"There's actually even a side quest trigger?" Su Cheng felt a burst of joy in his heart.
Absorbing a first spirit ring far above his level had already been part of his plan. He was ninety percent confident about succeeding. This was a key step in his future plan to destroy Spirit Hall.
From the moment he chose the talent "Medical Genius," to spending a huge amount of time learning medicine at the age of three, until now—he had finally reached the moment of harvest.
"You really decided on this?" Hearing Su Cheng's request, Chen Xin looked completely shocked.
He truly didn't expect this child to want to hunt a 650-plus-year-old spirit beast for his first spirit ring.
One must know— in theory, the first spirit ring's maximum absorption limit was only 423 years.And this wasn't some random statement, but a result produced by countless experiments carried out by the top powers for many years.
There might be a few individuals capable of surpassing that limit, but he did not believe that his adopted son, who only had an innate soul power of 0.5, would be among them.
"Father, spirit masters have limits when absorbing spirit rings because the body can't withstand the process. Take a rank-10 spirit scholar as an example—the limit of their physical constitution is fixed, and they cannot endure a higher-year spirit ring. But without absorbing a spirit ring, they cannot break through their bodily limit."
Su Cheng patiently explained to Chen Xin.
"These years I spent studying medicine and the human body were not for nothing.On the body's meridians exist many acupoints.
"Some special acupoints, when stimulated, can greatly increase the meridians' absorption efficiency for energy in a short period of time, while also stimulating the potential of the physical body. Combined with some relatively mild medicinal liquids, this can temporarily raise the upper limit of the physical body."
"After the spirit ring is absorbed, the energy feedback will naturally make up for this temporary overdraft."
Chen Xin still found it difficult to believe.
These past years, Su Cheng had quietly trained without boasting. He never expected it to reach such a level.
Su Cheng looked at him sincerely. "Father, you must help me this time. Whether I can join Spirit Hall depends on this."
"What did you say? Join Spirit Hall?"Chen Xin's brows furrowed even deeper. He could roughly guess what Su Cheng wanted to do.
"Of course. Since the day I was born, I've been working toward this goal. I acknowledge that I lack talent, so I must take another path. Father, the world has suffered under Spirit Hall for too long. You will support me, right?"
Chen Xin let out a sigh.
From the time Su Cheng began cultivating at age three until now—nearly six years—he had witnessed all of Su Cheng's effort firsthand.
Family vengeance could not be left unavenged, yet he did not know how to advise him.
"I will inform the sect master and let him decide. But Cheng'er," Chen Xin said solemnly, locking eyes with Su Cheng, "your life is still long. Don't let hatred blind you."
Hearing this, Su Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Right now, the position of sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had already been passed to Ning Fengzhi.
If it were Chen Xin, he might try to stop him out of affection. But Ning Fengzhi always prioritized benefits—so long as Su Cheng had the ability, he absolutely would not stop him.
Thinking of this, Su Cheng showed a bright smile. "Rest assured, Father. I will definitely become a good person in the future!"
Things went exactly as he expected. After Ning Fengzhi arrived, although he persuaded him a bit, he still agreed to Su Cheng's request to absorb a spirit ring above his level.
However, the other party clearly didn't quite believe that he could succeed, so he insisted on accompanying them to hunt the spirit beast.
[Main Quest · Stage 2 Completed.]
[Main Quest · Stage 3: Infiltration.Quest Content: Join Spirit Hall and gain trust and important roles.Quest Reward: Final settlement bonus rate increases based on completion degree.]
"Cheng'er, are you really going to absorb this 630-year-old Armor-Scaled Beast?"
This time they hunted the spirit beast without bringing other subordinates. Only Su Cheng, Chen Xin, and Ning Fengzhi were present.
At this moment, the Armor-Scaled Beast had already been finished off by Su Cheng. Its more-than-600-year yellow spirit ring floated before them, waiting for him to absorb it.
For Su Cheng, the type of spirit beast and the spirit skill gained didn't matter at all.This time, absorbing a higher-year ring was merely to prove his theory.
He chose this Armor-Scaled Beast simply because its age was appropriate.
"Of course. We've already come this far."
"Your method really works?" Chen Xin was still worried and asked again.
"Don't worry, Father. I'm confident."
Su Cheng stepped forward, first taking a jar of medicinal liquid from his soul guide and applying it all over his body. Then he took out several silver needles and inserted them one by one into nineteen points, including Jingming, Xingjian, Huiyin, Zhongji, Changqiang, and Mingmen.
The effects of these preparations were immediate.
His physical potential was stimulated instantly. The circulation of energy in his meridians became far smoother. The originally narrow pathways for energy flow expanded to more than double their size. Even his physical strength greatly increased at that moment.
"Next is the most crucial step. If this succeeds, my entire plan's success rate will increase by at least thirty percent!"
Taking a deep breath, Su Cheng sat cross-legged and summoned his mutated martial soul—the "Broken Sword."
Under the pull of the martial soul, the spirit ring drifted forward and settled on the cracked Broken Sword.
A vast, overwhelming force surged toward him like scorching magma. It gave him no time to prepare and forcibly poured into the narrow channels.
Fortunately, the silver-needle acupoint stimulation had widened and strengthened his meridians. Otherwise, this single impact would've caused his body to explode.
After resisting the first surge, he felt his endurance improve slightly.The medicinal liquid on his skin also slowly seeped into his body, quietly repairing the damage.
Time passed bit by bit…
Finally.
The piercing pain in his meridians disappeared.Replacing it was a warm, endless stream of energy flowing throughout his body—extremely pleasant.
Seeing Su Cheng open his eyes, with a yellow spirit ring circling his martial soul—
[Side Quest Completed. Reward Obtained: Physical Constitution Improved.]
Ning Fengzhi was completely shocked."He actually succeeded… This is two hundred years beyond the theoretical limit—and this is only the first spirit ring…"
After the shock came overwhelming joy. He seemed to already see the title of "Number One Sect on the Continent" waving toward him.
"Cheng'er, how do you feel? Any discomfort?"Unlike Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin's priority was Su Cheng's safety.
"No problem, Father. I feel extremely good."Su Cheng clenched his fists and examined the changes in his martial soul.
He continued, "This over-limit absorption directly raised my spirit power to above rank twelve, close to rank thirteen. And with the energy feedback, that stimulation method doesn't leave any hidden danger."
"Good! Very good!"Even with Ning Fengzhi's level of composure, he couldn't help laughing out loud.
"Can this method be made universal?"He looked at Su Cheng with great anticipation.
"Of course it can be. After all, even trash like me with only innate soul power 0.5 succeeded."Su Cheng said calmly, not avoiding mentioning his talent deficiency.
Ning Fengzhi was about to comfort him when Su Cheng's next sentence made him freeze.
"Sect Master, I intend to spread this technique across the entire continent."
(End of this chapter)