Douluo Continent: This Soul Master is Too Bizarre and Unpredictable

Chapter 73 "Phantom Mysterious Method"

"As for the year, let's say it's around ten thousand years ago!"

Meeting the gazes of Shui Yanyu and Shui Bing'er, Mu Yang spoke calmly.

The year, just over ten thousand years old, was the year that Mu Yang set for the third soul ring of the Ice and Fire Immortal Jade Ginseng Martial Soul after much deliberation.

If it were half a month ago, Mu Yang would never have thought about a third soul ring that would last for ten thousand years.

It's not that a ten-thousand-year spirit ring is bad, but a third ten-thousand-year spirit ring is too high-profile.

Originally, a fourth spirit ring that takes ten thousand years to form was already a bit high-profile, but because of the Whale Glue, and given that many spirit masters in the spirit master world have spirit ring configurations that exceed their limits, it's not a big deal for Qianqian to have a fourth spirit ring that takes ten thousand years to form.

After all, there are many demons and monsters, so it's normal for a great demon king to appear.

Furthermore, theoretically speaking, if one can improve their physical fitness by consuming whale gelatin and then refine a head soul bone that can enhance mental strength, then obtaining a fourth soul ring in ten thousand years is not impossible.

With the reputation of Blazing Fire Academy, he is certainly qualified to possess a head soul bone openly and legitimately.

If a fourth soul ring of ten thousand years is a bit high-profile, but not enough to attract attention and lead to action, then openly displaying a third soul ring of ten thousand years to outsiders is not just high-profile, but downright arrogant, practically saying on his face, "I have a top-grade soul bone, come and destroy me!"

Anyone with a modicum of knowledge would think this way: a mere level 30 Soul Master, yet his spiritual power is comparable to that of a level 50 Soul Master—how many years old must that skull be? Could it be the legendary 100,000-year-old Soul Bone?

Furthermore, if physical fitness is only improved by consuming whale glue, it is difficult for a level 30 Soul Master to be comparable to a level 50 Soul Master. He probably still needs at least one limb or torso Soul Bone that is not old.

A weakling with a precious treasure is a perfect target for a fat sheep. Even if the background is not bad, it is still inevitable to be secretly watched by powerful people, unless there is a supreme powerhouse like the Spirit Hall's "Sky Invincible" standing behind it.

Therefore, Mu Yang had some reservations before, and planned to be on the safe side by getting a third soul ring that was eight or nine thousand years old.

Anyway, it's not like the age of a spirit ring can't be improved. Even if some strange and special secret method is created in the future to improve the age of a spirit ring, there is a chance to get a reward for improving the age of a spirit ring if you participate in the God Trial in the future.

Furthermore, since the third soul skill's effect is set to remove abnormal statuses, and the soul ring's age has not undergone a qualitative change, the impact on the soul skill's effect is not too significant.

However, after a sudden, unexpected idea two weeks ago, Mu Yang's thoughts changed.

There is no single way for a Soul Master to determine the approximate age of a Soul Beast. They can also judge it by its strength, the Soul Power aura it emits, its physical appearance, and other factors.

However, if you ask a Soul Master to determine the age of another Soul Master's Soul Rings, apart from experts with exceptional eyesight who can roughly judge by the strength of the Soul Skill's effect, the only other way is to judge by the color of the Soul Rings.

Coincidentally, he is a food-type Soul Master, and the Soul Power food he creates will not be given to unrelated people to eat. Others cannot judge the approximate age of his Soul Rings by the effects of his Soul Skills.

In other words, as long as he can disguise the color of the spirit ring, outsiders will not be able to tell that the spirit ring is overdue.

In the original story, Tang San could use the disguise domain technique of the Blue Silver Domain to change the color of his spirit rings, or even hide them. With his deduction talent in hand, Mu Yang could naturally also use his self-created disguise secret technique to disguise the color of his spirit rings.

Moreover, this disguise technique is not just a concept; he had already deduced it a few days ago.

Is a third spirit ring after ten thousand years too high-profile? Although I, Mu Yang, am secretly high-profile, I am very low-profile on the surface!

"A third spirit ring that lasts for ten thousand years? Xiao Yang, are you confident?"

Shui Yanyu frowned and asked.

Although Shui Bing'er's ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring served as a case study, Shui Yanyu knew that Mu Yang far surpassed other soul masters of the same level in terms of physical fitness and mental strength. But to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring across a full 20 levels of soul power seemed a bit too outrageous and arrogant.

"Don't worry, Auntie, everything will be fine."

Mu Yang said with great confidence.

In terms of mental strength, he definitely has no problem.

After all, he had consumed the Dew of Longing for Autumn Water. If he were to subsequently acquire a ten-thousand-year soul ring and advance to the third-ring Soul Master, his "Taiyin Refining God" realm should be able to reach the second half-moon perfection, and his spiritual power would be comparable to that of an ordinary level 60 Soul Master.

As for physical fitness, if one relies solely on the "Sun Body Refinement" technique, since the body refinement effect of the "Sun Body Refinement" technique is linked to the soul power level, a soul power of level 30 alone would definitely not be enough to withstand the pressure that occurs when absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring.

With the added benefits of whale glue, the consumption of the two immortal herbs, the Eight-Cornered Ice Grass and the Blazing Apricot, and the water and fire impervious body forged by the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire, his current physical condition is definitely no worse than that of a level 50 Soul Master.

Having achieved the required advancements in both physical fitness and mental strength, while the soul power level is considerably lower, attaching a ten-thousand-year soul ring is definitely not a problem.

Well, unless he's foolish enough to attach a soul ring to a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast that's extremely difficult to absorb, like a ten-thousand-year-old dark gold dinosaur claw bear.

If a level 50 offensive beast soul master of average skill blindly believes in the so-called optimal ratio and limit of years and tries to absorb a dark gold dinosaur soul ring that is a little over 10,000 years old, the chance of successfully attaching the soul ring is extremely low, and the most likely outcome is that the body will explode and die.

Of course, a top-grade soul beast like the Ten-Thousand-Year Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear is not something that just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can hunt down. Its pair of dark gold giant claws are unparalleled in attack, and even nine-ring titled Douluo like Dugu Bo and She Long have to avoid its sharp edge to avoid accidentally stumbling.

Ten days later, in the afternoon, in the inner area of ​​Sunset Forest.

"Xiao Yang, there's a golden bamboo down there that's over ten thousand years old, what do you think of it?"

On a cliff, Shui Yanyu glanced at the bamboo forest in the ravine below and turned to Mu Yang to ask.

Touching his chin, Mu Yang nodded slightly: "This is it!"

In the bamboo forest below the mountain stream, there grows a large number of bamboos with colors of green, silver and gold.

The most eye-catching feature is a thousand-year-old auspicious bamboo in the center of the bamboo forest, which is a pale purple-gold color all over its body, about twenty meters tall, and with a bamboo joint diameter of nearly a foot.

Soul Masters who are familiar with the Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo can easily determine its approximate age by its appearance.

Excluding young bamboo shoots, the bamboo under 100 years old is green; between 100 and 1000 years old, it is silver; between 1000 and 10,000 years old, it is golden; and at 10,000 years old, it is purplish-gold.

Furthermore, the appearance of the Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo is somewhat similar to the color of the Soul Ring. Before any qualitative change occurs in the year, the older the age, the darker the color will be.

As for 100,000 years? Sorry, the bloodline level of the Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo is not very strong. There are few soul beasts that are even 50,000 years old, let alone 100,000 years old. At least in the vast history of the soul master world, there has never been a record of a 100,000-year-old Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo.

The reason why the Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo has such a name is mainly because the Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo possesses the innate soul skill "Evil-Repelling," which has the effect of dispelling all abnormal states.

Moreover, if the Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo spirit beast does not encounter any accidents during its growth process, its species' achievement limit is basically in the range of more than a thousand years but less than ten thousand years. Its whole body is golden, which is why it is named Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo.

Such a rare species as the golden bamboo in the mountain stream below, which is ten thousand years old and has grown into a purple-gold color, is extremely rare. Most of them are the kings of bamboo in a forest of golden bamboo.

"Frostbird, possess me!"

With a low shout, Shui Yanyu's soul power flashed, the Frost Sparrow Martial Soul was attached to her, a pair of ice-blue wings appeared on her back, and eight soul rings of yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black bloomed.

"Bing'er, wait here for a moment."

Shui Yanyu turned to Shui Bing'er and gave her some instructions, then flew down the cliff with Mu Yang.

Soon, the two entered the Bamboo Grove, a forest of warding off evil spirits, located in the mountain stream.

Under the powerful soul force released by Shui Yanyu, the many golden bamboos of varying ages in the bamboo forest remained obedient and did not react excessively to the uninvited guest.

Well, to be precise, under the powerful pressure of soul force, the numerous Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboos that were bearing immense pressure had lost their ability to resist.

"Auntie, let me do it!"

Looking at the ancient golden bamboo that wards off evil spirits not far ahead, Mu Yang said to Shui Yanyu.

Don't underestimate him just because he's only a level 30 Quasi-Soul Master. Dealing with ordinary soul beasts that are only a little over 10,000 years old is a piece of cake for him.

Unless the opponent has strong mental power, or is simply a ten-thousand-year-old mental-type soul beast.

"You're here?"

Shui Yanyu was stunned for a moment, then looked at Mu Yang with a surprised expression.

Although the Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo is not considered a powerful soul beast, it is still over ten thousand years old. Converted to a soul master's soul power cultivation, it is at least a five-ring Soul King.

"Um!"

Mu Yang nodded.

The soul rings dropped by soul beasts have absorption limits. Even after Shui Yanyu crippled the ten-thousand-year-old Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo, he still had to finish it off with a final blow, otherwise he wouldn't be able to absorb the soul ring.

As for the strongest technique that Mu Yang currently possesses, there is not much difference between the Ten-Thousand-Year Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo in its prime and the Ten-Thousand-Year Evil-Repelling Golden Bamboo that is severely injured and on the verge of death.

"A Real Illusion!"

With a serious expression, Mu Yang activated a mental technique.

Following the "Ice Flame Secret Technique," Mu Yang spent more than half a year, relying on his talent and a little bit of his own imagination, to deduce another mental-type secret technique: the "Illusionary Mystic Technique."

The Real Illusion is one of the only two moves in the "Illusionary Mystic Arts," a mental technique that combines control and attack.

The specific effect is to pull the target consciousness, whose mental strength is weaker than their own, into a realistic illusion that they can dominate and control.

Maintaining a realistic illusion requires a continuous consumption of mental energy. All attacks launched against a target within a realistic illusion can be either illusory or real, but real attacks require additional mental energy and are classified as mental attacks.

If the target dies in the real illusion, they will also die in reality due to the annihilation of their soul.

(End of this chapter)