Chapter 22: Second Soul Ring

Yang Xiong sat cross‑legged beside the yellow Soul Ring, preparing to begin absorbing it, while the people around him wore unusually worried expressions, because this was a Soul Ring that was extremely close to the thousand‑year level, and no one had ever recorded anyone reaching such an age with a Second Soul Ring; if it weren't for Yang Xiong's repeated insistence and guarantee that he would succeed, perhaps no one would have agreed.

But Yang Xiong himself was already resolute, summoning his innate martial soul, and simultaneously using soul power to draw the Soul Ring gradually toward his body.

As the Soul Ring settled onto his body, a familiar yet strange power surged rapidly into Yang Xiong, making his whole body feel as if it were about to explode.

But this power was completely different from the last First Soul Ring; whereas the previous power was mysterious and unusually fiery, this time it seemed like endless Life Force poured into his body, yet the power was also filled with ferocity, every strand of blood and cell feeling as if it would burst.

After a full three hours, Yang Xiong's face finally began to calm, and the people around him breathed a sigh of relief, clearly the absorption of this age‑defying Soul Ring had succeeded.

Seeing Yang Xiong open his eyes, Yang Lin hurriedly asked, "Xiao Xiong, how does your body feel now, any discomfort?"

Yang Xiong's face showed a hint of a smile: "Dad, Mom, I feel great now, like my body has become much stronger."

Yang Xiong carefully sensed his body; after absorbing this extremely powerful Wood Attribute Soul Ring, his whole body seemed to have grown taller, especially feeling that his body now possessed a certain life energy, and his regenerative ability seemed much stronger.

Moreover, after absorbing the Soul Ring, Yang Xiong's soul power reached an astonishing Soul Power Level 23, meaning a single Soul Ring raised his soul power by a full three levels; normally a Soul Grandmaster can only gain one level from a Soul Ring, so this three‑level increase demonstrates the robustness of the Golden Spirit Cypress's life force and soul power, even its bloodline.

When he returned home, Yang Xiong finally examined the Soul Ring skill he had obtained.

The Second Soul Skill is called Golden Heart; using this soul skill can quickly heal one's injuries and dispel negative conditions, bringing the body to optimal condition, and for a certain period granting the restorative power of the Golden Spirit Cypress.

This soul skill appears to be a healing type, but it is more than just simple healing; when used, the Soul Ring injects a large amount of Life Force into the body, and the more severe the injury, the more soul power is required.

Especially the dispelling of negative conditions and the Golden Spirit Cypress's restorative power, which makes one, for a certain time, as unkillable as a cockroach.

Yang Xiong even tested it; regardless of the adverse effects of Ice Fire Poison on his body, they could be dispelled, truly worthy of a premium plant‑attribute Soul Beast.

Especially after absorbing this Soul Ring, Yang Xiong felt his power had increased by a full thirty percent, already surpassing the gain from absorbing a normal Power-type Soul Ring.

Yang Xiong was very satisfied with this soul skill; from now on, both combat and survival abilities would improve greatly, especially since this soul skill does not lose its effect after becoming a High-level Soul Master—in fact, it might work even better at that stage.

After absorbing the Second Soul Ring and becoming a Great Soul Master, Yang Xiong felt his soul power surge again, and he could continue developing his Spiral Sphere.

Gu Douluo, who had been secretly observing Yang Xiong's absorption of the Second Soul Ring, was also surprised; he hadn't expected Yang Xiong to succeed.

After hearing Gu Douluo's account, Ning Fengzhi was likewise unusually surprised: "Gu Shu, what exactly is Yang Xiong's purpose? By your description, he experienced little pain during the Soul Ring absorption, which would imply that, given his physical quality, he could even absorb a normal thousand‑year Soul Ring."

"We have also conducted many experiments using Whale Glue, and the typical results were not as good as Yang Xiong's; even Rong Rong's Second Soul Ring is only eight hundred years. Could there be something hidden in him? That shouldn't be the case."

Gu Douluo thought carefully for a moment before speaking: "Fengzhi, it seems we have all underestimated Yang Xiong's martial soul. Using the body as a martial soul is extremely rare, but I have recently learned that, in terms of soul power, Yang Xiong is already among the very best in the whole class, basically ranking in the top five. You should know he spends a great deal of time training his body, whereas Rong Rong and the others spend more time meditating at home."

Ning Fengzhi couldn't help but sigh: "It seems I still underestimated Yang Xiong a bit; perhaps he truly can forge a path of cultivation with the body as his martial soul."

……

About a month later, that afternoon Yang Xiong was alone at home, cultivating.

Yang Xiong's right hand lifted a ball in the air with soul power, countless amounts of energy flowing into the ball, all the energy seeming to rotate.

Under this force the ball spun rapidly, appearing to swell slightly; as the rotation speed increased, the ball seemed filled with gas, and upon close inspection the ball's surface continuously dented under the force and quickly rebounded.

As Yang Xiong injected more and more soul power, just before his soul power was about to be exhausted, the ball could no longer withstand the internal pressure and burst open.

Yang Xiong beamed with excitement: "It's done, the third step is finally complete; it looks like it's only a matter of time before I truly master the Spiral Sphere."

The staged success of the Spiral Sphere greatly boosted Yang Xiong's confidence; this Self-Created Spirit Skill finally saw the dawn of its ultimate success.

But Yang Xiong also knew that the truly hardest part of the Spiral Sphere is the final step: shaping the soul power so that it truly possesses destructive force.

The Spiral Sphere is not merely a simple soul‑power attack; it channels soul power to move rapidly, forming a hurricane‑like sphere in the hand that ultimately inflicts devastating damage on the enemy.

Moreover, this is only a simple Spiral Sphere; if the energy of a Soul Ring's attribute were infused, its power could almost double, but unfortunately Yang Xiong has only absorbed a Wood Attribute Soul Ring and a Space Attribute Soul Ring, and these two attributes are not suitable for combat with the Spiral Sphere.

Cultivating Divided Mind Control is the foundation of everything; only by truly mastering Divided Mind Control can one control soul power with extreme precision, truly multitask to inject Soul Ring energy into the Spiral Sphere.

The innate martial soul also has a great advantage: after absorbing a Soul Ring of a certain attribute, it gains mastery of that attribute's power, and its versatile nature allows multiple attribute energies within the body to coexist without repulsion.

If others wish to learn the Spiral Sphere, they will probably only be able to study the most basic form, lacking the variety and potential development that Yang Xiong possesses, since Soul Grandmasters typically do not acquire many attributes from Soul Rings.

(End of Chapter)