Chapter Eleven: The Sacrifice of Control

“Soul masters should revere death, but not fear it.”

Chen Ming shook his head, unable to continue explaining further.

In truth, over the years of cultivation, Chen Ming had sensed that he seemed to possess some sort of special boon, yet it was so abstract that he still couldn’t quite grasp what it truly was. He only knew it appeared to be a trait of the soul itself. Thus, he had paid particular attention to “spirituality” all this time.

This Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower was something he had chosen at first sight. At that time, the plant wasn’t even a soul beast yet—just a plant with faint fluctuations of soul power. Chen Ming had nurtured its roots with his own blood and gradually nourished it with soul power during his spare time, eventually transforming it into a soul beast just a few months ago. Its age was roughly around five hundred years.

Because he had infused it with soul power and watered it with fresh blood, Chen Ming could feel that this plant had, to some extent, been imprinted with his own mark. Though he didn’t know what this mark could do exactly, at least it wouldn’t cause any harm.

Chen Ming believed he could absorb its soul ring.

Seeing that persuasion was futile, Chen Shijie and Chen Tianyun fell silent, clenching their fists as their bodies trembled slightly. They gazed at Chen Ming with pleading eyes, hoping he would change his mind.

Chen Ming held no weapon capable of dealing with the Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower. Even after manifesting his martial soul, he couldn’t inflict fatal damage on the flower.

Moreover, all this depended on Chen Ming’s actions not provoking a chain reaction from this flower or others in the cave.

The Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower had extensive roots, and even if its leaves were destroyed, it couldn’t be completely killed—it wasn’t something an ordinary soul master could easily handle.

At this moment, Chen Ming closed his eyes and summoned his martial soul. As if sensing something, his mental force and soul power merged, transmitting a certain trait into the Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower.

A surge of energy emanated from the flower, resonating with Chen Ming’s martial soul and bloodline. The flower rapidly blossomed in mere moments, its previously calm soul power suddenly ignited to the fullest.

Sacrifice—the special ability that only soul beasts aged a hundred thousand years could voluntarily activate—was forcibly triggered at this moment, in a way even Chen Ming himself didn’t understand.

The Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower began consuming its surrounding kin. Those that had become soul beasts resisted instinctively, but the plants not yet transformed could only obediently transfer all their accumulated energy to the consuming flower.

If this energy were absorbed as a foundation, the flower’s age could theoretically break through a thousand years in a short time. Yet this power was not retained; it burned up completely in an instant.

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The flower bloomed, its life force and soul power surging. A visible pillar of emerald green soul energy formed a link between the fully ignited Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower and Chen Ming.

While Chen Shijie and Chen Tianyun were too stunned to think, the flower finally reached its peak, producing an ethereal, previously nonexistent eighth petal.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the massive plant seemed drained of all life, turning to ash. The soul power from the flower converged and surged into Chen Ming’s body. Instinctively, he sat cross-legged in meditation, a deep yellow soul ring appearing beside him.

“Sacrifice? Isn’t that only…”

Chen Shijie’s mouth hung open, barely uttering a few words. Using all his mental capacity, he couldn’t continue to describe what he had witnessed.

Sacrifice was said to be a rare special ability exclusive to soul beasts aged a hundred thousand years, and it could only manifest when such a beast willingly gave everything to someone.

This was practically a myth on Douluo Continent, appearing far less frequently than angels manifesting. If it weren’t for the unchanging ancestral laws of the continent, this unheard-of phenomenon would long have been dismissed as legend.

Yet today, what had they seen?

A century-old plant-type soul beast offering sacrifice to a quasi-soul master who hadn’t even absorbed his first soul ring?

This was beyond ridiculous—far more outrageous than any divine intervention bestowing a soul ring.

But Chen Ming had no time to care about their thoughts. He was already immersed in a profound meditation rarely experienced by ordinary soul masters, induced by the flower’s sacrifice.

If before he felt shackled, the moment this soul ring appeared, Chen Ming sensed the fetters restraining him were broken one layer by this soul ring.

At this instant, enlightenment dawned within him.

Soul masters and soul rings were the laws of the Douluo world. Every advancement by a soul master was essentially a transformation achieved by using the soul ring as a medium to intersect with the continent’s laws.

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Martial souls were manifestations of the world's essence—a path of the Douluo realm. Soul rings were derivatives of this path.

Both were imperfect alone; only by combining could perfection be attained, resulting in true derivation from the world itself.

Using the soul ring as a conduit, Chen Ming’s spirit entered an unfathomably profound realm. He could sense that he could actively acquire certain things.

As his consciousness expanded, a series of visions unfolded before him—hidden laws etched into the Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower’s core, the fundamental essence imprinted upon its species.

Different soul masters saw different things according to their martial souls; no two perceptions were alike. Strictly speaking, only Chen Ming had ever perceived such abstract concepts from beginning to end.

“Poison Arrow Technique… Poison Light Technique… Deadly Poison Entanglement… Deadly Poison Shot… Deadly Poison Enhancement… Poisonous Claw…”

“These… these are not enough; they are merely changes in soul power, not the essence…”

Other soul masters, upon absorbing a soul ring, might randomly gain one soul skill suited to them, but Chen Ming had unlocked every potential soul skill of the Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower, browsing through them one by one and modifying them to better fit his own intent.

Skills like entanglement or growth didn’t suit his martial soul, so he glanced at them briefly and paid them no further mind, focusing instead on more critical aspects.

Soul ring skills were akin to spell slots or skill slots, which soul masters could wield, yet most never understood how they did so—the essence of soul rings remained elusive.

Some skills, like fireball or fireline, were essentially the same at their core, but most people couldn’t alter them in any way. Simple principles could often be learned through training without wasting a precious soul ring slot.

Chen Ming delved into the essence of the Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower’s soul ring, and finally, overlapping images appeared before him—skills that, theoretically, only a soul master with the Bi-Lin Seven Absolute Flower martial soul could acquire after absorbing its soul ring.

“Poison Cloud Technique…”