Douluo Dalu: 9 Treasure Sword

There were 2 important characteristic when you choosing for a spirit beast to absorb the ring.

First it was the skill that can be obtained by it. Ring spirit skills are the main power of a spirit master. Doing impossible thing possible, surpassing your limits. For low level spirit masters sometimes is the true difference between them and some really powerful normal people.

It's very important the spirit skills that will determinate your path. So you need to be very careful when choosing one and that have a good synergy with your other skills or that go well with your way of fighting. Being support, defense, attack, speed... If someone have very different effect, he at least needs to be strong enough to that they individually affect the enemy evading becoming to a jack of all trades.

Another important fact of the skill is that can evolve all your spirit. Changing some characteristic of the spirit itself passively. This example is very intensified in spirit plants when absorbing some spirit plant or theoretically even beast they can obtain some of it characteristic like more resistance or even poison.

The other important aspect is the age of the spirit. The older the better, obtaining more powerful skills and a higher boost for your further cultivation. However, absorbing a too aged ring will cause rejection, injuring oneself. In cases of 10.000 years old or older is not too uncommon to became mentally retard.

So is it very important to know your limit of age absorption, and try to find some near this age.

The named ideal configuration was created based in a study 1000 years ago. It was an analysis following the creation rings of a humanized spirit beast. The humanized beasts are considered to cultivate better and at a higher peace comparing with humans. So it configuration was considered as the ideal.

The last study about age restriction it's being developed by Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang. He analyzed a lot data of thousand of years ago an created a more defined ideal configuration, even with some differences due to the spirit, changing a little for beast, tools, plants...

But even when all this studies this ideal configuration can be said for sure to be ideal. It's only a average calculation. An study to evade some hot blood people to go over their capabilities and injure themselves. In truth the age absorption can change a lot.

Grandmaster posted a thesis about this 'ideal configuration' that was accepted in all the continent. But he made another one exposing the needs in each process when you absorb a ring, making the most limiting one the maximum for oneself. Theoretically, you need to improve in all the areas not concentrating in anyone to maximize your age restriction.

The processes of ring absorption are Ring Destruction, Ring Combat, Ring Dissolution and Ring Internalization.

Ring Destruction step is to break the ring itself inserting and start the reconstruction in oneself spirit. For this is necessary to have approval of the 'world'. In simple words you need to kill the beast hitting the final blow. This is only for under 100.000 years old rings, when the ring is over that age it's destruction grow exponentially becoming difficult to gain the approval.

For this approval there's little study but with empirical data is decided that someone at the douluo rank always have the approval. If someone under douluo rank do the last kill of a 100.000 years all by some fluke, he might won't be able even to try to absorb it. For other approval further the douluo rank it isn't sure what others can be.

Ring Combat step is an internal fight between the person that absorb the ring and the spirit of the ring. In this fight you only use your spirit energy to try to control the rampage energy of the spirit beast. You need to purify its energy so that it became similar to yours becoming truly your spirit ring.

In this process the limitation is about if you have enough spirit energy to control the ring. If not the rampage energy will affect your own spirit energy, causing it for also rampage. Being able to lose all your cultivation or simply die in the process by your uncontrolled spirit power. Having twins spirit helps this part, having a more mutated spirit energy it easier to absorb other type, also the other can help in the process.

Ring Dissolution is the fight versus the conscience of the beast. Even when the energy of the ring is under your control, the ring still held the conscience of the beast. You need to eliminate it withstanding its pressure and fight with your own spiritual power.

For spirit beast over 10.000 years the soul is so strong that it can even do a soul shock, making the person retarded if the didn't have enough spiritual power. Finishing this step the ring is finally completely free of the previous beast and became completely yours finally starting to truly absorb in your body.

For this step the limitation is your spiritual power or mental power. If you don't have enough your mind is injured breaking the absorbing process usually becoming mentally retard.

Ring Internalization is the last step and is the true absorption of the ring. When you start assimilating the previous purified ring. Absorbing all the energy of the ring boosting your cultivation breaking through the next rank. Moreover, your spirit absorb transform with the new energy evolving further and obtaining the spirit ring skill based in the characteristic of the ring's beast.

In this process you need to have enough physical power to withstand the energy. Otherwise, your body will be overcharged and finally explode.

Every step is extremely important and even if you can't withstand only one of the process death is an usually effect, except for the first one.

There's an exception to this rules. In the case that the spirit beast give you on its own accord his spirit ring. The first process is complete in an instant, the energy is not rampage so no second process need, the conscience quickly disperse so no third step. For the Dissolution the spirit beast can even limit the excess of energy being absorbed the maximum you can at the moment, later will be absorbed more. Doing the process incredible easy and quickly, only needing second to complet without age restriction.

In my case with my spirit being a mutation from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, it can obtain the most notable characteristic of the spirit beast. Usually in low aged beast their attribute and in older beast some kind of special ability.

For my 4th ring I wanted some related to defense. As my swordsmanship is focused in defense. Even if as now nobody broke my defense it didn't mean that in the future they won't. Also, a decrease in the rival defense will help my attacks to go against defense type enemies.

Due to my low attack and focus in control and defense if the opponent have a good defense, I can only wait till their exhaustion. So it will be an improvement of my strength and decrease of a weakness.

For its age if I continue like before my next ring would need to be less than 20.000 years old. My limitation being the Ring Combat, being limited by spirit energy.

As the spirit beast is under 100.000 years I don't really thing that I would have any problem at the Ring Destruction.

My Mind Separation Control completely helps in the process of Ring Dissolution being like a cheat dividing the mental attack between all my personalities passively. So it's like me being 5 people at the same time fighting only one beast soul. A little overkill.

For the Ring Assimilation thanks to my heal training my physical progress is a lot better that what I would think. Moreover having started as a abnormal configuration improved my body by leaps and bounds, there's also the improvement of my previous rings getting used to absorb aged rings.

However, there's something that caused my absorbing age limit grow. This being Mayi, a spirit fusion is as the name says the union of two or more spirits becoming more powerful. If my theory is correct when I absorb a ring Mayi can help me thanks to our almost 100% compatibility, being as if I have triple spirit, reducing a lot the spirit energy requirement at the second step thanks to her help. Also I can use Mayi's spirit power so is like fighting 1/3 of the enemy with 2 people.

This was the main reason to wait all this time to absorb my 4th ring. Before our fusion compatibility was around 90%. But nearing our rank with long training season combining our spirit power we rose our compatibility finally achieving the almost 100%, where I and she could use the other energy easily as our own. But even with this we couldn't achieve the complete 100% without mattering how much time passed so I finally give up for now.

With this facts my limit should be between 30.000 and 50.000 years being the limit of a spirit sage ring.

I did some test about the use of Mayi's spirit energy and is almost 100% compatible so in theory it will possible. In the case that something will go wrong I will quickly cut the ring absorption causing the lowest damage possible. With the clan medicines it won't be to complex.