The Martial Soul Skeleton, in Douluo Continent's Bone-Changing Susanoo

Chapter 48 The Third Soul Ring

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness. I refused to participate in the Elite Tournament because I was worried that my cultivation speed would be investigated if I were to grow too fast. After all, even Teacher Qin Ming could find my information, let alone other major sects and families."

After hearing Xia Liang's words, Qin Ming, who was sitting next to him, said guiltily, "Master Xia, I am very sorry for investigating you without your permission."

"To express my apology, you need to pay me compensation for emotional distress and privacy breaches," Xia Liang asked seriously. "Teacher Qin, can you accept a total of 30,000 gold soul coins?"

"Of course." Qin Ming took out a gold card from somewhere and handed it over. The card had the number three on it.

The Gold Card is a Gold Soul Coin stored-value card with a unit of ten thousand. The three characters indicate that the deposit is more than thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

After receiving the gold card from Qin Ming, Xia Liang quickly put it into the silver bracelet on his left hand. As a commoner soul master, he dared not gamble big money in the Great Soul Arena, so he could only look for opportunities to get benefits from rich people.

Be greedy if you can, save up more money to buy a lot of food for food-type Soul Masters, you'll definitely need it when you get immortal herbs.

After witnessing the transaction, the three education committee members and Prince Xue Xing were all stunned, except for Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, who smiled with interest. This Master Xia's greed is good; greedy people are the easiest to control.

"Master Xia, we are all very curious about how you have such an amazing cultivation speed?" Xue Qinghe suddenly asked.

Those present, including Prince Xuexing, the three education committee members, and Qin Ming, all focused their attention, seemingly eager to hear some astonishing answer.

Xia Liang did not disappoint them, and indeed gave a surprising answer.

"Effort?" Prince Xuexing said with a strange expression.

The others stared at Xia Liang with surprise and skepticism.

"That's right, it's all about hard work," Xia Liang said earnestly. "Commoner Soul Masters, without the support of powerful families, how else can you think of a path to such astonishing cultivation speed besides hard work?"

"The three members of the Education Committee, and Your Highness, you should know that two years ago, I entered the academy as a chef in order to obtain the academy's mimicry cultivation resources so that I could improve my soul power more quickly."

"Actually, before coming to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, I trained in a mercenary group for three years. During those three years, everything I experienced was similar to what I experienced at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. It was all about constantly working hard and using whatever resources I could get my hands on to aid my cultivation. That's why my cultivation speed is so amazing."

"Of course, the main reason is the absorption of high-age spirit rings. My first spirit ring was five hundred years old, and my second spirit ring was nine hundred years old. Thanks to absorbing two high-age spirit rings, I was able to jump three levels of spirit power twice when breaking through the bottleneck. This greatly shortened the gap between me and geniuses."

"As for why I was able to absorb such a high-age soul ring, it's all thanks to the special nature of the Skeleton Martial Soul."

At this point, Xia Liang chuckled self-deprecatingly, "To be honest, before I obtained my first spirit ring, my appearance was just like yours—very normal, even narcissistic. It was only after obtaining my first spirit ring, due to the influence of the skeleton spirit on my body, that I became this thin and lifeless."

"My body looks very strong now, but it's actually all made up of a skeleton. The root cause of this physical condition is that my flesh and blood can't keep up with the development of my skeleton. In other words, the strength of my entire skeleton is several times stronger than my flesh."

"As the saying goes, fortune and misfortune are intertwined. The skeleton martial soul brought me physical and physical inconveniences, but it also greatly enhanced the resilience of my meridians and bones. When I absorb soul rings, it is my entire skeleton that bears the impact of the soul ring energy, rather than my physical body."

"My strong bone structure is the secret to my ability to absorb high-level spirit rings. I'm telling you all this today out of trust and honesty. I hope you won't reveal it to anyone else."

After hearing this account, everyone analyzed its credibility.

Only Meng Shenji, the instructor, reacted and assured, "Of course, the secret of a martial spirit is a closely guarded secret to any soul master. Master Xia, we have already felt your sincerity and trust."

"Here, we three old men are willing to swear on our own martial souls that even if we are shattered to pieces, we will never reveal the secret of your martial soul to outsiders."

Prince Xuexing and Qin Ming snapped out of their thoughts and nodded in agreement with Meng Shenji, indicating that they would not reveal it to outsiders.

"Master Xia, you are a talent secretly cultivated by the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy. As the Crown Prince, I will inevitably need your assistance and support in the future," Xue Qinghe said to Xia Liang. "I also swear in the name of the Crown Prince that I will not reveal any of your secrets. For me, this would be tantamount to cutting off my own arm, so please rest assured."

"However, there's still something I don't understand. How do you know that the first spirit ring can be absorbed for five hundred years? I remember that in the knowledge of spirit masters on the mainland, the limit of the first spirit ring is only about four hundred years."

"I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me if I tell you."

Xia Liang shook his head bitterly. "When I was acquiring my first spirit ring, I misjudged the cultivation level of a spirit beast. I thought it was four hundred years old. Only after absorbing it did I realize that it was actually a five-hundred-year-old spirit beast. Fortunately, after two years of physical training, coupled with the enhancement of my bones by my skeleton martial soul, I was able to turn the danger into safety and successfully absorb it."

"Afterwards, to avoid this situation, I desperately studied various kinds of soul beast knowledge. With professional soul beast knowledge, by chance, I joined a mercenary group. I carefully observed the physical changes of each employer when absorbing soul rings of different ages. Finally, I had a bold idea, which was to try absorbing a thousand-year soul ring for my second soul ring. But thinking about how I almost lost my life with my first soul ring, I dared not take the risk."

"As a second choice, I chose to absorb a nine-hundred-year-old spirit ring. Actually, it was only because I happened to find a spirit beast that I had no choice but to take the risk. Fortunately, it was all worth it. I am now thirteen years old, but I look like I am twenty. Not only in appearance, but even my physical frame is at the strength of a twenty-year-old, so the spirit rings I can absorb will naturally be much older."

At this point, Xia Liang looked at Meng Shenji, who was sitting next to Xue Qinghe, and said seriously, "Chief Instructor, you promised to help me obtain the best quality third spirit ring, right?"

"I've made up my mind. I'll obtain my third spirit ring from a bone dragon with five thousand years of cultivation. With my current bone strength, I'm sure I can successfully absorb it."

Upon hearing this, not only Meng Shenji, but also Xue Qinghe and everyone else couldn't help but gasp in shock.

About three minutes later.

The group discussed the third soul ring after five thousand years, and in the end, Xia Liang made it clear that if the academy didn't help, he would find outsiders to help him.

Having learned about the age limits of the first and second spirit rings, as well as the benefits of the skeleton martial soul for absorbing high-age spirit rings, Meng Shenji and the others already regarded Xia Liang as a rare and exceptional genius in the academy. How could they possibly let him ask outsiders for help and attract more attention?

Such an extraordinary genius, if given a stable environment to grow up in, could very well cultivate to the level of a Title Douluo by accumulating one high-level spirit ring after another.

At that time, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy can say that it has cultivated a Title Douluo with only a fifth-level innate soul power, living up to its name as the number one royal academy.

The Heaven Dou Empire can also have a powerful Title Douluo as a guest minister.

Therefore, it is absolutely forbidden to let outsiders know about Master Xia's extraordinary talent in martial souls and soul rings beforehand, especially not the people of the Spirit Hall and the seven major sects.

After weighing the options, the three education committees, Prince Xuexing, and Xue Qinghe all agreed.

(End of this chapter)