"I can feel it the connection between my soul ring and martial soul is far more intimate now, as if it's truly become part of my martial soul. With this, it can definitely grow alongside it."
Zhou Qing was overjoyed.
As long as he reached the level of Titled Douluo, this soul ring could naturally evolve to the 100,000-year level. And if he had enough opportunities, it might even happen as early as the Soul Sage stage.
In the future, having nine soul rings of 100,000 years each would no longer be just a dream!
"Hehehe~"
Skydream Iceworm let out a pervy laugh.
Zhou Qing glanced at Romantina's face (which the Iceworm was currently using), and though he didn't feel any disgust, he still found it a little creepy. Unable to hold back, he asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"Did you know? Just now, when you activated your soul skill, I sensed a trace of the Moochun Bull's aura."
Skydream Iceworm chuckled, "Soul rings contain everything about a soul beast—its soul power, cultivation, and even its soul. For soul beasts under 100,000 years, there's only a fragment of their soul... The reason the markings on your soul ring are red is due to your martial soul's blood essence traits. But that very blood essence activated the fragment of the soul beast's soul within the ring. When the soul skill triggered, that fragment also flared up and released the Moochun Bull's aura."
"In that kind of situation, if a Titled Douluo noticed, you could easily be mistaken for a transformed 100,000-year soul beast."
Zhou Qing, however, didn't seem too concerned.
After all, every soul beast's aura was different. Once he acquired soul rings from other soul beasts, each with distinct auras...
Would he be considered the hybrid human form of multiple soul beasts, with different species, different ages, and even different genders?
"You're really not worried?"
Skydream Iceworm was baffled. "You might actually get killed just for being mistaken as a 100,000-year soul beast!"
"It only releases that aura when I use my soul skill, right?" That was another reason Zhou Qing remained calm.
With his current power, he could still crush weak soul masters without even needing to use soul skills.
Besides, in this small place like Nuoding City, how likely was it to even encounter a Titled Douluo?
"You're no fun," Skydream Iceworm pouted. "Still, you should be careful. There is a Titled Douluo in this area. I noticed him before, in the Nuoding Forest."
"That's Tang San's father," Zhou Qing replied casually.
"Eh…"
Skydream Iceworm scratched his head, puzzled why Tang San's father was hiding in the shadows.
And why was the son of a Titled Douluo living in such poverty?
Was this what humans called "remembering the bitter to savor the sweet"?
"But... I think he's got some issues in the head. Whatever, let's not talk about him." Zhou Qing didn't want to gossip behind people's backs. He preferred to keep such thoughts to himself, and even though he was talking to Skydream Iceworm, it still felt wrong.
He changed the subject: "Later, I'll leave the secondary refinement of Tang San's and Xiao Wu's soul rings to you. And Romantina's too. She should be the easiest."
"Tang San and Xiao Wu are fine," Skydream Iceworm said, "but for Romantina, we'll have to start from her second soul ring."
Despite seeing the immense potential in Zhou Qing and the others—enough to fuel its hope for revenge—Skydream Iceworm still needed time to assess if they were truly worthy of its full trust.
If its wisdom soul ring were to fully integrate with Romantina's brain-type martial soul and get "tainted" by her... then their fates would truly be bound together, for better or worse.
More importantly, Skydream Iceworm seriously suspected that it might become as perverted as Romantina.
What would his dear, cute, graceful Ice Empress think of him then?
So, it needed an excuse.
"My wisdom soul ring can already strengthen alongside Romantina's increasing soul power and physical stats. No need for that refinement process."
Zhou Qing nodded. He understood that Skydream Iceworm wouldn't put all its eggs in one basket.
After all, the evolution of the wisdom soul ring wasn't true evolution—it merely unlocked its existing power in line with the host's capacity, not a joint development.
From that perspective, Romantina wouldn't be able to fully integrate with the wisdom soul ring until she reached Titled Douluo level.
Otherwise, the soul ring's energy would overwhelm and destroy her body.
"So satisfying~"
Romantina had regained control of her body. She immediately exclaimed in delight, but Skydream Iceworm quickly vanished, not wanting to exchange banter with her.
"Hmph! He left already? I finally got excited for once..." Romantina muttered shamelessly. But when she noticed Zhou Qing's deadpan, judging little bean-eyes staring at her, she quickly coughed and asked, "When you saw my body being controlled by a worm just now... did you despise me?"
You might as well not have coughed! Zhou Qing rolled his eyes. And here I thought you were turning over a new leaf!
He replied, "Besides the mental interference skill, Skydream Iceworm has also tested its mental detection and mental sharing abilities with me. They're very effective. I suggest you use mental detection during your training."
"Not to scout your surroundings, but to detect your own body and martial soul. That should help you deepen your connection with your martial soul, so during meditation, you can communicate with it and discover the soul power circulation paths it guides you through."
"Since your martial soul is your brain, you're naturally more attuned to spiritual power than other soul masters. You should be able to fully grasp this cultivation method before reaching the Soul Elder stage."
Since this was directly related to her future cultivation, Romantina listened attentively and promised to return tomorrow.
"Who are you?"
A voice rang out in the distance—Yu Xiaogang had arrived.
Just like last time, he was drawn over by the commotion caused by Zhou Qing's experiment. But when he saw the trench stretching dozens of meters long, he instinctively assumed Romantina was the cause. It didn't look like a soul skill—it resembled the effect of some extremely rare type of offensive soul tool.
After all, Romantina was still very young. It seemed unlikely for her to possess such terrifying power.
"This is a school. Outsiders are not allowed inside!"
Zhou Qing was speechless. Inwardly, he scoffed:
You're the outsider here, not me.
When Romantina studied at Nuoding Academy, she had met Yu Xiaogang a dozen times. At first, on her father's advice, she tried to be friendly and greeted him proactively.
But once Yu Xiaogang found out about her innate soul power level, he only nodded faintly in response... Every time they crossed paths after that, he would at most give a curt "Mm."
Eventually, Romantina stopped bothering. She'd just pretend not to see him and walk right past.
Yet now, returning to the academy grounds, she actually ran into Yu Xiaogang again—and was labeled as an "outsider."
What could she say?
If this had come from Zhou Qing, her current masochistic tendencies might have made her excited. She would've even been thrilled by the insult.
But from Yu Xiaogang?
For some reason, it just made her feel nauseated and repulsed.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/XenTronix