บท 136: Chapter 136: 5th Soul Ring

As Ah Yin's voice fell, a tremendous aura suddenly surged, not from the Blue Silver King in front of Su Cheng, but from the entire forest.

A faint blue light emanated from each Blue Silver Grass quietly, tiny blue dots converging together, quickly forming a blue sea.

In the next moment, Su Cheng immediately felt himself becoming the center of this sea.

His body eagerly absorbed the energy from this blue sea as if starved.

The Nirvana Scripture swiftly circulated, the Eternal Sword appeared in his hand, and the Five Elements Domain spread out on its own.

Under the effect of his cultivation technique, although his soul level was stuck at fifty due to the lack of soul rings, his soul power was rapidly increasing, far surpassing his past efficiency in cultivation.

This energy from the Blue Silver Grass, although not of extreme attributes, in Su Cheng's view, its characteristics were not inferior to those of so-called extreme attributes.

Blue Silver Grass, a ubiquitous weed at the bottom of the soul beast food chain, actually possessed extremely tenacious vitality.

They were not powerful, yet they could grow in various extreme and harsh environments.

It occurred to Su Cheng that the "immortality" that Ah Yin mentioned regarding the Blue Silver Domain evolving to the extreme was essentially an extension of this trait of Blue Silver Grass.

Countless Blue Silver Grass selflessly provided him with specks of energy starlight endlessly.

Although the ocean of blue formed by these dots was boundless, the number of plants in this forest was too vast, and their existence had been too long. The combined energy was probably not even a drop in the bucket compared to the vastness of the forest.

Su Cheng sat cross-legged in this extremely comfortable environment but did not immerse himself in it.

Apart from leaving a trace of vigilance for possible accidents from the outside world, his attention was mainly focused on the energy sea in front of him.

At this moment, the True Vision Pupil on his forehead emitted a bright golden light.

This time, this vertical line finally did not just open a narrow slit but projected a screen of light, like the shadow of a vertical eye, capturing all the changes within sight.

The spiritual power in his sea of consciousness rapidly dwindled, but it would be completely replenished in just a few breaths.

But the consumption was fast, and the replenishment was faster. The endless Blue Sea continuously replenished all his consumption, filling him with blue light that permeated his body, mind, and soul power.

Although this energy was powerful, it was not rough; instead, it was extremely gentle.

There was no sense of impact or pressure, just like when he absorbed Ah Yin's hundred-thousand-year soul bone, it nourished him silently.

Gradually, his skin surface had completely turned into a crystal-clear blue, countless Blue Silver Grass growing and coiling around him.

Not only him, but Ah Yin standing beside him also had countless blue dots merging into her, strengthening her body and silently enhancing her essence.

The scale of the energy merging into her even exceeded Su Cheng's, but unfortunately, at this moment, Ah Yin's strength was limited, her foundation was weak, and she could only absorb some of the energy, with most of it also merging into Su Cheng's Five Elements Domain.

In this process, she benefited greatly.

However, Su Cheng encountered some obstacles.

Although his physical strength was slowly increasing, with four soul rings appearing one after another - yellow, purple, purple, black - he had been unable to form the fifth soul ring he had been patiently waiting for.

On the ancient face of the Blue Silver Emperor, there appeared a very vivid look of astonishment and confusion, looking at Ah Yin standing beside Su Cheng.

"Your Majesty, does he not have the bloodline of the Blue Silver Emperor?" Ah Yin heard the voice and opened her eyes, looking at the youth sitting on the ground enveloped by the blue ocean.

Her delicate eyebrows lightly furrowed, shaking her head slowly.

As expected, as she anticipated, Su Cheng could not possibly use the awakening ceremony of the Blue Silver Emperor clan to add the fifth soul ring for himself.

Even if his soul power, physical qualities, and mental strength all met the requirements, it was simply impossible.

The foundation of bloodline awakening is the bloodline of the Blue Silver Emperor.

Based on this, the Blue Silver Emperor guides the bloodline within the other party's body, aided by the power of the entire Blue Silver Grass forest, to help them awaken and promote.

Without the bloodline, how could the Blue Silver Emperor guide it?

"Well then..." The Blue Silver Emperor hesitated.

Continuing like this was equivalent to doing useless work.

"Let's wait a little longer," Ah Yin said softly.

The energy of the Blue Silver Grass was gentle and harmless to Su Cheng's body, and even if he absorbed it as a reserve of soul power for future promotion, it was beneficial.

Moreover, for some reason, she had an inexplicable confidence in Su Cheng, feeling that since he had said it, he would definitely be able to do it.

Time slowly passed, the sea formed by countless dots of light floated silently around Su Cheng.

He was not too anxious at the moment.

At this moment, Su Cheng, who was in the real field of view, silently observed everything in front of him and the essence of his previous soul rings.

At this moment, with his inexhaustible spiritual power and its subsequent replenishment, it was an excellent opportunity to make good use of the True Vision Pupil.

To him, whether he could succeed this time was not important.

The most crucial thing was to seize this opportunity to glimpse the mystery of soul ring condensation.

In Su Cheng's real vision at this moment, there were countless light dots emanating from the Blue Silver Grass surrounding him, but they could not enter his body, unable to condense into shape, and ultimately turned into energy merging into his domain and body.

"Where's the difference..." Su Cheng closed his eyes, constantly pondering and deducing in his mind.

What are soul rings? What about soul skills?

Oh right, Xiao Wu.

If he remembered correctly, Xiao Wu, the hundred-Thousand Year Soft Boned Rabbit, who cultivated into human form, had a very special ability - self-obtained soul rings.

Every ten levels, she could generate a completely suitable limit soul ring for herself.

And in the original timeline, after Tang San accepted the Blue Silver Emperor's energy guidance, he also condensed the fifth soul ring that adapted to his own limit years.

Su Cheng recalled the first few soul rings he had just observed.

In each soul ring, there was a faint shadow corresponding to the soul beast he had killed back then.

Further observation revealed some lines that he could not understand, but they were extremely condensed and singular in nature.

"... I understand." Su Cheng suddenly opened his eyes."It's the concentration of bloodline, the concentration of human martial souls' bloodline is insufficient, far inferior to those human-shaped soul beasts. And to spontaneously generate soul rings, one needs a sufficiently strong bloodline concentration as the catalyst.

"Tang San succeeded because his Blue Silver Emperor bloodline was stimulated by the instinctual ability of the Blue Silver King.

"But my bloodline, it seems the Blue Silver King is unable to guide its condensation."

Ah Yin knew that the awakening of the Blue Silver Emperor was related to bloodline, but she didn't understand the underlying principles.

Though she had explained it to Su Cheng before, it was evidently not clear enough.

Su Cheng was different.

With the effect of True Vision, he could see the inner essence of soul rings. With a flash of insight, he found the root cause.

Those lines represent the attribute law power represented by bloodline.

And the so-called soul skills are just external manifestations of the combination of attribute laws and martial souls.

So, there are two requirements to form a soul ring: the first is the law power contained in the bloodline after killing soul beasts, and the second is sufficient energy.

"I should have realized it long ago." Su Cheng's lips curled into a smile.

The similarities between soul beasts and martial souls, and the breakthrough of the level bottleneck by the condensation of soul rings, he had thoroughly researched these during the second simulation.

To spontaneously generate soul rings, three conditions are required: laws, guidance, and energy!

What are the laws?

In the Douluo Continent, the bloodline of soul masters is the law, martial souls are the law, and the core of soul rings is naturally the law. And the soul skills attached to soul rings are the manifestation of the combination of laws and soul power.

As for how to draw out the law energy from the bloodline?

Coincidentally, Su Cheng had an unconventional method.

The Eternal Sword appeared in his hand, and the Nirvana Scripture quickly operated.

Then, a bottle of potion appeared in his hand, and the liquid in the bottle shimmered with a faint red light under the blue light dots around it.

Su Cheng didn't hesitate, he unscrewed the bottle cap and poured a few drops into his mouth.

Ah Yin, standing beside him, was surprised to find that Su Cheng's aura had changed, becoming exceptionally explosive and ethereal, a faint blood vapor rising from his body.

At the same time, the huge phantoms of the Eternal Sword and the Innate Array Diagram appeared beside him.

Su Cheng didn't pay attention to his second martial soul.

Instead, he fully operated the Nirvana Scripture, continuously stimulating the bloodline foundation of the Immortal Sword martial soul with his own level 50 soul power fluctuations.

Gradually, a void halo seemed to appear around him.

The next moment.

Those blue light dots gathering around him seemed to have finally found their target, rapidly merging into this halo.

The color of the blue halo gradually deepened, finally turning into a pitch-black soul ring, encircling the outer side of the other four soul rings.

The moment it appeared, it seemed to form a strange harmony with the previous four soul rings.

The five soul rings began to rhythmically pulsate.

Then, the lifespan of the previous four soul rings began to increase synchronously.

The yellow first soul ring quickly turned into purple, then the color of the three purple soul rings gradually darkened and became even more profound.

During this process, a strand of Su Cheng's black hair gradually turned into dark blue, and his facial features became softer and deeper.

But soon, his appearance returned to its original state.

He had now completed the five elements, and his control over himself had also reached a new level.

While his body's foundation had experienced a leap in improvement, it had also become more condensed. The power of this small world alone was not enough to overwhelm his physical foundation and change his facial features.

However, although his appearance remained unchanged, his temperament was vastly different from before. The whole person seemed more natural, as if there was no distinction between him and the entire world.

The previous Su Cheng was more like a hidden blade, restrained but still strong.

But now, he appeared gentle and harmonious.

Ah Yin's face was full of astonishment; she couldn't understand how he did it.

Although she had subconsciously believed that he could succeed before, it was more like a blind expectation and trust, without any basis.

At this moment, the imagined became reality, making the scene seem unreal.

"Is there really nothing you can't do..." She looked at Su Cheng in a daze, her eyes flickering.

Over the past year or so of being together, the things he had done, the words he had said, and the little things in daily life kept coming to mind, making her expression increasingly conflicted.

But Su Cheng was already too preoccupied to pay attention to the changes around him.

With the appearance of the fifth soul ring, the five elements were completely perfected, and the scene in his true Vision began to undergo earth-shattering changes.

At this moment, he was gradually drawn into the scenery in his field of vision, gradually immersing himself in it.

He even forgot to be vigilant about the changes in the surrounding environment.

First, there was darkness, or rather, pure whiteness.

It was the void without any substance.

Then, the yin and yang rotated, and the five elements evolved. Based on this, the world was born from nothingness, then experienced a calm, continuous, and long period...

After that, the peaceful world began to gradually decay through various catastrophes, and the foundation of the five elements dwindled until everything returned to emptiness.

This process seemed extremely long, yet also extremely short. Countless years seemed like a flick of a finger to him.

This was the effect of True Vision.

In the amplification of the first completion of the five elements, the effect of this externally attached soul bone seemed to reach an unprecedented level, even allowing him to see a glimpse of the core laws of the world.

"..." Su Cheng slowly opened his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Birth, existence, decay, emptiness... So that's how it is, it's actually like this..."

Even if the five elements are complete, they cannot escape the ultimate extinction.

Nothing in the world is eternal.

Even if the five elements are complete, they will eventually reach the ultimate extinction.

Even the world with all five elements will one day perish, let alone a single person?

At this moment, the Blue Silver King felt inexplicably horrified.

The young man in front of him, who seemed full of vitality, had a vitality that exceeded its imagination limits.

However, at this moment, there was a sense of death emanating from him from within.

This kind of deathly intent was not the ordinary aura emitted by someone whose life was nearing its end, but rather the profound sense of the world's descent into oblivion, the ultimate exhaustion of all things.

Under this aura, the boundless vitality hidden within the incredibly ancient Blue Silver Grass forest where he found himself seemed insignificant, like a drop in the ocean.

Ah Yin noticed a tear rolling down Su Cheng's cheek.

"He's crying?"

At this moment, Su Cheng also felt a chill on his face.

Reaching out to touch it, he was somewhat surprised.

"I'm crying?"

Then he chuckled inwardly, "I'm afraid of death..."

This tear, falling unconsciously, was actually a reflection of his inner instinct.

After hesitating for a moment, Ah Yin still asked softly, "Su Cheng... what's wrong with you?"

"...," Su Cheng paused for a moment, then said softly, "I'm scared."

Ah Yin stared at him blankly, "You're afraid too?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Su Cheng's face remained calm.

"As long as one is human, they always harbor fears, but they usually keep them buried deep within, not showing them outwardly."

"What... are you afraid of?" Ah Yin was somewhat puzzled and concerned.

"Death," Su Cheng confessed candidly.

"Death? You'll die?!"

No one could feel Su Cheng's overwhelming vitality at this moment better than her.

It wasn't the superficial cultivation base, physique, or martial soul, but rather a state similar to when he was still the hundred-thousand-year-old Blue Silver Emperor in the past.

No, it was even higher than his level back then.

"That's something for the future, no need to worry about it now."

Su Cheng's smile reappeared on his face as he looked at Ah Yin. "I should be able to live much longer than you."

This time, Ah Yin didn't get angry at his words.

She could sense that Su Cheng actually felt somewhat heavy-hearted at the moment.

"What exactly happened just now?"

"I saw something, but even if I told you, you probably wouldn't understand," Su Cheng casually replied.

It would be hard for others to comprehend the profound sense of oblivion he felt just now.

After the recent realization, his strength had reached a new level. But in terms of cultivation, he felt even more uncertain.

Then he chuckled lightly again.

"But this is just an inevitable obstacle on the path of cultivation. Since I don't want to go with the flow, encountering such things is unavoidable."

Seeing Ah Yin staring blankly at him, Su Cheng thought she was still thinking about the matter of soul rings he mentioned earlier.

He comforted her, "Don't worry, I've already come up with some ideas for soul ring condensation, so there will be a solution in the future."

Now that he understood the general principles, finding a universal method was only a matter of time for him.

However, such matters still needed careful consideration. The complexities involved would make widespread dissemination extremely difficult.

At least with his current strength, daring to get involved would be tantamount to seeking death.

After bidding farewell to the Blue Silver Queen, Su Cheng and Ah Yin left the Blue Silver Grass forest together.

This time, both of them gained tremendously. Needless to say, Su Cheng benefited, but Ah Yin also obtained a perfect body.

In addition to this, the Blue Silver Queen, as the leader, also gained considerably.

The fluctuations in Su Cheng's Five Elements Domain had an extraordinary guiding effect on it. It could even be said that under the current effect of the Five Elements Domain, all the Blue Silver Grass in the forest underwent a qualitative leap.

Moreover, during the recent process, the brief aura emitted by Su Cheng brought it even greater benefits.

Although it didn't witness that scene of great oblivion, it was still greatly enriched.

Moreover, even if it had seen it, it might not have been a good thing for it.

At least Su Cheng had all five elements, and as a plant-type soul beast, representing vitality, wood was its fundamental attribute. If infected by such extreme deathly intent, it might not be able to withstand it. It was difficult to predict the outcome.

Walking on the road, Su Cheng suddenly remembered something and turned his head to look at Ah Yin.

"Will there be new Blue Silver Emperors born in the future?"

"No, there won't be," Ah Yin shook her head.

This wasn't because of Su Cheng, but because of her.

During the previous awakening ceremony, she had already completed the reconstruction of her body.

She was not the Blue Silver Emperor now, but her essence was higher than that of the Blue Silver Emperor.

But even so, this Blue Silver Grass forest no longer had the ability to assist another Blue Silver Emperor bloodline in awakening.

Su Cheng nodded at the words and didn't pay much attention to this matter, instead saying, "You don't know yet, but your 'son' Tang San also has a hundred-thousand-year-old transformed soul beast by his side."

Ah Yin was stunned and turned to look at Su Cheng.

"Have you seen this potion?" Su Cheng took out a vial and shook it lightly. "This is a calming potion I spent nearly four months researching. It can conceal the aura of the transformed soul beast, preventing it from being detected by Title Douluo."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that with this thing, that soul beast will follow Tang San to participate in this Soul Master Grand Competition, and then there will be an opportunity to kill it."

Ah Yin stared at the vial in astonishment, then lowered her head gently.

Her azure blue bangs fell, casting a shadow over her cheeks, obscuring her expression.

After a long silence, she finally asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Why did you tell me this?"

Su Cheng casually put away the vial and turned his head to look ahead, saying lightly, "Have I ever hidden anything from you?"