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As the Life Sharing ritual kicked in, the two of them—who had already finished absorbing their soul rings—suddenly felt that familiar rush of soul power again, just like when they first absorbed their rings. Originally, absorbing a thousand-year soul ring way ahead of their level had boosted their soul power by three ranks.
But now, under the effect of some mysterious force, their soul power rose by yet another level. Even the Burn Bug soul ring, which had barely reached the thousand-year mark, suddenly increased to 1,500 years. Meteor could feel it.
Outside, the faint purple glow of the soul rings around Meteor and Liu Ying darkened ever so slightly. You wouldn't notice the change unless you were really paying attention.
Once their soul power hit level 14, the two of them opened their eyes and canceled their martial spirit possession. Their silver-white mechas dissolved into flames, revealing their bodies again in front of Luan Yu and the others.
Meteor glanced down at the faint purple soul ring under his and Liu Ying's feet and instantly understood—this had to be a result of the Life Sharing ritual. Since they had absorbed the soul ring together and shared it, the original thousand-year ring had somehow transformed into a 1,500-year ring, and they gained an extra level of soul power because of it.
He guessed that if only one of them had absorbed the ring, the other might still have benefited from the same ring without having to absorb anything themselves. But if they both absorbed at the same time, it wouldn't generate two separate rings—it would merge into one and boost its age.
If that's the case, then they wouldn't have to stress about finding super high-level soul beasts later on. If they both absorbed rings from 80,000-90,000-year-old beasts at the same time, those rings might just jump straight to the 100,000-year level.
"What the heck were you two doing?! That was seriously scary, you know!"
Luan Yu exhaled sharply, crossed her arms, and glared at them.
"Sorry, Auntie, Boneyi, Tianzhen—we didn't mean to scare you. It just took a bit longer since the soul ring boosted our power more than expected," Meteor said with an apologetic look.
Their situation was too unique—too bizarre. If word got out, they'd become a target for all kinds of people. Only he and Liu Ying could know about this. It wasn't that he didn't trust Luan Yu and the others, but telling them wouldn't help; it would only drag them into unnecessary trouble.
This ability was something only Meteor and Liu Ying had. Revealing it wouldn't benefit anyone and could only lead to more problems.
This ability was something only Meteor and Liu Ying had. Telling others wouldn't benefit them at all. Sometimes, the more you know, the worse off you are.
"So... you said it gave a big boost? How many levels did you guys gain? What level are you now?" Xu Tianzhen asked curiously. Like her, Ye Boneyi had absorbed a top-tier beast soul ring and gained two levels, and the soul bone gave Boneyi an extra one.
Burn Bugs were technically top-tier too. At the thousand-year level, she figured they'd maybe get three levels tops.
"Level 14," Meteor and Liu Ying said in perfect unison.
"What?!"
Xu Tianzhen blinked her big purple eyes in disbelief, thinking she must've heard wrong.
Luan Yu and Ye Boneyi also looked at them in shock. "You heard right," Meteor nodded. "Both of us jumped four levels. We're now at level 14."
"How is that even possible?" Luan Yu's expression froze. In her mind, even a thousand-year first soul ring shouldn't give more than three levels max!Plus, they're only six years old—they haven't even hit the golden cultivation age yet! How did their soul power skyrocket like this?
"Could it be... like with me? Maybe the Burn Bug was just really compatible with the two of them. They didn't seem to struggle much while absorbing it," Ye Boneyi said, frowning thoughtfully.
"You know... that might actually make sense," Luan Yu said, squinting her eyes a little as she remembered something.
Both Meteor and Liu Ying had this weird trait that made them attract bugs—didn't matter if they were indoors or out. To deal with it, Luan Yu had spent a whole month developing a special bug-repelling soul tool, just so these two kids wouldn't need to sleep with the cooling soul tool running all night just to keep bugs away.
They always carried bug-repellent soul tools with them and had to recharge them regularly. Thankfully, the devices were only level-one soul tools and only had a basic bug-repelling function. If they'd needed higher-level tools, Meteor and Liu Ying would've had to rely on Luan Yu to keep them charged.
Otherwise, in a place like the Evil Demon Forest, just stepping foot in there would've drawn in all kinds of strange bugs.
With their unique bug-attracting constitution, it was kind of like when Boneyi absorbed the Paradise Bird's soul ring and ended up getting an external soul bone from it. The Burn Bug, in turn, had given Meteor and Liu Ying more soul power.
Even though Burn Bugs are energy-type soul beasts, they're still classified under the insect-type category.
"What about your soul skills? What do they do?" Xu Tianzhen asked, a little sulky now. Looking at it this way, she was the one who gained the least. Boneyi was at level 13 now, and Meteor and Liu Ying were already 14. She was still stuck at level 12. All of them had innate full soul power and started at level 10—why were they the only ones speeding ahead?
Soul skill-wise, though, she thought hers was better than Boneyi's purely support-type ability. But now she was curious about Meteor and Liu Ying's skill.
Since their martial spirits and soul rings were the same, their soul skills were probably identical too.
Meteor didn't bother hiding anything. Soul skills were different from the Life Sharing ritual—they'd have to use them eventually anyway. Besides, everyone here was someone he could trust, future teammates even. No point in keeping secrets.
He smiled and said, "My soul skill's called Sub-Burn. It boosts all my attributes and also increases the power of my other soul skills."
He was actually pretty satisfied with this skill. A percentage-based boost like that was super useful, especially since it could enhance his other soul skills too. At the Title Douluo level, percentage boosts were insane—just look at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the continent's top support martial spirit. The stronger you got, the crazier the effect became.
From what he'd heard, all of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's soul skills were percentage-based buffs, which could turn an average Title Douluo into someone with Super Douluo-level power. Of course, that spirit wasn't just about numbers—otherwise, it wouldn't have remained the strongest support martial spirit all this time.
There were other support-type martial spirits with percentage-based boosts, but none had taken the top spot from the Pagoda in over ten thousand years.
That just goes to show—pure percentage boosts aren't enough to challenge the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. It all comes down to how high those boosts get at the Title Douluo level.
The Pagoda still holds the record for the highest boost percentage to this day, which is why it's kept its reputation as the best support-type tool spirit. Meanwhile, other once-glorious spirits—like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the so-called number one beast spirit, and the Clear Sky Hammer with the strongest attack—have already lost their former titles.
Meteor's Sub-Burn may also be percentage-based, but whether it could compete with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda at the Title Douluo stage... well, that was still unknown. After all, it was only a thousand-year soul ring skill.
"....."