Douluo: Trinity, I run through the timeline

Duan Jin's expression was solemn as he said, "I'm not sure about his age. The cultivation characteristics of a soul beast like the Vajra Ape are not very obvious; we can only judge by its size and soul power fluctuations."

"What is the cultivation level of this Golden Ape?" Su Ming asked.

"It's over three hundred years old. I can't say for sure if it's four hundred years old, but judging from its size, it's probably four hundred years old. The limit for a Soul Master's first Soul Ring is over four hundred and twenty years. I'm afraid this Vajra Ape is beyond your tolerance."

Su Ming thought to himself that this gold coin was actually quite reliable.

“Brother Duan, let’s take this King Kong Ape. I’ve been blacksmithing every day, so my physical condition is better than that of an ordinary Soul Master. Even if this King Kong Ape’s cultivation level really exceeds the limit, I should be able to withstand it if I grit my teeth.”

Duan Jin was speechless and said, "Do you think this is like forging iron? Just grit your teeth and bear it? Do you know that if a soul ring's lifespan exceeds its limit, the soul master will explode when absorbing it?"

Su Ming said, "This golden ape is perfect for me, I can't just give up like this."

“Go look elsewhere. Keep this golden ape as a backup. If you really can’t find anything more suitable for you, then come back and hunt this golden ape,” Duan Jin said.

Duan Jin wanted to play it safe, and Su Ming couldn't force him to change his mind, so he could only continue searching with Duan Jin in the Savage Beast Mountain Range.

And this search lasted for a month.

"Brother Duan, how about we go with the original King Kong Ape?" Su Ming suggested to Duan Jin, who was also looking disheveled, with a disheveled appearance.

"Well, I should have just hunted down that King Kong Ape. I wasted a whole month of my time." Duan Jin was also a little annoyed.

Su Ming comforted him, "It's alright, we did gain something."

Duan Jin nodded seriously.

“Indeed, although it’s just a small vein, it’s still a meteorite mine, and the extracted meteorite is worth at least six figures in gold soul coins. Once you’ve absorbed your soul ring and returned to Gengxin City, I need to report to my teacher. With my teacher personally leading the team, we should be able to drive away that dark gold bear.”

Chapter 11 The Allure of Absorbing Soul Rings Beyond One's Level

The meteorite mine mentioned by Duan Jin is, as the name suggests, a vein that produces meteorite iron. It is possible that a meteorite fell there in the past, giving rise to the vein.

The only problem is that a Dark Gold Bear is entrenched in the area where the meteorite ore is located. The Dark Gold Bear has the bloodline of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. It is either a super soul beast or a top-level soul beast. A thousand-year-old Dark Gold Bear is no less powerful than a five-thousand-year-old soul beast.

Duan Jin was only a Soul Master after all. He could handle ordinary thousand-year-old soul beasts, but he was struggling to deal with a thousand-year-old soul beast like the Dark Gold Bear.

This is the Soul Master.

Generally speaking, a Soul Master cannot deal with the Soul Beast whose maximum lifespan can be absorbed by their next Soul Ring. For example, Duan Jin is currently a Soul Venerable, and the optimal lifespan for a fourth Soul Ring is around five thousand years.

He certainly couldn't hunt it alone.

At this point, it's time to utilize all available connections, gather manpower, and hunt down the best spirit ring.

It can be said that the Soul Master profession is very dependent on background, and this has not changed even in the Douluo Continent III era, only in a different form.

The two quickly retreated, returning to the place where they had previously found the King Kong Ape.

Su Ming was very satisfied with this giant ape. Giant apes are very similar to humans, with outstanding attributes and a lifespan slightly exceeding the limit, which attracted him.

"Brother Duan, this is troublesome," Su Ming said to Duan Jin.

Duan Jin nodded, and a large hammer appeared in his hand.

Beneath his feet were three spirit rings, two yellow and one purple.

Duan Jin's innate soul power is level six, which is extremely high among ordinary soul masters. After all, his martial soul is just a hammer without any special properties, so this level is already the limit.

When he broke through to level ten, he had already been sent to Gengxin City by Duan Tie to become his current teacher's disciple, so his spirit rings have always been in the optimal ratio.

"shock!"

Duan Jin's first spirit ring shone brightly.

He uttered a single word, and then suddenly charged forward.

Su Ming saw that the hammer in his hand was emitting soul power, and the intense soul power fluctuations caused the hammer surface to tremble, with high-frequency vibrations producing a buzzing sound.

"Roar!"

Duan Jin's sudden appearance startled the Golden Ape, who then roared in anger.

He pounded his chest with both hands, seemingly to warm up his body, and his soul power instantly swelled to its limit.

Duan Jin's pupils contracted.

The Vajra Ape's soul power fluctuations were not strong, which he estimated to be at least three hundred years old.

Now, the King Kong Ape erupted, and his heart began to pound.

It can't be five hundred years ago, can it?

Never mind, the battle has already begun, and there's no way to retreat now.

He gritted his teeth and continued swinging the hammer.

boom!

The giant hammer collided with the metallic ape paw, and both man and ape were forced back.

Seeing this, Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

Judging from their size, the fact that Duan Jin and the Golden Ape both took several steps back indicates that Duan Jin had the upper hand.

Duan Jin took two steps back and forcibly stopped. His body was very coordinated. He gathered his strength on the spot, and a force flowed through him from the soles of his feet, starting with his legs, core of his waist, and explosive with his arms.

"Stack!"

His second spirit ring also began to shine.

When the small figure in front of him came crashing down again, the King Kong Ape roared and slammed out its ape paw once more.

A phantom appeared behind Duan Jin's hammer, lagging behind the real body by half a second. As Duan Jin's hammer collided with the Vajra Ape, the phantom also overlapped.

The golden ape roared in pain and staggered back a few steps.

Duan Jin jumped up and swung the hammer around in mid-air.

The phantom image continued to follow behind the main body, the giant hammer.

This hammer blow landed directly on the Golden Ape's chest, and as the afterimages overlapped, Duan Jin also used his third soul skill.

"burst!"

boom!

With a deafening roar, the Golden Ape was sent flying backward.

As the smoke cleared, Su Ming saw Duan Jin slightly out of breath as he put away his martial spirit.

The golden ape that flew backwards was barely breathing, with a huge bloody hole in its chest.

"Xiao Su, go finish him off. Be careful, don't let him sneak up on you."

Duan Jin produced a finely forged steel knife and handed it to Su Ming.

Su Ming nodded.

He took the knife, stepped forward to the King Kong Ape's side, raised the knife, and slashed at its neck.

The golden ape suddenly slammed down on Su Ming.

Su Ming had anticipated this and immediately took a few steps back, narrowly avoiding the attack.

After dodging the attack, he took advantage of a gap in the King Kong's attack to stab out with his knife.

The golden ape, in pain, struggled frantically.

Su Ming and he struggled for a while, and after ten minutes, Su Ming finally killed him.

"Xiao Su, this Vajra Ape's soul power fluctuations are quite strong. I'm not sure if it's been around for five hundred years. Do you still want to continue absorbing it?"

Although it was a question, Su Ming sensed that Duan Jin seemed to be trying to stop him from absorbing it.

He explained to Duan Jin.

“Brother Duan, his age should not exceed four hundred years.”

Duan Jin looked puzzled upon hearing this.

Su Ming stepped forward and pointed to the patterns under the Golden Ape's hair, saying, "Look, he has these patterns all over his body, and most of them have four circles, while a few have three circles. Considering his age range, the density of these patterns is most likely related to his age. That is, he has been cultivating for over 390 years, and he is only a few years away from cultivating all the patterns to four circles, which would be 400 years."

Different understandings can lead to a difference of up to a hundred years in the number of laps.

Duan Jin hesitated and said, "But his soul power fluctuations are too strong."

"Brother Duan, have you forgotten about the Dark Gold Bear? A thousand-year-old Dark Gold Bear, is its soul power aura really that old? This Vajra Ape probably also has the bloodline of some powerful soul beast mixed in."

Su Ming's explanation was very thorough, and Duan Jin believed it.

"Okay, then you can absorb it."

Relieved, Su Ming sat down cross-legged and began to receive the soul ring.

The surging soul power impacted his limbs and bones, causing cracks to appear in his meridians.

But everything is fine.

He didn't even feel like he was breaking down.

"Very good, very easy. I didn't die from absorbing a spirit ring that was above my level for the first time."

Su Ming knew that this was the effect of his body tempering. Although it was said to be an absorption beyond his level, it should actually be within the range that his body could withstand.

However, just because the body can withstand it doesn't mean that this is the stage that the martial spirit should be able to withstand.

In later research, some scholars compared the cultivation of Soul Masters to the growth of their Martial Soul, with each ten levels constituting a stage, and each Soul Ring serving as an aid to their growth at each stage.

The first ring's limit is over four hundred and twenty years.

Under this limit, everything is normal.

Beyond the limit, any additional cultivation level provides extra stimulation to the Martial Soul, resulting in a further enhancement of the Martial Soul.

Absorbing each spirit ring beyond its level will allow the martial spirit to develop far beyond what is expected of a spirit of the same level, thus snowballing an overwhelming advantage.

If each spirit ring has a 1.1 increase, then nine spirit rings would have a total increase of approximately 2.358!

Su Ming's initial attempt at absorbing a level higher than his own yielded a gain of 1.1. The extent of this leap will only increase in the future, potentially exceeding 2. One can only imagine the effect of stacking nine spirit rings.

Three hours later.

Su Ming stood up calmly. The cracked meridians in his body had long since recovered, and his condition was better than ever before.

"How's the soul skill?" Duan Jin stepped forward and asked immediately.

Chapter 12 Apprenticeship

First Soul Skill

Su Ming closed his eyes and sensed the power of the first soul skill from the depths of his martial soul.

"First Soul Skill, Vajra Power!"

He opened his eyes, and the spirit rings around his body emitted a bright yellow light.

On his body, patterns formed by condensed soul power rapidly spread throughout his entire body and took root within him. His body nearly doubled in size, reaching the level of an adult. His body was enveloped in a metallic black luster, and every muscle looked full of explosive power.

"The power of Vajra can transform my physical body into a Vajra body, increasing my physical defense by 100%. A layer of black luster on my body can negate damage and also enhance my strength by 100%."

hiss~

Duan Jin gasped.

This increase is outrageous.

Directly entering the Vajra Body is beyond proportionality. As for the increase in defense and power mentioned by Su Ming, Duan Jin felt that it should not be calculated based on Su Ming's own power, but on his state after transforming into Vajra.

"Under the Vajra Body, my size has increased, my muscles are full of power, and my strength has increased by more than 200%. On this basis, combined with the power of Vajra, my defense and explosive power can be increased by another 100%."

Su Ming further perceived and explained the mechanism by which the power attribute increased, confirming Duan Jin's feelings.

"That means your power can be increased by 500%!" Duan Jin exclaimed.

From one to three, and then to six, isn't that an increase of 500%?

Su Ming shook his head.

"It's only 500% right now. The reason I told Brother Duan that the increase would be 100% later is because the increase in the earlier part is not very significant. As my soul power increases, the difference between my Vajra Body and my original body will become smaller and smaller."

"That's outrageous too," Duan Jin exclaimed in astonishment.

Although Su Ming was modest, he was actually quite satisfied.