Looking at the massive body split in two on the ground, Ender's expression grew solemn. He thought to himself:
"She only has three soul rings, which makes her just a novice in this world, yet she's already so strong. How powerful must the top-tier experts be? Seems like fighting head-on won't work—I need to find a more effective approach."
Recalling the scene from earlier, he curiously asked:
"Why are all three of your soul skills the same?"
"They're not the same. They differ in the percentage of enhancements." she replied.
Normally, answering such questions was unwise, as it could reveal one's weaknesses and give the enemy an advantage.
However, the current situation was far from ordinary. She had absolute confidence that even if others knew, they wouldn't be able to exploit it.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and absorb the soul ring. It'll help you recover faster." she urged.
Hearing that, Ender dragged his broken body over to her. Looking down, he saw a golden soul ring floating mid-air.
Despite inspecting it closely, he couldn't make sense of its mechanism.
The only thing he knew was that he could sense an enormous amount of condensed energy within the soul ring.
"Can I absorb this even though someone else killed it?"
Ye Qingyun gave him a pitying look, as if staring at a fool, then sighed deeply:
"Ah, traveling with an idiot is so exhausting. But lucky for you, I'm a good person, so I'll educate you. You better thank me later."
"Just get to the point. You're rambling without saying anything useful." Ender said.
Despite his words, he had already guessed part of the answer. If he couldn't figure it out by now, his intelligence would indeed be questionable.
"Do you think the major factions would just let some clueless fool do whatever they want? The only reason they haven't gone too far is because his father has influence. But if they overstep, it would bring disgrace to an entire great sect." Ye Qingyun explained.
Ender nodded, then refrained from asking further questions and moved to absorb the soul ring.
The reason the major factions claim that one must personally deliver the finishing blow to absorb a soul ring was actually quite simple—it was to prevent commoners from scavenging benefits.
Although soul beasts were collectively referred to by one name, in reality, they were never truly of the same kind.
'Soul Beasts' is akin to the term 'animals'—it refers to a group of creatures that share certain common traits.
As such, there's no real peace between soul beasts.
Conflicts and mutual destruction among them are as frequent as daily meals.
If ordinary people purposely hid in the forest, waiting for soul beasts to finish fighting before collecting soul rings, it would be far easier than hunting them personally.
But what benefit would the major factions gain from this? If anyone could freely develop their strength in such a manner, the major factions would only face more competitors.
Resources in this world are limited. The more people vying for them, the more their own slice of the pie is at risk.
Thus came the theory that one must personally deliver the final blow to a soul beast to absorb its soul ring.
With such a convoluted and challenging process, one would naturally need powerful allies to assist.
And where are the strong people on this continent? The answer is obvious—most are within the major factions.
Through this system, they can gain goodwill, wealth, and even potential recruits for their organizations in the future.
At this moment, Ender was following the instructions from a book to absorb the soul ring.
As expected, aside from that nonsensical theory, the other components of the process worked perfectly.
With his Ice Martial Soul, he could feel an invisible thread forming, connecting his body to the soul ring.
"This is truly miraculous." he murmured.
A thought flashed through his mind but quickly dissipated as... pain struck.
The sensation forced him to clench his teeth in endurance.
Compared to this, the attacks from the capybara earlier felt like a health-enhancing massage.
"Damn it, this is way too painful! Without immense willpower and determination, absorbing a soul ring would be impossible. This feels like my very soul is being attacked relentlessly. My physical body is fine, but the pain is still there." Ender lamented internally.
Painful as it was, it was still a trivial challenge for him.
As long as his body continued to function, his will was enough to bear any agony.
Of course, not everyone experienced such intense pain when absorbing a soul ring.
His situation was unique because he was absorbing a soul ring at the very limit of what the human body could endure.
This method had a significant benefit—it drastically reduced the time needed for cultivation.
Absorbing a lower-level soul ring would be easier, but it would require additional cultivation time to fill the soul power gap needed to advance.
Every single movement of his was carefully observed by Ye Qingyun, who thought to herself:
"Not bad. If he had started whining, I would have killed him right away. After all, a useless person who dares to deceive me is nothing but an eyesore."
She had been through this process herself. Otherwise, how could she evaluate his capabilities?
Frankly speaking, in terms of willpower, she surpassed Ender by a margin.
After all, while he had hundreds of years of tempering his will, she had already overcome this level of difficulty by the age of six.
Glancing at the watch on her wrist, she said:
"It's been over an hour now. He should be waking up soon."
As expected, the words of an experienced person proved accurate. A few minutes later, he slowly opened his eyes.
A faint wave of soul power radiated outward from his body. While he didn't look any younger than before, his strength had undoubtedly advanced significantly.
Sensing his soul power, he furrowed his brows in puzzlement and asked:
"Why did I break through to level 12? The books didn't mention that absorbing a soul ring would increase levels."
Hearing this, Ye Qingyun once again assumed the role of a teacher spreading knowledge. She explained:
"This isn't something that happens to everyone. Only those born with innate full soul power can experience it, and only once.
Ordinary cultivators typically hit a bottleneck at level 9 and cannot advance to level 10 on their own. They need the soul power equivalent to that of a 400-year-old soul beast to reach level 10.
But those born with innate full soul power are different. Our very existence is akin to being born half-divine. Reaching level 10 means we have entirely stepped beyond the realm of ordinary mortals.
This is why the first time we absorb a soul ring, there's a phenomenon of gaining additional levels. When I absorbed my first soul ring, I also advanced to level 12, just like you."