How to check the soul ring limit?
Tang Lan went straight in, carefully kneading Zhu Zhuqing's bones and muscle strength.
Zhu Zhuqing's gaze drifted uneasily.
She had already been touched all over before, but wasn't Chen Xin still here?
After about half a minute, Tang Lan withdrew his hand.
"Your limit is roughly 5100 years."
"A 10,000-year soul bone increased it by 800 years—an 8% conversion rate."
"Not bad."
"But absorbing this Shadow Demon Cat will still be a bit risky, and the process will be painful."
"Are you ready?"
Zhu Zhuqing returned a determined gaze.
Tang Lan still felt uneasy.
After thinking for a moment—
He reached into his own chest, his hand sinking into his flesh and blood, and pulled out a green heart.
—Lifebound Heart!
"This is my fifth soul skill," Tang Lan explained. "I've removed all soul power from it, leaving behind only pure life energy. It will serve as your emergency backup."
As he spoke,
Tang Lan pressed the Lifebound Heart against Zhu Zhuqing's left chest, allowing it to merge into her heart bit by bit.
The process was highly suggestive.
Even Chen Xin looked away.
If not for the fact that he could tell the Lifebound Heart was extraordinary, he would have thought this brat was just taking advantage.
Zhu Zhuqing, on the other hand, flushed bright red, yet she forced herself to remain calm.
The contrast between her embarrassment and resolve was utterly enticing.
So…
As Tang Lan withdrew his hand, he gave a gentle squeeze.
"Ynnng~"
Zhu Zhuqing's ears burned bright red!
Tang Lan pretended nothing happened and stepped back.
His third soul ring lit up—Burial of Life!
A vast field of Lifebound Blue Silver Emperor enveloped Zhu Zhuqing.
Then, his right eye flashed with a deep blue glow—Soul Bone Ability: Reset & Mark!
With all preparations complete,
Tang Lan raised a hand and delivered the mummified Shadow Demon Cat to Zhu Zhuqing.
The creature had long been drained dry.
Yet, under the threat of death, it desperately gathered a cluster of shadows, trying one last time to resist.
"Hah!"
Tang Lan sneered coldly.
The Lifebound Blue Silver Emperor tightened, extracting even the last drops of soul power it had forcefully converted through overexertion.
At the same time, his Soul Seed activated, directly devouring its soul.
A two-pronged attack.
The Shadow Demon Cat went completely limp, its limbs hanging lifelessly.
Only its two-meter-long tail remained stubbornly raised, its final act of defiance.
In response—
Zhu Zhuqing silently pulled out a Barrett sniper rifle, aimed straight at its unwilling, pitch-black eyes.
"BOOM))))=➤"
The motionless Shadow Demon Cat's head was instantly blown off.
Blood splattered violently.
A soul ring, glowing dark purple with traces of black, condensed over its corpse.
Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath.
She summoned her Netherworld Spirit Cat, guiding the soul ring to encircle her.
At the same time—
The Lifebound Blue Silver Emperorwrapped around her entire body, activating Gluttony Mode, devouring the immense surge of soul power.
Even so…
Her clothes burst apart, her skin cracked open, revealing a gruesome sight.
—The sheer amount of released soul power was overwhelming her physical limits.
Tang Lan activated the Lifebound Heart.
A green glow radiated from Zhu Zhuqing's chest, dispersing throughout her entire body.
The purest life energy spread, repairing the cracks in her flesh.
It kept her just at the brink, never letting her body completely collapse.
Tang Lan let out a silent sigh of relief.
She made it.
Otherwise, even if he could revive her with Reset, the soul ring would have been wasted.
"Huh?"
Tang Lan suddenly noticed a tingling sensation in his right eye.
Upon closer examination—
He realized that from the Shadow Demon Cat's corpse, a wisp of deathly aura was floating up, being absorbed into his Evil Eye.
It was slowly evolving.
Oh?
The evolution requirement of the Evil Eye… is 'death'?!
Tang Lan hadn't expected that.
Ever since obtaining the Evil Eye,
he had never really "killed" anyone, so he never discovered this condition.
Once the dark aura was completely devoured—
The Evil Eye's age increased by four years.
The growth rate wasn't high.
But…
The Evil Eye was already at 20,000 years, whereas this Shadow Demon Cat was only 5000 years old.
"A higher-tier soul beast or soul master should give much better results."
Should he start a massacre to rapidly evolve his Evil Eye?
As Tang Lan pondered this—
A streak of black light suddenly shot out from the Shadow Demon Cat's corpse at high speed!
Even though Tang Lan seemed distracted, his left eye flashed with a purple glow.
—Double-Pupiled Dragon Capture!
A golden dragon coiled around the black light, freezing it in place.
Tang Lan shifted with Lingbo Footwork, appearing next to it in an instant, and grabbed the black light.
A black pearl thrashed wildly in his palm, darting left and right, but was completely powerless against him.
Eventually, it ran out of energy and went still.
Tang Lan grinned.
Hah! Got you!
He had been expecting this trick!
When Tang San hunted the Dark Devil Evil God Tiger, a "Demon God Pearl" had escaped—
That pearl was the true core of the Evil God's power.
Since the Shadow Demon Cat had also absorbed divine essence, it might have had the same survival mechanism.
Tang Lan had been keeping an eye out for it.
But…
What was this black pearl actually used for?
As he considered this,
The black pearl began acting up again—
This time, it had a clear target—
It madly charged toward Zhu Zhuqing!
What?!
Tang Lan hesitated for a moment.
His marking ability still had 25 seconds left—
Might as well test it out.
So, he let go, allowing the black pearl to fly straight toward Zhu Zhuqing—
It plunged directly into her Netherworld Spirit Cat!
"Nngh—!"
Zhu Zhuqing let out a suppressed groan, and the cracks on her body instantly worsened!
"Blue Silver Domain!"
Dense Lifebound Blue Silver Emperor sprouted from the ground, releasing faint green light, forming streams that rushed toward Zhu Zhuqing.
It forcefully suppressed the expanding cracks!
Zhu Zhuqing's tensed brows slowly relaxed—
She focused entirely on absorbing the power.
Tang Lan carefully monitored her condition, counting down the seconds left on his mark.
The Netherworld Spirit Cat, having absorbed the black pearl, was now enveloped in a layer of black light—
The blackness gradually devoured the original purple glow.
It was like…
A transformation? A reconstruction?
—Her martial soul was evolving!
The Shadow God's divine essence, realizing it couldn't escape,
chose to fuse with Zhu Zhuqing's martial soul, modifying the Netherworld Spirit Cat as its new vessel.
Until the very last second—
There were no additional changes.
Since everything seemed stable,
Tang Lan didn't activate Reset—
Instead, he focused entirely on helping Zhu Zhuqing absorb the soul ring and the black pearl.
Fortunately—
Tang Lan had been training the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Divided Mind Technique.
He had now reached the Fourth Aperture – Constant Mind.
He could concentrate on four things at once:
Control the Lifebound Blue Silver Emperor to absorb soul power,Channel the Lifebound Heart to replenish life energy,Activate the Blue Silver Domain to infuse her with more life force.
—Only three simultaneous tasks.
No big deal.
As for energy consumption?
He was immediately using the soul power he absorbed, combining it with the Nine Yang Divine Skill's regenerative properties.
His internal energy barely decreased.
With his soul power reserves ten times greater than his peers,
he could keep this up for an entire day.
But Zhu Zhuqing didn't need that long.
After one hour—
The floating soul ring finally gave in to submission, settling docilely at Zhu Zhuqing's feet.
Absorption successful!
The purple glow of her Netherworld Spirit Cat was also completely devoured.
Her martial soul now matched the Shadow Demon Cat,
becoming an absolute black that reflected no light at all.
Just as Tang Lan thought it was over—
Whoosh!
A streak of black light shot out from the Shadow Demon Cat's corpse—
Straight into Zhu Zhuqing's lower back!
"Ah—!"
Zhu Zhuqing let out a rare cry of pain—
Even without activating her martial soul,
a long black tailextended behind her!
A two-meter-long, jet-black cat tail—
Composed of 23 distinct bone segments,
covered in the same absolute darkness as her new martial soul—
Perfectly resonating with her evolved Netherworld Spirit Cat.
This…
—(Chapter End)