The awakening hall still echoed with residual light when Xie Yulong raced home, the afterglow of the Dragon God's phantom still flickering faintly behind him.
He couldn't wait to show them.
His courtyard bloomed gently under the afternoon sun. As he burst through the front gate, both Xie Tianyan and Lan Xueyao looked up in surprised confusion.
> "Back already?" Tianyan asked, rising halfway.
Xie Yulong didn't answer. He stepped into the open, focused his soul power—and in a breath, his Martial Soul activated.
The air instantly turned heavy.
Behind him, the towering silhouette of the Dragon God took form once more. Nine-colored scales shimmered like divine armor, and even the birds in the nearby trees scattered at the unseen pressure.
Tianyan's Fire Dragon whimpered in his core.
Lan Xueyao's Ice Dragon shivered and retreated.
They weren't just shocked. They were certain.
> "This is… definitely a divine Martial Soul," Lan Xueyao murmured.
> "It's far beyond anything in our world," Tianyan breathed.
Then, Xie Tianyan leapt to his feet, eyes lit with pride and fervor.
> "Let's go! We'll get your first spirit ring immediately! I know a—"
> "Wait!"
Xie Yulong raised both hands hastily, his voice unusually serious.
> "My Martial Soul… is different."
His parents paused, exchanging surprised glances.
> "It came… with a soul."
Then, he summoned it.
A glowing nine-colored orb hovered above his palm, but it wasn't ordinary. No beast's soul. No artificial construct.
It pulsed with divine might, swirling with golden light and eternal echoes.
This was the Dragon God's Spirit Soul—not artificial, but a fragment of the Dragon God's will itself.
Tianyan and Xueyao were rendered breathless.
Xie Yulong explained in simple terms:
> "Every time I break through a major rank, this soul gives me a spirit ring. So, I don't need to hunt beasts to get spirit rings.
The ring's age depends on how much I can handle, and after every major breakthrough, the previous rings upgrade to the same rank as the new ring."
Silence fell like a stone.
Xie Tianyan and Lan Xueyao were not just shocked—they were silenced into complete stillness. For the first time in decades, the two former pillars of the continent were utterly out of their depth.
> "There has never been a Martial Soul like this…" Xueyao whispered.
> "Maybe only divine Martial Souls… maybe not even them…" Tianyan added, mouth still ajar.
Then—
Their expressions quickly shifted from disbelief to raw excitement.
> "Then what are we waiting for? Fuse with it! Let's see what this so called soul does!" Tianyan said, voice practically shaking.
They went to the meditation room, and Xie Yulong began the fusion.
At first, nothing.
Then—
> Boom!
A ripple exploded from his body. The Dragon God phantom behind him opened its mouth and roared silently as the spirit soul reacted.
The fusion didn't begin.
It resisted.
The spirit soul orb flared in midair.
Two identical wills clashed—one embedded within his Martial Soul, and the other resting dormant in the soul orb.
Both… were Dragon God.
One slumbering. The other awakening.
The ground beneath him cracked. The room trembled. Even the nearby plants withered from pressure. Lan Xueyao took a step back in disbelief.
> "What's happening?!"
> "They're… clashing!" Tianyan whispered.
Xie Yulong's body shook violently.
His blood boiled. His soul space howled like a volcano on the edge of eruption.
This wasn't a simple spirit soul absorption.
It was a battle between two fragments of will, each struggling to be whole—but refusing to surrender.
The Dragon God phantom snarled. The soul orb blazed with challenge. The divine pressure doubled.
> "You are me… I am you…" Xie Yulong growled in his mind.
"Merge—damn it!"
No begging. No submission.
He commanded it.
The soul orb pulsed once, then slowly… merged into his Martial Soul.
And in that instant—harmony.
Not domination.
Unity.
A brilliant, nine-colored seal burst to life within his soul space. The two divine fragments—Martial Soul and Spirit Soul—merged into one.
Not subordinate and master… but one self.
At first white then to solid white then deep white...then transitioned to
Light yellow
Solid yellow
Deep yellow
Then it stopped
A golden-yellow ring spiraled into view around his feet.
It solidified—thick, stable, and shockingly deep in hue.
> 999 years.
His first spirit ring.
Which was unheard of.
But it wasn't over.
A wave of soul power surged through him, explosive and pure.
10… 13… 17… 20!
And he could feel that he could go even further—if he absorbed a second ring.
> "He… reached Level 20 instantly?" Lan Xueyao's voice cracked.
> "His soul foundation…" Tianyan gasped. "...it's still stable."
The nine-colored glow finally faded.
The Dragon God phantom behind him retracted slowly, curling around his body protectively before vanishing.
Xie Yulong panted slightly, but a victorious smile curled his lips.
> "It's done."
Tianyan blinked… then laughed hysterically.
> "HAHA! My son is a monster!"
> "And that ring… almost a thousand years. That's the limit for most Soul Grandmasters!" Xueyao added.
> "He's only six…" she whispered softly.
Tianyan scooped him up high.
> "Forget about your peers! No one—no one—is matching you now!"
The roaring pressure had finally faded.
Yet, as Xie Yulong steadied his breath, a spark danced in his crimson eyes.
He turned to his parents, his voice surprised—
> "I can still go higher… as long as I absorb a second ring."
Lan Xueyao blinked.
Tianyan paused mid-laughter, his grin freezing.
> "Another one? Already?" she asked, stunned.
> "Didn't you just reach Level 20…?"
Halfway talking she remembers he reached level 20 already which is enough for him to get another ring.
Xie Yulong nodded,
> "There's no restriction. My spirit soul can give a new ring every major rank… and my soul power's already overflowing."
There was a beat of silence—then Tianyan burst into action.
> "Then what are we waiting for? Sit down! Fuse again! Let's see how far this Dragon God can go!"(Told them the name he had given his martial soul.)
Xueyao gave him a helpless look but was just as eager.
Once again, Xie Yulong sat cross-legged in the center of the room.
The glowing nine-colored dragon god martial soul reappeared— It hovered silently above his palm, resonating with his Martial Soul.(Since the spirit merged with his martial soul,from now on his martial soul will give him spirit rings.)
> "Initiating fusion…"
A second surge of energy spiraled outward, gentler than the first, but far more refined.
Then it descended.
At first, the ring that appeared was a soft white.
> "10 years," Xueyao whispered. "Still… a proper start."
But even as she said it, the ring deepened—like time accelerating.
The white thickened, condensed.
Within seconds, it became a dense white—a 99-year spirit ring.
Then, a warm golden hue began to swirl at the edges.
The ring shifted.
100 years.
It became a pale yellow.
Then a solid yellow.
Then deeper.
999 years.
The glow stabilized briefly, pulsing with richness.
But it didn't stop there.
The ring darkened further, taking on a slight purple hue…
Then sold purple
And then—
> Boom.
A final pulse of divine resonance rang out, and the ring completed its transformation.
9999 years.
A deep purple ring nearly black spun around him, radiant and full.
> "9999 years…" Lan Xueyao whispered, dazed.
Even though she and Tianyan had just witnessed their son absorb a 999-year ring, this was a step beyond.
Tianyan crouched beside his son, eyes wide.
> "This is…the limit of purple soul ring. Soul Venerables—most of them—can't even dream of absorbing something like this."
> "Is it because of the Martial Soul?" Xueyao muttered aloud. "The Dragon God martial soul… it must have strengthened his body…"
> "To such an extent…" Tianyan added, trailing off.
They were peak Title Douluos—and yet, they couldn't wrap their heads around what they were witnessing.
Just as they were beginning to settle their thoughts—
The glow returned.
Faint at first. Subtle. But undeniable.
The first ring began to change.
From deep-yellow… it slowly transitioned.
First to light purple… then deeper… until—
It matched the second ring.
A deep violet gleam pulsed outward as the first ring's age stabilized again.
> 9999 years.
Lan Xueyao gasped.
> "It… it evolved?!"
Tianyan stood dumbfounded, lips parting soundlessly.
> "The first spirit ring—just because the second one was older—it… matched the age? How?!"
Xie Yulong smiled calmly.
> "I told you… it upgrades when I reach a new rank. All rings, every time."
> "The system is too broken," he muttered under his breath.
Then, another wave of power surged through him.
His body glowed faintly.
The second ring's energy was richer, denser—more explosive.
21… 23...27.
> "Level 27?!" Tianyan's voice cracked.
> "The second ring gave him five levels," Xueyao murmured. "And the soul power left over from his first ring… pushed him even further."
They didn't know what to say anymore.
Xie Yulong had entered the room with no spirit rings.
Now, in a span of minutes, he had two nearly ten-thousand-year old rings and a soul level approaching Soul Elder—before even leaving his courtyard.
The silence that followed wasn't from disbelief anymore.
It was excitement