With Ilieks's assurance, Kong Ming'an no longer hesitated. He slowly walked to the front of the Beast Sealing Platform, his gaze calm as he looked at his elder.
Seeing this, Kong Deming said no more. With a surge of spirit power from his palm, he struck the Beast Sealing Platform, quickly undoing several of its core Seals.
"Buzz—!"
The silver-white pillar split open, revealing the true form of the Spirit Beast within, bound by countless chains of light and in a state of deep slumber.
This was a Dragon-type Spirit Beast, about three meters long, covered in dark spikes and dark-silver diamond-shaped scales, with a lithe and elegant form, and a tail with bony segments like thorny barbs.
Perhaps because this Spirit Beast had just crossed the threshold of a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast when it was captured and hadn't fully adapted to its power, there were even some extremely subtle spatial ripples emanating from its body.
In Kong Ming'an's hand, a cold-gleaming spirit tool dagger silently appeared. With a slight flick of his wrist, the dagger transformed into a precise streak of light, instantly piercing the Thorny Dragon's vital point.
There was no struggle, no roar.
The completely Sealed Thorny Dragon was already a lamb to the slaughter, with no possibility of resistance.
The Thorny Dragon merely twitched violently as an instinct, and then its life force rapidly dissipated.
After a pause of only one or two seconds, a deep, black-haloed spirit ring slowly ascended from its corpse.
A ten-thousand-year spirit ring!
Kong Ming'an didn't hesitate. He immediately sat cross-legged, and strands of spirit power emerged from his body, slowly Binding and enveloping the black spirit ring, which contained immense Energy and Soul remnants. Then, he gradually pulled it towards himself.
As the spirit ring entered his body, a vast amount of Energy instantly surged into Kong Ming'an.
His tempered Meridians and Physical Body rumbled, and his Qi and blood circulated autonomously like boiling lava, strengthening his body and firmly resisting the impact of the Energy.
His own spirit power began to circulate, and under absolute control, he began to systematically guide the violent Energy from the spirit ring into his Dantian for transformation and absorption.
At the same time, the Eye of Life on Kong Ming'an's forehead quietly opened. A gray phantom, visible only to him, emerged from the Eye of Life and then cast its gaze upon the spirit ring.
That was the intangible Soul level.
On the spirit ring, the Thorny Dragon's Soul, which had just been unconsciously killed, now fully reacted. Its silver vertical pupils were filled with ferocity and venom.
The hatred for its death was irreconcilable. The Thorny Dragon stared intently at someone, continuously accumulating its remaining power, preparing to unleash its most potent Soul shock in the next moment!
However, in the next moment... an incredibly pure and vast gray light, imbued with a sense of divine purification, suddenly rose.
Ilieks had made his move.
The Thorny Dragon felt a powerful threat and almost instinctively adopted a defensive posture. But in the very next moment, a hand formed from gray light seized the Thorny Dragon's Soul.
Without even a whimper, the Thorny Dragon was effortlessly pulled out of the spirit ring by Ilieks.
After all, it was the Soul of a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast. Upholding the principle of not wasting, it was naturally collected to serve as material later on.
After collecting the Thorny Dragon's Soul, Ilieks enveloped the spirit ring with his power of purification, cleansing the few remaining Soul fragments on it, and then quietly returned to the Eye of Life.
The entire process happened in an instant. Among those present, only Kong Deming, whose cultivation had reached level ninety-eight, noticed something, though he didn't know what it was, and ultimately chose to trust his grandson.
Just like that, the Soul shock that most Spirit Kings would have to treat with caution ended before it even began.
The absorption process became smooth, and Kong Ming'an's aura gradually stabilized during the absorption.
Kong Deming stood with his hands behind his back, his expression gradually relaxing, while the Hongchen siblings beside him also let out a sigh of relief, but they still silently guarded him, intently watching the figure enveloped by the black light of the spirit ring.
Time slowly passed, and the entire absorption process lasted a full three hours.
Perhaps because this absorbed spirit ring was somewhat special, during this period, the space around Kong Ming'an's body would occasionally undergo subtle distortions and folds, and sometimes one or two hair-thin, pitch-black cracks would flash and disappear.
Finally, when the last trace of Energy was completely absorbed, the deep black spirit ring subsided and vanished.
Kong Ming'an slowly opened his eyes. In the depths of his ink-black pupils, countless tiny silver spatial lights seemed to flash and disappear, making them appear even more profound and unfathomable.
Disregarding the gazes cast his way by those around him, Kong Ming'an slightly raised his hand. In the next moment, a black spirit ring slowly emerged from his palm and settled steadily onto his wrist.
The first ten-thousand-year ring!
At this moment, Kong Ming'an personally broke the ironclad rule of the Douluo World that only a hundred-year first ring was possible!
Unconsciously, Kong Ming'an slightly lowered his gaze, looking at the ten-thousand-year spirit ring in his hand—its light was restrained, yet unlike ordinary spirit rings, it exuded a heart-palpitating, vast power and mysterious spatial fluctuations. The corner of his mouth unconsciously curved into a slight smile.
The result obtained from the experiment with Elder Ilieks was truly identical... Xiao Hongchen said nothing, but his eyes burned as he stared at the genuine ten-thousand-year spirit ring in someone's palm.
Although he usually thought someone was a scoundrel, at this moment, he had to admit... this ten-thousand-year spirit ring was truly cool!
And it seemed to feel a bit different from ordinary ten-thousand-year ones? It seemed to have some silver patterns with a spatial aura?
This spirit ring... he was truly tempted!
At this moment, Xiao Hongchen was already thinking about how to get someone to teach him this trick!
Kong Deming, standing nearby, did not step forward or speak, but merely looked at Kong Ming'an with a gratified expression.
"Ming'an, Ming'an," Meng Hongchen couldn't hold back and was the first to speak, her ice-blue eyes filled with surprise and curiosity, "You succeeded? What are your Spirit Abilities? Are they powerful space-type abilities?"
Miss Meng was as lively as ever. Kong Ming'an didn't answer immediately; he just furrowed his brows slightly, a rare and somewhat peculiar expression on his face.
He lowered his eyes, looking at the ten-thousand-year spirit ring in his hand, as if carefully perceiving and sorting through something.
After a moment, he lightly traced with his fingertip. In an instant, invisible spatial ripples spread out. However, what was revealed seemed to be more than just the power of space.
Everyone's gaze fell, and someone still didn't respond. After quite a while, he finally raised his head.
Looking at the expectant crowd, Kong Ming'an's tone carried a hint of uncertain doubt as he slowly said:
"My Spirit Abilities seem to be a bit numerous? Let me organize them first before I explain?"
Instantly, the atmosphere in the originally peaceful laboratory became somewhat strange.
"No..."
Xiao Hongchen clutched his head, feeling his brain starting to grow. "...What do you mean, 'Spirit Abilities are a bit numerous'?"
"Just what it says," Kong Ming'an spread his hands, inexplicably helpless. "From what I can currently sense, there are probably dozens of Spirit Abilities."
"...Huh?"
The few people present fell into a dead silence.