Douluo Continent: Taking Tang San as a disciple, with a ten-thousand-fold return for teaching him.

There will be opportunities in the future.

Chen Luo said, then added in his mind, "The opportunity will come once I obtain a soul skill enhancement card suitable for you."

"My so-called guidance was nothing but a few useless words; what I really relied on was just the Soul Skill Enhancement Card."

"I wonder if there will be many more opportunities to obtain Soul Skill Enhancement Cards in the future. After all, I'm almost a Title Douluo. If the system's mission settings are followed, with one mission every five levels, there won't be many chances to obtain Soul Skill Enhancement Cards... I hope I can get some special missions in the future, which will increase the probability of obtaining Soul Skill Enhancement Cards."

In the past, Chen Luo always hoped to obtain some powerful items when completing missions, but now he is quite satisfied. Having Soul Skill Enhancement Cards is enough, even though Soul Skill Enhancement Cards are quite powerful items.

Yu Xiuyuan's process of absorbing the spirit ring was also very smooth. He successfully obtained the fifth spirit ring in less than two hours.

At the very moment the fifth spirit ring surrounded Yu Xiuyuan, Chen Luo suddenly received a notification from the system—

[You gifted a ten-thousand-year spirit ring to Yu Xiuyuan... successfully triggering a hundredfold reward for mentoring. Your next spirit ring will gain an additional two million two hundred thousand years of lifespan!]

Chen Luo was completely stunned.

Chapter 264 Yu Xiuyuan's Fifth Soul Skill: Devour!

A hundredfold return?

An increase of 2,270,000 years?!

When Chen Luo heard about the 100x return, he was already quite excited. After hearing the exact details of the increase in the soul ring's age, a mix of excitement and other emotions exploded within him.

Chen Luo truly didn't expect his little apprentice to be so promising, managing to unlock a million-year-level spirit ring that would increase its age.

Before Yu Xiuyuan absorbed the soul ring, Chen Luo had thought that Yu Xiuyuan's acquisition of the soul ring would trigger a reward for him to teach disciples. He would be very happy if it was ten or twenty times the reward. He did not expect to get a hundred times the reward. It felt like playing a scratch-off lottery. He would be happy if he could get a few dozen yuan, but he ended up getting hundreds of thousands.

With these two million years as a foundation, it means that even if Chen Luo obtains a ten-year soul ring, his ninth soul ring can still be upgraded to the two million year level.

A million-year-level spirit ring! That's amazing!

Chen Luo originally expected his ninth spirit ring to be over 500,000 years old. If he couldn't find a suitable target, he would target the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.

Although doing so might affect Tang San's opportunities, opportunities are inherently subjective and vary from person to person.

Even if Chen Luo defeats the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, Tang San will likely be given another high-age soul beast in his next divine trial.

If there really isn't one, Chen Luo will try to find another way.

If Chen Luo could find a suitable soul beast as a target, that would be the best outcome.

Now that he has a soul ring age of 2.2 million years as a guarantee, Chen Luo has set his sights on a starting age of 3 million years for his ninth soul ring.

A difference of a few hundred or a few thousand years in the lifespan of a soul beast can result in a noticeable difference. If the difference is more than ten thousand years, the difference will be extremely exaggerated, unless the soul beast itself is very special.

And if it spans millions of years, then there's even less to say.

In the current Douluo Continent world, there are no soul beasts that are three million years old, but there are soul beasts that are over eight hundred thousand years old.

Now that we have a soul ring with a lifespan of over two million years as a guarantee, we should naturally take a longer-term view.

If everything goes smoothly, with a soul ring that is over three million years old, Chen Luo's combat power will be off the charts. Even if he obtains a divine position in the future, the process of inheriting that divine position will be much easier.

Seeing Chen Luo grinning foolishly, Flander couldn't help but remind him, "Old buddy, even if Xiu Yuan got a spirit ring that's over 20,000 years old for his fifth spirit ring, he shouldn't be this happy, it's a bit exaggerated."

Reminded by Flander, Chen Luo finally came to his senses and laughed from the bottom of his heart, "How is that an exaggeration? I'm genuinely happy."

Yes, I'm really happy. My ninth spirit ring is guaranteed for over two million years. I have to be happy!

"Look how happy you are."

Flander gave Chen Luo a disgruntled look, then turned his gaze forward and landed on Yu Xiuyuan: "I wonder what Xiuyuan's fifth soul skill will be."

Although Yu Xiuyuan had finished absorbing the spirit ring, he was still in a state of cultivation. It was normal for him to adjust his state after absorbing the spirit ring.

When that deep, dark fifth spirit ring appeared on Yu Xiuyuan's body, everything was already set in stone, symbolizing Yu Xiuyuan's success.

Ma Hongjun was overjoyed to see Yu Xiuyuan successfully absorb his fifth spirit ring, seemingly even happier than when he himself had absorbed his fifth spirit ring.

"Yuan Di's fifth spirit ring is secured. It's good that everything went smoothly!"

"I hope that Brother Yuan can obtain a very powerful soul skill!" Ma Hongjun said with a smile.

Chen Luo glanced at the charred corpse of the one-horned black dragon and said with a smile, "If nothing unexpected happens, Xiu Yuan's fifth soul skill should be related to devouring."

Chen Luo's words immediately drew the attention of Flander and Ma Hongjun.

Flander asked, "The Black Dragon's ability is to devour?"

Although Flander knew many soul beasts, he only remembered the names of most of them and did not know much about them.

Chen Luo nodded: "Yes, that's right."

"When Xiu Yuan delivered the final blow to the One-Horned Black Dragon, you should have noticed some vortexes of flame. That was the phenomenon of the One-Horned Black Dragon activating its devouring ability."

"That is to say, Xiu Yuan's second soul skill has evolved from Giant Fireball to Blazing Annihilation, otherwise his original Giant Fireball would most likely have been directly devoured by the One-Horned Black Dragon."

Upon hearing this, Flanders nodded slightly.

A moment later, Yu Xiuyuan ended his cultivation state. Having successfully entered the Soul King level, his face was full of excited smiles.

"Teacher, I did it!" Yu Xiuyuan said with a smile.

Chen Luo smiled with satisfaction: "Yes, very good."

"What is your fifth soul skill?" Chen Luo asked the question that both Flander and Ma Hongjun were very concerned about.

Yu Xiuyuan said, "Devour."

As expected, Yu Xiuyuan's fifth soul skill was exactly as Chen Luo had predicted.

"Let me show you," Chen Luo said.

"Okay, teacher!"

Yu Xiuyuan nodded, then his gaze fell on Ma Hongjun: "Fatty, I'd appreciate it if you could just unleash some fire attacks on me later."

Ma Hongjun said, "We're brothers, why are you being so polite? It's no trouble at all!"

Under the watchful eyes of Chen Luo and Flander, Yu Xiuyuan and Ma Hongjun went to the open area ahead, and then both of them activated their martial souls.

The white snake reappeared, and as Chen Luo had predicted, its size increased again, but not by a particularly large margin. It grew to about a meter in length, becoming slightly larger.

After activating his martial soul, Yu Xiuyuan's aura was noticeably stronger than Ma Hongjun's.

This is undoubtedly due to Yu Xiuyuan's soul ring combination. Yu Xiuyuan's fourth soul ring is ten thousand years old, and the age of his fifth soul ring is several thousand years higher than that of Ma Hongjun, so his aura is naturally stronger.

In terms of martial spirit level, with the help of the Dark Fruit, Yu Xiuyuan's White Snake is no less powerful than Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire Phoenix.

After exchanging a glance, Yu Xiuyuan and Ma Hongjun launched their attack without using any soul skills, simply releasing flames.

Just as Ma Hongjun's flames arrived, Yu Xiuyuan's fifth soul ring lit up ahead of time. Strange black patterns, resembling mysterious magic arrays, flashed across both Yu Xiuyuan and the White Snake, disappearing in an instant.

Unlike when facing enemies in the past, Yu Xiuyuan and the White Snake stood side by side.

The flames quickly landed on the white snake's enormous body, and Yu Xiuyuan, who was standing next to it, was naturally not spared either.

However, a strange scene unfolded: the flames were rapidly absorbed by Yu Xiuyuan and the White Snake, and with the absorption of the flames, both Yu Xiuyuan and the White Snake's auras increased to a certain extent...

Chapter 265: Retrieving the Collective Apprenticeship Return Reward and Entering the Title Douluo Level!

Under Chen Luo's watchful eyes, Yu Xiuyuan and the White Snake quickly absorbed all the flames released by Ma Hongjun. Relatively speaking, Yu Xiuyuan's absorption speed was faster than the White Snake's, and most of the flames were absorbed by Yu Xiuyuan.

"Fatty, make the fire even hotter," Yu Xiuyuan said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Ma Hongjun nodded and then unleashed an even more intense flame, instantly engulfing Yu Xiuyuan and the white snake.

However, the result was the same as before; Yu Xiuyuan and the white snake absorbed all the flames in just a few breaths.

"Hey Fatty, watch out!"

Yu Xiuyuan smiled and reminded them. Then, black patterns flashed across Yu Xiuyuan and the white snake's bodies again. Immediately afterward, their bodies turned red, and a scorching aura burst forth from them, releasing flames that attacked Ma Hongjun.

Upon seeing this, Ma Hongjun remained completely calm and easily controlled the flames. With a simple grasp of his hand, the flames turned into sparks and scattered with the wind.

"Brother Yuan, your fifth soul skill not only has the effect of devouring, but also the effect of returning attacks?" Ma Hongjun asked in surprise.

Yu Xiuyuan nodded: "Yes, any attack in the form of energy can be absorbed and returned, including soul skills."

Ma Hongjun immediately laughed and said, "Want to try my mighty fire extinguishing technique?"

Yu Xiuyuan shook his head decisively: "Then forget it. There is a limit to devouring. With my current strength, I cannot completely devour such a powerful soul skill. If I forcibly absorb it, I will pay a certain price. There is no need for that."

How about the Phoenix Meteor Shower?

"Fatty, we were just demonstrating our soul skills..."

Ma Hongjun nodded and withdrew his martial spirit.

Yu Xiuyuan then ended his devouring state and withdrew his martial soul.

The two went to meet up with Chen Luo and Flander. The demonstration of their soul skills was sufficient; there was no need to push it to the extreme.

Upon seeing this, Flander's lips curled into a strange smile: "Why do I feel like I've seen Xiu Yuan's fifth soul skill somewhere before?"

Chen Luo smiled and reminded him, "Sea Spear Douluo's eighth soul skill is also an attack that absorbs energy and then returns it."

"Yes, yes, yes, it is the eighth soul skill of the Sea Spear Douluo. However, Xiu Yuan's fifth soul skill, Devour, returns the opponent's attack exactly as it was, while the Sea Spear Douluo's eighth soul skill returns it in the form of light and shadow."

Flander laughed and said, "This soul skill is quite powerful."

Chen Luo nodded: "Mm."

Don't be fooled by the conversation between Yu Xiuyuan and Ma Hongjun just now, where Yu Xiuyuan said that absorbing Ma Hongjun's powerful fire would be quite difficult and would require a price. It might seem like Yu Xiuyuan's absorption ability is weak.

Don't forget, Ma Hongjun's Blazing Annihilation is no ordinary first soul skill. The fact that Blazing Annihilation is Ma Hongjun's strongest offensive soul skill tells us a lot. Ordinary ten-thousand-year soul skills cannot achieve such terrifying destructive effects.

The fact that Yu Xiuyuan was able to absorb it demonstrates the strength of his fifth soul skill, Devouring.

Both Ma Hongjun and Yu Xiuyuan have obtained their fifth spirit rings and a powerful fifth spirit skill, bringing their trip to Sunset Forest to a perfect end.

After a short rest, Chen Luo and Flander left with Yu Xiuyuan and Ma Hongjun.

……

Shrek Academy, behind the mountain.

The area behind the mountain remains largely unchanged, preserving the original forest and the residences of Chen Luo and Liu Erlong.

After helping Yu Xiuyuan and Ma Hongjun obtain their spirit rings, Chen Luo returned here. Looking at this incredibly familiar place, he couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.

"It's been a long time since I've been back, and everything here is still the same as before."