Ever since he began self-discipline training, Xiao Lin's physical strength and spiritual power had been steadily increasing.
Even his soul power cultivation hadn't lagged behind—in fact, it had become even faster than before.
Xiao Lin couldn't quite explain why. Maybe it was because he felt a growing sense of urgency.
He wanted to build up his physical strength before reaching level twenty.
Though he had the help of the Qiu Long Rod to lessen the shock from absorbing a spirit ring, Xiao Lin never fought a battle unprepared.
Especially after nearly having an accident when absorbing his first spirit ring—he had become even more cautious.
He didn't even want to hear things like, "If I can't absorb it, I'll just give up."
During the daily academy life, Xiao Lin also finished reading a new set of books, and decided that this time, when exchanging them, he would submit his second thesis as well.
Curling up in his dorm room while other students were off in class, Xiao Lin began by writing the title of his thesis:
"Shocking! A Way to Absorb Spirit Rings Beyond the Limit!"
Same old clickbait title—Xiao Lin wasn't giving up on this high-traffic formula.
And this time, he planned to write it properly.
A full six-thousand-word thesis.
Xiao Lin began writing.
As is well known, ever since Yu Xiaogang published the theory of optimal spirit ring absorption ages, nearly everyone has accepted it as fact. But today, I, Lin Dong, offer a different perspective. After decades, perhaps it's time we updated this theory on optimal absorption age.
What follows is my research on spirit masters and the best age to absorb spirit rings.
Author: Lin Dong
Advisor: Sky Mink Douluo
After recalling a few details, Xiao Lin did the same as in his previous thesis—starting with data.
Based on Lin Dong's investigation of 1,503 spirit masters, he found that those who absorbed a first spirit ring around 400 years in age generally fell into one of the following groups:
Talents from powerful beast-type martial soul clans
Talents from powerful tool-type martial soul clans
Talented commoners with beast-type martial souls
Among these three types, they made up about 13% of the total, but within that group, the percentage who absorbed a 400-year-old first ring was over 98%.
And among those, commoner talents with beast-type martial souls accounted for only 8%.
I couldn't help but ask: Does absorbing a 400-year-old first spirit ring mean you must be from one of those clans? Must you be a genius?
Impossible!
Lin Dong found that these so-called geniuses from great clans weren't necessarily more talented.
As we all know, Master Yu Xiaogang is considered a waste among spirit masters, yet both of his spirit rings were over a hundred years—nearly at the limit of what he could absorb.
Lin Dong's research revealed that this master's first spirit ring was approximately 400 years old.
Clearly, these great clans have methods to increase the age limit of absorbable rings—or at the very least, methods to ensure 400-year-old rings can be safely absorbed.
Considering Yu Xiaogang came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and that they have a unique medicinal bath technique, Lin Dong suspects that's their method.
But speculation is just that—speculation. So Lin Dong also looked into other clans' geniuses.
Elephant Arm Sect, Power Clan, the Dai family from Star Luo Empire, Zhu family from Star Luo Empire, and so on.
Unsurprisingly, their members mostly absorbed 400-year-old first rings.
The conclusion? Among beast-type martial soul clans, absorbing a 400-year-old first spirit ring is completely normal.
Next: powerful tool-type martial soul clans.
Lin Dong specifically researched the Clear Sky Clan. As the strongest tool-type martial soul clan, their members loved blacksmithing, trained tirelessly, and even developed a powerful self-created spirit skill—the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique—which greatly strengthened the body.
These examples show that absorbing a 400-year-old ring was no issue for members of these clans.
So here comes the real question: Why do talented commoner beast-type spirit masters rarely absorb 400-year-old rings? And why do tool-type spirit masters from commoner backgrounds not show up at all?
Is it simply because they lack access to 400-year-old spirit beasts?
No! The truth is that clan spirit masters and commoners have very different physical constitutions.
Could it be due to martial soul quality?
Absolutely not.
Many talented commoners have innate full soul power—even exceeding the clan kids. Their martial souls aren't inferior; some are even better.
So, the ability of beast-type spirit masters to absorb 400-year-old first rings must stem from superior physical strength.
Because beast-type spirit masters, influenced by both their martial soul and soul power, naturally have stronger bodies than their tool-type counterparts—excluding special cases like the Clear Sky Clan.
Here, Lin Dong states clearly: The data is real and credible. Many figures come from Spirit Hall's own records and people Lin Dong personally knows.
At this point, Xiao Lin paused his pen.
No issues so far. He hadn't met Bibi Dong in person, but he knew her. He knew some of the Spirit Hall's Title Douluo. Would their spirit rings be anything less than the maximum possible?
Did this kind of data even need verification?
Not just Bibi Dong—Qian Xunji, who had already passed away, was also one of his data points.
No problem here. These 1,000+ data points were absolutely legitimate.
Plus, Xiao Lin worked backward from the results and even revealed many hidden truths.
The Blue Lightning Clan's medicinal bath? Real.The Clear Sky Clan's blacksmithing methods? Also real.
The heavier the Clear Sky Hammer got, the stronger the spirit master's body became—it all added up.
After drafting this first case study, Xiao Lin moved on to the second.
In addition, Lin Dong discovered a new secret.
The so-called "optimal absorption age" from past times was much lower than it is today.
Data as follows:
…
With these two examples, we can essentially prove that the best absorption age for spirit rings is evolving—and getting higher.
That physical fitness affects the age of absorbable rings is now nearly undeniable.
Xiao Lin put down his pen again and decided to add one last example.
Lastly, Lin Dong included a case involving his best student—(i.e., Tang San from another timeline, referred to as Xiao Yan here).
On the draft: Xiao Yan is the son of a certain Title Douluo from a great clan. But due to various circumstances, he grew up alone—skinny and malnourished.
Yet his talent was extraordinary. He possessed a top-tier plant martial soul with innate full soul power and later became my disciple.
When I took him to absorb a 400-year-old Mandala Snake for his first spirit ring, the process was incredibly difficult. He nearly failed during the soul ring's power surge, and I broke out in a cold sweat.
In the end, he succeeded.
I believe, if not for Xiao Yan's peak-level talent, unyielding will, and long absorption process, he would've failed.
This confirmed for me, Lin Dong, that physical fitness is key to absorbing higher-age spirit rings.
Nowadays, under my care, Xiao Yan is no longer malnourished—he's healthy and strong.
When absorbing his second ring, he faced no resistance and perfectly absorbed a ring at the limit—and possibly beyond.
Based on all the above, we can conclude that a spirit master's ability to absorb high-year spirit rings is directly related to their physical condition.
The stronger the body, the higher the ring's age, and the smoother the absorption.
Furthermore, the greatest advantage of twin spirits lies in this: once the first martial soul has perfectly absorbed its rings, the second can directly absorb spirit rings over 10,000 years old.
This aligns perfectly with the theory that stronger physical fitness allows for higher-age ring absorption.
As spirit masters' bodies get stronger over generations, the optimal age for spirit rings is already shifting upward.
If I'm not mistaken, in the future, it'll be common to see first spirit rings at 500 years, second rings at 1,000 years.
After more than 6,000 words poured out smoothly, Xiao Lin felt truly satisfied—and admitted one thing was absolutely spot on:
Writing a thesis is like taking a dump—the more fluid it is, the faster it comes out.
This kind of "junk thesis" would never pass in his past life, but so what? This was Douluo Continent, and what he wrote was actually true, okay?
Believe it or not—Xiao Lin didn't care. He was planning to absorb a 1,000-year second spirit ring next.
If you don't believe him, go try the Blue Lightning Clan's medicinal bath. Or ask Xiao Yan—or the other Tang San.
After tidying up the thesis and checking for any mistakes, Xiao Lin found none and placed it into his soul tool for storage.
(End of Chapter)