable effort, the sharp Xuan Yuan Sword finally severed the viper's horn. Lin Ye also cut out its venom sac and fangs, storing them in his jade pendant's dimensional space.

By now, the two spirit rings in the air had nearly fully formed.

With a bit of time to spare, Lin Ye approached the Emerald Aurora Bird and pried out the emerald stone embedded in its forehead.

This gemstone was the essence of the Emerald Aurora Bird, and according to the records, when ground into powder and dissolved in water, it could cure hundreds of poisons. Its value was astronomical.

After that, Lin Ye also cut off the bird's large wings and drumstick-like legs.

While these parts held no particular value, Lin Ye took them for personal reasons—given their size, they would certainly make for a good meal.

Having fully harvested the valuable parts of both beasts, Lin Ye turned his attention back to the two spirit rings floating above their remains. One was yellow, and the other purple, fully formed and waiting.

The sky had already dimmed, with the once golden sunlight now turning a deep crimson as it sank beyond the endless expanse of the forest.

Lin Ye retracted the Xuan Yuan Sword martial soul and stood, holding the pristine white Nine-Spirit Immortal Tang in hand. Gazing at the deep yellow ring of the Emerald Aurora Bird, he began to circulate his Nine Yang Divine Skill and followed the master's instructions to attune himself to the ring.

Perhaps it was because the process of drawing in a spirit ring was inherently simple, or maybe Lin Ye's understanding was just exceptionally high. In mere moments, he sensed the two spirit rings floating in his field of view—one yellow, one purple.

Naturally, the one Lin Ye needed was the deep yellow ring of the Emerald Aurora Bird.

Using his Nine Yang True Qi, Lin Ye pulled the ring toward him. In the blink of an eye, the deep yellow ring, over a meter in diameter, floated before him, hovering above his Nine-Spirit Immortal Tang martial soul.

Though he had drawn the ring to him, Lin Ye gritted his teeth and restrained his martial soul from absorbing it immediately.

According to the master's notes, absorbing a spirit ring could take several hours. Given that Lin Ye had just killed two beasts and night was fast approaching, lingering here was risky. The fresh blood of the slain beasts could attract other creatures from the Soul Hunting Forest.

While absorbing the spirit ring, a spirit master's awareness of their surroundings would weaken significantly due to the intense flow of soul power. Should any beasts be drawn to the scent of blood during that time, Lin Ye would be in grave danger.

He needed to find a safer location to complete the process.

Holding the Nine-Spirit Immortal Tang, with the deep yellow ring spinning gently above it, Lin Ye gritted his teeth, summoned his Phoenix Dance Six Illusions movement technique, and shot into the air, bounding across treetops toward a distant, safer spot.

After several minutes of darting through the dense forest, Lin Ye judged that he had traveled nearly a kilometer from the scene of his battle. He stopped at an ancient tree.

The towering tree's thick branches and leaves made it the perfect spot to absorb the spirit ring, offering protection from any ground-level predators. It was as safe a place as any.

Sitting cross-legged on several large, sturdy branches, Lin Ye leaned back against the tree trunk, closed his eyes, and finally released his hold on the Emerald Aurora Bird's ring.

With the restriction lifted, the deep yellow ring rapidly shrank in size and, in a flash, attached itself to the Nine-Spirit Immortal Tang martial soul.

Immediately, an overwhelming torrent of soul power surged into Lin Ye's body.

However… it didn't seem that painful?

As Lin Ye felt the massive influx of energy from the Emerald Aurora Bird's 900-year ring, he expected the process to be excruciating, as the master's notes had warned. Instead, he only felt a mild tingling sensation, with no trace of the searing pain he had braced himself for.

Was the master's record inaccurate? Or… was Lin Ye simply too strong?

Lin Ye couldn't help but feel puzzled.

He had mentally prepared himself to endure the intense suffering described in the notes, only to be met with mild discomfort. Oddly, this left him somewhat disappointed.

It seemed that sometimes, being too strong really could be a burden.

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