Moments later, a jet-black ten-thousand-year soul ring slowly condensed above the Mirror Image Beast's corpse, radiating the unique, powerful pressure and oppressive aura of a soul ring from that era.
Oscar sat cross-legged nearby, and after regulating his breathing and calming his mind, he released his Supreme Sausage martial soul. Three soul rings—two yellow and one purple—slowly rose and hovered around his body. Oscar began to channel his soul power to absorb the thirty-thousand-year fourth soul ring that now belonged to him.
Under the guidance of Oscar's soul power, the Mirror Image Beast's soul ring slowly drifted above him. An immense and terrifying pressure descended, causing Oscar's body to stagger involuntarily.
Fortunately, Oscar quickly recovered his balance. He straightened his posture and began actively using this vast soul power to wash over his body and forge his physique, ensuring he could maximize the utilization of this soul ring's energy.
Gai Yue and Dugu Yan stood guard nearby; one watched their surroundings to prevent any blind soul beasts from launching a surprise attack, while the other kept their gaze fixed on Oscar, monitoring his every move.
Time passed slowly. Although Oscar's current physical fitness and mental strength were sufficient to absorb a soul ring of the thirty-thousand-year level, this was, after all, his first time absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring. Naturally, the process took longer than it would for an ordinary person.
However, no accidents occurred throughout the process.
A full day passed. As night fell, the black fourth soul ring slowly floated above Oscar's body, merging with the three rings already present.
Once the fourth soul ring settled into place, Oscar's body shuddered. A terrifying fluctuation of soul power surged through him, directly pushing him to the forty-second level, yet the ascent did not stop there.
By the time Oscar had completely absorbed and refined the energy of the fourth soul ring, his soul power finally settled at the forty-third level.
A long time later, Oscar opened his eyes. His attractive peach blossom eyes flickered with a sharp light, and his excitement was written all over his face. Even without Oscar explaining anything, Gai Yue and Dugu Yan could guess that he had gained something extraordinary.
After stabilizing his soul power, Oscar slowly stood up. Four soul rings—two yellow, one purple, and one black—flooted quietly above his body, marking the fact that he had now become a Soul Ancestor.
Dugu Yan threw herself directly into Oscar's arms and whispered, "Congratulations, Xiao Ao."
Gai Yue nodded with great relief from the side. "A ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring; Xiao Ao, you have once again created history in the Soul Master world!"
Hearing this, Oscar hugged Dugu Yan's slender waist and said to Gai Yue, "Teacher, this was also largely thanks to your help. Without you, obtaining my fourth soul ring wouldn't have been so easy."
Gai Yue waved his hand at these words. "I only did what a teacher should do. Your current achievements are, in the end, the result of your own hard work."
"Speaking of which, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have achieved what I have today either."
Hearing this, Oscar chuckled. "Teacher, just like you said, I only did what a disciple should do. Your achievements are fundamentally due to your own efforts."
At this, Gai Yue rolled his eyes at Oscar, and even Dugu Yan in his arms looked at him with a speechless expression.
Gai Yue shook his head helplessly, then asked, "Tell me, what is the effect of this thirty-thousand-year fourth soul ring?"
Hearing Gai Yue's question, Dugu Yan also released Oscar and asked, "A soul ring you value so highly must have quite an impressive effect."
With both his teacher and his girlfriend asking, Oscar thought about the effects of his fourth soul skill, and the smile on his face grew even wider.
"That's right, my fourth soul ring is very powerful. With this soul ring, my strength will undergo a qualitative leap in the future. Even you, Teacher, Sister, and all the partners around me will experience a huge improvement and change because of it," Oscar said quite proudly.
Hearing Oscar's words, Gai Yue and Dugu Yan looked at each other. Gai Yue said, "What do you mean by that? Could it be that your fourth soul skill can bring us a permanent enhancement? You are a Food System Soul Master, and such a genius one at that; it is indeed possible for a soul skill to mutate... But this doesn't seem to align with the characteristics of a Mirror Image Beast?"
Oscar explained with a smile, "It isn't a permanent enhancement soul skill, but rather a powerful soul skill that can assist in combat."
Upon hearing this, Dugu Yan said, "Oh, Xiao Ao, stop keeping us in suspense. Just tell us the effect of your fourth soul skill!"
Seeing Dugu Yan so eager to know the effects of his soul skill, Oscar did not hesitate. He immediately activated his fourth soul skill.
As the soul skill activated, the jet-black fourth ten-thousand-year soul ring on Oscar's body blossomed with black soul power light. In Oscar's right hand, a silver-white sausage slowly condensed, while his soul power was instantly depleted by a full third.
Feeling the terrifying consumption of Oscar's soul power, Gai Yue was greatly surprised, as he knew Oscar all too well.
Back when Oscar absorbed his third soul ring by skipping levels, even though he had just advanced to a Soul Elder, using his third soul skill definitely did not consume as much energy as using this fourth soul skill did now.
Of course, such a massive consumption of soul power also proved from the side how powerful the effects of Oscar's fourth soul skill were. After all, if creating just one sausage consumed a full third of his soul power, it meant that even if Oscar used all his soul power, he could only create three sausages using his fourth soul skill.
At the moment Oscar used the soul skill, his incantation rang out: "Fourth Soul Skill: Mirror Image Sausage."
After consuming a third of his soul power to create the sausage for his fourth soul skill, Oscar handed it to Gai Yue. "Teacher, consume it, and you will know the effect of my fourth soul skill."
Hearing Oscar's words, Gai Yue took the silver-white sausage and threw it into his mouth. Once the silver-white sausage, which looked like liquid mercury, entered his mouth, it instantly transformed into a stream of heat under the effect of soul power and flowed into his body. Gai Yue then understood the function of Oscar's fourth soul skill.
Silver light flickered in Gai Yue's eyes, and a clone identical to his original body appeared beside him. Dugu Yan looked at the two identical Gai Yues before her with an expression of disbelief, unable to distinguish which one was real for a moment.
Both Gai Yues looked at Oscar simultaneously, their eyes gleaming with light, and they spoke in unison, "Xiao Ao, the effect of this soul skill is not bad, but I assume it hasn't reached the level that would make you this excited, right?"
Oscar nodded at this. "Teacher is indeed wise. I haven't even finished speaking, yet you've already guessed the general idea."
Listening to the conversation between master and disciple, Dugu Yan wore a confused expression on the side, not understanding at all why Gai Yue would say that.
Seeing the confused look on Dugu Yan's face, the two Gai Yues explained in unison, "Xiao Ao's fourth soul skill allows the user to possess a clone that shares a telepathic connection. Furthermore, the clone can possess sixty percent of the user's strength. Not only can the clone use the user's martial soul and soul skills, but it even copies soul bone skills."
"And what is even more incredible is that after using Xiao Ao's fourth soul skill, the resulting clone does not consume my own soul power. Moreover, the clone can persist until its soul power is exhausted, or until I actively absorb the clone. Furthermore, if I actively absorb the clone, the soul power possessed by the clone can be fed back to me, replenishing some of my soul power."
Hearing the simultaneous explanation from the two Gai Yues, Dugu Yan looked at the two Gai Yue teachers with a face full of disbelief. "Teacher, is such a soul skill still not enough to satisfy you? The clone possesses a full sixty percent of your strength, and it can even use soul bone skills!"
"Plus, it doesn't consume your soul power, and absorbing the clone can even feed soul power back to you. Such a fourth soul skill can already be considered top-tier, right?"