6: Chapter 6, Third Soul Skill

After the Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon collapsed, Uncle Lin, his expression still lingering with shock and relief, walked over to Lin Yan while maintaining his Spirit Possession state and said, "Young Master, please meditate to recover your Soul Power first. Old servant will keep watch over these two beasts."

Lin Yan did not refuse and nodded slightly, replying, "Alright, then I'll trouble Uncle Lin."

In the battle just now, although Lin Yan had suppressed the Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon the entire time, the cost was also extremely obvious—he was now left with very little Soul Power.

This was also his biggest problem right now: lack of endurance and depleting too quickly.

Once Lin Yan sat cross-legged and began meditating to recover his Soul Power, Uncle Lin's expression turned serious. His eyes remained vigilant of his surroundings while keeping a close watch on the two unconscious Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragons on the ground.

...

Fortunately, Lin Yan did not possess some jinx Physique. By the time he adjusted his state back to its Peak and slowly opened his eyes, the surroundings were still quiet, with no unexpected incidents occurring.

Meeting Uncle Lin's concerned gaze, Lin Yan spoke, "Uncle Lin, to prevent the other Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon from dying while I absorb the spirit ring later, I will first refine the Origin Beast Fire from that five-thousand-year Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon."

As Lin Yan finished speaking, a trace of worry flashed in Uncle Lin's eyes, his expression hesitant.

After a moment's hesitation, he could not help but persuade, "Young Master, why don't you play it safe and choose to absorb that five-thousand-year spirit ring? A seven-thousand-year spirit ring is nearly five thousand years higher than the limit a normal Spirit Elder can absorb!"

"Uncle Lin need not worry, didn't you already confirm my physical strength earlier?"

Lin Yan's gaze fell upon the two unconscious fire dragons, his tone resolute and confident: "Over these years, I have never interrupted my use of Whale Gel, as well as various other precious medicines and medicinal baths. Coupled with day-and-night polishing from my self-created Body Tempering Boxing Technique, with my current Physical Body strength, absorbing a seven-thousand-year spirit ring is more than enough."

Although Uncle Lin was still somewhat worried, he also knew that Lin Yan was stating facts.

He also understood that the higher the age of the spirit ring, the stronger the effect of the resulting Spirit Ability would certainly be.

However, for him, even though Lin Yan had already shattered his cognitive limits countless times, care breeds anxiety.

Combined with the influence of long-standing inherent concepts in the Spirit Master's world, he had been unable to suppress his inner anxiety just now and spoke out to advise.

Lin Yan said no more. He stepped forward to the five-thousand-year Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon, took out a Grade 4 spirit tool—a Flame Blade—from his storage spirit tool, and raised his blade and struck down. A cold flash flickered, and dragon blood spurted out.

Almost simultaneously, a purple spirit ring slowly condensed above the dragon corpse, lingering with a faint, scorching dragon breath.

Immediately afterward, Lin Yan summoned his Spirit, Emperor Flame, and his first spirit ring lit up, though this time it did not trigger the attribute boost effect.

The nine-colored flames instantly flared up, transforming into a scorching fireball that swept the Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon corpse on the ground, along with the newly condensed spirit ring, into its flames.

Emperor Flame continuously burned and refined it. A moment later, the dragon corpse turned into a handful of ash, and the spirit ring dissipated along with it.

In its place, a grayish-green Origin Dragon Fire floated in the air, a tiny dragon shadow faintly flickering at the center of the flame, circulating a primitive yet domineering scorching aura.

This was the additional effect of Lin Yan's first Spirit Ability: it could refine the Origin Beast Fire from the body of a Spirit Beast that possessed beast fire, using its Soul and Physical Body as fuel, for his Spirit, Emperor Flame, to devour.

After the Origin Dragon Fire was refined, familiar information feedback came from Emperor Flame.

Lin Yan realized that to completely devour and refine this dragon fire, it would take him approximately ten days.

Emperor Flame's devouring of various flames was not accomplished overnight; it required time.

Depending on the strength of the flame, the required refining time differed completely.

Over these years, according to Lin Yan's research and findings, the refining speed was also affected by his own Soul Power Rank and the strength of Emperor Flame's Origin.

As his Rank increased and Emperor Flame evolved, the refining speed was becoming faster and faster.

For example, when he had just obtained his first Spirit Ability, his Spirit was essentially just an ordinary mortal flame.

At that time, even devouring a hundred-year beast fire would take a dozen days or so.

Over these four plus years, Lin Yan had fed his Spirit a cumulative total of 103 types, amounting to 188 Origin Beast Fires, allowing it to continuously transform. Now, his Spirit—Emperor Flame—was infinitely close to Ultimate Fire.

In fact, it was only missing an opportunity to truly step over that threshold!

Therefore, facing the current Emperor Flame which was near Ultimate Fire, even if the quality of this Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon's Origin Dragon Fire was not low, it could not escape the fate of being devoured.

Besides these aforementioned factors, according to Lin Yan's speculation, since a spirit ring's age affects the power of a Spirit Ability, even if his Spirit Ability was already extremely Heaven-Defying and high in essence, dragged down by the current spirit ring's age, there might still be a portion of potential that had not been thoroughly tapped into.

However, this was ultimately just his speculation for now. Constrained by the fact that he had not yet found a way to increase a spirit ring's age, it remained unverified.

Fortunately, once Electrolux awakens this time, these temporarily shelved research topics can officially be put on the agenda.

With a thought, Lin Yan temporarily stored the Withered-Prosperous Dragon Fire awaiting refinement into his Spirit. Right now was not the time for refinement; he still had to focus on absorbing his third spirit ring next!

Under Uncle Lin's watchful gaze, Lin Yan raised his hand and slashed with his blade, cleanly sending the other Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon to meet its good brother.

As a purple spirit ring with an even deeper hue condensed into form, Lin Yan turned his head and gave Uncle Lin a reassuring look. Hesitating no longer, he sat down cross-legged and drew the spirit ring in to officially begin absorbing it.

The deep purple spirit ring slowly settled over Lin Yan. Domineering and scorching Soul Power instantly gushed out from the spirit ring, recklessly colliding and raging within his Meridians with a burning power.

Waves of heart-piercing pain radiated from his Meridians, yet Lin Yan's expression did not change.

Enduring the burning pain inside his body, he methodically mobilized the Soul Power in his Dantian, guiding and refining this violent spirit ring energy bit by bit along his repeatedly improved meditation pathway.

As the spirit ring was continuously absorbed, Lin Yan clearly perceived the subtle Bottleneck within his body.

The surging Soul Power was like a surging river, carrying an unstoppable power as it charged fiercely against that invisible barrier.

*Crack!*

A faint yet clear shattering sound resonated inside his body. The Bottleneck broke upon impact, and the surging speed of his Soul Power became even more rapid.

Energy continued to flood into his body incessantly, but at this moment, Lin Yan no longer paid much attention to the refining of the remaining Soul Power.

He had a much more important task to do!

With a shift of his mind, Lin Yan withdrew most of his consciousness, and the Prajna Heart Lamp hidden deep within his Sea of Consciousness was instantly ignited.

The countless thoughts accumulated within the lamp turned into an endless supply of "lamp oil" and began to burn rapidly.

Immeasurable divine light of wisdom blossomed, sweeping away dust from his spiritual mind. Lin Yan's Comprehension Ability, perception, and wisdom skyrocketed insanely, processing a thousand thoughts in a single moment and penetrating all creation!

In his current perception, the flow of time seemed to abruptly slow down. Every sound and light from the outside world, and even the subtle trajectories of Soul Power flowing in the air, were infinitely magnified, instantly feeding back into the depths of his consciousness.

Next, he spread his perception out like an invisible net, then violently contracted it inward, ignoring the flesh and bones of his Physical Body to penetrate directly into the most microscopic level of his body.

Then, familiar with the route, he located a mustard-seed space hidden deep within an unknown part of his body—a realm between the illusory and the real—and within that mustard seed, he "saw" the quietly burning Nine-Colored Emperor Flame.

His perception probed deeper; time seemed to blur, appearing both like eternity and a single instant.

In the next instant, his consciousness stepped into an endless, boundless space with neither heaven nor earth.