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"Just a coincidence,"
Liuying said firmly.
"Alright then."
Meng Hongchen sighed, feeling a bit helpless. Even though her conversation with the handsome little brother got interrupted, there's plenty of time ahead. Everyone lives in Ming City, so they'd have chances to meet again. No rush — she's got patience.
Looking at Liuying standing protectively in front of him like she was guarding a kid, Liuxing was a bit surprised. He'd never seen Liuying so alert before. What's going on? Is Meng Hongchen really that dangerous? Even though she'd just gotten her second spirit ring, was all this caution really necessary? With Luanyu around, and since she's not an enemy, Liuxing figured Meng Hongchen shouldn't be any threat.
Besides, Liuying looked like a big sister — gentle and kind. Though she was a bit too familiar and kept staring at his face, he thought she was pretty nice overall.
Despite his doubts, he trusted Liuying and let her handle this older sister who's two years his senior. Then he shifted his gaze to Xu Tianzhen.
Xu Tianzhen's face showed pain, but she gritted her teeth and persevered. Clearly, absorbing the bloodline spirit ring of a divine beast with over 400 years of cultivation was tough for her. But her physical condition was decent — she'd used plenty of rare materials to boost her body. Though difficult, absorbing it safely wasn't a problem.
The same grimace appeared on the white-haired boy's face too. Absorbing the soul ring of an 800-year-old Devouring Gold Beast wasn't easy either, even though he was already a level two great soul master.
Honestly, with their talent and physique, absorbing ordinary 400-year and 800-year soul rings should be easy. The problem was they were absorbing top-tier spirit beast soul rings, which were at least two levels harder than normal ones.
For average soul masters with mediocre talent and physique, absorbing rare bloodline spirit rings could be deadly rather than beneficial.
Time passed slowly. Two level nine soul tutors stood guard, and no reckless spirit beasts came to disturb them. Xu Tianzhen was absorbing her first soul ring. Though tough, she succeeded in absorbing the blazing fire crow soul ring within one hour.
"Yay! I did it!
Xu Tianzhen jumped up, flashing a V sign with her right hand, proudly beaming.
Luanyu gave her a playful tap on the head. "Don't get cocky. What soul skill did you get? And how many levels did your soul power increase?"
Xu Tianzhen didn't hold anything back. "My soul power went up two levels. I'm at level twelve now. And my soul skill is called 'Power of the Sun.'"
She lifted her right hand, and a golden orb appeared, surrounded by a ring of swirling yellow light.
As the yellow soul ring shimmered, a beam of golden light burst out from the orb. Under the golden glow, Xu Tianzhen's aura and soul power surged up a level.
Then, the light around her started converging toward her hand. A few seconds later, a beam of golden light shot out, piercing a large tree about ten meters away. The tree's bark at the impact point was scorched black, like it had been burnt by intense heat.
Hands on her hips, Xu Tianzhen lifted her chin with a cat-like smile, proud as can be: "My first soul skill, Power of the Sun, not only boosts my soul power and flame temperature but can also gather solar energy and shoot out the sun's light."
Clap clap!
Meng Hongchen applauded, laughing, "Power of the Sun, huh? No wonder it's from a divine beast's bloodline soul ring. It's got both support and attack — speed, penetration, high temperature. In terms of raw power, it probably rivals even a thousand-year-old soul skill!"
Luanyu stroked her chin thoughtfully. "A soul beast with the three-legged golden crow bloodline really fits the solar spirit weapon well. Even if Tianzhen becomes a titled Douluo in the future, this skill won't be useless. The only downside is the solar light charges too slowly."
When Xu Tianzhen gathered the sun's light just now, it took several seconds — enough time for an opponent to get ready in a fight.
Xu Tianzhen frowned. "It's not that it can't be faster, but it'll take a lot of practice."
Power of the Sun was a soul skill that needed time to study and train. For playful Xu Tianzhen, that wasn't great news.
"Well, you gotta work hard! A few seconds to charge means you'll miss your chance in a fight."
Ye Guyi raised an eyebrow, thinking about sparring with Xu Tianzhen later. If that was her first soul skill, Ye Guyi was confident she could dodge it.
Luanyu's eyes narrowed as she thought: If she made a soul device specifically for gathering solar energy, maybe Xu Tianzhen's Power of the Sun could fire instantly. Theoretically, it was possible.
But if Xu Tianzhen mastered instant release on her own, she wouldn't need a device anyway. So Luanyu decided to let her struggle for a while. Once Xu Tianzhen mastered instant charge, she'd gift her a solar energy-gathering soul device. A sly smile crept onto Luanyu's face.
Xu Tianzhen shivered, suddenly sensing some weird malicious intent all over her body. She looked around suspiciously, thinking maybe a spirit beast was spying on her.
Liuxing saw Luanyu's grin and immediately knew she was in one of her mischievous moods. Who would be her next target? After hanging out with her long enough, Liuxing was well aware of Luanyu's sneaky personality.
He glanced at Xu Tianzhen, still looking around nervously, and relaxed. So it's her? No worries then.
As long as it wasn't him or Liuying, he was happy to watch the fun unfold.
Compared to Xu Tianzhen absorbing her first soul ring, the white-haired boy Xiao Hongchen took even longer to absorb his second ring. The Devouring Gold Beast bloodline wasn't as strong as the blazing fire crow's, but it was still top-tier, and the soul ring came from an 800-year-old spirit beast, so it was much harder to absorb. That's why it took longer.
Still, Jing Hongchen was confident letting his grandson absorb the Devouring Gold Beast's soul ring. As a level nine soul tutor, he had good judgment.
Sure enough, Xiao Hongchen absorbed the soul ring smoothly, no issues. As the golden three-legged toad on his body appeared with a second yellow soul ring glowing on it, it showed his success.
"Grandpa, I did it!" Xiao Hongchen opened his eyes and proudly said to Jing Hongchen.
"Good, good, good. Absorbing this Devouring Gold Beast soul ring will also help your three-legged toad. Though it won't raise the bloodline level, it will improve the quality."
Jing Hongchen was filled with satisfaction. He had high hopes for his grandson. The three-legged golden toad had divine beast bloodline, and its gold attribute suited soul device crafting perfectly. Xiao Hongchen was basically a born soul tutor.
If nothing went wrong, his achievements would surpass Jing Hongchen's, pushing toward the legendary level ten soul tutor.
"....."