Caelus even took this opportunity to fully verify his self-created Airflow Body Technique.
By utilizing precise manipulation of airflow to enhance the sharpness of his attacks, form unique defenses and restrictions, and increase his own speed and mobility... This was the Airflow Body Technique he had created based on his specific situation.
After all, his situation was special; his time-type Spirit Abilities were powerful enough, but the consumption was too great. Before condensing a spirit core, he needed to conserve Soul Power and could not use them frequently.
This body technique almost made up for the shortcomings in his sustained combat ability caused by insufficient Soul Power during the early stages before he obtained powerful time-type Spirit Abilities; its effect was comparable to the enhancement of a top-tier support system Soul Master.
"Senior Sister, you're joking." A look of slight helplessness appeared on Caelus's face.
"Do I look that reckless?"
"Hehe." Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but chuckle, raising a hand to lightly cover her lips.
"That's hard to say. Challenging a top-tier ten-thousand-year Soul Beast as a Soul Elder—no matter how one looks at it, it's hard not to suspect that you're an overconfident 'idiot'."
Seeing Caelus's even more helpless expression, Zhang Lexuan finally put away her playful demeanor, regaining the composure and reliability of an Inner Court Senior Sister.
She pointed to the black spirit ring floating in the air, which emitted an alluring yet dangerous aura, and said seriously:
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Hurry and take the time to absorb the spirit ring. This place is not suitable for a long stay; the battle just now caused quite a commotion and might attract other trouble. I will act as your Protector, so just absorb it with peace of mind."
Caelus nodded, said no more, and sat cross-legged on the bone-chilling ice, eyes slightly closed, concentrating his mind.
As his thoughts stirred, the mysterious and noble phantom of the Regent of Time, Istaroth, slowly emerged behind him; though indistinct, it exuded a sacred aura.
He guided his Soul Power, carefully Entanglement it to the black ten-thousand-year spirit ring that hovered above the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's corpse, emitting immense energy and Soul pressure.
The spirit ring was drawn in, trembled slightly, and then transformed into a deep black stream of light that surged down onto Caelus's head.
"Boom!" It was as if an iceberg had smashed into his Sea of Consciousness, and a violent energy impact and an even more ferocious Soul shock instantly struck him.
A ten-thousand-year spirit ring contained not only vast energy but also the unwillingness, resentment, and residual wild instincts of the Soul Beast before its death.
The violent will of the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile was like countless ice spikes, stabbing fiercely at Caelus's spiritual core; the extremely cold intent seemed as if it wanted to freeze his entire Soul.
Caelus let out a muffled groan, his face instantly turning deathly pale. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and fine frost even started to condense on his skin.
This was the necessary test for absorbing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring; the risk of absorbing one beyond one's Rank lay precisely in this.
Seeing this, Zhang Lexuan's heart immediately leaped into her throat.
She took a step forward, moon-white Soul Power swirling in her palms, prepared to forcibly interrupt the absorption process at any moment if Caelus could no longer hold on—though that would cause backlash to Caelus, it was still better than his Soul being shattered into idiocy or him exploding and dying.
She monitored Caelus's state with intense focus, like the most vigilant Protector, while simultaneously scanning the surroundings for any movement, ensuring that nothing could disturb this critical moment.
Just as Caelus's consciousness was fully resisting the violent energy and Soul impact within the spirit ring, deep within his spiritual World, in that strange space constructed by the Law of Time...
The Regent of Time, Istaroth, was not curled up lazily in the flow of time, napping as usual.
She hovered above the Sea of Consciousness, her form more solid than when she manifested in the outside World.
Her eyes, which usually held a lazy expression, were now "watching" everything happening in the outside World with extreme seriousness.
More accurately, she was "watching" the fourth spirit ring that was taking shape, intertwined with the spirit ring's energy and the rules of the Douluo World.
"Sigh... troublesome." A barely audible sigh echoed within Caelus's Sea of Consciousness.
She perceived that, according to the established trajectory, this Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's spirit ring would bring Caelus a decent time-type Spirit Ability.
But it was not enough.
She had been observing Caelus all along, so she knew his thoughts.
Caelus wanted to pull chestnuts from the fire amidst the impending chaos in the Extreme North Land and reap sufficient benefits; his current Fourth Soul Skill alone would be useless.
As for her, as an existence from another Universe, she was limited by the World's rules and could not easily intervene directly in reality in the outside World.
Acting frequently would not only consume a massive amount of energy but could also invite the instinctive repulsion of this World, or even... be detected by certain powerful existences.
"Fighting and such... it's the most boring thing. It's both tiring and troublesome." Istaroth had zero motivation.
Compared to intervening personally, she preferred to act as a quiet observer, watching the long river of time flow silently and recording those brilliant or ordinary moments.
Expecting her to go out and fight for her life? She'd rather sleep in this spiritual space until the end of time.
Therefore, the best solution was to make Caelus strong enough to accomplish what he wanted to do on his own, so that he wouldn't come looking for her.
After all, she and Caelus were currently bound together; they prospered together and suffered together. She might be lazy, but she didn't want to die.
"Having me take action is too much trouble. I suppose... I'll give you a little help." Istaroth made up her mind.
Her gaze penetrated the barriers of Caelus's spiritual World, casting itself toward the more vast and ethereal river of time of the Douluo World.
This river was completely different from the river of her hometown. Its rules were more "solidified," or rather, there was a difference in the underlying logic.
In her original World, time was like a thread in her palm, which she could relatively easily weave, trace back, or even sever.
But here, she was more like a "visitor" with special permissions; every time she attempted to significantly shift the river, she would feel the invisible, heavy "resistance" of the entire World.
The past was already solidified, as hard as rock, and difficult to change.
Fortunately, the future was not yet determined; like countless tributaries rushing forward in the river, it was full of infinite possibilities.
As long as a certain future had not yet been "observed" and "anchored"—that is, not clearly foreseen and determined by any existence with the relevant authority—then it remained in an uncertain state akin to quantum superposition, existing with a tiny possibility of being guided or replaced.
"Found it..." Istaroth's consciousness concentrated to the extreme.
She ignored the waves that the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's remnant Soul had stirred up in Caelus's Sea of Consciousness—that was a test Caelus had to face himself—and her hand slowly reached into the surging river of time.
She was not stirring the entire river; the cost of doing so was something she could not currently bear.
What she was doing was more like a precise microsurgery.
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