Wang Chen's gaze drifted toward the direction of Mingdu, his face heavy with thought. Around him, six pitch-black spirit rings shimmered with an eerie glow, shrouding him in a powerful, mysterious aura.
For most spirit masters, three years was hardly enough time to see any meaningful growth.
But for Wang Chen, these three years had been enough for him to transform from a powerless insect into a formidable expert.
He now stood at the Soul Emperor realm, bearing six black spirit rings, a physique no weaker than a Soul Sage, spiritual power on par with a Soul Douluo, and the status of a seventh-tier soul engineer.
And yet—Wang Chen was not even fifteen years old. In the original story, the prodigies of Shrek Academy had been shocked by Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, who, at the same age, were merely at the Soul King level.
Such speed of cultivation was nothing short of terrifying. And soul power was, in fact, his weakest attribute.
That he could achieve such overwhelming progress in just three years was not merely due to his relentless cultivation, but also to the power of his golden finger—the Black Book, and the life-giving Essence of Living Gold.
On the Douluo Continent, even for prodigies born with innate full soul power, in the Soul Elder and Soul Ancestor stages, if relying only on cultivation and not fortuitous encounters, the average progress was about five ranks per year.
By the time they reached the Soul King stage, even those prodigies could only advance two to three ranks a year at most. (These figures were drawn directly from the original work's data, not invented here.)
But with the help of the Crystal Imprint deduction function of the Black Book, Wang Chen cultivated using the Meridian-Passing Method, which doubled his efficiency.
Thus, in only two years, he broke through from the Soul Elder and Soul Ancestor stages all the way to the Soul King.
Even after reaching Soul King, when every rank required far more time and energy, Wang Chen could still rise by five to six ranks in a year.
Of course, even with his advantages, it would normally take him four years to reach the Soul Emperor stage. The reason he succeeded in only three was because of another breakthrough—
When his spiritual power had advanced to the Soul Sage level, Wang Chen burned all of it in one effort to push the Ring Tempering Secret Art into a second evolution. From the original Ring Explosion Secret Art, he deduced a new ability—
The Spirit Ring Replacement Secret Art.
This profound method allowed him to forcibly sever and expel spirit rings he no longer desired, then replace them with new ones.
But the technique came with terrifying risks.
After all, once a spirit master absorbed a spirit ring, it fused with their very being. To tear it away inflicted grievous harm. The stronger the ring, the more devastating the backlash.
And beyond the pain, the new ring could only be from the same type of soul beast as the one removed, or else rejection would occur.
Finding a matching beast was not impossible—it was only a matter of searching.
The real terror lay in the damage caused by severing the old ring. Without Wang Chen's unique advantage—his body transformed by the Essence of Living Gold, brimming with vitality and regeneration—even attempting the technique was tantamount to suicide.
For ordinary spirit masters, even removing the weakest ten-year spirit ring would cripple their foundations, damage their martial spirit, and potentially render them forever incapable of absorbing new rings.
At best, they would be ruined for life. At worst, they would die outright.
Wang Chen dared not take it lightly.
He began cautiously, removing his first two century-level rings one at a time. When he felt he could bear the backlash, he attempted to sever his third, a five-thousand-year ring.
Even then, the pain nearly killed him. His body was left in tatters.
Originally, he had planned to replace his fourth ring as well. But after experiencing the backlash of a five-thousand-year ring, he dared not risk a ten-thousand-year ring.
His instincts screamed that if he tried to sever the fourth ring now, his life would end. Not until his body grew much stronger could he even consider it.
Fortunately, the vitality of the Essence of Living Gold healed his injuries in short order.
He then spent more than a month searching, finally locating three soul beasts of the same type as his earlier rings—each over twenty thousand years old.
After grueling hunts and careful absorption, Wang Chen replaced his first three rings with black ones. His cultivation soared in leaps, not only reaching the peak of the Soul King, but smashing through the bottleneck into the Soul Emperor realm.
This was how he had achieved such terrifying advancement in just three years.
Now, Wang Chen's soul power stood at rank sixty-three, with six spirit skills.
Though his first three spirit skills had changed because he replaced them with rings from the same species, their general functions remained the same.
Only now, their effects were magnified a hundred percent, with far greater range.
But his fourth spirit skill was something altogether different.
This ring came from a lightning bird with over ten thousand years of cultivation. Its speed was unmatched, its piercing strikes devastating, and it even possessed teleportation.
Wang Chen had hoped to gain boosts to speed or penetration. But spirit skills were never fixed, and even from the same beast, each spirit master might obtain something different.
Instead, he received a spatial ability.
His fourth skill, Shun allowed his Tool Spirit to carry whatever it was attached to across a fifty-meter teleport.
Each use required a five-minute cooldown. He could force consecutive uses, but each attempt doubled the soul power consumed. At most, three could be chained, after which the cooldown stretched to fifteen minutes.
Normally, a Tool Spirit could only attach to non-living objects. But because Wang Chen himself was one with his spirit, it could carry him as well.
Thus, with Shun, Wang Chen himself could teleport.