"This much time has passed, and this soul ring still hasn't dissipated."
Water Wuhen looked at the blood-red soul ring still hovering above the corpse of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, a hint of surprise in his heart.
Although he didn't know exactly how long it had taken him to absorb this head soul bone, judging from the situation of his younger sister Shui Bing'er absorbing the Spiritual Condensation Wisdom Head Soul Bone, the time required would definitely not have been short.
Normally, a soul beast's soul ring has a limited duration. After such a long time, under normal circumstances, this soul ring should have already dissipated.
"Perhaps this is the difference between a hundred-thousand-year soul ring—or even a ferocious beast-level soul ring—and ordinary soul rings."
His confusion didn't last long. After all, his knowledge only reached at most the ten-thousand-year level. No one had ever tested how long a hundred-thousand-year soul ring could persist, let alone a ferocious beast-level soul ring.
There was nothing strange about hundred-thousand-year soul rings and ferocious beast soul rings having special traits that other soul rings did not possess.
Soon after, Water Wuhen fell into thought while looking at the soul ring before him.
For such a ferocious beast-level soul ring, he naturally desired it. After all, the strength of a seventh soul ring's Martial Soul True Body was closely related to the soul ring's age. Many people would rather absorb a higher-age soul beast even if its attributes didn't match.
If his seventh soul ring were this ferocious beast-level soul ring, then his Martial Soul True Body would undoubtedly become extremely powerful—possibly beyond normal limits.
However, what worried Water Wuhen was that unlike soul bones, soul rings could not be absorbed without risk. He still didn't even know the exact level of this ice silkworm soul beast. If he failed during absorption, it would only worsen his current situation.
But after a moment, Water Wuhen still summoned the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's soul ring toward him.
Staring at the blood-red soul ring in his hand, he said softly, "If I even fear a single soul ring, then going forward I would most likely just be cannon fodder."
That sense of calling was growing stronger and stronger. He needed more power to explore the spatial rifts outside.
After absorbing this ferocious beast-level soul ring, he would be able to break through to Soul Saint. Moreover, due to the remaining energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, as well as the energy from absorbing the head soul bone and soul ring, he could directly leap to the late Soul Saint stage.
At that point, his strength would skyrocket several tiers, possibly reaching or even surpassing the level of an ordinary Title Douluo.
Of course, Water Wuhen wasn't gambling blindly without any confidence. If this had been before, even in a life-or-death situation, he would never have chosen to absorb this soul ring.
Although Articuno had given him the ability to absorb higher-level soul rings beyond his rank, a gap of nearly two hundred thousand years was still too vast. The mere spiritual shock alone was not something his former self could withstand.
But now things were different. After absorbing the head soul bone produced by the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, his spiritual power had not only increased more than tenfold, but had also become far more stable—directly surpassing most Title Douluo and reaching an entirely new realm.
With the stabilizing effect of the head soul bone on the soul, he now possessed the ability to endure the absorption of this soul ring and resist the spiritual shock.
As for physical strength, both the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's head soul bone had tempered his body. His current physique was no weaker than that of a Title Douluo.
Therefore, in Water Wuhen's view, absorbing this ferocious beast soul ring was risky—but not impossible.
BOOM——
However, the moment Water Wuhen truly began absorbing the soul ring, he realized he was wrong—and terribly wrong.
That surging energy was like a raging river pouring into the sea, directly flooding his meridians and constantly tempering them.
The intensity of the spiritual shock also far exceeded his expectations, causing his expanded, more stable spiritual sea to churn like a stormy ocean.
If not for the head soul bone he had just absorbed suppressing it, his spiritual sea might have already shattered.
"Could it be that the ice silkworm didn't lie… that he truly is a ninety-nine million-year ultimate ferocious beast?"
At this moment, Water Wuhen suddenly realized that perhaps the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had not lied after all—all of his words were true!
As for why a ninety-nine-million-year soul beast could be so easily slain by a mere Soul Emperor like him, it might simply be because the ice silkworm race was just too weak…
At the same time, the abnormalities in the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body might not have been mutations, but simply the result of its accumulated age.
However, realizing all this now was already too late. Water Wuhen had no choice but to endure it, or the outcome would not be pleasant.
During this process, his expression became ferocious. The dual torment of body and spirit pushed him into what felt like hell itself. Cold sweat continuously poured from his body, only to be frozen into ice in the next instant. Before long, he had turned into an ice statue.
"Pfft!"
When the energy impact reached its peak, Water Wuhen's body could no longer hold on. His skin split open, and large amounts of steaming blood erupted outward.
However, these blood droplets quickly turned into red ice shards and exploded.
Even so, this did not solve his problem. His body continued to rupture in multiple places, blood spurting like fountains.
"Was it still too reckless…?"
At this point, Water Wuhen understood that he had made a wrong decision. He had underestimated its age—the ninety-nine-million-year soul ring was not something he could currently absorb.
However, at that moment, as if sensing his life was in danger, the Articuno within his body awakened.
Looking at the energy and spiritual power rampaging inside Water Wuhen's body, Articuno opened its mouth.
In an instant, large amounts of chaotic, rampaging energy within his body were drawn and absorbed by Articuno.
With its intervention, Water Wuhen's pressure was drastically reduced, and the ferocious expression on his face gradually faded.
Seizing this opportunity, Water Wuhen accelerated the refinement of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's soul ring, increasing his absorption speed severalfold in an instant.
The energy absorbed by Articuno did not disappear. Instead, it resonated with the remaining Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow energy inside Articuno's body, beginning a reaction like a star reaching its limit and collapsing inward.
In an instant, the vast energy seemed to be drawn into a black hole, continuously converging toward a central point while being compressed into an ice-blue small sphere.
Soon, the remaining Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow energy and soul ring energy inside Articuno were completely absorbed by this ice-blue sphere. Even then, the sphere was not satisfied—it extended its grasp toward the energy within Water Wuhen's body.