Ma Xiunuo hesitated for a moment. But when he saw the unwavering determination in Yin Zhang's eyes, his expression softened and he finally nodded.
"Normally, absorbing a first spirit ring carries no danger. But since you're attempting one beyond your limit, if anything goes wrong, I will immediately interrupt the process—just to be safe."
Yin Zhang nodded without hesitation.
"Alright, Grandpa Ma Xiunuo. I have confidence in myself."
Ma Xiunuo gave a small nod and summoned his martial soul, the Staff of Desire.
"Third Soul Skill — Desire Cage!"
A purple, illusory cage materialized out of thin air above the Blazing Fire Dragon Ape and slammed down violently.
The Blazing Fire Dragon Ape didn't even have time to react before it was completely trapped.
"This third soul skill of mine comes from a thousand-year spirit ring," Ma Xiunuo explained calmly.
"It's hard to say how effective it is against Spirit Masters, but against Spirit Beasts like this, it often produces unexpected results. Once they're dominated by their own desires, they sometimes don't even realize what's happening to them."
He stroked his beard and smiled faintly.
From Yin Zhang's perspective, the Blazing Fire Dragon Ape struggled wildly at first, trying desperately to break free.
But before long, its eyes turned completely red, its movements growing frantic and disordered.
A hundred-year Spirit Beast didn't possess much intelligence to begin with. Once it was completely controlled by its own desires, it was riddled with openings.
Ma Xiunuo extended his staff and activated his Second Soul Skill, severely injuring the Blazing Fire Dragon Ape.
When the two approached the unconscious beast, Ma Xiunuo glanced at it and spoke seriously.
"Xiao Zhang, this Blazing Fire Dragon Ape is yours now. There's something you must remember: once a Spirit Beast is killed, the spirit ring it condenses can only be absorbed by the one who delivered the killing blow. Keep this in mind when hunting spirit rings in the future."
Yin Zhang nodded gently.
Before transmigrating, he had heard claims about a so-called "new setting" where any Spirit Master could absorb a spirit ring regardless of who killed the Spirit Beast.
Clearly, the rules of this Douluo Continent were still exactly as he remembered from Douluo Dalu—unchanged.
Spirit Possession!
Yin Zhang summoned his Charizard martial soul. Completing possession, he extended his right arm without hesitation.
Sharp claws pierced straight through the Blazing Fire Dragon Ape's chest.
In an instant, scorching blood with a strong, fishy stench gushed out.
Yin Zhang beat his wings and retreated immediately, avoiding the splatter.
Ma Xiunuo, standing behind him, wasn't quite as lucky—his clothes were stained, forcing him to circulate his spirit power to evaporate the blood clean.
The 520-year-old Blazing Fire Dragon Ape died without ever understanding how—or why.
An orange-yellow spirit ring slowly condensed above its corpse.
After waiting a few seconds, Yin Zhang walked to a clean patch of ground in front of the body and sat down cross-legged to begin absorption.
---
Absorbing a spirit ring consists of four stages:
1. Breaking the Ring — breaking through the spirit ring's outer protection
2. Fighting the Ring — a tug-of-war with the spirit power within
3. Dissolving the Ring — erasing the Spirit Beast's lingering consciousness
4. Integrating the Ring — fusing the ring into one's martial soul
Among these, only the first two are truly difficult.
Before reaching ten thousand years, spirit rings generally do not contain a strong residual consciousness, so the third step can usually be ignored.
"Breaking the Ring!"
As the orange-yellow spirit ring descended and wrapped around his body, Yin Zhang focused all his effort on shattering its surface protection.
Reality quickly proved that absorbing a spirit ring beyond one's limit carried genuine risk.
Yin Zhang spent two and a half hours on this first step alone.
Watching from the side, Ma Xiunuo grew increasingly anxious. Fortunately, throughout the entire process, Yin Zhang's expression remained calm and steady, with no sign of instability.
Otherwise, Ma Xiunuo would have forcibly interrupted the absorption without hesitation.
---
The second stage was the tug-of-war with the spirit power contained within the ring.
Once this battle was won, the spirit power would be fully absorbed together with the spirit ring.
Just like in the original story—when Tang San absorbed the Datura Snake spirit ring beyond his limit, his spirit power jumped directly from level 10 to level 13.
Of course, that wasn't solely due to the spirit ring itself.
Before awakening his martial soul, Tang San had already reached a cultivation bottleneck, meaning his spirit power was effectively already at level ten.
After awakening, he remained in Saint Spirit Village for a long time and never stopped cultivating before heading to Nuoding City.
Because of this, many mistakenly believed that his three-level jump came entirely from absorbing a higher-level spirit ring.
At this moment, Yin Zhang's spirit power had already reached level 13 thanks to the system reward.
Naturally, this second stage posed no real difficulty for him.
The third and fourth steps proceeded smoothly.
When the final stage—Integrating the Ring—was completed, the absorption was officially successful.
Yin Zhang stood up, stretched his body, and his bones let out a series of crackling sounds like exploding beans.
Checking his attributes again, he felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.
---
[Host]: Yin Zhang
[Age]: 7
[Martial Soul]: Charizard
[Spirit Power]: 15
[Spirit Ring]: Yellow
[Soul Skills]: Dragon Claw, Azure Flame Shield, Flamethrower
[Spirit Bone]: None
[Inventory]: Skill Disc (Double Team)
---
Not only had his spirit power increased by two additional levels, but his First Soul Skill, Azure Flame Shield, made him especially excited.
First Soul Skill — Azure Flame Shield:
Releases intense, blazing flames to envelop the entire body. While active, all personal attributes increase by 100%, with the effect strengthening as spirit power rises, up to a maximum of 2.5 times amplification.
As for Flamethrower, it was not a soul skill obtained from the spirit ring itself.
Charizard as a martial soul was a vast treasure trove, still waiting for Yin Zhang to explore.
The dense fire-attribute energy from the absorption had allowed him to naturally grasp a new ability—this Flamethrower technique.
When Ma Xiunuo asked about it, Yin Zhang simply stated that his first soul skill had excellent effects.
After all, he was only seven years old. There was no rush to reveal self-created abilities so early.
"Grandpa Ma Xiunuo, watch carefully. This is my First Soul Skill—Azure Flame Shield!"
Yin Zhang activated Spirit Possession and flapped his wings, rising into the air.
A circular barrier of flowing flames enveloped his entire body. Upon closer inspection, the fire seemed to ripple like liquid.
Not only was it visually striking, Yin Zhang could clearly feel his physical attributes surging dramatically.
After observing for a while, Ma Xiunuo activated his own First Soul Skill — Voice of Desire to test it.
The result exceeded expectations.
That layer of Azure Flame Shield actually resisted sonic-based attacks.