Chapter 144: Shocking the Body Sect: Liu Yuan's Fifth Soul Ring Is Truly A Hundred Thousand Years Old
Inside the towering gates of the Body Sect, an unmatched storm of whispers swept through the courtyards and training grounds. Elite disciples, having just emerged from grueling closed-door cultivation sessions lasting months on end, stepped out of their secret chambers expecting to be greeted by the lingering warmth of the sect's recent victory celebrations. Instead, they were hit with a piece of news so staggering it stopped them in their tracks: Liu Yuan had departed for the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast for his fifth Soul Ring.
For these martial practitioners, men and women who dedicated their entire lives to the complex theories of Soul Power and extreme physical body refinement, this information struck like a physical blow.
"This is simply too outrageous."
An inner sect disciple, whose cultivation had recently broken through to the Soul King realm, locked his jaw. He turned to his companion, his brows furrowed in deep disbelief.
"According to the absolute common knowledge of the Soul Master world, the upper limit for absorbing a fifth Soul Ring hovers between twelve thousand and fifteen thousand years."
"Even with our Body Sect's exclusive secret method of Secondary Awakening to drastically strengthen the physical vessel, I have never heard of anyone crossing a tenfold gap. Touching that hundred-thousand-year threshold isn't just a leap in power. It is a fundamental, qualitative mutation."
"Exactly." Another disciple nodded, his expression grim.
"A hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring doesn't just flood the body with a massive, violent surge of energy. It carries an extremely terrifying soul shock—the dying resentment of an apex predator."
"At Rank 50 Soul Power, can the structural integrity of his meridians truly withstand the infusion of that level of origin energy? This is practically throwing his life away."
Their shock was entirely justified. In the established history of the Douluo Continent, the strict correspondence between a Soul Master's rank and the age of their absorbed Soul Ring was an ironclad law. Any attempt to violently bypass this restriction usually ended in only one way: the cultivator's body exploding into a mist of blood.
"Trust Junior Brother Liu Yuan. He will definitely succeed."
Just as the heated debate reached its peak, a steady, heavy voice echoed from the corner of the stone corridor.
The disciples flinched, turning their heads in unison. Long Aotian strode toward them, his footsteps measured and grounded. His aura felt noticeably deeper and more restrained than it had during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. Evidently, his relentless, punishing training over the past few days had yielded significant results.
"Eldest Senior Brother!"
The group of Body Sect disciples immediately straightened their postures. Their expressions shifted into absolute solemnity as they bowed their heads in deep respect.
Long Aotian came to a halt before the crowd. His calm gaze swept over the anxious, doubting faces of his junior brothers. He shifted his attention toward the distant horizon, his voice carrying a quiet, unshakeable certainty.
"Junior Brother Liu Yuan has always possessed the ability to create miracles."
"If it were anyone else attempting this, it would indeed be impossible. You could even call it seeking death."
"But Junior Brother Liu Yuan is different. The origin source of his Double Pupils and the sheer limits of his physical endurance can no longer be measured by the common sense of this world."
Long Aotian possessed the most intuitive understanding of Liu Yuan's terrifying strength. Since the tournament, he had watched with his own eyes as Liu Yuan tore apart the so-called ironclad laws of cultivation time and time again. In his mind, the logic was simple: if Du Busi dared to let Liu Yuan challenge a hundred-thousand-year red ring, the Sect Master was absolutely confident in his survival.
Hearing this, the restless and questioning emotions churning within the disciples settled significantly. Long Aotian's prestige within the Body Sect was second to none among the younger generation. Since the undisputed chief disciple held such absolute conviction, they swallowed their remaining doubts, nodding to one another in silent agreement.
Seeing their reactions, Long Aotian did not linger.
His current objective was crystal clear: he needed to push his own strength to the absolute limit before Liu Yuan returned. He could already foresee the monstrous leap in power his junior brother would achieve upon absorbing that ring. He refused to be left completely in the dust.
With a brief nod to the crowd, Long Aotian turned on his heel and marched straight toward the extreme cultivation grounds in the back mountain.
Another few days passed in a flash.
While the atmosphere within the Body Sect appeared calm on the surface, an invisible tension pulled everyone's heartstrings taut.
It wasn't until late one afternoon that the silence shattered. Two brilliant, piercing streams of light violently cut through the sky above the sect, emitting deafening sonic booms that rattled the roof tiles. In an instant, the entire Body Sect erupted into absolute chaos.
"The Sect Master and Senior Brother Liu Yuan are back!"
The shout sprouted wings, sweeping through every corner, courtyard, and hall of the sect within minutes.
Whether it was the young disciples fiercely sparring on the training grounds, the elite members gritting their teeth through the searing pain of medicated tempering baths, or the inner elders handling administrative affairs—every single person dropped what they were doing.
They didn't bother wiping the sweat from their brows. They didn't bother changing out of their soaked training robes. One by one, they pushed their movement techniques to the absolute maximum, sprinting, leaping, and vaulting over rooftops, all converging like a tidal wave toward the Sect Master's main hall.
Extreme anticipation and burning urgency fueled their frantic rush. They desperately needed to verify the rumor with their own eyes. Was Liu Yuan's fifth Soul Ring truly that legendary, mythical hundred-thousand-year red ring? If so, it would be an event permanently etched into the absolute highest annals of the sect's history.
"Could it really be?" a disciple muttered under his breath, his boots slamming against the stone steps.
"Probably! With the Sect Master personally escorting him, combined with Senior Brother Liu Yuan's monstrous talent, the chances of success are incredibly high."
"If it's true, then Senior Brother Liu Yuan has truly shattered history! A Rank 50 red ring... who in the entire Douluo Continent has ever achieved such a feat in the past ten thousand years?"
"Stop guessing and run faster! We'll know the moment we see it!"
By the time the breathless crowd swarmed the main hall, the area inside and out was already packed shoulder-to-shoulder.
Elder Chen and several other top-tier powerhouses who had remained behind to guard the sect stood at the very front of the assembly.
At the far end of the grand hall, Du Busi stood with his hands clasped loosely behind his back. A faint, deeply satisfied smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Beside the towering Sect Master stood Liu Yuan. Dressed in pristine white robes, his posture was perfectly composed. His clothes were immaculate, without a single speck of dust or drop of blood. Although his aura was entirely restrained, the vague, suffocating sense of heaviness emanating from his very existence made the hearts of everyone present skip a beat.
Long Aotian, Elder Chen, and the other core members quickly stepped forward.
As a highly respected elder of the sect, Elder Chen completely discarded all formalities. He stared intensely at the young man, his voice tight with anticipation.
"Sect Master, Liu Yuan... did you succeed?"
That single question instantly drained all noise from the massive hall. The silence became so absolute that the drop of a pin would have echoed like thunder. Hundreds of eyes locked onto Liu Yuan, holding their breath for the final verdict.
Du Busi swept his gaze over the sea of eager, burning eyes. His smile widened slightly as he turned his head toward his disciple.
"It seems everyone is quite interested in your fifth Soul Ring. Even Elder Chen has lost his patience."
Du Busi clapped a massive hand onto Liu Yuan's shoulder, his gravelly voice dripping with irrepressible pride. "Show them, Liu Yuan. Since they all want to see it so badly, let them witness the fruits of your labor."
Liu Yuan's expression remained perfectly placid. "Okay."
He took a single, measured step forward, placing himself in the dead center of the grand hall.
The next instant, the Double Pupils within Liu Yuan's eyes ignited, blazing with a terrifying, piercing purple-gold divine light.
Immediately following the flash of his eyes, an overwhelmingly oppressive, space-distorting Soul Power erupted from his body like a volcanic geyser.
Following the rhythmic pulsing of his Soul Power, rings of light began to rise from beneath his feet, ascending his body in sequence.
Yellow. Purple. Black. Black.
The appearance of the first four rings alone radiated a heavy pressure that made the surrounding disciples struggle to breathe, yet not a single person blinked. Every gaze remained welded to the empty space beneath his feet, waiting for the final ring.
Without warning, an incredibly rich, demonic, and absolutely domineering blood-red brilliance bloomed into existence.
It was a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring, shimmering with a dark, liquid-red luster.
It locked steadily into the fifth position, slowly rotating around Liu Yuan's body. The bloody halo it cast was so intense that it dyed the massive stone pillars and walls of the entire hall a deep, menacing crimson.
As the red ring pulsed, the unique, soul-crushing pressure of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast rolled outward like a tidal wave, viciously oppressing the nerves of every single person present.
That single streak of crimson, reflecting and magnifying in hundreds of trembling pupils, became the absolute center of the world.
The entire hall fell into a dead, suffocating silence.
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