Li Qing controlled the Death Mandala tornado to drift towards the bird's head, and then the death energy actually drilled into its body through the pores around its eyes.
Li Qing wasn't surprised by this.
Ever since he discovered that death energy could be controlled, he had experimented. Death energy could indeed invade the bodies of animals and even humans, but it wouldn't cause any negative effects.
What he wanted to experiment with now was whether the death energy could carry the corpse poison pollen in with it.
Crucially, he wanted to see if the death energy could suppress the corpse poison within the bird's body. If it couldn't, he would absolutely not dare to absorb the Death Mandala's Soul Ring.
Cross-species Soul Ring absorption wasn't the problem; the problem was that the Death Mandala was a poison-attribute Soul Beast.
The Dugu Family was the best example of the flaws of poison. A slight carelessness could lead to self-poisoning, so Li Qing wouldn't dare to try it without assurance.
This was also why he asked Dugu Bo to get a Death Mandala first to experiment with.
The first answer was quickly revealed: all the death energy drilled into the bird's body, but the pollen failed to enter with the death energy.
However, that wasn't a big problem.
The Death Mandala's corpse poison originally started eroding from the surface. The next thing to see was whether the death energy could help the bird resist the corpse poison's erosion.
Although the death energy had entered the bird's body, it was still under Li Qing's control.
He quickly controlled the death energy to form a defense line under the bird's skin where the pollen had adhered. And almost at the same time the defense line was formed...
The corpse poison erupted.
An ordinary bird, not even a Soul Beast, or perhaps a Soul Beast with a lifespan of single digits, how could it withstand the erosion of the Death Mandala's corpse poison? A putrid smell suddenly spread.
In the blink of an eye, the bird's eyelids were completely rotten.
Under the eyelids should have been the pupils, but what the two saw was a thin layer of black energy, which was the isolated defense line formed by the death energy controlled by Li Qing.
Li Qing watched the layer of death energy nervously.
Don't think the pollen just now seemed very well-behaved within the death energy. That was because the pollen was just pollen, the state before the corpse poison erupted. Pollen that had adhered to flesh was the true corpse poison.
The seemingly terrifying corpse poison, however, withered the moment it touched the death energy, becoming incredibly obedient. Li Qing couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth, and the slightest bit of worry in his heart vanished.
After Li Qing withdrew the death energy, the bird turned into a pile of white bones in just over a dozen breaths.
"Although I didn't quite understand it, it looks like your experiment was successful. There happens to be a six-thousand-year Death Mandala over there that meets your requirements. You wait here for me."
Although Dugu Bo felt a bit confused, he wasn't blind. He could still see the suppressive effect of the death energy on the corpse poison.
Li Qing said, "Then I'll trouble Senior."
Dugu Bo nodded, said no more, and went straight towards the Death Mandala's growing location.
About twenty minutes later, Dugu Bo returned with a Death Mandala about 1.6 meters tall, blooming with twenty to thirty large and small flowers.
And he assisted Li Qing in completing the kill.
A purple Soul Ring ascended from the Death Mandala's corpse. Li Qing, who hadn't expended much, didn't need to recover and directly sat down cross-legged.
He began to absorb the Soul Ring.
Li Qing originally thought six thousand years should be his limit and absorption might be very difficult, but in fact, it wasn't as exaggerated as he had expected.
There was some pressure, but not too much.
Li Qing estimated that his true limit should be around seven thousand years. Any higher wouldn't work.
Over ten minutes later.
The Soul Ring absorption was nearing its end, and Li Qing's Soul Power level began to soar.
Normally speaking...
A regular Soul Master's second ring should be around six or seven hundred years, while six thousand years already exceeded the standard for a fourth ring. The Soul Power contained within it was imaginable.
Even reaching level four Soul Power in the Soul Supreme realm wasn't difficult, but Li Qing was only a Grand Soul Master.
His Soul Power level soared all the way, breaking through level twenty-four in the blink of an eye, then twenty-five, twenty-six, finally steadily entering level twenty-seven.
In just over ten minutes, he was already very close to becoming a Soul Supreme.
One must know that Li Qing was only a little over seven years old now. Even without other immortal herbs, reaching the Soul Supreme realm before the age of nine was absolutely not a problem. This was quite a shocking existence in the entire history of Soul Masters.
However, Li Qing was not satisfied.
A Soul Ring year limit exceeding the fourth ring, coupled with the remaining power of the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone, only increased his Soul Power by seven levels. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he wasted an immortal grade herb.
"Sigh!"
Li Qing couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It seemed the shortcut was nearing its end here. Knowing there wasn't much effect, it wasn't worth wasting immortal herbs anymore.
"How is it?"
Seeing him open his eyes, Dugu Bo couldn't wait to ask.
Li Qing said, "My second Soul Skill is called Death Energy Corrosion. It's an area-of-effect Soul Skill. Its effect is similar to the Death Mandala's corpse poison, just with some subtle differences in manifestation."
"What about your Soul Power?"
Dugu Bo had already anticipated the Soul Skill. What he cared about most was how many levels of Soul Power the six-thousand-year second ring had brought Li Qing. Would he directly reach level thirty?
Li Qing said, "Twenty-seven."
Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo's face actually showed a hint of regret, leaving Li Qing stunned. He was regretting wasting an immortal grade herb.
What was Dugu Bo regretting?
Dugu Bo comforted him, "That's fine too. With your talent, you'll reach level thirty in at most a little over a year. A Soul Supreme at over nine years old is unprecedented."
Li Qing: "..."
Unprecedented might not be accurate, after all, there was Qian Renxue with innate level twenty before him.
Li Qing estimated her two Soul Rings gave her four levels of Soul Power. With her talent, cultivating six levels of Soul Power in two and a half years shouldn't be a big problem.
One could only say they were evenly matched.
But that was all there was to it. All she had was the advantage of innate level twenty Soul Power. After becoming a Soul Supreme, let alone catching up, even with the help of angels, she couldn't possibly surpass Li Qing.
...
"Grandpa, Grandpa, you've seen the transmission from that crazy woman. What do you think we should do?"
Although Qian Renxue was very dissatisfied in her heart, she had no choice but to comply, because she knew how important the method of Martial Soul evolution was to the Spirit Hall.
Snake Spear Douluo and Title Douluo exchanged glances.
For a genius like this, the best method was naturally to win him over. Didn't Li Qing have a grudge against Master? If they helped him get rid of Master, wouldn't the misunderstanding between him and the Spirit Hall be resolved?
However, they knew this plan wouldn't work.
If Bi Bi Dong was willing to abandon Master, she wouldn't have sent them a transmission to handle this matter. The meaning of the transmission was for them to directly seize the person.
They really couldn't understand it.
What was there about that useless Yu Xiaogang, who had no talent, no strength, and no looks, that was worth Bi Bi Dong caring about?
Why was he more important than a genius like Li Qing?
Bi Bi Dong treated that useless person, whom even his own father Yu Yuanzhen didn't want, as a treasure. They really didn't know what she was thinking. Was her brain filled with paste?
Of course, they only dared to complain about it in their hearts.