"By the way, Zhu Zhuqing, if that vixen turns out to be Hu Liena, do you think you can beat her with my assistance?"
Suddenly, as they were climbing the stairs, Ning Rongrong thought of an important point and transmitted a voice message to ask Zhu Zhuqing.
The two of them had come to catch the vixen. If they couldn't subdue her, it would be quite embarrassing.
"Hmm..."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing hesitated.
She knew a bit about Hu Liena's strength—she was a spirit control-type soul master and seemed to possess a head soul bone.
Although Ning Rongrong's spiritual power wasn't weak after cultivating Eternal Thought, whether she could withstand Hu Liena's mental control was uncertain.
"Never mind, regardless of whether the vixen is Hu Liena or not, I'm determined to catch her tonight! We represent justice, and justice cannot lose!"
Raising her fist, Ning Rongrong said with determination.
Zhu Zhuqing: "..."
Soon, the two followed the waiter to the fifth floor and arrived at Room 506.
Waving their hands to dismiss the waiter, the sisters exchanged glances. Ning Rongrong pointed to herself, signaling that she would take the lead.
Knock knock knock—
Ning Rongrong knocked on the door.
"Who is it~?"
Inside the suite, in the bathroom, Hu Liena was bathing. Hearing the knock, she felt a flicker of joy but still asked, just in case it wasn't Chu Chengzhou.
Outside, Ning Rongrong adjusted her voice, using her Absolute Control Technique to mimic Chu Chengzhou's voice and said, "It's me!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Hu Liena didn't suspect anything and replied directly, "Come in, I'm taking a bath!"
As for the locked door?
Picking locks was child's play for Chu Chengzhou.
It was just an ordinary lock. With a sweep of his spiritual power, he could manipulate his soul force to push the lock mechanism open.
However, while this was easy for Chu Chengzhou, it posed a challenge for Ning Rongrong, who lacked his lock-picking skills. She glanced at Zhu Zhuqing with some difficulty.
Seeing this, Zhu Zhuqing extended her right hand, gathered her soul force, and slapped the door with great force.
Boom—
A muffled sound echoed, wood chips flew, and the wooden door's lock area was shattered into splinters, leaving only a few metal parts hanging.
If the young mistress didn't know how to pick locks, she could still smash doors!
"What are you doing... no, who?!"
Hearing the commotion outside, Hu Liena initially wanted to ask what Chu Chengzhou was up to, but the next moment, she sensed two different sets of footsteps approaching the door.
Instantly, Hu Liena realized something was wrong. Quickly getting up to dress, she simultaneously released her spiritual power to investigate.
!!!
Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing?
Oh no, this Holy Maiden has been caught red-handed!
---
Three days later, in the core area of the Great Star Dou Forest.
In mid-air, atop the back of the Fire Phoenix Summon Beast, Chu Chengzhou spread out his spiritual power to scan the soul beasts roaming below in the forest.
At this point, Chu Chengzhou himself possessed strength comparable to a newly minted nine-ring Titled Douluo. His two summon beasts, Big Bear and Big Black, also matched the level of Titled Douluos. With such strength, though they couldn't act recklessly in the Great Star Dou Forest, flying brazenly in the air posed no issue.
"Brother, wasn't that eighty-thousand-year-old three-eyed demon fox we encountered earlier pretty good? Why didn't you let me absorb its soul ring?"
Xiao Wu asked Chu Chengzhou with some confusion.
"If possible, it'd be best for you to absorb a seventh soul ring older than ninety thousand years."
Chu Chengzhou replied.
"Aren't eighty-thousand-year and ninety-thousand-year soul rings pretty similar?"
Blinking, Xiao Wu was puzzled.
"You'll understand later~."
Chu Chengzhou smiled and didn't elaborate further.
The years of a soul ring weren't fixed and unchangeable. Aside from methods like Chu Chengzhou's cheat, participating in divine trials could also reward upgrades to soul ring years.
Especially for a certain god who was incredibly wealthy (with many believers), he was extremely generous—not only rewarding increases in soul ring years but also boosting soul power levels and even granting divine-bestowed soul rings.
Poseidon: I'm super rich (in believers), so it's no big deal~!
Faintly recalling, in the original storyline, after Ning Rongrong completed the top-tier seven trials of the Sea God, her third soul ring, originally less than 1,500 years old, transformed into a black ten-thousand-year soul ring.
This meant that completing the top-tier seven trials of the Sea God rewarded at least an 8,500-year increase in soul ring years.
If Xiao Wu's seventh soul ring was older than 91,500 years, and she later undertook trials on the Sea God Island with a trial rank no lower than the top-tier seven trials, her seventh soul ring would have a chance to evolve into a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
The difference between an eighty-thousand-year soul ring and a ninety-thousand-year soul ring might not be significant, but the gap between a ninety-thousand-year soul ring and a hundred-thousand-year soul ring was enormous.
And while a Level 80 soul master could absorb most soul rings under a hundred thousand years, Xiao Wu's soul power level, though only at 70, surpassed that of an average Level 80 soul master in both physical body and spiritual power. Absorbing a ninety-thousand-year seventh soul ring wouldn't be a problem.
"Roar—"
Suddenly, a mournful beastly roar came from far ahead to the side.
"Hmm? Seems like there's something big?"
Raising an eyebrow, Chu Chengzhou directed Little Red to turn toward the source of the roar.
Not long after, a somewhat chaotic battlefield appeared in their line of sight.
Below in the forest, the ground was riddled with pits of various sizes, surrounded by broken towering trees ablaze with fire. A crimson tiger, over ten meters long, lay dead in a pool of blood, its soul ring already released.
Beside the tiger's corpse, a creature over three meters long, with elongated ears nearly the length of its entire body, covered in green fur and sharp claws, was happily munching away.
"An eighty-thousand-year-old Flame Tiger? Xiao Wu, does the Great Star Dou Forest really have rabbits this fierce?"
Chu Chengzhou asked Xiao Wu in shock.
He recognized the tiger being eaten by the rabbit, but he didn't recognize the rabbit eating the tiger.
After all, there were many types of soul beasts in Douluo. He only recognized the more common ones.
Moreover, in his impression, rabbit-type soul beasts were usually at the bottom of the food chain. Besides Xiao Wu and her mother, were there really rabbits this powerful in existence?
Could this green-furred rabbit belong to the same species as Xiao Wu's father, who never appeared in the original storyline?
"That's not a rabbit—they don't eat meat! It's called a Fungus Hound!"
Xiao Wu rolled her eyes at Chu Chengzhou and explained.
"A hound? Where does it look like a dog?"
After scrutinizing it closely, Chu Chengzhou couldn't see how this green soul beast eating the tiger resembled a dog. Aside from its extremely long ears, it clearly looked like a rabbit!
Xiao Wu shook her head and said, "No, it's a Fungus Hound!
This type of soul beast is relatively rare, with wind attributes, classified as a strong offensive-type soul beast, and it even has a natural talent soul skill for creating duplicates.
However, judging by its age, this Fungus Hound should be over ninety thousand years old, making it very suitable as my seventh soul ring."
"Then it's decided!"
Without hesitation, Chu Chengzhou nodded. A golden glow flashed around him as the Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor materialized, and he activated his illusion technique: Void Illusion Realm.
This Fungus Hound, with its high age and a natural talent soul skill for duplication, paired perfectly with Xiao Wu's seventh soul skill, which was also duplication. Excluding divine-bestowed soul rings, it was likely the most compatible choice.
The next moment, intangible spiritual power descended upon its consciousness. Under the effect of the Void Illusion Realm, this dining Fungus Hound immediately became a devout believer of a certain "God Almighty."
With a spiritual power foundation comparable to a high-level Soul Elder, amplified by the Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor's helmet forged from soul-refined silver, a non-spirit-type ninety-thousand-year soul beast clearly couldn't resist Chu Chengzhou's Void Illusion Realm.
"Oh stray puppy offer your soul ring to your sister Xiao Wu! Who knows, if your sister Xiao Wu becomes a god one day, maybe even you could ascend to heaven along with her!"
With a pretentious tone, Chu Chengzhou gestured to Xiao Wu beside him. To ensure the Fungus Hound understood human speech, he specially conveyed his meaning through spiritual transmission.
Voluntary sacrifice of a soul ring differed from acquiring a soul ring through hunting and refining—it preserved the soul beast's soul. Even if the soul beast was younger than a hundred thousand years and couldn't fully retain its soul, preserving a trace was feasible.
If the soul master ascended to godhood in the future and wished to do so, reviving their soul ring beast wasn't impossible.
"Poof—!"
Xiao Wu couldn't help laughing and explained, "Brother, voluntary sacrifice is a unique ability of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. Most soul beasts younger than a hundred thousand years, aside from a few special cases, cannot perform voluntary sacrifices even if they wanted to."
"Why didn't you say so earlier!"
Glaring at Xiao Wu, Chu Chengzhou pulled the Fungus Hound's consciousness into the illusion realm, then nudged Xiao Wu, "Go ahead, it can't resist now."
Nodding, Xiao Wu retrieved a short sword forged from soul-refined gold from her storage soul tool, walked up to the Fungus Hound, infused it with soul force, and plunged the razor-sharp blade straight into its rabbit-like dog head.
"Poof—"
Like stabbing tofu, the soul force-enhanced blade pierced cleanly into the skull.
With the blade penetrating its brain, the Fungus Hound, lacking an immortal body, immediately lost consciousness, and the illusion realm generated by the Void Illusion Realm automatically disappeared.
Pulling the Fungus Hound's consciousness into the illusion realm counted as mental control. Since the cause of death was Xiao Wu's brain-piercing stab, Chu Chengzhou wasn't worried about world rules assigning the final blow to him, which would prevent Xiao Wu from absorbing the soul ring.
Soon, dense golden specks floated out of the Fungus Hound's body. Countless swirling golden lights converged, gradually forming a pitch-black soul ring with a faint red hue.
"This should be over ninety-one thousand five hundred years, right?"
Looking at the soul ring emerging from the Fungus Hound's body, Chu Chengzhou thought to himself.
To be honest, aside from his ability to check the exact years of his own soul rings via his attribute panel, no soul master in the world could accurately determine the years of a soul ring—they could only roughly estimate.
Even soul rings of the same age could appear differently depending on the surrounding environment and lighting conditions.
As for why Yu Xiaogang claimed that the limit for a soul master's first soul ring was 423 years, with such precise numbers?
That was probably a guess. Unless Yu Xiaogang had cheats and possessed a 'Detection Skill' to probe soul ring years, even Titled Douluos couldn't determine the exact year of a soul ring down to the single digits. What did a mere two-ring Grand Soul Master know?
Of course, because accurate judgment wasn't possible, and there were few soul masters whose first soul ring years clearly exceeded 423, no one refuted Yu Xiaogang's theory.
Time passed, and the sun began to set. After spending most of the day refining the soul ring, Xiao Wu's progress was nearing its end.
Seeing that it was getting late and night would soon fall in the Great Star Dou Forest, Chu Chengzhou began preparing dinner.
Conveniently, there was an eighty-thousand-year-old Flame Tiger nearby. Tonight, they'd feast on tiger meat.
Hmm, the tiger's fur was glossy and water-resistant. After skinning it, he could take it back to find a craftsman to tan it and make a tiger-skin sofa.
"Ah—"
While peeling the tiger skin, a sudden cry of pain rang out. Chu Chengzhou quickly moved to Xiao Wu's side.
The once peacefully refining Xiao Wu now wore a pained expression, and a strong surge of soul power fluctuated above her head.
Suddenly, accompanied by a flash of green light, Xiao Wu's pair of rabbit ears rapidly elongated. The previously pink-white rabbit ear fur gradually turned green.
"Is this... an external soul bone?"
Glancing at the pair of extremely long green ears on the Fungus Hound's corpse, Chu Chengzhou widened his eyes.
Any soul bone not belonging to the six normal soul bone slots—torso, head, left and right arms, left and right legs—was considered an external soul bone.
For soul masters with mediocre talent, external soul bones might not surpass hundred-thousand-year soul bones. But for gifted soul masters, the value of external soul bones often surpassed that of hundred-thousand-year soul bones. Moreover, the stronger the talent, the more precious the external soul bone became.
This was because external soul bones could continuously upgrade with the soul master's level, even if their base years were low, they could still evolve into top-tier soul bones.
If a soul master advanced to a Titled Douluo, the external soul bone's years would reach a hundred thousand.
Even when a soul master achieved the 99th level and became a peerless Douluo, the external soul bone's years could exceed a hundred thousand.
A hundred-level soul master corresponded to a million-year soul beast, and a million-year soul beast produced million-year soul bones. Thus, theoretically, the years of an external soul bone on a 99th-level peerless Douluo could reach over nine hundred thousand years!
As a staple item for protagonists, and something Chu Chengzhou had long coveted, an external soul bone had now appeared on Xiao Wu!
For a moment, Chu Chengzhou felt a pang of envy. How enviable!
But soon, he adjusted his emotions.
His little sister gaining an external soul bone during soul hunting was a good thing. If he didn't get one, it was simply fate. Maybe all his luck had been spent on awakening his cheat codes?
Soul bones were valuable, and external soul bones even more so, but compared to his cheat codes, perhaps they weren't that big a deal?
Well, unable to taste the grapes, Chu Chengzhou could only claim they were sour.
External soul bones resembled parts of a soul beast's body. When a soul master obtained one, it was akin to reshaping their body.
During this process, enduring some pain was inevitable, but there was no doubt about any life-threatening danger. Thus, Chu Chengzhou set aside his worries for Xiao Wu.
Not long after, Xiao Wu, sitting cross-legged, had her pair of green, elongated external soul bone ears resembling super-long green ponytails, reaching the ground. Their length measured over one and a half meters.
Such long ears were like reins...
Chu Chengzhou: Xiao Wu, forgive me, my mind wandered!
As the sun set and the moon rose, another three hours passed.
At this point, Xiao Wu finally finished refining the soul ring and external soul bone. Her aura surged, and her soul power level jumped from 70, a quasi-Soul Saint, directly to 72, becoming a Soul Saint.
Even with a soul core, the accumulation required for Xiao Wu to advance her soul power level far exceeded that of an ordinary soul master at the same level. Yet, a ninety-thousand-year soul ring and a similarly aged soul bone still boosted her soul power by over two levels, reaching 72.
"Ah—, my head finally stopped hurting!"
As soon as she woke up, Xiao Wu let out a sigh of relief.
"Did it hurt a lot?"
Chu Chengzhou gently embraced Xiao Wu.
"Mhm, it hurt a lot—it felt like my head was going to explode!"
Xiao Wu nodded, still shaken.
"This is an external soul bone! I'd kill to have one!"
Chu Chengzhou lightly tapped Xiao Wu's forehead.
"Hehe, don't underestimate your sister Xiao Wu!"
Though she complained about the pain, Xiao Wu was secretly overjoyed inside.
This was an external soul bone~! Any soul master who understood them would covet it.
"What can these ears do?"
Cradling Xiao Wu's smooth, green, elongated ears, Chu Chengzhou asked.
These green, elongated ears, though called ears, looked more like two long green tails.
"I named them 'Clairvoyant Ears.' They come with an auxiliary-type soul bone skill, and they can even hit people!"
As she spoke, Xiao Wu's pair of green, elongated ears lashed out like two snakes, striking Chu Chengzhou's hand as he fondled her ears.
"Clairvoyant Ears? Looks like their soul bone skill enhances hearing.
But who uses their ears to hit people? Against weaker opponents, you can beat them anyway; against stronger ones, be careful they don't rip your ears off!"
Chu Chengzhou scolded her.
"Hmph, no one dares to pull my ears!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Wu couldn't help but imagine her ears being ripped off, shivering involuntarily.
Glaring fiercely at Chu Chengzhou, Xiao Wu continued, "My Clairvoyant-Ears come with a soul bone skill called Ears of Eight Directions. It allows me to hear every movement within a certain range and visualize it in my mind as if I were seeing it firsthand. The stronger my spiritual power, the larger the detection range and the clearer the image."
"Perception-type soul bone skill?"
Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow—it was essentially like having a radar satellite.
"How large is the range?"
"It's a circular area centered on me, extending up to four to five kilometers. The closer the distance, the clearer the perception. At four to five kilometers, it gets very blurry."
As she spoke, Xiao Wu felt somewhat disheartened.
This soul bone skill seemed rather useless. Its maximum range was only four to five kilometers, and it was quite blurry. Compared to regular spiritual perception, it didn't seem much stronger.
"Foolish Xiao Wu. Can't you focus the detection range into a thin line and rotate it around yourself?"
Slapping his forehead, Chu Chengzhou sighed in exasperation.
Pausing, Xiao Wu suddenly understood and hurriedly tested it as Chu Chengzhou suggested.
Soon, Xiao Wu's eyes widened in astonishment.
"How is it now?"
Chu Chengzhou asked.
"The detection range has expanded greatly—I can see objects thirty-plus miles away clearly, and the farthest I've detected is nearly a hundred miles. My head feels a bit dizzy, though."
Xiao Wu rubbed her slightly dizzy head.
Once again petting Xiao Wu's "Clairvoyant Ears," Chu Chengzhou said, "This is likely due to your brain receiving too much information at once, unable to process it all. Just reduce the range a bit!"
The assistance provided by the soul bone skill Ears of Eight Directions was undoubtedly stronger than a powerful offensive soul bone skill.
With such a vast detection range, how could he fail to find hundred-thousand-year or even ferocious beast-level soul beasts in the future?
Were there many hundred-thousand-year soul beasts on the continent? Not many, especially on land.
But in the vast oceans, there were even million-year soul beasts. The number of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts and ferocious beasts was abundant.
Additionally, Chu Chengzhou's spiritual power was undoubtedly stronger than Xiao Wu's.
However, when Xiao Wu activated the soul bone skill Ears of Eight Directions earlier, he hadn't detected any fluctuations in spiritual power—only the soul power fluctuations from activating the soul bone skill.
Clearly, the detection principle of this soul bone skill differed from regular spiritual perception.
With an ultra-long detection range and no spiritual power fluctuations, Xiao Wu could detect spiritual power far surpassing her own without being noticed by the target.
"By the way, what about your seventh soul skill? How effective is it?"
Since the external soul bone's skill was so impressive, the seventh soul skill formed by the Fungus Hound's soul ring should also surpass the original storyline, right? Not to mention, the soul ring's years were thirty thousand years higher.
"It's pretty good. My Soft Bone Rabbit clones can create seven mentally connected duplicates with 90% of my main body's attributes. Aside from the seventh soul skill, other soul skills can be used normally by the clones, lasting for half an hour.
Moreover, when I advance to eight and nine rings, the number of clones will increase to eight and nine, respectively, though they can't use soul bone skills."
Nodding, Xiao Wu described the specifics of her seventh soul skill: Soft Bone Rabbit Clones.
Upon hearing this, Chu Chengzhou's thoughts immediately scattered—seven clones plus the main body equaled eight times the fun. And in the future, it could even become ten times the fun...
Hmm, hopefully the duration of the Soft Bone Rabbit clones will be longer in the future!
Xiao Wu: Heh, tui~! (Hawk Tuah)
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