He still didn't know what was going on with this bizarre Demon Blood Spirit, but it was indeed helping him relieve some of the pressure.
The rampaging energy was quickly diverted—part of it refined into his own soul power, and part of it turned into food for the Demon Blood Spirit.
The entire process became unusually smooth.
A little over an hour later, the fluctuations of soul power around Lin Yang gradually calmed, and he slowly opened his eyes.
First soul ring—successfully absorbed.
The energy contained within a seven-hundred-year ring directly pushed his soul power to level 13—even after the Demon Blood Spirit had taken a cut.
Who knew? Without that siphon, maybe he could have shot straight up to level 14 or even 15.
Of course, increasing his soul power level was secondary.
The most important thing was that the Gold Jigu Beast had not disappointed him.
The soul ring's bonus strengthened the very origin of his martial soul, boosting Hizama's sharpness and durability.
Lin Yang stood up and plucked a hair from his head, lightly drawing it across the nichirin blade. The strand instantly broke.
Then, with a thought, the yellow soul ring under his feet lit up.
First Soul Skill: Sharp Gold.
By activating the soul ring's Sharp Gold power, the blade's sharpness doubled, and its hardness increased by seventy percent.
With every level in soul power, both bonuses increased by an extra one percent.
Once the skill activated, the nichirin blade became razor sharp. Even standing before it, Lin Yang could feel a prickling cold as if needles were pressed to his skin.
In the next instant, he backhanded the blade and stabbed it at the rock wall behind him.
The blade slid in as easily as into tofu, leaving only the hilt and guard visible.
With a casual slice, he carved a deep cut in the rock. The cross-section was perfectly smooth.
Lin Yang's evaluation of this soul skill was simple: top-tier.
In his opinion, flashy offensive soul skills were far less valuable than property-enhancing buffs.
With Sun Breathing at his disposal, he wasn't lacking attack methods.
To him, soul skills were more like enchantments and power-ups layered onto his nichirin blade.
Imagine it: as long as he kept stacking enhancements onto the blade, each basic swing, each simple thrust would carry nine different attribute buffs.
Every normal attack would be a super ultimate.
Let others change their soul skills a thousand ways—he'd simply cut them all down with a single strike.
By then, who could halt his edge? Who would dare try?
If he fought the Gold Jigu Beast again right now—
He wouldn't even need Transparent World. One swing would be enough to shear off its proud armor and claws.
He'd show it what they called cutting iron like mud.
Thinking of this, Lin Yang's vision for the future became clearer; his gaze turned even more resolute.
After putting away Hizama, Lin Yang finally had time to observe his other martial soul.
A mass of crimson, bewitching blood appeared in the center of his palm.
Even though he'd been mentally prepared, his pupils still shrank slightly when he saw it—shocked at how it had changed.
The Demon Blood Spirit had actually… grown.
This wasn't a metaphorical "increase in power," but a literal, physical "growth."
When he first awakened, the Demon Blood Spirit had been just a single drop of blood.
Now, it had become a blood sphere the size of a pigeon egg—more than twice the size.
What's more, when he summoned it, Lin Yang could clearly feel that, after reaching a "full" state, the Demon Blood seemed to be secretly gestating something.
Could it be… a Blood Demon Art?
Lin Yang's expression shifted. This Demon Blood Spirit was far too strange.
He had never heard of a twin martial soul like this.
But for now, as long as he didn't use Spirit Possession, there were no signs of demonization, nor any special changes.
And if the Demon Blood Spirit could devour the energy of soul rings, then could it also absorb the power of other rings?
If so, its craving for blood and flesh would diminish greatly when in use.
After studying it for a while longer, Lin Yang finally dispelled his traps and walked out of the cave.
Outside, Zhao Bufan had been standing guard. Seeing Lin Yang emerge, he immediately beamed.
"Boss, how do you feel?"
Lin Yang smiled. "Great. Refreshed."
"Haha, I feel the same," Zhao Bufan said happily.
This trip had been incredibly profitable for him. Not only had he accidentally gotten rid of a hated enemy, he'd also obtained a soul bone—an absolute windfall.
With their soul hunting objectives achieved, the two of them didn't linger in the forest.
Rushing all the way, they managed to exit the Soul Hunting Forest before dark.
On the way back, Zhao Bufan handed the Soul Hunting Warrant to Lin Yang.
"Boss, you hold onto this first. I'll give you the rest of the payment once we're back at the academy."
Lin Yang was slightly surprised. You're storing that many gold soul coins at the academy?
Zhao Bufan only smiled mysteriously, clearly wanting to keep it a surprise.
By the time they returned to the academy, it was already midnight.
Instead of going straight back to Dorm Seven, they followed Zhao Bufan to a pine tree behind the teaching building.
Zhao Bufan crouched down and dug a few times at the soil under the tree, pulling out an iron box that held a sapphire ring.
The moment he saw the ring, Lin Yang blurted out, "A storage-type soul tool?"
"Boss, you recognized it." Zhao Bufan handed the ring to him.
"All the things my father left me are in this storage-type soul tool."
So people in this world hid things in such simple, unadorned ways.
Lin Yang silently complained to himself as he put on the ring.
He easily sensed the space inside—about one cubic meter. It was stuffed with gold soul coins.
A rough count put the total at around thirty thousand.
Looking at the ring, Lin Yang couldn't help but ask,
"Why don't you carry it with you? What if someone stole it from here?"
Zhao Bufan couldn't hide his pride.
"My uncle has always suspected that my father hid away his loot somewhere, but he'd never guessed it was in a soul tool carried by me."
"After I became a work-study student, this gemstone ring was too flashy, so I had to hide it here."
Lin Yang couldn't help but see him in a new light.
At only twelve, he already had such a meticulous mind. Even if his talent wasn't great, as long as he seized the right opportunity, he would surely make something of himself in the future.
"I'll take out the gold soul coins first, then return the ring to you."
Zhao Bufan waved a hand. "No need. I'm already benefiting more here. Just treat the storage ring as a bonus."
Lin Yang didn't stand on ceremony. He accepted the ring.
As for Zhao Bufan—someone who could casually give away a storage soul tool and hand over that many gold soul coins clearly had backups and contingencies of his own.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket—he wasn't the only one who understood that.
So Lin Yang didn't ask anything further.
Just as they were about to head back to the dorm, Zhao Bufan suddenly spoke up.
"Boss, I… I'm going to apply for graduation tomorrow, so I won't be going back. Help me say goodbye to Wang Sheng and the others."
Lin Yang paused mid-step, then nodded.
"Got it. I'll pass the message. I wish you a safe journey."
Zhao Bufan nodded.
"Boss, your talent is way better than mine. I hope one day I'll hear your name echo across the continent."
"I will."
After that, Lin Yang waved and walked off toward the dorm without looking back.
Behind him, Zhao Bufan stood there in silence, watching Lin Yang's figure disappear into the darkness.
After this parting, it would probably be very hard for them to meet again.
"Goodbye… Boss."
…
The next day, Lin Yang told the others in Dorm Seven about Zhao Bufan's graduation.
Once they learned that Zhao Bufan had become a one-ring soul master—and with a hundred-year soul ring at that—their brief sadness was quickly washed away by envy.
Wang Sheng was especially fired up. "Once I reach level ten, I'll get a soul ring too. Then I'll become a real soul master."
Right then, Wang Sheng glanced at Lin Yang as if something occurred to him, scooted closer, and asked:
"Boss, when you took leave the other day, was it to hunt for a soul ring too?"
Lin Yang nodded slightly. "Yeah."
Immediately, the dorm was filled with ribbiting "frog" noises of envy, as everyone's longing gazes nearly drowned him.
Wang Sheng rubbed his hands together, plastering a fawning smile on his face.
"Boss, could you show us your soul ring? Let us broaden our horizons?"
"Sure."
With a thought, Hizama appeared in Lin Yang's hand.
At the same time, a bright yellow soul ring rose from his feet and circled him slowly.
"So that's a hundred-year soul ring…"
"So amazing…"
"Don't you feel like Boss's martial soul looks even sharper now? Just standing in front of him makes all the hair on my body stand on end."
"You felt that too? I thought I was imagining things."
"Same here… It really feels like that blade could slice me clean in half."