First Soul Ring

The Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros's pores trembled all over its body as purple-yellow lightning abruptly burst forth, spreading across its back, head, and four legs. The heavy rhinoceros panted desperately, hoping to regain more strength.

Hu Haoran stared intently at the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros, observing its condition while tightly gripping the Soaring Sword Martial Soul he had summoned. He did not dare rashly charge at it. After all, the heavy rhinoceros still had fighting strength left. He was waiting for the best opportunity.

"This kid's Martial Soul is pretty handsome! Just as flashy as he is! Hahaha... But this Sword Martial Soul doesn't look weak. The Soul Power fluctuations it gives off should already be above level 15. This brat will reach above level 15 as soon as he gets a soul ring! How much effort will that save him!" Jiang Jiayao looked enviously at the Soaring Sword in Hu Haoran's hand. He truly wanted to claim the Martial Soul for himself, but unfortunately, Martial Souls could not change owners.

"Roar..." The Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros suddenly charged viciously at Hu Haoran. It knew that if it continued to drag things out, it would sooner or later go into shock from excessive blood loss and become a soul ring. Therefore, it had no choice but to attack first and kill Hu Haoran while he was off guard.

However, Hu Haoran had been watching every movement the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros made.

Hu Haoran had just blinded the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros's left eye, making its left side a blind spot. Once Hu Haoran figured that out, he immediately flashed to the rhinoceros's left.

Just like that, Hu Haoran vanished from the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros's sight.

The Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros was no fool either. It immediately rammed its massive body toward the left.

Hu Haoran had no other choice but to quickly dart behind the heavy rhinoceros. With a casual thrust, he stabbed his sword toward its rear.

This time, the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros failed to react.

"Roar... Roar... Roar..." The Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros howled miserably, tears still streaming from its right eye.

"Why such a big reaction? I only stabbed it in the butt once, didn't I?" Even Hu Haoran had yet to realize what had happened. He steadied himself and looked over. Blood was flowing from the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros's anus. "Hahaha... I just stabbed at random, and it was that accurate! No wonder it's howling so miserably!"

"Hahaha... Hu Haoran really knows how to poke around. He actually hit that spot in one go. It hurts just thinking about it! Hahaha... This Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros has really been humiliated. It got violated before dying! Hahaha..." Jiang Jiayao could not help bursting into laughter at the scene before him.

"This brat..." Leng Xuewu watched from the shadows, utterly stunned by Hu Haoran's ridiculous luck.

Seeing that the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros had suffered a devastating injury to its rear, Hu Haoran naturally would not waste such a perfect chance. He swiftly charged forward, preparing to stab its remaining right eye.

At that moment, the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros endured the pain and raised a front hoof, about to stomp down on him.

Hu Haoran drew back his left hand, curled his five fingers into a fist, and threw a punch. The force of two thousand kilograms slammed into the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros's body, and pain flared through its rear as it toppled backward.

Seizing the excellent opportunity, Hu Haoran raised the Soaring Sword in his right hand and slashed across the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros's belly. Its internal organs immediately spilled out. It died before it could even cry out, while a purple soul ring slowly floated from its body.

"Phew... It's finally over!" Hu Haoran let out a sigh of relief.

"This Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros is as old as 1,250 years. Are you sure you can absorb it? Why don't we hunt another soul beast? Absorbing a soul ring beyond your level and age limit will make your body explode. That's common knowledge on the Douluo Continent." When Jiang Jiayao saw that Hu Haoran had killed the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros and was preparing to absorb its soul ring, he hurried over to persuade him once again.

"You can't absorb a soul ring beyond your level and age limit? Then I'll break the common sense of the Douluo Continent, and you'll be the witness to my breaking it," Hu Haoran said calmly.

"..." Jiang Jiayao gave a bitter smile and said nothing.

After adjusting his breathing briefly, Hu Haoran immediately sat down cross-legged. The Soul Power in his body began circulating according to the mental cultivation method of the Blue Lightning Dragon Emperor Art. After nine cycles, Hu Haoran's aura had returned to calm, and his mind was once more clear.

"Are you sure?" Jiang Jiayao still could not help asking.

Hu Haoran nodded and controlled the Soaring Sword to establish a connection with the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros's soul ring.

The soul ring slowly drifted toward Hu Haoran's sword and smoothly merged into the Soaring Sword. The purple-gold Soaring Sword rang sharply, and its blade gradually began to change. After a quarter of an hour, the Soaring Sword had finally become a longsword three chi and six cun in length and one cun and eight fen in width. Its length subtly corresponded to the three hundred and sixty cycles, while its width subtly corresponded to the numbers of the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends, making the Soaring Sword appear even more imposing.

The transformed Soaring Sword slowly flew above Hu Haoran's head. Immediately afterward, a surging wave of purple-yellow Soul Power rushed into his body. Hu Haoran was tormented by the immense Soul Power as it rampaged through his body, and a pained expression appeared on his face.

"Calm yourself and quickly circulate your cultivation technique," Jiang Jiayao reminded him as soon as he saw Hu Haoran's expression.

Hu Haoran immediately calmed his mind and steadied his breath. A wave of purple-gold Soul Power surged head-on toward the purple-yellow Soul Power. However, rather than colliding, the purple-gold Soul Power guided the purple-yellow Soul Power into his meridians. Once the purple-yellow Soul Power entered the circulation route of the Blue Lightning Dragon Emperor Art, Hu Haoran immediately operated his inner cultivation method, refining the Soul Power that had originally belonged to the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros step by step.

An hour passed. Hu Haoran circulated his cultivation method through seventy-two cycles, strengthening his body with Soul Power once again while also compressing his Soul Power once. Yet the purple-yellow Soul Power continued to flow into him without end, and Hu Haoran kept compressing his own Soul Power.

Time flew by. Four hours passed.

Hu Haoran compressed his soul ring's power nine times, and his body's strength reached a new realm once more.

"Now it's time to break through," Hu Haoran muttered.

His cultivation method began circulating at an accelerated pace. The Soul Power he had compressed nine times was released at once, striking at the bottleneck between Soul Warrior and Soul Master.

Pop...

The bottleneck was broken through without any resistance. A Dragon Core quietly formed inside Hu Haoran's body, marking the Blue Lightning Dragon Emperor Art's entry into its second layer. The formation of the Dragon Core also marked Hu Haoran's official rise to become a Soul Master.

"He really absorbed a thousand-year soul ring as his first soul ring! Let's see who still dares call my son trash now!" Leng Xuewu finally let go of the worry gripping her heart.

The instant Hu Haoran became a Soul Master, the purple-yellow Soul Power belonging to the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros was finally completely refined by him. The Soul Power within his body immediately soared to level 20.

"Ding~ Congratulations on successfully killing the Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros and absorbing its soul ring to become a Soul Master. You have now been rewarded with a Heaven-tier battle soul sword technique—Thunder Sound Swordplay."

The Douluo System's voice suddenly appeared, and five extraordinarily wondrous sword techniques abruptly emerged in Hu Haoran's mind.

Before Hu Haoran could study the swordplay in his mind, Jiang Jiayao's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Damn! Hu Haoran, aren't you too monstrous?! I was just about to congratulate you on becoming a Soul Master, but you've already shot up to level 20. Get another soul ring, and you can advance again. Could it really be that surviving a great disaster brings great fortune? But you weren't even in that much danger just now. Most people experience this kind of situation the first time they absorb a soul ring." Jiang Jiayao was stunned by Hu Haoran's monstrous talent. "What kind of physique do you have? It's truly enviable that you can actually absorb a soul ring beyond your level and age limit?!"

"Hehe... I told you already. You're the witness to me breaking the common sense of the Douluo Continent!" Hu Haoran said with a smile.

"Fine!" Jiang Jiayao nodded helplessly in agreement. "Then let's go find your second soul ring now!"

"Uh... After that fight, I'm a little hungry. Let's enjoy this Thousand-Year Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros meat first. You couldn't buy it outside even with money!"

"Right, right, right! I was too impatient this time! Hahaha..."

And so, Hu Haoran and Jiang Jiayao built a charcoal fire together and began roasting the Thousand-Year Heavy Thunder Rhinoceros.