Chapter 20: A Vision During Absorption, Golden Patterns Around the Soul Ring
"Are you sure you want this… what did you call it, a 'slime'… as your first soul ring?"
Guang Ling looked at Fan Chen, waiting for his answer.
In his eyes, slimes were far too weak—so weak it was downright pitiful.
"Let's go with this one."
Besides, Xiao Bai picked it himself, so it should be fine.
Seeing that Fan Chen offered no objections, Guang Ling didn't argue further.
At that moment, Xiao Bai leapt down from the top of the ice wall.
Its tiny body flapped its wings as it charged straight toward the slime's location.
The slime, already heavily weakened by the cold radiating from the surrounding ice walls, could barely move. It could not resist and could only watch helplessly as Xiao Bai landed right on top of it.
The slime's body was soft and elastic, just like a giant piece of transparent jelly.
Xiao Bai bounced twice on its surface, then raised its not-yet-fully-grown paw and slapped down.
That seemingly soft, powerless strike directly tore the slime's body apart the moment it landed.
The jelly-like creature split cleanly in two beneath Xiao Bai's claws, and a purple thousand-year soul ring floated up from its remains.
"Huh?!"
Guang Ling, who had been watching closely, was stunned.
Just… one light tap, and a thousand-year soul beast was dead?
Was this thing really that weak, or was something else going on?
While Guang Ling was still trying to figure out how Xiao Bai had killed the slime, Fan Chen covered his face with both hands.
He knew exactly what had just happened.
Slimes are inherently weaklings. A thousand-year slime probably couldn't even beat a ten-year soul beast.
Its combat class was roughly the same as the Ice Silkworms in the Extreme North—comically weak.
What's more, this slime had already been frozen half to death by Guang Ling's ice wall.
Guang Ling was a Titled Douluo. Even if he only intended to trap the creature, the lingering force from his attack was still incredibly powerful.
With how weak a slime naturally was, if Guang Ling had used even a bit more force, the creature likely would have died on the spot.
Xiao Bai merely noticed it was almost frozen to death and finished it off, delivering the final blow.
But of course, the real reason was simply… it was hungry.
"Xiao Bai! You can't just eat things off the ground. It's dirty!"
Fan Chen cried helplessly as Xiao Bai greedily devoured the slime's corpse.
"No, Xiao Bai didn't eat the part that touched the ground. I only eat the middle part—very clean!"
"Brother, do you want a piece? It's cold and bouncy. Super tasty!"
Stuffing its mouth completely full, Xiao Bai held a chunk of slime bigger than its own head while scraping ice off the ice wall to mix in as flavoring.
Guang Ling's lips twitched.
"What a little glutton…"
"I—forget it. Let him eat."
Xiao Bai's detection ability was superior to his own. If there was anything wrong with the slime, Xiao Bai would've avoided it already.
And since the little guy had eaten plenty by now with no sign of discomfort, it was clearly safe enough to consume.
While Xiao Bai continued eating, Fan Chen and Guang Ling walked over to the purple thousand-year soul ring left behind by the slime.
"Your first soul ring being a thousand-year ring… isn't that too risky?"
Although Guang Ling trusted Fan Chen's judgment, he couldn't help but worry.
"It's fine. I can sense its energy—it's something I can absorb."
Before merging with Xiao Bai, Fan Chen couldn't clearly see the contents of a soul ring.
But he could still roughly sense whether it was suitable. After all, he knew his own limits better than anyone.
Since Fan Chen insisted, Guang Ling didn't continue blocking him.
If anything truly went wrong later, he could forcibly interrupt the absorption.
Fan Chen sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
He guided the soul ring with both soul power and spiritual power toward his soul mark.
Xiao Bai, who had been busy eating just moments ago, sensed that Fan Chen had begun absorbing the soul ring and immediately ran over, curling into Fan Chen's arms.
The purple thousand-year soul ring rose from the soul mark and floated above Xiao Bai's twin horns.
Faint golden runes began appearing on Xiao Bai's horns.
The moment the runes appeared, the originally ordinary thousand-year ring also gained identical markings.
Golden runes intertwined with the purple ring, forming an incredibly dazzling sight.
Even Guang Ling was dumbfounded by this miraculous scene.
But his expression quickly shifted to one of intense focus and tension.
Fan Chen's aura remained stable—it seemed the absorption was proceeding smoothly.
But Guang Ling didn't dare relax. He had never seen or even heard of anything like this before.
With no reference point, he couldn't determine the correct response.
Guang Ling kept all his senses focused on Fan Chen, ready to intervene at the slightest sign of danger.
Time passed slowly.
Fan Chen's aura stayed calm, and the purple soul ring on Xiao Bai's horns gradually dimmed, becoming almost transparent.
It was the sign of a soul ring nearing complete absorption.
Seeing this, Guang Ling finally let out a breath of relief.
Almost done. Good…
Rustle—
A noise came from the nearby bushes. Guang Ling instantly snapped into combat mode, his bow drawn in one fluid motion.
"Relax, it's me."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's voice emerged, and moments later, he stepped into view with Qian Renxue beside him.
Sensing their familiar auras, Guang Ling lowered his bow.
"Looks like you two finished over there. How did it go?"
Guang Ling asked Qian Renxue.
"It went very well. No problems at all."
Qian Renxue shared her absorption experience, then turned her gaze toward the nearly-transparent soul ring floating before Fan Chen.
The absorption was clearly about to finish.
"A thousand-year ring as the first soul ring, huh? That brat actually pulled it off."
Golden Crocodile Douluo strode over to Fan Chen's side.
He'd been worried earlier, but after Qian Renxue successfully absorbed a nine-hundred-year Dawn Cloud Winged Bird, he fully believed Fan Chen could manage a thousand-year ring too.
"But what kind of soul beast did this brat choose? I don't see a corpse anywhere."
Golden Crocodile Douluo glanced around, confused. Since arriving with Qian Renxue, he hadn't spotted any signs of a soul beast.
"This part is… well, a bit…"
Guang Ling explained everything that had happened after they split.
Golden Crocodile Douluo and Qian Renxue both wore identical expressions of disbelief.
"A slime? There's actually a soul beast that weak?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo could hardly accept it. A creature so pathetic actually existed?
He shifted his gaze toward the area Guang Ling pointed to.
The slime's body had lost all vitality, melting into a pool of liquid. Most of it had seeped into the soil, and only a small fraction remained visible.
Practically equal to having no corpse at all. No wonder it hadn't been discovered before.
While the three of them discussed slimes, Fan Chen finally completed his absorption and slowly opened his eyes.
—
End of Chapter