"My theory on Soul Spirits—they can be recycled!"
The moment those words left Tang Lan's mouth—
The crowd, already astonished by the convenience of Soul Spirits, had their eyes widen even further!
Soul Spirit = Soul Ring.
And if Soul Spirits can be recycled…
Didn't that mean Soul Rings could be recycled too?!
Soul Rings could become like Soul Bones—tradable items?!
This…
The number of human soul masters was growing far faster than the natural birth rate of soul beasts.
On top of that, some people killed recklessly out of greed—whether to gain power or farm Soul Bones.
It was easy to foresee—
One day, soul beasts would become incredibly scarce, and countless people would be stuck at bottlenecks, unable to break through due to a lack of available soul rings.
But if Soul Spirits could replace Soul Rings…
And if they could even be recovered and reused…
All of these problems would be solved!
Even more than that—
The long-standing hatred between soul beasts and soul masters, driven by relentless hunting, could finally ease!
After all, not every soul beast could break past its racial limits and reach a higher lifespan.
Many of them faced the threat of natural death due to old age.
If Soul Spirits became an alternative—
Wouldn't that allow them to break free from their physical constraints and achieve a form of spiritual immortality?
At this moment—
Ning Fengzhi didn't even know how to describe Tang Lan's brilliance!
But there was one thing he was certain of—
This era… would be led by Tang Lan.
"Sect Master! I volunteer!" Jing Ling couldn't wait any longer. "For your great vision, I will fully cooperate!"
Forget everything else—
This was an opportunity to be remembered in history!
If this experiment succeeded—
The records would forever say—
"First Soul Spirit Experiment Subject: Jing Ling!"
His name would be etched into his family's genealogy with a dedicated page!
How could he hesitate?
If he knew how to start, he would have jumped in immediately!
Tang Lan turned to Gu Rong.
"Uncle Bone, let us out."
With a mere thought, Gu Rong dispelled his Soul Skill.
The mountains of bones shattered, dissipating into pure soul power.
And just like that, the battlefield of slaughtered soul beasts was revealed.
As they moved further out, they began to encounter living soul beasts.
But these creatures were severely injured, some on the brink of death.
These were the remnants of the soul beast chaos that had erupted while the team was absorbing their immortal herbs.
There had been so much bloodshed that it had almost turned into a mini beast tide riot.
Tang Lan walked directly toward a group of gathered soul beasts.
Sensing Gu Rong's terrifying presence, they immediately fled in all directions.
Except for one—
A two-meter-long baby elephant, covered in bite wounds.
Surrounding it were huge craters.
At the bottom of these pits lay the corpses of various soul beasts.
All of them had been killed—
Or rather, trampled to death—by this very "small elephant."
Meat Mountain Giant Elephant!
A species that typically fed on plant-type soul beasts, its flesh was exceptionally tender and rich in soul power—
Making it the Tang Monk of the soul beast world.
But it was far from defenseless.
With its innate ability—Gigantification, it could temporarily expand its body size tenfold!
This little elephant was only two meters long.
Even if it only grew ten times, it would still reach a terrifying twenty meters!
Its soul skill—Hardening, drastically increased its defense.
Essentially, it transformed into a living battering ram, rolling over everything in its path.
Which was exactly how this massacre had happened.
But in the end—
Even an elephant could be worn down when facing a swarm of enemies.
It had simply been drained of all its soul power.
Tang Lan raised his hand.
His Life Soul Blue Silver Emperor emerged, wrapping around the injured Meat Mountain Giant Elephant, transferring life energy to sustain its life.
He carefully examined it.
Once he confirmed that its condition matched what the Blue Silver Grass network had reported—
He finally spoke—
"This Meat Mountain Giant Elephant is at 2,510 years."
"You've taken the Nine-Rank Purple Lingzhi—it will work perfectly as your third soul ring."
Since Jing Ling was a commoner soul master, he had not taken Whale Glue to extend his absorption limit.
And Tang Lan had no spare stock at the moment.
So—
He glanced at Ning Fengzhi—
Your guy is testing this for your daughter. No perks for him?
Ning Fengzhi chuckled.
This little brother sure knew how to squeeze every advantage.
From his storage ring, he retrieved three pieces of thousand-year Whale Glue.
"This young man is testing for Rongrong, after all. We can't let him go unrewarded."
"Take these three pieces of thousand-year Whale Glue."
Jing Ling was instantly tempted!
But—
He didn't move to take them. Instead, he looked toward Tang Lan.
—Without Tang Lan's backing, would a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Master have even spared him a glance?
Jing Ling was very self-aware of his position.
"Why are you looking at me?" Tang Lan raised an eyebrow. "A gift from an elder should not be refused. Hurry up and thank him."
"Yes, Sect Master!"
Jing Ling immediately took the Whale Glue with both hands.
"Thank you, Sect Master Ning!"
Then, without hesitation, he moved aside to begin absorbing it.
Tang Lan also activated mental communication.
"You're dying. I can save you."
Spiritual dialogue bypassed the limitations of language.
The Meat Mountain Giant Elephantunderstood.
It struggled to lift its head, gazing at the young human before it.
Flashes of past memories surfaced.
A glint of hatred flickered in its eyes!
"Hmph! Humans! They all deserve to die!"
There was zero trust in its expression.
But Tang Lan only smiled.
Soul beasts only fully awaken their intelligence at 100,000 years.
But before that, did they truly act only on instinct?
Of course not.
Here, intelligence referred to the level of human-like reasoning—
Abstract thought, adaptability, and comprehension.
Ordinary soul beasts, as they aged, developed their own intelligence—
Some higher, some lower.
Tang Lan had chosen this particular Meat Mountain Giant Elephant not just for its age and attributes, which suited Jing Ling—
But because of its tactical battle sense.
It fought with calculated offense and defense, making efficient decisions.
It had managed to withstand a siege from soul beasts ten times its number and even killed more than half of them in return.
With Purple Demon Eye,
Tang Lan could see that this soul beast's soul was far stronger than its peers—
It must have had some kind of fortuitous encounter.
"You don't need to resist me."
Tang Lan unleashed his Blue Silver Domain, causing all the Blue Silver Grass in the area to bow in submission.
"Half of my bloodline is also from soul beasts—Blue Silver Emperor."
"I am truly here to save you."
This was Tang Lan's natural advantage!
Sure enough—
The hatred in the Meat Mountain Giant Elephant's eyes noticeably faded.
But it was still wary.
"Save me? Didn't you just say you wanted to turn me into that human's soul ring?"
Oh?
It even understood human speech?
Tang Lan was surprised—but not worried.
"I've developed a new kind of soul ring—one that allows your soul to integrate into the soul ring and continue living in a spiritual form."
"And in the future, if this human ascends to godhood, you can follow him into the God Realm—where you can be resurrected and gain eternal life."
He painted the grandest vision possible!
To anyone with a bit of wisdom, this promise was clearly a trap—
Becoming a god isn't that easy, you know?
But the intelligence of this Meat Mountain Giant Elephant was about that of a ten-year-old child.
And just like that, it was hooked.
"I can… exist as a soul?"
"That means I won't be hunted every day?"
"Without my physical body, no soul beasts will try to eat me?"
Hmm?
That was… an unexpected concern.
But as long as it worked, that was all that mattered.
Tang Lan nodded in confirmation.
The Meat Mountain Giant Elephant, despite being on the verge of death, suddenly straightened up and leaned toward Tang Lan.
"Aoooo——!"
Its loud trumpeting carried its agreement to cooperate with Tang Lan in completing this Soul Spirit experiment.
—If given the choice to live, who would choose to die?
(End of Chapter)