Beneath the deep sea, Lin Xiao stood on the seabed, staring intently at the Great Elder who had already collapsed limply in front of him, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Facing a four-hundred-thousand-year ferocious beast, he had no idea whether the Great Elder still held any other trump cards. Only when a blood-red spirit ring symbolising one hundred thousand years slowly rose did Lin Xiao finally let out a long breath of relief.
Letting down his guard, his legs suddenly went weak. Lin Xiao sat down hard on the seabed, gulping seawater, looking at the hundred-thousand-year spirit ring with four golden patterns before him, and finally revealed a faint smile.
A pale green light glowed beneath his skin. The flesh in his wounds continuously wriggled, the injuries quickly scabbing over and healing. Under the rinsing of seawater, the newly grown flesh showed almost no obvious traces except for its slightly lighter colour.
A level-seven charged soul guide device had already been completely drained by Lin Xiao. He somehow pulled out another one and held it in his hand. His Array Floating Cannons used charged soul guide devices as their energy source, so he naturally never lacked these items.
Only when his body had fully recovered and he had regained some strength, did Lin Xiao support himself with his hands on the seabed and stand up.
Taking two steps forward, the light emitted by that spirit ring bathed his face in a bloody red glow.
A four-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring…
In this battle, most of the damage that allowed him to defeat the Great Elder had not actually come from Lin Xiao himself, but rather from the thunder tribulation that the Great Elder had brought upon himself.
Even the Mermaid Clan's supreme treasure, the Heart of the Ocean, had been damaged during the thunder tribulation. Otherwise, with the Heart of the Ocean in hand, it really wasn't certain that the Great Elder could have been defeated so easily.
Yet even after defeating the Great Elder while holding every advantage of timing, absorbing this four-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring was still far from simple. The soul power contained within it was something even a Titled Douluo would not dare claim they could absorb easily.
Lin Xiao gently clenched his fist, feeling the power contained within his body, and remained motionless for a long time.
"What are you thinking about?"
Electrolux's voice suddenly rang out, pulling Lin Xiao back to reality.
Lin Xiao paused slightly, then suddenly smiled. Compared to the other spirit masters on this continent, he possessed spirit rings far exceeding the optimal configuration and an Ultimate Death-attribute martial soul.
Moreover, he had supreme treasures like Electrolux and the Gold of Living Creatures within him. How could he not at least attempt this four-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring? At worst, it would just be another case of breaking and then standing up again.
If once wasn't enough, he would try again and again. Back during the Spirit Ascension Ceremony, he had endured the agony of his soul being torn apart; mere physical injuries were nothing.
He should have long been prepared to give up everything in pursuit of power.
"Nothing." Lin Xiao shook his head. Instead of immediately absorbing the spirit ring, he first stepped forward and stored away the Great Elder's corpse and the damaged Heart of the Ocean.
Raising his head slightly, one Array Floating Cannon after another, along with their energy-carrying devices, drifted toward him through the seawater.
Carefully putting them into his storage soul guide device, Lin Xiao finally sat calmly beside the spirit ring and extended his soul power to make contact with it.
As the spirit ring entered Lin Xiao's body, in the next instant, a vast surge of soul power rushed into him.
Countless meridians were almost instantly filled to the brim with the soul power from the ring, making it difficult for Lin Xiao even to circulate his soul power smoothly.
Yet this was merely the beginning. The soul power within the four-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring seemed endless. Even though there was almost no space left in Lin Xiao's body to contain more soul power, the power from the ring continued to pour in without cease.
Some soul power had already overflowed from his meridians and spread throughout his entire body, causing his body to swell.
Lin Xiao abruptly opened his eyes; blood streaks appeared in his pupils. Glancing down at himself, he suddenly stood up, chose a random direction, and shot forward, swimming toward even deeper waters.
The soul power raging within him was on the verge of tearing his body apart. This sensation was even more intense than when he had previously used Return to Silence.
He felt as though his entire body had become an overinflated balloon; one slight external stimulus would cause him to explode. Only the pressure of the seawater pressing in from all sides gave him a little relief.
The turbulent soul power within him caused Lin Xiao to radiate a terrifying aura. He didn't know how far he had swum; he only felt the pressure from the seawater growing stronger and stronger.
Finally, clutching his chest with one hand, he stopped swimming and allowed his body to continue sinking toward the deeper sea, withdrawing all his attention inward.
With a thought, several vague figures appeared around him. Lin Xiao extended his spiritual power and began flipping through the memories contained within the souls of several Titled Douluo.
Since the soul power within him was so immense, he would find a place for it to go.
The greatest difference between advancing to the Titled Douluo realm and lower levels—aside from requiring a ninth spirit ring was the existence of a soul core within the body. Thus, even the weakest Titled Douluo possessed an almost inexhaustible supply of soul power.
However, forming a soul core did not necessarily require one to be a Titled Douluo. As long as one's spiritual power was sufficient and one's control over soul power was precise enough, it was possible to attempt forming a soul core in advance.
Moreover, in Lin Xiao's memory, someone had already successfully done this.
Previously, he hadn't been very confident, but after recently enduring the spiritual impact from the Mermaid Clan and having his Sea of Spirit reconstructed, Lin Xiao now also possessed the possibility of attempting it ahead of time.
What was more, the souls of the Titled Douluo he controlled all had experience forming soul cores. From their memories, Lin Xiao had essentially already experienced the process of condensing a soul core several times.
Thoughts surging, Lin Xiao's hands did not slow in the slightest. The power from the four-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring continued pouring into him, while the soul power in his meridians was simultaneously being compressed by him without pause.
He had previously tried compressing his soul power to make it denser, so the process was not unfamiliar. In just a moment, he had fully entered the proper state.
Blood-red light completely enveloped him. Occasionally, a wound would split open on his skin, but it would quickly heal under the illumination of the faint green light beneath his skin.
Lin Xiao's consciousness had completely entered a meditative state. Naturally, he could not see that, under his influence, the surrounding seawater had formed a massive vortex.
Even the sea surface far above was churning with waves, and the surrounding sea spirit beasts, sensing danger, fled in all directions.
Within his body, his soul power likewise formed countless tiny vortices, continuously condensing together, transforming into an even denser and more stable state.
Lin Xiao sat cross-legged in the depths of the ocean. Blood-red other-shore flowers bloomed slowly around him, their long, narrow petals gently swaying with the movement of the seawater, as if dancing.
Tiny black cracks continuously appeared and disappeared, leading to unknown places. The seawater that flowed into them simply vanished without a trace.
Time passed, who knew how long, until finally, a blood-red sphere of light slowly condensed and took shape in front of Lin Xiao.
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