"Congratulations, Lingling! Just one more soul ring, and you'll become a Soul King."
As soon as Ye Lingling opened her eyes, she heard Dugu Yan's voice, and the others were all smiling at her.
"And now, you're the one among us with the highest soul ring age."
Dugu Yan teased her as she extended a hand to help Ye Lingling up from the ground.
"It's all thanks to Xiao Li."
Ye Lingling smiled brightly, but the fire in her eyes seemed to burn even more fiercely.
"Forget it, you're hopeless."
Dugu Yan playfully smacked her forehead and glanced helplessly at Han Li.
Han Li could only return an awkward smile—he really couldn't be blamed for this. He wasn't even bothering to hide his abilities anymore, but after Ye Lingling's condition improved a bit, her intense and dramatic tendencies remained. She had a vivid imagination—what could he do about it?
Her cold exterior and inner thoughts were complete opposites, and he couldn't control how others thought.
"How's the amplification effect?"
Shui Bing'er, amused, glanced at Han Li and changed the subject.
Ye Lingling's soul ability was solely focused on healing, and as she acquired more soul rings, her healing power grew stronger. However, after closely examining it, they discovered that the soul rings also provided varying levels of amplification. While all the amplification was still centered around healing, the ability to stack these effects made it exceptionally powerful.
"Healing effect amplified by 100%, and soul power consumption halved."
Ye Lingling sensed the effect of the soul ring and was pleasantly surprised. It truly lived up to being nearly a hundred-thousand-year soul ring—it directly multiplied both her healing power and endurance.
"That's great!"
A voice filled with equal joy came from behind them, causing everyone to turn their heads. However, upon seeing Zhu Zhuqing's clenched fists, they all fell silent.
Come to think of it, Zhu Zhuqing was the only one among them who had benefited from the healing during their training.
The others had already passed the stage where intense training could rapidly increase their strength, so even if they received healing, it was mostly to relax their bodies. But Zhu Zhuqing was still in that phase where hard training could lead to significant improvement, and given her tendency to push herself to the limit, Ye Lingling's enhanced healing was indeed a blessing for her.
"Don't push yourself too hard. Becoming a Soul King is just a matter of days for you."
Even Han Li couldn't help but offer a reminder.
Although Zhu Zhuqing had come to him and was no longer in mortal danger, she still seemed too tightly wound, always tense and rarely relaxed.
"Mm."
Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head slightly, somewhat embarrassed, as she responded.
Well, she probably wouldn't stop overtraining, Han Li sighed inwardly. The two new members were a handful.
"This is for you, Lingling. Take a little rest, then absorb it. We'll stay here for the night and head out tomorrow."
Satisfied, Han Li patted the Soul Bone in his hand one last time before handing it to Ye Lingling.
"Okay."
Ye Lingling didn't refuse, even though she knew how precious it was. She obediently accepted it.
On the journey so far, Han Li and the other three girls had done plenty of psychological preparation for the two newcomers. If they hadn't already been convinced, there might have been some resistance.
Han Li left the task of preparing food for the others and walked over to where the Blue Silver King had been.
On the ground lay a grass seed, much larger than normal, crystal clear like a blue sapphire. The massive vine-like Blue Silver King had vanished.
"We'll be leaving tomorrow. I'll make sure your king recovers as quickly as possible."
Han Li spoke to the large blue vines, much bigger than ordinary Blue Silver Grass. Without waiting for a response, he placed the Blue Silver King's seed into his bracelet and turned back toward the girls.
Behind him, several light blue vines swayed gently, as if responding.
Aside from the Blue Silver King, the only thing that caught Han Li's attention was a Blue Silver Grass that had lived for fifty thousand years. The rest were over twenty thousand years old at most, and Han Li didn't bother communicating with them.
Ye Lingling could have obtained her fifth soul ring here, but Han Li wanted to be considerate. He couldn't keep taking from the same species. If he gave Ye Lingling the fifty-thousand-year Blue Silver Grass as her soul ring, it would seem a bit unscrupulous.
The environment in the Blue Silver Forest was quite pleasant, and everyone enjoyed it. After a simple dinner of cooked food and fruit, they continued to admire the scenery.
As for Ye Lingling and Han Li, the two moved off to the side—one to absorb the Soul Bone, the other to keep watch.
Though absorbing a Soul Bone, especially one sourced from the same species as a Soul Ring, wasn't particularly dangerous, Han Li still chose to stay close just to be safe.
The absorption of the Soul Bone went smoothly, without any disturbances. After Ye Lingling completed the process, the group learned about the Soul Bone's abilities.
The Soul Bone came with two skills.
One of them, as Han Li had predicted and designated, was indeed the Blue Silver Domain. However, aside from suppressing 10% of the enemy's attributes, the domain's conversion effect wasn't as overpowering as expected.
At most, it could absorb up to 80% of the life force from the surrounding Blue Silver Grass to convert into life force, soul power, or mental strength for the user. But even this was quite powerful for Ye Lingling.
The other skill, which Han Li hadn't had time to modify, remained a flight ability—a predestined one, it seemed.
This made Han Li chuckle to himself. "Do you Blue Silver Grass plants all have a secret desire to fly? You're fixated on this flying ability, aren't you?"
However, what was a rather useless ability for Han Li turned out to be quite beneficial for Ye Lingling.
A healer who can fly with great agility—especially in Douluo Continent, where flight isn't a common skill—is nothing short of a nightmare for her opponents.
Unlike Ah Yin's original flying soul ability, Ye Lingling's flight skill manifested as a pair of light blue wings resembling large grass leaves that appeared behind her when activated. Her flight speed wasn't slow either, making her look like a forest fairy.
After helping Ye Lingling test her new skills, they lay down on a mat made from Blue Silver Grass, still faintly glowing, and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, they woke up early, their spirits high due to the dense life energy in the area.
After packing up, Han Li led the group out of the forest. The remaining Blue Silver Grass, led by the fifty-thousand-year-old Blue Silver Grass, once again created a glowing path for them.
"If we ever have free time, we could come here for a vacation," Shui Bing'er remarked as she watched the Blue Silver Grass swaying goodbye. The other girls nodded in agreement; they all liked the environment here.
"Let's leave it for the future. We can come back whenever we want," Han Li replied with a smile, though he doubted the Blue Silver Grass would welcome them again—they'd only visited once, and the Blue Silver King had disappeared.
Still, after the Blue Silver King recovers, it might be possible if they wanted to return.
Soon, they exited the Blue Silver Forest and headed towards the Star Dou Forest.
The Blue Silver Forest had been temporarily shielded by Han Li, and the energy environment would gradually reach the promised level in due time, so there was no need for further intervention.
Re-entering the Star Dou Forest, Han Li oriented himself and pointed northeast.
"Let's go. Zhuqing's soul ring and Lingling's next one are both in that direction."
On the way, Han Li had already pinpointed the soul beasts and locations suitable for the two of them, so there was no need for further searching.
As they moved forward, the surrounding vegetation and environment gradually changed, becoming darker and more mysterious.
This was characteristic of the Star Dou Forest. Due to its vastness, it contained all sorts of environments, including extreme ones.
"What kind of soul beast did you choose for Zhuqing?"
Dugu Yan asked curiously, surveying the surroundings.
"A Phantom Tiger and a Phantom Leopard," Han Li answered with a smile. Given Zhu Zhuqing's first three soul rings, he hadn't altered her development path—nor did he need to. Her path was fine; it just needed to be strengthened.
Her Hell Shadow Doppelganger and Hell Connected Shadows were already extremely powerful soul abilities. All she needed was to increase the soul rings' ages, and both the Phantom Tiger and Phantom Leopard were suitable for her martial soul's evolution.
Just as Dugu Yan was about to ask something else, a few strong soul power fluctuations suddenly appeared at the edge of Han Li's mental sharing and rapidly approached them, interrupting her question.
Han Li immediately increased his mental output, probing the direction of the fluctuations. A look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Huh, it's them. Should we go say hello?"
The situation Han Li had detected was also relayed to the others through their mental link, and Dugu Yan suggested they go over.
"Sure, it's been over a year since we last saw them. It's a rare chance to meet old friends."
You could meet anyone you could think of in the Star Dou Forest—this saying was spot on. Han Li marveled at the coincidence and led the group toward the source of the spirit power fluctuations.
"Who's there?"
As they approached, a middle-aged man in a black robe abruptly turned his head and called out in a slightly hoarse voice.
"Elder Gui, Elder Ju, it's been a long time."
Han Li deliberately released his soul power aura as he emerged from behind a large tree. Aside from Ye Lingling and Zhu Zhuqing, the other three also removed their disguises and followed him out.
"Oh, it's you, Han Li—oh, I mean His Highness the Holy Son."
Seeing them, Chrysanthemum Douluo relaxed and greeted them with his usual charm and flair.
Han Li couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows. Even now, he still found it hard to get used to Chrysanthemum Douluo's style, though he knew the elder was a good person.
Then, he looked over at the Golden Generation battling a Phantom Fox nearby.
"The fifth soul ring? You're only now reaching the Soul King level?"
He didn't bother hiding his voice, causing the fighters to pause momentarily.
"They're just obtaining the soul ring now," Yue Guan quickly added, a stiff smile on his face.