Chapter 159: Uneasy Emotions

The moment the Ten Thousand Year Silver Moon Mane Lion was killed, its life force began to wane continuously, and a faint black light began to be released from its massive corpse, condensing above its body.

The appearance of the Soul Ring's power proved that this Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast had completely lost its life.

Ning Feiliu looked at the black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring that had appeared before him, yet he could not help but hesitate.

Do not misunderstand; he was not afraid of the danger of absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Rather, he suddenly thought that if his third soul ring were to become a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, would he be targeted by the Spirit Hall because of it?

Honestly, the mechanism of Exploding Ring is simply too abnormal.

It is equivalent to a man-made Twin Spirits, and this Twin Spirits can continuously absorb soul rings to raise one's own soul power level.

Twin Spirits require one to raise their soul power level to a suitable degree before bestowing a soul ring upon the second martial soul.

But one cannot just have whatever soul ring one wants.

Ning Feiliu uses his two major blessing soul skills, allowing him to continuously explode rings and continuously re-absorb better soul rings.

It is equivalent to everyone playing an online game; ordinary players start equipping themselves from level one, but once equipped, they cannot change their gear, so ordinary players at high levels usually have a few pieces of ordinary gear and a few pieces of high-level gear on them.

Holders of Twin Spirits like Tang San have two accounts; after leveling the main account to the max, they take all the high-level gear and god-level gear they obtained and use it to raise a secondary account, raising a secondary account with top-tier, all-high-level gear.

Ning Feiliu's Exploding Ring mechanism simply allows him to change gear while leveling up, from ordinary gear to high-level gear, and then to god-level gear.

Such a mechanism is simply too heaven-defying.

Originally, in the source material, San Ge could play like this because he ate Xiao Wu's sacrifice; if he wanted to "Resurrect! My lover," he had to sacrifice all of his first six 【rings】 to Xiao Wu as the "price."

But this "price," well...

I can only say it is like the graveyard cost of certain cards in that card game called Yu-Gi-Oh; the cost is damn well more useful than the effect the card is supposed to trigger!

If a Spirit Master at the Title Douluo realm heard this, they would go crazy with joy.

Having a chance to replace all low-level soul rings with high-level soul rings—what high-level Spirit Master wouldn't want to replace all those yellow and purple soul rings of theirs with Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings?

Unfortunately, to pay this price, you must trigger the card "Resurrect! My lover."

First, you must have a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast sacrifice itself to you, and then you must resurrect it to be able to do this.

So it is very troublesome.

But Ning Feiliu does not need this at all; he can directly explode his soul rings himself and then replace them with better ones.

He feels that the greatest reward for completing the two tasks, 【Forging Demigod】 and 【Ice and Snow Demigod】, is not the 【Blessing of the Forging Demigod】 and 【Blessing of the Ice and Snow Demigod】, nor the two blessing soul skills, 【Summoning of the Forging God】 and 【Summoning of the Ice and Snow God】.

It is this mechanism that allows him to explode soul rings and re-absorb them.

But if things continue like this, Ning Feiliu's upper limit and the power of the two blessing soul skills are visibly enviable.

The principle that "an innocent man is guilty of his own treasure" is very easy to understand.

And others do not know that Ning Feiliu's two blessing soul skills, 【Summoning of the Forging God】 and 【Summoning of the Ice and Snow God】, are actually not his self-created spirit skills, which means they cannot be inherited.

Even if Ning Feiliu were to publicly state this, I fear not many people would believe him, only thinking that Ning Feiliu is lying.

They would still covet the two blessing soul skills, 【Summoning of the Forging God】 and 【Summoning of the Ice and Snow God】, and might even go so far as to force Ning Feiliu to reveal the method for using these two "self-created spirit skills."

This would inevitably invite disaster, especially after seeing Ning Feiliu's third soul ring become a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

The Spirit Hall would likely be unable to resist the temptation.

In fact, the Spirit Hall already attaches great importance to Ning Feiliu, it is just that Dugu Bo, who stands behind Ning Feiliu, is not hostile toward the Spirit Hall.

In the absence of hostility, the Spirit Hall still appears quite broad-minded; they will not kill you just because you have Innate Full Spirit Power or Twin Spirits.

Instead, they let you grow for a period of time before choosing to recruit you—presumably because they feel that once a Spirit Master is an adult, they will better understand the stakes of interests and choose to join the Spirit Hall.

If you do not choose to join, only then will they use some petty tricks.

Feng Xiaotian was like this in the original plot; the Four Elements Academies were successively pressured by the Elephant Armored Sect and the Spirit Hall, but they never chose to kill them all like they did when destroying the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect.

I can only say... the actions of the Spirit Hall in the original plot really do not look like those of a villain who commits all kinds of evil.

They have done many good deeds, and their evil deeds were not done thoroughly.

Self-proclaimed as the guide and reformer of the Douluo Continent, yet unable to completely discard their reputation to thoroughly wipe out the competitors for the unification of the Douluo Continent...

Perhaps this is the tragedy of the Spirit Hall; unwilling to be purely a good person, yet lacking the determination to be thoroughly evil. In a state of being neither good nor bad, they can only be thoroughly destroyed by a crony of the Asura God like Tang San, a person who is "pure and clean" yet shameless.

The Spirit Hall would likely only take action against opponents who could truly threaten their grand plan to unify the Douluo Continent, such as the Upper Three Sects and the two Imperial Royal Families.

So if Ning Feiliu's identity as the son of the current Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Sect Master were exposed, they would likely be startled like a cat seeing a mouse, immediately trying every possible way to eliminate Ning Feiliu in advance.

But if Ning Feiliu appears a bit more ordinary, he can probably survive until the time when the Spirit Hall launches the Soul Hunting Operation in the original plot.

After all, in the original plot, the Spirit Hall did not take action in advance against the proud sons of heaven like Ning Rongrong and Yu Tianheng of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect.

So it can be seen that the Spirit Hall would not want to take action against the geniuses of the Upper Three Sects in advance either.

It was only because the Twin Spirits Tang San displayed were too abnormal that they were quite wary, which is why they took action in advance to try and strangle Tang San while he was still insignificant.

But unfortunately, the same point remains.

They do not want to be purely good, but they lack the determination to be thoroughly evil.

Ning Feiliu does not even know how Tang San survived in the original plot when the Spirit Hall sent out several more Title Douluo.

The old fellows in the Offering Hall cannot come out, but the Spirit Hall still has a bunch of Title Douluo.

Aside from the Snake Spear Douluo who was protecting Qian Renxue, the Pufferfish Douluo was likely in Wuhun City at that time; after all, according to Qian Renxue's statement on the night of the palace coup, she had specifically brought the Pufferfish Douluo over to target Dugu Bo.

So the Title Douluo in Wuhun City at that time, besides the Chrysanthemum Douluo and the Ghost Douluo, also included the Pufferfish Douluo, the Moxiong Douluo, the Spirit Kite Douluo (the Ninth Elder who died together with Yu Yuanzhen in the Soul Hunting Operation, according to the animation setting), and the Ghost Leopard Douluo.

On Tang San's side, there was only the Sword Douluo, who was at level 96 at the time, plus a Ning Fengzhi, and a Dugu Bo.

I don't even know how they won against Wuhun City's luxurious Title Douluo lineup; if they had really hardened their hearts, Tang San would definitely have been done for there.

After all, although the Asura God should be Tang San's backer, he did not seem to take action much when Tang San was in crisis in the original plot.

After all, a day in heaven is a year on earth; it is absolutely impossible for the Asura God, this Law Enforcement God, to do nothing all day and just watch Tang San.

And although the Asura God will exploit loopholes, he would absolutely never do anything that openly violates the rules of the God Realm.

If he weren't so bored in the God Realm that he wanted to run away, he probably wouldn't even exploit loopholes.

So Tang San really had a chance to be killed; the Spirit Hall just didn't harden their hearts.

If Ning Feiliu were to reveal that his third soul ring is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, the Spirit Hall would likely treat him with the same level of attention they gave San Ge.

He did not want to encounter such trouble.

Therefore, Ning Feiliu was a bit hesitant at this moment.

But do not panic!

Ning Feiliu has a cheat!

Just as Ning Feiliu thought this, a line of small text appeared before his eyes that only he could see.

【Help ten plant Soul Beasts that are in urgent need of assistance to break through the Ten Thousand Year Limit and receive the blessing of the Thousand Flowers Telepathy.】

Then, he felt the presence of ten plant Soul Beasts, seemingly sending him a plea for help; he could even feel that he could communicate with these plant Soul Beasts.

Ning Feiliu was stunned for a moment.

But at this time, Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan were looking at him curiously.

"Kid, you aren't absorbing the soul ring yet, what are you dawdling for?" Dugu Bo asked helplessly.

"Little Feiliu, what's wrong with you?" Dugu Yan looked at him with some worry.

"Then I will begin absorbing the soul ring." Ning Feiliu also took a deep breath and began preparing to absorb his first Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring for the first time.

As for that task, he would help these plant Soul Beasts break through and complete the mission on the road later.

Thousand Flowers Telepathy... that is Neeko's blessing, so the reward will likely be a disguise ability.

It would probably be just enough to help him disguise the appearance of his soul ring.

"Mm, go ahead kid, Yan Yan and I will protect you," Dugu Bo said with a chuckle.

"Good luck! Little Feiliu!" Dugu Yan said to Ning Feiliu full of anticipation.

Ning Feiliu nodded, then sat cross-legged on the ground, and facing the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring hovering over the Ten Thousand Year Silver Moon Mane Lion, he circulated the Sunlight Breathing Method and began to draw it into his body.

However, the moment the black energy current of the soul ring surged into his body, Ning Feiliu only felt the surrounding light dim, as if he had been submerged in a monstrous tidal wave.

The energy of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring... really is not comparable to a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring at all.

Even the eight-thousand-year soul ring that Ning Feiliu had absorbed previously, compared to the energy of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, was not just a small portion of energy less.

A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring does not just have twenty percent more energy than an eight-thousand-year soul ring based on the ratio of ten thousand to eight thousand; the energy of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring is almost more than double the energy of an eight-thousand-year soul ring!

This is by no means an exaggeration; the energy surging from the soul ring filled every corner of Ning Feiliu's body in an instant.

It did not even require him to circulate it himself; that massive energy had already forcibly begun to run.

At the same time, the abundant moonlight energy of the Silver Moon Mane Lion began to make Ning Feiliu's whole body ice-cold, as if it wanted to completely freeze his life force.

"Hmph—!" Ning Feiliu let out a muffled groan.

This made the expression of Dugu Yan, who was beside him, turn anxious immediately.

What was wrong with Ning Feiliu? She had never seen him in such pain when absorbing soul rings before.

Thinking of this, Dugu Yan panicked a little.

But Dugu Bo pulled Dugu Yan back and shook his head at her, "Yan Yan, trust Feiliu."

Only then did Dugu Yan suppress her restless heart and step back, but she still bit her red lips tightly.

"Sigh..." Dugu Bo sighed; he knew that his granddaughter would truly never be able to leave Ning Feiliu from now on.

However... this was exactly what he hoped to see.

After all, Ning Feiliu was too outstanding.

The shock Ning Feiliu brought him was simply too much; he could not even describe what kind of monster he had taken on as a student.

But he knew very clearly that Ning Feiliu's talent was absolutely far higher than those powerful Title Douluo who were already famous, even higher than those with so-called Twin Spirits, and it was absolutely even higher than the two legendary peaks of the Spirit Master world!

With his limited perception, even with his Title Douluo level of perception, he could no longer see how far Ning Feiliu could reach in the future.

And with Yan Yan following Ning Feiliu, she would definitely be able to go further in the future!

"Yan Yan, trust Feiliu, you know just how unimaginable he is," Dugu Bo said.

"I know... Feiliu is very powerful, I have always believed in him..." Dugu Yan still looked at Ning Feiliu, who was absorbing the soul ring, very nervously.

She did not know why, but just now she had a strange feeling that made her feel very uneasy.

It was an uneasiness as if she would lose Ning Feiliu forever.

That was why she was so nervous just now and moved the moment she saw something wrong with Ning Feiliu.

"But I just... suddenly got scared, as if Feiliu this time..." Dugu Yan said with a terrified look in her eyes.

"Rest assured, this kid absorbed an eight-thousand-year soul ring before, and a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring... although the energy is a bit more massive, it shouldn't be difficult for this kid," Dugu Bo comforted her softly.

"I hope... Feiliu will be okay... that he can successfully absorb this Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring." Immediately, Dugu Yan clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and prayed for Ning Feiliu.

And at this time, Ning Feiliu was continuously absorbing the massive energy of the Ten Thousand Year Silver Moon Mane Lion, and the three soul rings originally on his body were pulsing at an astonishing speed, making his body look as if it were wrapped in a large, deep purple cocoon.

But just as Dugu Bo said, he had been able to absorb an eight-thousand-year level soul ring before; although the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring caused some qualitative changes and the energy was far more massive than that of an eight-thousand-year soul ring.

He could still hold on, especially with the Sunlight Breathing Method, which made the absorption of energy even easier.

The Sunlight Breathing Method felt warm when absorbing sunlight, and it also dispelled the icy coldness of the Ten Thousand Year Silver Moon Mane Lion's energy.

The black energy current continuously surged out from the Ten Thousand Year Silver Moon Mane Lion and was being absorbed by Ning Feiliu.

The light of the three soul rings gradually dimmed, replaced by a layer of black energy current.

His bones continuously emitted dense cracking sounds, and that black energy current drilled into every meridian in his body, leaving no hole unentered.

However, just at this moment...

Ning Feiliu heard the sound of a lion's roar!

It's here!

The mental shock from a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast before its death!

In his Spirit Sea, a dreamlike silver lion phantom, carrying extremely intense unwillingness and hatred, charged toward Ning Feiliu.

Ning Feiliu instantly held his breath and focused his mind; his spirit and intent merged as one, and his mental power instantly condensed into a hammer!

This was the Spirit Condensation Technique included within the Crescent Moon Martial Soul Forging Method!

It could condense one's own mental power into an object of any form!

Ning Feiliu directly smashed the mental great hammer toward the incomplete Spirit Soul of the Silver Moon Mane Lion in his Spirit Sea, nearly smashing it to pieces.

However, the impact of the Silver Moon Mane Lion's incomplete Spirit Soul colliding within his Spirit Sea stirred up no small ripples.

"Pfft—!" He let out another muffled groan, simultaneously appearing somewhat dizzy and lightheaded, as a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"Feiliu!" However, Dugu Yan, who was already uneasy to begin with, immediately panicked the moment she saw Ning Feiliu in trouble!

Her mind went completely blank; could it be... that Ning Feiliu had failed to absorb the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring?!

(End of this chapter)