055 The Sacred Bone's Secret Ring

If anything went wrong, his life would be lost in an instant. Yet, there can be no gain without sacrifice. As the old saying goes, high risk brings high reward.

He still had a backup plan—if all else failed, he could simply start over. Without further hesitation, Xiu Nan swallowed it whole.

With a gulp, his Adam’s apple twitched. Swallowing without water was difficult, and to be honest, the bone was exceedingly salty.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, waiting, gazing absentmindedly at the cave wall before him. “Why isn’t anything happening yet…”

The next second, a surge of pain swept over his body, his muscles and bones crackling audibly. Scorching heat surged from his stomach, flooding his limbs and bones. Wherever it passed, his flesh throbbed with agonizing pain, as if being skinned and torn apart.

Xiu Nan stifled a groan; sweat poured down his back, instantly soaking his clothes, his skin erupting in goosebumps.

He felt as though a blazing furnace burned inside him, relentless flames roasting his bones, threatening to turn his marrow to ash.

His skin reddened instantly, hot as a freshly cooked shrimp. His body arched, eyes rolling back, drool trickling from the corners of his mouth.

When pain reaches a certain threshold, a person can no longer cry out, falling into a state of speechless agony.

His right hand gripped the dirt, fingernails peeling back to reveal bloody flesh beneath. He had never imagined the suffering would be so swift and fierce.

[Notice: Your pain level has risen to severe. Due to your special state, you cannot log out.]

[Notice: The fusion of the holy bone and your flesh consists of three stages. You are now in the first stage, with the mildest pain.]

“There are three stages! Damn!”

Xiu Nan was on the verge of madness—the pain was unbearable.

[Notice: The following items may help with your current state. Please choose whether to use them now.]

[Name: Celestial Star Fragment]

[Type: Consumable]

[Level: ???]

[Description: A fragment from a meteorite from beyond the heavens, each piece contains mysterious power. Long-term exposure and use grants powerful extraordinary abilities.]

[Feature: Incomparably rare]

[Radiant Energy Slot: 1/10]

[Effect 2: Ability Solidification Slot—consume one energy slot to solidify a temporary skill or passive, effective for temporarily acquired abilities within the game system.]

“The Celestial Star Fragment actually works! That’s right! After fusing the holy bone, a secret ring forms, which counts as an ability!”

A thought flashed through Xiu Nan’s muddled mind.

“Use it now!” he roared inwardly.

[Celestial Star Fragment has been used.]

[Energy slot fully consumed…]

Seeing these words, Xiu Nan’s eyes brimmed with tears of relief.

Good, as long as it’s used!

Suddenly, a cold current spread rapidly from the center of his chest and abdomen, sweeping through his entire body in an instant. The meteorite’s energy had always been dormant within him; now, activated fully by the game system, it was completely consumed.

“Ah… so refreshing…”

Xiu Nan sprawled on the ground, limbs splayed, his twisted expression slowly relaxing. For anyone who hasn’t experienced it, it’s impossible to imagine the sensation of being yanked from hell straight to heaven—like a turtle basking in the sun, pure bliss.

He could still faintly sense the pain in his body, but the meteorite’s energy had blocked ninety-nine percent of it. The remaining one percent, in comparison, felt delightful.

After resting for a while, Xiu Nan finally got up, first glancing down at his crotch, then behind him.

Fortunately, nothing embarrassing had leaked out; the pain had nearly made him lose control.

He took a deep breath, examining his body’s changes.

He raised his hand slightly, his joints crackling like beans in a frying pan. His muscles twitched, as if steel wires were twisting together. His skin was flushed red.

With the meteorite’s energy shielding him, the pain was barely noticeable—less than the bite of a mosquito.

[You have passed the first stage of assimilation.]

[Entering the second stage: Bone Shaping.]

As the prompt appeared, Xiu Nan began shivering uncontrollably, his muscles twitching beyond his control, his body writhing as if in a seizure.

But thankfully, he felt almost no pain.

He soon sensed something growing inside him, spreading like a parasite, burrowing straight into his bones.

“Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!”

It wasn’t Xiu Nan losing control, but the sweat pores all over his body spraying blood mist, instantly shrouding the cave.

“Am I about to explode and die…”

Five minutes later, another prompt appeared.

[You have passed the second stage: Bone Shaping.]

[Entering the final stage: Ring Condensation.]

Crack, crack, crack… his bones seemed to be growing.

Xiu Nan felt the flesh on his back splitting open, something pressing outward. He immediately thought of the native youth before the altar—the white bone secret ring had grown from his back, gradually solidifying.

Chunks of skin peeled away, revealing blood-stained white bone exposed to the air, forming a ring that spun faster and faster.

Xiu Nan frowned; even with the meteorite’s energy dulling ninety-nine percent of the pain, he could still distinctly feel it. The sensation had risen from mosquito bites to being slapped.

The pain deepened with time.

One slap, two, three…

At the fourth, it stopped, then slowly diminished—three slaps, two, one.

The spinning white bone secret ring on his back finally halted.

No, it should be called the holy bone secret ring now.

[Third stage complete. You have successfully condensed the ring.]

[Notice: The Celestial Star Fragment’s mysterious power has merged and mutated with the holy bone’s force.]

[Notice: The two forces clashed, granting you direct perception of the mysterious ring. Rune activation and fire seed triggered.]

[Notice: You have mastered the holy bone secret ring. Due to the mutation of both forces, the ring has undergone unknown changes.]

[Notice: Celestial Star Fragment’s energy residue allows you to instantly learn a one-ring rune.]

Xiu Nan was ecstatic—no wonder the meteorite’s energy could solidify even the Nine Lives Cat’s legendary passive ability! Now he had the complete set of fire seed secret ring runes!

As long as he encountered any one-ring rune, he could instantly become a ring master. He thought the Cangmu Vulture of the Senran Tribe would be a good option—they likely had such inheritances.

Suppressing his excitement, Xiu Nan opened the introduction to the holy bone secret ring, glanced at it, and murmured to himself.

“This time, I might really take off…”

[Name: Holy Bone Secret Ring]

[Type: Secret Ring]

[Level: ???]

[Description: The fusion of two mysterious forces produced unexpected results. Most of the original enhancements vanished, leaving only two effects, each increasingly prominent, forming unbelievable abilities.]

[Feature: Unique]

[Special abilities of the White Bone Secret Ring:]

Ability One: Sharing

Effect 1: The superpower you possess can be, after proportional weakening, bestowed upon your ring beast.

Effect 2: The ring beast’s physique or abilities, after proportional weakening, can be randomly bestowed upon you.

Ability Two: Evolution

Effect 1: Choose a direction to evolve, producing ring beast runes that transcend species, up to the limit of your genes.

Effect 2: Fuse runes from different ring beasts to create variants, resulting in myriad abilities. Potential unknown—might even yield legendary mythic creatures.

Effect 3: Simplified “evolution points” unit, used for evolving abilities, serving as the basis for effects 1 and 2. With sufficient points, you can forcibly evolve or fuse.

Sources of evolution points: Holy bone remains, ring beasts, White Bone Secret Ring, ring master ring beast runes, special substances.

Main source: Ring master ring beast runes.