Chapter 75: Comparing Goods Leads to Throwing Them Away; Comparing People Leads to Death by Anger! Crazy, Is the Fourth Soul Ring Ten Thousand Years?
On the open ground.
Lin Qingmo and Xiao Wu had already left.
Only Ning Rongrong remained, standing there blankly by herself.
The evening breeze gently brushed past her hair and skirts, slowly helping to untangle the chaos in her mind.
Lin Qingmo's words had struck her like a sudden awakening from a dream.
"I wasn't wrong… but I wasn't responsible for myself."
"My own fate should be held in my own hands…"
Those calm words echoed clearly in her mind, one sentence after another, repeatedly knocking against her heart.
Her tears had long since dried up.
In their place, a gradually brightening light ignited deep within her beautiful eyes—eyes that had once been filled with nothing but arrogance and willfulness.
The confusion and grief faded away like morning mist.
An unprecedented sense of clarity broke through the soil, taking root and beginning to grow in her heart.
Yes.
She was Ning Rongrong.
The little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
That was her pride. That was her foundation.
But she could not—nor should she—remain forever as a fragile, glazed flower clinging to a towering tree, protected layer upon layer.
The sect's protection was indeed warm and powerful.
Yet the storms beyond its walls were things she would eventually have to face on her own.
If she couldn't even endure the hardship of running, if she couldn't even maintain the most basic self-discipline, then what right did she have to grasp her own destiny in the future?
And what right did she have to contribute even a shred of strength when the sect might one day need her?
A delicate flower might be able to stay in a greenhouse forever.
But she, Ning Rongrong… no longer wanted to be just a flower.
She wanted to become a towering tree—one that could stand shoulder to shoulder with Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone, and even protect them!
At the very least, she had to start by being able to independently face these twenty laps of running.
Ning Rongrong slowly clenched her fists.
Her nails dug slightly into her palms, bringing a sharp, unmistakable pain.
That pain made her even more clear-headed!
The fragility and hesitation in her eyes vanished completely.
What replaced them was a stubborn determination mixed with the unyielding pride befitting the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Hmph…"
She let out a soft snort.
Whether it was directed at others—or at herself—no one could tell.
Then she turned around, straightened her back, and walked away with steps that were still a little stiff, yet visibly firmer than before.
The final rays of the setting sun spilled over her slender yet upright figure, as if draping her in a faint golden glow.
A willful little princess was perhaps quietly undergoing her transformation.
And all of this was silently observed by a pair of sharp, calculating eyes behind a window on the second floor in the distance, peering through crystal lenses.
Flender adjusted his glasses, the corners of his mouth curling into a subtle, meaningful smile.
"Interesting… that blue-haired kid really knows how to talk."
He murmured to himself before his figure quietly disappeared into the shadows behind the window.
…
Night had finally truly descended upon Shrek Academy.
Inside the chat group, Bibi Dong suddenly asked Lin Qingmo a question.
[The Pope Herself]: @Dad Douluo, Ah Qing, your soul power has already reached rank forty, hasn't it? Do you have any plans in mind for your fourth soul ring?
Spirit City, Pope's bedroom.
Bibi Dong's fingers lightly tapped against the edge of the bed.
The faint blue glow of the light screen reflected off her exquisitely beautiful profile.
She asked casually, yet her thoughts were meticulously calculating.
[Dad Douluo]: Sigh, Royal Sister, don't even mention it. Just talking about it gives me a headache.
[Tyrant Dragon Mom]: A headache? You little brat should be secretly celebrating. A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor, and you're still being picky? Be careful not to get struck by lightning!
At Blue Tyrant Academy.
Liu Erlong sat with one leg crossed over the other, lips pursed at the glowing screen.
The sourness in her tone was practically overflowing through the screen.
Back then, she was considered a genius too—
But compared to a monster like Lin Qingmo… forget it. Comparing people really does drive you to death.
[A Rogue Rabbit]: What's Ah Qing worried about?
[Dad Douluo]: I'm worried, alright. You don't know—I've got a flaw. Whenever I see something good, I just can't move on. Mainly because I'm too greedy. I want everything.
Extreme North.
The wind and snow raged on as always.
Ice Empress and Snow Empress stood atop a glacier.
The chat group's light screen floated before the two of them.
They had always been somewhat curious about how human soul masters chose their soul rings.
They weren't unfamiliar with human soul masters either.
"Hundred-year rings for the first and second, thousand-year rings for the third and fourth. I remember humans call that a perfect soul ring configuration," Snow Empress recalled.
"Heh. Soul beasts cultivate for a thousand years only to be absorbed by humans who've grown for barely a dozen years. Truly pitiful," Ice Empress said coldly, her displeasure evident.
…
Shrek Academy, girls' dormitory.
The night was deep, yet neither Ning Rongrong nor Zhu Zhuqing had fallen asleep.
They had already seen Lin Qingmo's soul rings before.
Three thousand-year soul rings—only the exact years were unknown.
[Dad Douluo]: There's a reason for my greed. My first soul ring was already two thousand years old. I started too high—if I'm not greedy, I'd be letting myself down.
[Little Witch]: Wait… how much?!
Seeing his words, Ning Rongrong nearly sprang up from her bed.
A two-thousand-year-old first soul ring?
All those soul master theory books in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's library shattered into pieces in her mind.
This was rubbing common sense in the dirt!
She had thought one thousand years was already the absolute limit—never imagined it would exceed that by so much!
[Big-Chested Kitty]: Two thousand years…
Even Zhu Zhuqing's usually cold expression showed a rare shock.
The hand resting on her lap slowly tightened.
That trash Dai Mubai's third soul ring was only just over a thousand years old.
Compared to a monster like Lin Qingmo, whose starting point was two thousand years... forget it, don't compare, it's heartbreaking.
[Dad Douluo]: That's right. You might not know since you came later—my second soul ring was five thousand years, and my third soul ring was nine thousand years. Just a tiny bit short of touching the ten-thousand-year threshold.
The words appeared calmly on the screen.
Yet they landed like massive boulders smashing into everyone's hearts.
A nine-thousand-year third soul ring?
With a configuration like that, even some Soul Kings would blush in shame!
[Bingbing]: Huh?! Two thousand years for the first soul ring? Nine thousand years for the third soul ring? Are you even human?
Ice Empress blurted out her shock.
Even by her standards, this was absurdly outrageous.
The energy impact of a near-ten-thousand-year soul ring—how could a twelve-year-old boy possibly withstand it?
Didn't this mean that twelve-year-old Lin Qingmo already possessed strength comparable to a ten-thousand-year soul beast?
Humans… were they really so favored by heaven?
[Ice and Snow Maiden]: …
Snow Empress fell silent.
A ripple passed through her calm, icy eyes.
This truly exceeded her understanding of human soul masters.
Had human physiques mutated now?
She even began wondering whether she should leave the Extreme North and see for herself how far human soul masters had developed.
If everyone were like Lin Qingmo, what chance would soul beasts have left to survive?
[Tyrant Dragon Mom]: Tch. Every time I think about your soul ring configuration, I feel like all other soul beasts lived the first half of their lives for nothing.
She wasn't just talking about others.
She was talking about herself, too.
Liu Erlong couldn't help but take another gulp of wine.
Envy, jealousy, and all sorts of emotions twisted together.
Back then, she had risked her life for her first soul ring—and only managed a little over four hundred years.
Truly… compare goods, and you throw them away. Compare people, and you just want to smash your head into a wall!
[Tyrant Dragon Mom]: Wait! You said you were greedy just now. Your fourth ring… don't tell me you're planning to—
After a brief pause, a terrifying thought flashed through her mind.
Liu Erlong abruptly straightened up, most of the alcohol instantly gone.
[Dad Douluo]: That's right. For my fourth soul ring, I plan to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring.
—
End of Chapter