In summary, spirit rings that have undergone Secondary Refinement possess the following characteristics:
Soul Markings of the Spirit Beast: The ring will display patterns that represent the spirit beast's traits when it was alive these are soul markings unique to the soul skill.
Flexible Soul Power Flow: When using a soul skill, soul power can be freely released and retracted.
Formation of the Soul Disk: When a soul skill is activated, the spirit ring transforms into a soul disk, with the center depicting the soul beast's image outlined by markings.
Greater Efficiency: At the same spirit ring age and soul skill, a refined ring consumes less soul power than a standard one.
Synchronized Growth: The age and power of the refined spirit ring can grow alongside the spirit master's cultivation and martial spirit development.
After learning about these advantages, Tang San became somewhat eager to see how his first spirit ring would look after undergoing secondary refinement. However, he had one lingering question:
"Do the patterns that appear on the ring only show up in red?"
"No," Zhou Qing speculated, "That color represents the aura of one's martial spirit influencing the ring. If you succeed, I imagine the markings would appear in a blue hue, with perhaps hints of silver—something akin to your Blue Silver Grass.".
"Maybe so."
Tang San realized he had never looked forward to tomorrow this much—both Tianmeng Ice Silkworm and Romantina needed time to rest.
But then, another question occurred to him.
"After refining a ring, won't those patterns be permanently visible? Wouldn't that attract attention?"
"Spirit rings are already pretty eye-catching," Zhou Qing replied with a roll of his eyes.
For most spirit masters, activating a soul skill involves first releasing their martial spirit, then materializing their rings, and only then activating the skill—this applies even to Titled Douluo, as shown in the original work.
This is precisely why the profession of soul master, despite certain martial spirits being dark-type, stealthy, or fast, is fundamentally ill-suited for genuine assassins or stealth operatives.
That said, Zhou Qing admitted the soul markings would indeed draw attention.
"Right now, I can't suppress the markings. But with our current level, unless someone's soul power is way higher than ours, we don't really need to use martial spirits or soul skills to handle fights."
Just like Tang San—outside of tournament settings where hidden weapons were forbidden he often relied more on Tang Sect techniques and martial skills than soul skills. His Blue Silver Grass mostly served to support and disrupt.
Although his ninth skill from the Blue Silver Emperor soul—sourced from the Sky Blue Bull Python—did defeat Chrysanthemum Douluo, that was due to overwhelming power on both cultivation and soul skill fronts.
"Still," Zhou Qing added, "in the future, we will need to use soul skills. So we need a proper excuse for the appearance of those soul markings."
After some thought, Zhou Qing asked,
"What do you think if I compile our findings and publish the theory of spirit ring secondary refinement to the soul master world?"
Tang San's instinct was immediate rejection.
No. It would empower our future enemies."
"That's one way to see it," Zhou Qing acknowledged. "But here's the thing we won't always hide our power. After we graduate from Nuoding Academy, with our potential, we might enter an advanced academy directly."
"Even if most advanced academies favor nobles and clans, they'll always leave room for exceptionally talented civilians. They can't shut off all upward mobility…"
"The Soul Master Tournament is a must for us. I don't care about fame, but the rewards are incredibly rich—noble titles from the empires, and from the Spirit Hall, even soul bones."
"And while soul bones greatly enhance a soul master's power, I care even more about their untapped potential—just like with the secondary refinement of soul rings."
Tang San had to admit Zhou Qing's foresight was far beyond his own.
Winning or even just placing in the top threeat the Soul Master Tournament would secure them noble titles, a huge boon for Tang San's dream of rebuilding the Tang Sect.
The Spirit Hall rewards be it soul bones or other items would also boost their strength directly.
Moreover, Zhou Qing and Tang San could extract even more potential from those prizes through research.
Still… to publicly release the theory?
"Don't forget," Zhou Qing reminded him, "a theory is just that—a theory. Only we have the method to actually do it."
To Zhou Qing, Tang San was being overly cautious. The real core technology was in their hands.
Without Romantina's brain-type martial spirit, or the first spirit ring skills from the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm especially Mental Detection and Mental Sharing—other soul masters might understand the concept, but executing it would be like watching a science documentary and merely saying, "Wow, so such tech exists."
Zhou Qing believed that even most Titled Douluo couldn't observe the connection pathways between martial spirits and soul rings with spiritual power alone—only those with a mental-type spirit or those who reached level 99 (Peerless Douluo) might grasp some part of it.
But Peerless Douluo yearned to ascend past rank 99. For them, diverting energy to perfectly "graft" their rings and evolve all nine to the 100,000-year level would take massive amounts of time.
Even though they had thousand-year lifespans, refining all nine spirit rings to 100,000 years would still require time accumulation.
And those under the rank of Peerless Douluo? Their martial spirits were already fully matured. Performing secondary refinement on existing rings and pushing them toward 100,000 years wouldn't happen quickly—again, it would take time.
So in the end, the theory of Secondary Ring Refinement would seem like a flashy but impractical idea—a chicken-rib theory, nourishing but hard to eat.
But for Zhou Qing, Tang San, and their circle, it was the foundation of showcasing the uniqueness of their soul rings.
It was the pathway toward achieving a full set of 100,000-year rings.
And in the end, Tang San was convinced.
Because Zhou Qing was right they held the core technology.
Others might hear of the theory but they would never be able to replicate it.
Low-level soul masters didn't have the means.
High-level ones had no time or flexibility left in their matured martial spirits.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/Xentronix