A couple of minutes later, Salas came to Xiao Wu's room with two plates of nutritious food. He handed one to her and started eating alongside her.
Xiao Wu, still full of shock from the sudden improvement in her strength, hurriedly told Salas about all the changes in her body, her voice brimming with amazement.
Salas simply nodded, showing no surprise—as if he had anticipated it all.
"Your fourth soul ring's age can now be increased by 500 years," he said. "What a pity... it's too late for you to get the full benefit of this special medicine. The ideal time to take it was before absorbing your first or second soul ring." He sighed and placed a piece of meat into his mouth.
"Ah… really? I can increase my soul ring's condensation age?" Xiao Wu asked in amazement.
"Ididn't tell you this earlier, but it's actually the body's physical strength that determines how powerful a soul ring someone can absorb. The stronger the physique, the older and more powerful the soul ring it can handle."
"It's the same for you. If you had taken my special medicine before forming your first soul ring, its age could've reached 900 years…" Salas said with a smile.
Because Salas interrupted the Man-Faced Demon Spider soul ring absorption, Tang San never had the chance to perform his stunt of absorbing a high-age soul ring. His third soul ring ended up being of a standard age. As a result, Xiao Wu had never heard of someone successfully absorbing a ring above the so-called 'optimal' limit. So, when she heard Salas explain this theory, she was left amazed.
"San-ge's teacher said that no one can absorb a higher age soul ring. If they try, they might become crippled or even die…" Xiao Wu voiced her doubts, albeit reluctantly.
To her question, Salas only smiled and didn't respond. Instead, he kept placing juicy pieces of meat into his mouth.
Seeing his silence, Xiao Wu pouted and tugged at his sleeve like a child begging for attention.
"I'm not saying your brother's teacher is wrong," Salas finally said. "The age limits for soul rings were determined after thousands of years of observation and experience. They're accurate—for people with average bodies. If someone tries to absorb a soul ring beyond their body's capacity, they will die."
"But here's what no one noticed—what actually matters is the strength of the body. Since no one ever found a way to significantly enhance their physique, they naturally assumed those limits were fixed… Have you ever heard of someone improving their physique like you did today?"
Salas had no intention of hiding this from her. As her master, he needed to show his depth of knowledge and broaden her perspective.
After all, he wanted Xiao Wu to truly admire him—not just emotionally, but intellectually. That admiration would make it much easier to shape her in the future.
Everyone wants their husband or wife to be the best… everyone wants their parents to be heroic… and likewise, everyone wants their master to be the most knowledgeable. Xiao Wu was no exception.
Although she had accepted Salas as her master due to emotional circumstances, she still hadn't confirmed in her heart whether he was more capable than others.
So Salas had to bring up such things to let her realize his value—and feel proud to call him her master.
As expected… when Xiao Wu realized what he said made sense—that there had never been a precedent of someone dramatically improving their physique like this—and that even Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang hadn't discovered it… she felt an inexplicable pride swelling inside. Her face was full of smiles.
"Da Ming and Er Ming said Master was the most knowledgeable person they've ever met. I thought they were exaggerating… I didn't expect Master to be even more knowledgeable than San-ge's teacher," Xiao Wu thought with joy.
Then a pang of regret hit her… If her San-ge could become her Master's disciple, how amazing would that be… But she also knew: A teacher for a day, a father for life. Tang San would never abandon Grandmaster.
"Then… I can only ask Master to help San-ge for my sake. Since Master cares about me, he won't reject helping San-ge," she thought, drawing circles on her food plate with a hanging expression.
"Master… can I tell this knowledge to San-ge too?" Xiao Wu asked softly, hiding her expectations in her tone.
Salas looked at her for a moment, then smiled.
"Of course… Since Tang San is your brother, Master naturally won't mind. But Xiao Wu—you must promise me. No one else can know about this. Only you and your brother. Do you understand?" Salas said solemnly.
Sensing the gravity of the matter, Xiao Wu hurriedly nodded and swore an oath. But in the end, she was still happy… her Master truly cared about her feelings.
Seeing her foolish smile, Salas couldn't help but shake his head slightly. This kind of knowledge means little by itself. Even if others find out, they won't understand the secret—after all, no one knows what that special medicine truly was.
As long as no one uncovers the effects of Whale Glue, everything is fine.
In the future, when he establishes his own clan, he could make this knowledge part of his bloodline's secret legacy.
It would ensure that his descendants always had a physical edge on the Douluo Continent.
"If I choose a wife soon and have children, I can ensure that before I ascend to the God Realm, three generations of my bloodline will exist in this world", Salas thought silently. He estimated nearly ten years to reach godhood, and another hundred years of stay. That gave him over 110 years to establish his lineage.
"Of course, my future wife will object to leaving her children behind… But I can't make cold-hearted decisions that would ruin my benevolent image. So I'll have to make the situation… inevitable."
"I'll just let her give birth to many children… If the count reaches more than five, what can she say? Hehe. I'll be "forced" to leave a few behind, right? She won't be able to blame me…"
"And in 110 years, we'll even have grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Who would we take with us to the God Realm then? Hehe. It'll be "unavoidable" that some stay behind. That way, my plan succeeds naturally"
Salas continued calculating silently in his heart, all while casually chatting with Xiao Wu about other things.
The reason he wanted only one legal wife also had its purpose…
Though Salas was sure that any woman from this world who fell in love with him would obey him completely—even placing his happiness above her child's—he couldn't afford to misuse that devotion.
It wasn't about fooling the wife. If it were, he could easily take many wives. After all, women who loved him would always put his joy first.
It was about fooling the world. His role as a benevolent sage, a role model, couldn't be tarnished in the eyes of the people.
Even if one day he became so powerful that no one could stand against him, Salas would never take off his mask of kindness. A wise man understands the value of such a mask… and Salas, who had read many novels in his past Earth life, understood that all too very well.
: Book Paused