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"A soul ring… can be gold?"
Everyone else was urging her to hurry up, but Liu Erlong just stood there staring at the ring in Sam's hand, her face frozen in utter disbelief.
"And aren't soul rings supposed to appear over a corpse? How is it showing up in your hand?"
"…Are you the Ten Thousand Whys?" Sam shot back.
Then he paused and muttered, "Although you do have a point. A gold soul ring is kinda flashy…"
With that, he casually asked the King of Wisdom to change the ring's color from gold to purple.
"…What the hell? Soul rings can change color?"
Liu Erlong felt her entire worldview shatter on the spot.
"I just thought gold looked cool," Sam said, scratching his cheek like this was no big deal. "But considering the… unique situation of your world, I guess I should keep it low-key. Purple should be subtle enough, right?"
If he remembered correctly, gold rings were God-bestowed soul rings.
Emmm… it'd been too long since he'd read the original story. The details were fuzzy.
"Oh, and if you think purple looks low-tier, I can switch it to black too."
He added that helpfully, recalling that plenty of Spirit Masters had ten-thousand-year black rings as their fourth ring.
"…"
It wasn't just Liu Erlong. Even Elsa, Wu Liuqi, and the others were stunned by Sam's fresh, next-level way of showing off.
Honestly, that flex just blinded them.
Full marks. No need to be humble.
"…Are you sure it's safe to absorb this thing?"
After hesitating for a while, Liu Erlong couldn't help asking.
There were no shortcuts in cultivation. A higher-year soul ring wasn't always better. If your body couldn't handle it, you'd literally explode.
Sure, the so-called "Grandmaster" hadn't yet plagiarized everyone's research and claimed it as his own grand theory, but still…
A golden soul ring. One that could change color at will.
How was she supposed to feel at ease?!
"It's fine. Ever heard of a God-bestowed soul ring?" Sam said with a smile.
"A what?" Liu Erlong blinked.
Sam fell silent.
Right. Divine inheritances were confidential. Not many people in this world even knew gods existed.
After he finished explaining, Elsa and Wu Liuqi were just as shocked as Liu Erlong.
Even Kurama frowned. He hadn't expected something like this.
Strong people existing in this world? Sure, no problem.
But gods?
…Then again, didn't his own world have the Sage of Six Paths? That guy pretty much counted.
Alright then. Fair enough.
The moment Liu Erlong understood what this ring was, she immediately prepared to absorb it.
Sam shrugged, handed it over, and went to sit down to rest.
The absorption process went incredibly smoothly.
So smooth it felt unreal.
Not only did the ring push Liu Erlong past her bottleneck, it also boosted her soul power by five full levels.
Five levels!
The speed of that breakthrough was so absurd she could barely believe it.
And that was with the King of Wisdom carefully calculating her tolerance limit and deliberately suppressing most of the humanoid mantis's power inside the ring.
Otherwise, the first wave of soul power from that mantis alone would've overwhelmed her completely.
"So? So? How is it?" Wu Liuqi had been staring the entire time. The second she finished, he rushed over.
"…It's alright."
Liu Erlong held it in for a long time before managing those two words.
Kurama: "…"
Elsa: "…"
Wu Liuqi: "…"
That told them absolutely nothing.
"How much did you improve?" Sam asked with a grin.
"Five levels," Liu Erlong said, clearly unable to suppress her excitement. "And this soul ring gave me three skills."
"Three?" Wu Liuqi and the others looked confused. They still weren't fully clear on how this world's system worked.
"Can you tell us what they are?" Sam leaned forward, suddenly very interested. That humanoid mantis had been ridiculously strong. Its ring had to be overpowered.
"Of course." Liu Erlong nodded. "The first skill is Scythe Claw."
"Scythe Claw?"
The name alone made Kurama's eyes narrow. He immediately thought of the mantis's scythe-like forelimbs that had injured him countless times.
If this skill was derived from that…
It was going to be brutal.
"Show us!" Elsa urged, eyes sparkling.
(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
Liu Erlong nodded. She released her martial spirit and activated Scythe Claw.
She swung her clawed hand down hard.
Five deep gouges tore through the ground instantly.
"This skill increases my attack power by 100%."
She was trying very hard not to grin like an idiot. If the others weren't watching, Sam was certain she'd be laughing like a fool.
"In other words, if I attack with half my strength, it hits like I went all out."
Sam stared at her in disbelief.
"Coach, I'd like to report cheating. This woman is using hacks."
Wu Liuqi shot back immediately, "You've got the nerve to say that? Weren't you the one who gave her the cheat code?"
Sam glanced around weakly. "I swear, the skill itself has nothing to do with me. Do you believe me?"
"Heh. Sure, we believe you."
Everyone wore identical expressions that clearly said: Go on. Keep making things up. We're listening.
Sam was speechless.
He really wasn't lying.
Skills were based on luck, weren't they?
So how was this his fault?
ヽ(ー_ー )ノ
"....."