Seeing what she was doing, Xue Mo left the wall he was searching on and approached Lu Yao's side.
He noticed the fake brick and immediately removed it. Behind it was a small red-colored ring that emitted the energy that he had been feeling, and the source of the mutation that occurred.
Lu Yao moved to the side and started inspecting it. The ring had faint patterns of scarlet color that coiled like veins, making a dragon shape at the center. The aura radiating from it was monovalent and evil, but to Xue Mo, it felt nourishing as if it resonated with him.
Xue Mo had concluded that this was because of the dormant power his soul unlocked when it fused with Primordial Origin. Although he didn't understand much, he knew that this power gave him an inclination to dark and evil things, and this was why the fire affinity that he got before had become black.
It seems that this ring and the aura inside it had resonated with this power inside him, and that's why he felt right being near it.
Although Xue Mo didn't know the origin of this ring, after finding and possessing treasures in his previous life, he developed a keen eye for things like that. And this intuition that he gained was showing now, as he felt that the ring in his hand wasn't something ordinary.
Asking Lu Yao if she had heard about this ring or something similar, Xue Mo wasn't surprised about her answering being, no.
After all, you couldn't find rings like that everywhere; if you could, it wouldn't be a treasure. He had heard several times over his life. How those so-called 'sons of heaven' got fortuitous encounters to gain bloodlines, cultivation techniques, or some old cultivator's soul in a ring. Unfortunately, he received no such opportunities, not that he needed them. His acquired treasures were deemed inferior, lacking unique abilities, but he relied on none of these. To him, strength was everything he got through his efforts. While the others had received power, they lacked the determination and willpower to wield it properly. Without the tribulations, the life-endangering battles, and the blood and sweat spent, Xue Mo wouldn't have achieved the apex he once was.
Even the treasures he got weren't as good as them or had any special abilities, but this didn't matter. To him, the most important was strength; one got from hard work and effort. And although these guys had gotten power, their will wasn't as forged as his.
Without the tribulations, the fight and death battles, and the accompanying hard work, Xue Mo wouldn't have become the apex he used to be.
Although he didn't know what abilities this ring had, he had some speculations he wanted to test. There used to be a kind of ring made using Arch energy by weapon refinement masters known as spirit ring. To bind it to oneself, one has to drip blood on it, and it would make the contract.
Trying this, Xue Mo pricked his finger and let the blood drip on the crimson ring, but no reaction occurred. This didn't disappoint him, though. After all, this wasn't the Divine Hell Universe, and the rules here weren't the same as back there.
He then had another thought, 'What if I use my blood essence and Shadow Soul Pressure, maybe it could work?'
He didn't dally and used his purple-colored heart blood, also known as blood essence or lifeblood, and with his Shadow Soul Pressure, he poured them on the already crimson ring.
Before asking for help, he always liked to see if there are no options. Only then would he ask for help or search for alternatives, and this is also why he tried opening the lock that chained the Divine Hell Universe using his power before searching for other ways.
Fortunately, it worked. He didn't know if it was because of the blood essence of the Shadow Soul Pressure energy or both, but he was glad that it worked.
A purple-colored light originated from the ring and got released inside the cave. They could see how the previously crimson-colored ring became black, and the previously scarlet dragon-shaped veins changed into amethyst.
The reason for this was because of Xue Mo's purple-colored blood. The ring could control, absorb, and give blood to its master. And Xue Mo had become its master, so it changed color to match him. Other than that, another transformation happened to it.
Its previous characteristics got enhanced, and new ones developed. The aura of the ring changed to match his Shadow Soul Pressure, but just like the flame, it felt different, and the connection made with Xue Mo was also attached to his Soul, making the ring a rare soul item.
The ring also seemed to have gotten his bloodlines as it kept changing from the dragon it used to be to the animals he had possessed, such as the giant raven.
After finishing his analysis of the ring, as if it was waiting for him, it flooded his mind with info.
This ring was called Crimson Devourer.
The Blood Devouring Overlord created it after many years of researching blood magic. It was his best creation.
He created it to help him become the strongest blood-magic user, and it was also why he was known as the Blood Devouring Overlord.
Unfortunately, before he could succeed in his dream, in a moment of greed, his beloved son killed him. In the guise of being a bad father who didn't care about his wife and child, it was clear why he did it to the Blood Devouring Overlord. The ring's temptation and power were, after all, overwhelming.
He did not want his life's greatest work to fall in the hands of his murderer, even if it was the son he loved dearly; the Blood Devouring Overlord used the teleportation stone that he always had on him and sent the ring with it.
Xue Mo didn't know what happened after that. It seemed that the ring was teleported into this cave, and in a fit to protect it, the Blood Devouring Overlord had poured all his energy into it, giving it a contingency to save itself or hide when it got in danger. This is why Lu Yao found it inside the fake brick. As the ring automatically made it using some rocks around.
Organizing the info dump that he just got, he finally understood the origin of the ring and even what happened. It seems that after he poured his blood essence and Shadow Soul Pressure mix in, a modification happened when the ring's ability was activated. This metamorphosis transformed the ring and added other properties to it.
"In the end, humans are humans. They wouldn't mind betraying their family and killing them for external objects. This Blood Devouring Overlord is rather pitiful. Rising above the masses using his creation, he drenched with sweat and blood only for his life to be taken by one of his closest people, his son.
Not that I care; this has nothing to do with me after all. But, since the ring has changed and even new features were added, it needs a new name to match it." Xue Mo unconsciously said out loud.
He looked at the ring for a while and said. "Since you have some of my abilities, I will call you Samsara Parasite."