Of course, adhering to the principle of zero waste, Huo Yuhao used the total soul power of these two Titled Douluo evil soul masters to fill his "Holy Spirit Soul Core."
However, even with the combined energy of a Super Douluo and an ordinary Titled Douluo, it only managed to fill one "Holy Spirit Soul Core" halfway.
"I need to find an opportunity to infiltrate the Holy Spirit Cult... what a pity I can't find Ye Xishui. Otherwise, it would be quite nice to capture her, erase her consciousness, and slowly extract her energy to fill the 'Holy Spirit Soul Core'..."
Huo Yuhao murmured softly, dedicating a small portion of his focus to constructing a plan, while the majority was used to observe Ling Luochen's status.
Fortunately, it was a smooth process without any scares.
Three hours later, Ling Luochen, who had been sitting cross-legged, slowly opened her eyes. A flash of ice-blue ultimate aura flickered through her pupils and vanished.
Rank 53!
During the absorption process, the energy-rich "Energy Storage Ring" actively releases its stored soul power to boost the absorber's soul power rank!
This was an advantage that absorbing a regular soul ring simply did not provide!
At this moment, sensing her skyrocketing cultivation, Ling Luochen blanked for a second before subconsciously summoning her soul rings.
Ignoring her four standard rings—two yellow and two purple—Ling Luochen fixed her gaze on that incredibly unique ice-blue soul ring.
Feeling the massive and pure ice element power stored within it by a certain someone, Ling Luochen was certain: if she absorbed all the energy inside, she would definitely become a Soul Emperor before the Soul Master Competition in two years! Even becoming a Soul Saint wasn't out of the question!
This... is the "Energy Storage Ring"?
Originally, Ling Luochen had chosen the "Energy Storage Ring" just to have a legitimate excuse to see Huo Yuhao every day. She hadn't actually placed high expectations on the ring itself, but who could have imagined it would be this powerful!
"How do you feel? Any discomfort?"
Huo Yuhao's voice came from the side. Seeing Ling Luochen staring blankly at the ice-blue ring with her head down, Huo Yuhao thought something had gone wrong.
However, the girl simply shook her head gently. Her eyes met Huo Yuhao's gaze, a glimmer of light passing through them as she broke into a smile:
"...No discomfort. It suits me perfectly. Thank you."
For a soul master, the improvement of strength is undoubtedly the most important thing, and Huo Yuhao had granted her such a powerful soul ring. Even though this was written into their contract beforehand, to Ling Luochen, it was still a great debt of gratitude.
I have to find a way to repay this kindness... if I can't repay it, should I just offer myself to him?
Ling Luochen blinked, the smile at the corners of her mouth growing deeper.
...
A few days later, Shrek Inner Courtyard, the Soul Dueling Arena.
"Holy... has Sister Ling enabled cheats? She's suppressing Sister Xiaotao..."
Yao Haoxuan stared with wide eyes at the figure on the field who looked like an Ice Queen, his eyes full of shock.
"Very strong..." The taciturn Chen Zifeng gave his judgment.
The other members of the Seven Monsters nearby also fell silent.
Before the holiday break, Ling Luochen was only Rank 49. How was everything different the moment she returned?!
Setting aside the fact that her cultivation jumped to Rank 53 in just over two months, what on earth was that ice-blue soul ring?!
The crowd remained silent.
In the arena, Ma Xiaotao, whose cultivation had reached Rank 58, was being pinned down firmly by Ling Luochen—even though she was using the imprint left by a certain someone to suppress her evil fire, allowing her fire attribute to briefly reach a level infinitely close to Ultimate Fire.
Crimson flames formed one solid defensive line after another in front of Ma Xiaotao, yet they were in a state of being completely countered by Ling Luochen's current "Ultimate Ice Mode"!
"Does this girl have infinite soul power?!"
As the fight progressed, Ma Xiaotao also sensed something was wrong. Even though she was Rank 58 and her opponent had progressed to Rank 53, her opponent's soul power reserves far exceeded her own!
Especially this Ice and Snow Domain—it had covered the entire field from beginning to end, with no sign of excessive soul power consumption. It was too ridiculous!
On the high platform, a group of Shrek high-level officials were observing the battle.
Interestingly, almost everyone simultaneously focused their gaze on the ice-blue soul ring on Ling Luochen.
"Is this that person's latest research result?" Yan Shaozhe murmured subconsciously, then looked toward Xian Lin'er.
Xian Lin'er, however, simply shook her head:
"Don't even think about it. The agreement reached when Dean 'Skydream' first joined Shrek was that 'his research results belong to him and will not be shared with anyone, but if a result is developed together with Shrek, he will not withhold anything.'
"But this ice-blue soul ring was not co-developed with our Shrek Soul Tool Department; he researched it himself. We have no grounds to demand he share it..."
Xian Lin'er sighed.
That Tower Master really loved quietly bringing out world-shaking products; it was truly beyond absurd.
Anyone with eyes could see the superiority of this special ring that someone had named the "Energy Storage Ring."
Using Ling Luochen as a benchmark, a normal soul master absorbing a fifth soul ring would reach Rank 51 or 52 at most, even when absorbing a high-age ring.
But Ling Luochen? Her cultivation went straight to Rank 53!
One must understand that the higher a soul master's rank, the slower the cultivation speed. Even with no shortage of geniuses in Shrek, it takes several months to go up one rank at the Soul King level.
Ling Luochen had essentially skipped several months of bitter cultivation, not to mention her soul power reserves, which were nothing like a normal Soul King's!
Seeing that he couldn't count on Xian Lin'er, Yan Shaozhe could only look toward Mu En again.
"Elder Mu... this..."
"What are your thoughts, Shaozhe?"
Mu En interrupted Yan Shaozhe and asked calmly.
"Me?" Yan Shaozhe blanked for a moment, then spoke tentatively:
"Perhaps we can find a way to trade with Dean Skydream, just like our previous trades regarding 'Custom Soul Rings' and '100,000-year Artificial Soul Rings'."
"And if he refuses?" Mu En countered.
"If he refuses..." Yan Shaozhe hesitated, then said: "Perhaps we could also ask Lexuan... after all, she is now the Vice Tower Master. Maybe we can bypass Skydream and obtain the technology for the 'Energy Storage Ring' directly?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the several Sea God Pavilion Elders and Xian Lin'er present immediately fell silent, not daring to speak.
Mu En sighed and shook his head gently.
Almost everyone could feel the disappointment contained within the old man's sigh.
Yan Shaozhe was somewhat at a loss. He felt his method was fine, so why was his teacher so disappointed?
"All negotiations with the Spirit Transmission Pagoda regarding the 'Energy Storage Ring' will be handled entirely by Xian Lin'er."
Mu En made the decision in a calm tone.
Everyone present remained silent, watching as the increasingly hunched old man used soul power to push his wheelchair slowly away.