After returning home, Wang Chen went straight into the cultivation room, locked the door, and began his closed-door training.
He held in his palm the purified Devouring Spirit Carving Knife, now as clear as blue crystal. The former aura of ferocity had completely vanished; the knife felt smooth and warm to the touch, filled with a vibrant sense of life.
Looking at the purified Devouring Spirit Carving Knife—no, more precisely, the Life Gold—Wang Chen couldn't help but feel stirred.
This Life Gold was undoubtedly one of the most supreme treasures on the entire continent. In terms of grading, it was, without question, of divine rank.
It benefited both the body and spiritual power immensely. The Silver Dragon King could use it to heal her injuries, and Electrolux could use it to stabilize his divine consciousness, never again fearing its dissipation.
Something so valuable that even god-level beings could use—it was undeniably a divine treasure.
Even a Soul Master of average talent, once they absorbed Life Gold, would undergo a complete transformation—like a caterpillar turning into a Rayquaza—gaining the potential to one day reach godhood.
In the original story, when Huo Yuhao obtained Life Gold, Electrolux absorbed the vast majority of its power to repair and nourish his divine consciousness.
Even so, the little that Huo Yuhao received brought him tremendous benefits: his physique strengthened, his innate talent improved, and his recovery speed increased greatly.
Even his Spiritual Sea expanded, and his rate of mental power growth tripled. From that alone, one could imagine just how extraordinary the Life Gold truly was.
Of course, although Huo Yuhao only received the "soup," he did obtain the inheritance of Electrolux's Necromancy. Whether that was a gain or a loss—well, that depends on one's perspective.
Wang Chen, however, had no one to share it with. Such a large piece of Life Gold belonged entirely to him.
Of course, absorbing Life Gold was a delicate process—one couldn't just absorb it recklessly.
For example, the original owner of the Devouring Spirit Carving Knife, that Evil Soul Master at the Titled Douluo level, didn't know how to properly use Life Gold. So, he injected his malice and curses into it, creating the Devouring Spirit Carving Knife. That was sheer waste—a crime against heaven.
Another case was the hundred-thousand-year-old soul beast, the Golden Turtle of the Star Dou Forest. It once secretly snuck into the Lake of Life and took a bite of the Life Gold there.
Instead of gaining benefits, it was drained of life by the Life Gold in return, and eventually perished, forced to become a soul spirit.
The reason the Life Gold devoured its life force rather than empowering it was simple—its life energy was far too potent.
A single carving-knife-sized solid piece of Life Gold required about two hundred thousand years for the Star Dou Forest to condense.
Such a dense concentration of life force was like salt to humans—taken in small amounts, it replenishes what's needed; in excess, it draws the moisture out of the body.
So even treasures must be used properly, or they can become deadly poison.
As someone who had read the original story, Wang Chen naturally knew how to properly utilize Life Gold.
He pressed the Life Gold gently to his forehead, at the point between his brows. Under the influence of his spiritual power, the Life Gold trembled slightly.
Then, though infinitesimal compared to the Life Gold's total energy, a wave of life force—so dense and vigorous it could be felt as tangible—instantly poured through Wang Chen's brow and into his body.
In that instant, Wang Chen's entire body was suffused with a bluish hue, even his Spiritual Sea bathed in it.
An unprecedented feeling of comfort spread through him. Wang Chen felt his brain, organs, skin, muscles, bones, marrow—every cell and every pore—being nourished by that boundless life force.
His body, like parched earth meeting sweet rain, greedily absorbed the life energy.
Under that nourishment, Wang Chen's body began to transform.
His skin became more resilient and lustrous, his muscles stronger, his meridians more elastic, able to channel far more soul power.
His organs grew tougher, his bones denser, his blood more vigorous—his entire being underwent a qualitative evolution.
Under the effect of Life Gold, Wang Chen's physique strengthened rapidly. If, before absorbing it, he could only withstand a two-thousand-year soul ring, now he could easily bear one of five thousand years.
Such an increase was terrifying—his physical strength had more than doubled in a short span.
Compared to this, all the restorative pills he had ever taken were worthless. Against Life Gold, the difference was like that between dragon and ant, between moonlight and a firefly.
And yet, the improvement to his body was just the most superficial part.
As the life force continued to surge through him, foul, dark, and nauseating impurities began to seep out of Wang Chen's pores.
These were bodily impurities that hindered his cultivation talent and slowed his progress.
Once expelled, Wang Chen's aptitude grew even more exceptional. In numerical terms, he had now completely broken free of the "innate rank 9" soul power limit, reaching the level of those born with innate full soul power.
This cleansing did not directly raise his cultivation, but it transformed his body entirely.
Under the nourishment of pure life energy, Wang Chen's body seemed reborn—pure and spotless like that of a newborn child.
He felt light—so light—as if his entire being was brimming with boundless vitality. Even breathing felt smoother than ever.
The sensation was so blissful it was as if he had ascended to the heavens themselves.
The abundant life force didn't just nourish Wang Chen's body—it also entered his Spiritual Sea through his brow, cleansing his mind.
Under the purest life force of the Life Gold, Wang Chen's Spiritual Sea grew broader and clearer, and his spiritual power became more condensed.
Transformation—unprecedented transformation—was taking place within Wang Chen.
Under the washing of that supreme life force, both his body and spirit underwent a complete metamorphosis.
Time passed quickly—fifteen minutes had gone by.
Just as Wang Chen was immersed in the bliss of Life Gold's energy, the tattered black book deep within his soul suddenly trembled.
At that vibration, Wang Chen snapped awake.
He immediately removed the Life Gold from his forehead.
Taking a deep breath, he murmured,
"Almost lost myself in it. Fortunately, the black book warned me. If I had absorbed too much life energy, I might have collapsed from over-saturation—or even died from it.
I'm still too weak. If I had the strength of an Ultimate Douluo, I could've used this Life Gold to its fullest—perhaps even raised my physique to the divine level."
Coming back to his senses, Wang Chen noticed that the Life Gold in his hand hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Apparently, what he had absorbed earlier was but a drop in the ocean for such a treasure.
After all, this carving-knife-sized piece of Life Gold had taken over two hundred thousand years of the Star Dou Forest's vitality to condense—how could it possibly be depleted so easily?
Such a vast concentration of life force could burst even a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. For Wang Chen, merely a level-30 quasi-Soul Elder, it was far beyond what he could fully absorb—ten times over.
Sensing the remaining energy within him, Wang Chen knew he couldn't absorb Life Gold again for several months. He needed to let his body digest this energy first.
Otherwise, he would meet the same fate as that Golden Turtle—destroyed by his own greed.
"Eat only what your stomach can handle," he thought. "Overindulgence leads to death."
Understanding this, Wang Chen sealed the Life Gold in a soul tool designed to conceal energy signatures, and stored it in his spatial device.
After that, he washed off the expelled filth thoroughly, then sat cross-legged to inspect the changes within his body and mind.
Through examination, he found his physical fitness had skyrocketed. Absorbing a five-thousand-year soul ring for his third one would now pose no issue.
As for his soul rings, Wang Chen had an idea: once his spiritual power reached the Soul Sage level, he would use the Black Book's second ability—the Crystal Seal—to evolve the Soul Ring Refinement Secret Art further, perhaps discovering a way to replace soul rings.
If successful, he could substitute his earlier hundred-year, thousand-year, and ten-thousand-year rings with ones exceeding a hundred thousand years. His cultivation would then soar at unprecedented speed.
Besides his physique, Wang Chen's spiritual power had also increased dramatically—now reaching the level of a Soul King.
Yet, these weren't the most important gains. The true treasures were his improved aptitude, greater potential, and faster cultivation rate.
Clenching his fists, Wang Chen felt certain that with his new talent, reaching Titled Douluo in the future would be effortless, free from bottlenecks.
Most crucially, he still had plenty of Life Gold left—enough to sustain his cultivation to incredibly high realms.
In the coming years, Wang Chen's strength was destined to grow at a terrifying pace.
If ordinary Soul Masters trained at a walking pace, Wang Chen was traveling by high-speed train—utterly unstoppable.
It was almost unimaginable how strong he would become by the time of Xu Tiannan's assassination years later.
Wang Chen thought to himself,
"Today, I'll adapt to my strengthened body and mind, and guide the remaining life energy through my meridians, sealing it within my dantian under layers of soul power so no one can detect it.
Tomorrow, I'll go with the family elders to a soul beast habitat, hunt a soul beast, and absorb my third soul ring—becoming a true Soul Elder."
Having decided, Wang Chen immediately entered meditation.
Time passed quickly. The next morning arrived.
After breakfast, Wang Chen told his family that his cultivation had reached level 30.
Hearing this, his parents embraced each other joyfully.
Wang Father and Wang Mother: "Our son is truly amazing! It won't be long before we can finally live in peace and comfort!"
Upon learning the news, the Wang Family quickly sent two Soul Saint-level elders to accompany Wang Chen to the Jingyang Mountain Range to hunt soul beasts.
The Jingyang Mountain Range lay in the northern-central region of the Sun Moon Empire, just over a thousand li from Mingdu—the nearest large-scale soul beast habitat.
If the Star Dou Forest was the undisputed number one soul beast domain, then Jingyang Mountain Range ranked easily among the top five.
It possessed rich mineral resources and was home to numerous metallic-element soul beasts—powerful, aggressive creatures whose soul rings were of excellent quality.
Even Xiao Hongchen had obtained several of his soul rings there.
That morning, under a clear sky, a handsome youth followed two elders in their fifties or sixties to the outskirts of the Jingyang Mountains.
Because Wang Chen's cultivation was too low to sustain flight with a soul tool, one of the Soul Saint elders carried him through the air.
From above, the Jingyang Mountains resembled a giant spider.
Its eight "legs" were eight winding mountain ranges encircling the central massif like a spider's body.
The elder carrying Wang Chen was Wang Yuan, the same elder who had presided over the family's grand competition.
Wang Yuan asked, "Chen'er, what kind of soul beast do you plan to choose for your martial soul's third ring?"
Wang Chen had already considered this.
He intended to follow an extreme offense path. As the saying goes, better to master one strike than be mediocre at all. Instead of spreading his abilities thin, he'd specialize in overwhelming attack.
As for defense and mobility, he would make up for those through soul tools.
Wang Chen replied, "Elder Wang Yuan, I hope to choose a soul beast with powerful offensive capabilities for my third soul ring."
Wang Yuan nodded. "So, you're choosing the path of extremity, eh? In that case, this old man must find you a high-quality, powerful soul beast."
With that, Elder Wang Yuan and the other elder, named Wang Xiaoming, flew past the outer ridges and straight toward the central mountains.
The two Soul Saint-level, Rank-7 Soul Engineer elders rampaged through the wilderness, scattering all beasts in their path.
They refrained from killing unnecessarily, for soul beast resources in the Sun Moon Empire were scarce and strictly protected.
With two Soul Saints escorting him, Wang Chen soon found a suitable target.
Wang Yuan looked at the golden giant tiger ahead, his mouth twitching as he said to Wang Chen,
"Chen'er, this tiger's cultivation must exceed five thousand years. Even with medicinal assistance, absorbing its ring will be difficult."
Wang Chen answered, "Elder Wang Yuan, I've recently absorbed a soul bone, and with the family's resources, my physique has strengthened greatly. I want to give it a try."