With the old butler guarding him, Lin Rong didn't need to worry about his safety and could wholeheartedly absorb the Spirit Ring.
The Nine Bend Vine Dragon, rooted in the ground, rapidly shrank and transformed into a streak of green light that appeared in Lin Rong's hands.
After a few breaths, Lin Rong adjusted his condition to its peak and initiated the summoning of the Kongqing Bamboo Spirit Ring.
The Kongqing Bamboo Spirit Ring, drawn by the summons, slowly floated above the Nine Bend Vine Dragon before finally settling onto Lin Rong's Martial Soul.
The power contained within the Spirit Ring poured into Lin Rong's body like a breached dam.
This power filled his dantian, forming a swirling vortex of blue and silver.
Almost simultaneously as this power surged into his dantian.
Without Lin Rong needing to actively refine it, his consciousness instinctively activated the Marrow Cleansing Scripture.
The blue and silver streams of energy circulated through his meridians in a complete cycle, gradually being absorbed and refined by Lin Rong during this process.
Although the year-rank of this Spirit Ring was significantly higher than the last, Lin Rong was no longer the same person with only Rank 10 Soul Power.
Furthermore, he already had the experience of absorbing a Spirit Ring once.
Lin Rong's speed in absorbing this Spirit Ring was even faster than the last time.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Just as the process of absorbing the Spirit Ring was about to conclude, the blue and silver streams of energy, which Lin Rong had almost completely refined, suddenly began to emit specks of silver light.
These silver lights flowed within Lin Rong's body, eventually reaching his Sea of Consciousness and condensing into the shape of the Kongqing Bamboo.
In his Sea of Consciousness.
Lin Rong's spiritual power condensed into his physical form. He looked at the Kongqing Bamboo before him with great shock and said with some uncertainty:
"Soul Shock? No!"
"Even the Soul Shock from a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast is merely a soul impact generated by resentment; it would never form a soul entity."
This made Lin Rong think:
"I thought the Kongqing Bamboo just had an excessively high level of intelligence, but I didn't expect its soul power to be this formidable."
"Could it be that the Kongqing Bamboo is a legendary Spirit Beast with a unique nature?"
Lin Rong admitted that he had miscalculated this time.
He truly hadn't expected that a Spirit Beast he encountered so casually would have such an extraordinary origin.
But the Kongqing Bamboo shouldn't celebrate too soon; if it wanted to drag him down with it, it would need the ability to do so!
As Lin Rong pondered, the Kongqing Bamboo burst into silver flames and then transformed into a stream of light, rapidly advancing towards Lin Rong.
At the same time.
Lin Rong's Martial Soul, the Nine Bend Vine Dragon.
On the trunk of the banyan tree, the root that had taken the form of a green dragon finally opened its long-slumbering golden-green dragon eyes.
"Roar~"
A long and clear dragon's roar echoed through the Sea of Consciousness.
The next instant.
The root of the banyan tree in the form of a green dragon emitted a faint green light.
The light condensed in the air, forming a green dragon.
Its horns resembled a deer's, its head a camel's, its eyes a rabbit's, its neck a snake's, its belly a mythical beast's, its scales a fish's, its claws an eagle's, its palms a tiger's, and its ears a cow's.
Majestic and extraordinary.
After its appearance, the green dragon soared through the clouds and mist, blocking the Kongqing Bamboo's path.
It then transformed its body into a cage, tightly imprisoning the Kongqing Bamboo beneath its dragon form.
Lin Rong controlled his body to float above the Kongqing Bamboo, looking down.
Although the Kongqing Bamboo was immobilized by the restraint, the silver flames burning all over its body intensified, yet they seemed unable to harm the green dragon in the slightest.
The surface of the Sea of Consciousness reflected this scene. The flickering flames caused ripples on the water, blurring the vision.
"What, you can't figure it out?" Lin Rong said playfully as he watched the Kongqing Bamboo's futile struggle, and then explained:
"Let me tell you!"
"Humans can awaken their Martial Souls at the age of six, and the awakened Martial Souls are incredibly diverse and encompass everything."
"And the Martial Soul I awakened is called the Nine Bend Vine Dragon, which mutated from the fusion of my parents' Martial Souls, the Dragon Soul Vine and the Thousand Leaf Banyan."
"Since it's a fusion mutation, it naturally inherited the characteristics of both these Martial Souls."
"The characteristics of the Thousand Leaf Banyan are, first, its luxuriant foliage, and second, its developed roots and stems."
"Why don't you think, what are the characteristics of the Dragon Soul Vine?"
Knowing that the Kongqing Bamboo couldn't speak, Lin Rong answered his own question and continued:
"That would naturally be the Dragon Soul!"
"It's just because my Martial Soul is a mutated one."
"To fully unleash the Nine Bend Vine Dragon's power, I need to absorb Spirit Rings from two Spirit Beasts: the Thousand Leaf Banyan and the Dragon Soul Vine (Azure Vine)."
"You can think of them as two seals. I need to absorb the corresponding Spirit Beasts to break them. Only then will the Nine Bend Vine Dragon Martial Soul be truly perfect and flawless."
"The Dragon Soul of the Nine Bend Vine Dragon originates from the Dragon Soul Vine. Therefore, to wield the power of the Dragon Soul, I need to absorb a Spirit Ring from the Dragon Soul Vine."
"My first Spirit Ring was absorbed from the Thousand Leaf Banyan; my second Spirit Ring is you, Kongqing Bamboo; and the Dragon Soul Vine will be my third."
"This means that in the outside world, I cannot utilize the Dragon Soul power of the Nine Bend Vine Dragon."
"But unfortunately, this is the Sea of Consciousness. What appears here isn't the physical form of the Martial Soul, but its origin."
"Thus, in the outside world, the Dragon Soul Vine is needed to house the origin of the Dragon Soul. But here, it's completely unnecessary!"
After explaining, Lin Rong coldly watched Kongqing Bamboo, which had already burned through more than half of its soul power. He wasted no more time, and the Azure Dragon, which was connected to his mind, moved to completely obliterate Kongqing Bamboo.
Outside.
Lin Rong was enveloped in a pillar of starlight, which was the old butler's first Spirit Ability: Falling Star.
Gradually, Lin Rong's complexion, which had turned deathly pale at some point, began to regain some color, and his weak breathing also started to return to normal.
After returning to the outside world from the Sea of Consciousness, Lin Rong leaned against the old butler, gasping for air, looking like he had narrowly escaped death.
Just now, in the mental space, Lin Rong had been completely faking his composure to deceive Kongqing Bamboo.
While the Dragon Soul's power was immense, its consumption was still enormous for Lin Rong at his current level.
Furthermore, using the Dragon Soul's power before obtaining his third Spirit Ring wasn't without its side effects.
The forcibly summoned Dragon Soul was unable to kill Kongqing Bamboo the moment the Azure Dragon had it restrained.
This was because Kongqing Bamboo had only just begun burning its soul power then, and the Azure Dragon's entire strength was dedicated to restraining it, leaving no excess power to eliminate it.
If Kongqing Bamboo had known this, and instead of breaking free from the Azure Dragon's restraint using more than half of its soul power, it had unleashed the remaining soul shock, it would have been enough to inflict irreparable mental damage on Lin Rong.
There was even a high probability it could have turned Lin Rong into an idiot.
But fortunately, Kongqing Bamboo was fooled by Lin Rong's words and, seeing no hope, did not choose to do so.
It was also fortunate that they were in the Sea of Consciousness. Lin Rong's form there was condensed from mental power, so his pale complexion from the outside world didn't manifest.
Otherwise, if Kongqing Bamboo had seen Lin Rong's deathly pale face, it would have known that both sides were at their limit.
No matter how brilliant or beautiful Lin Rong's words were, they would have been useless.
This incident made Lin Rong realize something.
Up until now, everything he had experienced had been too smooth sailing. As a result, although he appeared cautious on the surface, he had actually developed arrogance and conceit in his heart.
Given Kongqing Bamboo's high intelligence, Lin Rong should have anticipated this situation.
But his inner arrogance made him not take a Spirit Beast with less than a thousand years of cultivation seriously.
Fortunately, he managed to cling to his life this time, and it also made Lin Rong aware of this issue.
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