Kong Mingan lowered his eyes slightly as he focused on the task at hand. Thin strands of blue spirit power threads began to extend upward from his fingertips. These threads moved with purpose, wrapping around and binding the pure white spirit ring held in his palm. Under the influence of his energy, the ring took on a dreamlike and ethereal appearance, shimmering softly in the light of the room.
Meng Hongchen stood nearby, watching the scene with a stunned expression. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. Was it actually possible to touch a spirit ring directly like that? Or was it only possible because the ring was being pulled and bound by his spirit power? She searched her memory, trying to recall her studies, but she could only remember that such a close interaction with a spirit ring was usually part of the process for absorbing one.
As she stood there feeling completely bewildered, Kong Mingan began to speak in a slow, steady voice. He did not look up, keeping his focus on the glowing circle in his hand.
Meng, what do you think a spirit ring really is? He asked the question calmly, but it carried a weight that made her pause.
A spirit ring? Meng Hongchen came back to her senses, feeling a bit puzzled as to why Kong Mingan would ask her something so basic. It was one of the first things every child learned. However, when she saw the serious expression on his face, she realized he wasn't joking. She hesitated for a moment and then decided to give him the standard answer found in every textbook.
A spirit ring is a special entity made of energy that appears after a Spirit Master hunts a Spirit Beast. When a Spirit Master reaches a cultivation bottleneck, they must absorb a spirit ring to achieve a breakthrough. Once it is absorbed, it gives the Spirit Master a unique Spirit Ability. The way we control our spirit power after that is linked to our own Spirit and the specific Spirit Beast the ring came from.
Kong Mingan nodded his head slightly. He didn't say she was wrong, but he didn't stop there either. He continued to push her thinking further.
You're right, he said. But besides using a spirit ring to break through a bottleneck or to gain Spirit Abilities, do you know if there are any other ways to use the ring itself?
Meng Hongchen was stumped by this second question. She instinctively shook her head, causing her long, silver-white hair to sway back and forth with the movement.
I don't know, she admitted. Isn't a spirit ring just for absorbing so we can get stronger and use abilities?
In her mind, and in the minds of almost every Spirit Master on the continent, a spirit ring was simply a tool for advancement. It was the ladder they climbed to reach higher ranks of power. To her, attaching a ring and using its abilities was as natural as breathing. It was just the way the world worked.
Kong Mingan shook his head slightly at her response. His gaze remained fixed on the spirit ring in his palm. His eyes flickered with a strange light, as if he were looking at a precise and beautiful work of art rather than a simple source of energy.
I have collected many pieces of information over the years, he explained. There are actually several strange and ancient methods for using spirit rings that most people have forgotten.
He began to list them out, his voice remaining calm and steady.
Ancient records tell us that ten thousand years ago, an Elder from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect knew a technique called Ring Embedding. This allowed him to put a spirit ring directly onto his Spirit, which gave him a massive boost in power. Then there is the Dark Underworld Sect from the Tianhun Empire. Their Spirit has a special Divine Beast Bloodline. Because of that, they can temporarily fuse their spirit rings together.
It allows someone at the rank of a Spirit Ancestor to use the power of a ten-thousand-year spirit ring for a short time. There is also a technique called spirit ring fusion. It allows a person to take the power from rings with different attributes and combine them into one single, powerful attribute to boost themselves or their allies.
As he spoke, he mentioned names and techniques that had been lost to time. These were secrets that had disappeared into the long history of the Douluo Continent. Each word he spoke seemed to open a new door in Meng Hongchen's mind, revealing a world of power she had never imagined.
Her ice-blue eyes widened in shock. She had never heard of such things. She wondered if it was really true that spirit rings could be manipulated in so many different ways.
Kong Mingan didn't wait for her to process everything. He held up the spirit ring, and the blue spirit power wrapped around it suddenly changed. The soft threads transformed into sharp, fine needles. Without warning, these needles pierced into the energy structure of the spirit ring.
The pure white ring suddenly flared with a bright, blinding light. It became unstable, and the gentle energy it had been putting off turned violent and dangerous in an instant.
Meng Hongchen felt the danger immediately. She instinctively took a quick step back, her heart racing. But Kong Mingan remained perfectly calm. He tossed the vibrating spirit ring into a transparent box. The box was made of high-strength, explosion-proof glass designed for Spirit tools. As soon as the ring landed inside, he sealed the lid.
A loud boom echoed through the small room. It was a dull but powerful explosion that happened entirely inside the isolation box. A flash of white light filled the space, accompanied by chaotic currents of energy. The patterns on the glass walls lit up brightly as they worked to contain the force. The glass flickered under the pressure, but it held firm. Not a single trace of the destructive energy managed to escape the box.
When the light finally faded, only a few wisps of energy remained inside. The spirit ring from the Soft Bones Rabbit was gone. It had vanished completely, as if it had never been there at all.
What was that? Meng Hongchen asked, her voice trembling slightly.
That is a technique called Ring Explosion, Kong Mingan replied. He pulled his hand back, looking as relaxed as if he had just popped a small bubble. It is a way to instantly release all the energy stored inside a spirit ring. Usually, that energy is used to support your abilities over a long time, but this force lets it all out at once.
He paused for a moment to look at the residual energy inside the box before continuing his explanation.
The explosion you just saw was about as strong as a Level 3 Spirit tool bomb. Some sects use this energy to give themselves a temporary boost in a fight. They have turned it into a variety of different combat styles.
Meng Hongchen was listening more closely than she ever had before. At first, she was just interested in the secrets he was telling. But after seeing the explosion with her own eyes, she knew that Kong Mingan wasn't just talking. He had actually found a way to make these theories work.
She blinked her eyes and thought about it. She was a clever girl, and she quickly realized how useful such a thing could be. Feeling a bit nervous but excited, she raised her hand like a student in a classroom.
Kong Mingan saw what she was thinking and let out a small chuckle.
Do you want to learn how to do a Ring Explosion? He asked with a smile.
Meng Hongchen nodded her head quickly, her eyes bright with hope.
No, he said simply.
The girl's face fell, and she looked very disappointed. She tried to tell herself that it was okay. After all, he didn't have to teach her anything. But it was still hard not to feel let down. It felt like someone had shown her a delicious meal and let her smell it, only to take it away before she could have a bite.
It isn't that I won't teach you, Kong Mingan explained when he saw her face. It is just that there is no need for you to learn it.
Why is there no need? She asked, confused.
Because a simple Ring Explosion is the most basic way to use that energy, he said. His eyes were calm as he reached out and grabbed another Soft Bones Rabbit. With a quick movement, he killed it, and another white spirit ring appeared. He caught the ring and looked down at it.
Think about it, Meng. If energy can be exploded to help in a fight, could it also be used to help a person break through a difficult bottleneck? Imagine using that massive burst of energy to push yourself from being a Spirit Grandmaster to a Spirit Elder. Or even a Spirit Douluo trying to become a Titled Douluo.
He looked back at her, his voice becoming more intense.
What if we could control that explosion? What if we could shape it into a shield or a specific attack? Right now, a ten-year spirit ring is like a Level 3 bomb. But what would happen if we used a thousand-year ring? Or a hundred-thousand-year ring? You know that spirit rings eventually recover after they are used. That means a person could have a way to use the power of a Level 9 bomb as many times as they wanted.
He paused, and a small smile appeared on his lips. His voice now sounded like he was obsessed with the possibilities of his research.
We might even be able to destroy the structure of a spirit ring entirely. We could wipe away the old abilities and the mark of the beast that lived inside it. If we are left with only the purest form of energy, we could try to create our own rings. We could achieve a way to edit and reconstruct spirit rings however we want.