Chapter 203 — The Power of Soul Spirits Revealed
When Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo, and Qian Fengqin completed their soul fusion, their new soul rings—three purple and one black for the two sisters, and four purple and one black for Qian Fengqin—sent the entire Soul Palace Square and the whole Sun Moon Empire into a frenzy.
Even Shrek had never achieved this feat, yet now it had been done right here in the Sun Moon Empire. How could its people not be thrilled? At that moment, except for the crown prince, everyone was buzzing with excitement, while the faces on the Shrek side grew darker and darker.
Du Weilun, an eight-ring soul douluo, had clear sight—and that only deepened his horror.
Shrek had only produced a handful of soul masters who had reached the fourth soul ring at the ten-thousand-year level over ten thousand years. The last was Moon En, current Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion.
But Du Weilun knew well the quality of Moon En's ten-thousand-year soul ring: two yellow, one purple, and one black—already terrifying. Yet Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo's soul rings were fifteen thousand years old—far beyond even Moon's achievement.
A fifteenthousand-year fourth ring was unheard of in Shrek, even from their most talented in five centuries. Though Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo were gifted in the Sun Moon Empire, in Shrek they were only core disciples relying on martial soul fusion.
Before today, Du Weilun wouldn't have believed anyone claiming they could reach a ten-thousand-year level fourth soul ring. Now, with the facts in front of him, and having wished to see their downfall, he was forced to accept it was no simulation.
Whether it was the soul beasts or the current state of the three, Du Weilun was certain—this was real.
It wasn't simulation. Then how had they absorbed such powerful soul beast energy, something Shrek had never managed?
Du Weilun's pride rebelled. He wanted to inspect these soul masters again—but just looking at them left him shaken.
After the soul absorption, Xiao Qiang presented a crystal ball to Lan Susu.
"Let's test the current soul power and show everyone how much it increased after absorbing higher-level soul rings."
Lan Susu injected her soul power into the ball, and the number 43 appeared—indicating she had surpassed levels 41 and 42, now at level 43. Lan Luoluo matched her. Qian Fengqin's level shot to 52, making Du Weilun's headache worsen.
He understood the benefits of absorbing higher-level soul rings and accepted their soul power levels. What he couldn't accept was how effortlessly they had fused such high-level soul rings, leaping to realms requiring months of cultivation.
But the demonstration wasn't over.
Xiao Qiang ordered, "Release your souls for everyone to see."
Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo, and Qian Fengqin all released their souls. Three balls of light emerged, transforming into two 15,000-year-old green willow trees and a 30,000-year-old Tianlong horse.
The willow trees rooted themselves, sprouting branches that wove chairs for the sisters. They sat lifted in the branches, protected by the willow boughs that moved with their hair blades. Their hair and the willow branches easily cut metal staffs.
Qian Fengqin mounted the Tianlong horse, heroic atop the creature. With a seventh-level soul guide knight's spear, he shattered the defense of a sixth-level spirit guide with one strike.
"This is another use of soul spirits," Xiao Qiang explained. "Besides allowing absorption beyond normal limits, hundred-year-level soul spirits can share vision with soul masters or engineers. Thousand-year-level spirits can be integrated into soul guides, granting them self-awareness and making them combat partners. Ten-thousand-year-level soul spirits can exist independently, directly assisting soul masters or engineers in battle."
"Also, soul spirits do not take up soul ring slots. Summoned soul spirits are not soul skills—they are entities that help their masters fight. In other words, possessing a ten-thousand-year soul spirit is like having an extra summoning skill, independent of soul rings and the martial soul's nature. Auxiliary soul masters can summon combat soul spirits too."
Ning Tian's eyes lit up. If these extra summoned beasts could be fully controlled, wasn't this exactly what the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had long sought? For ten thousand years, they had studied how to empower their sect with combat-capable spirits. Now, with ten-thousand-year spirits that could fight alongside them, the sect might finally stand without relying on others.
Though excited, Ning Tian kept calm—Du Weilun was near, and until the sect formally joined the Soul Palace, they could not appear hostile toward Shrek.
"Director Du, can this technology of absorbing soul rings across levels and enhancing others be replicated?" Xiao Xiao asked.
"No," Du Weilun replied grimly. Though unsettled, he had to clearly observe and report the Sun Moon Empire's progress back to Shrek Academy.
Xiao Xiao was silent. Looking at Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo's three purple and one black soul ring ratio—and comparing it to her own two yellow, one purple, and one yellow—it was obvious where her path forward lay: in the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Palace. Yet she had refused their invitations multiple times before.