Growing Stronger, Step by Step

For the past two months, Xu Xiao had been cultivating his techniques and training his practical combat abilities.

He could feel that once he obtained a Soul Ring, his Soul Power would soar to level 15—and that did not even include the Soul Ring's additional effects.

One punch missed, and Xiang Yu gently shoved him aside. Only then did Xu Xiao stop.

"Lord, your practical combat ability has improved greatly compared to two months ago, but your attack speed still needs work."

As his sparring partner, Xiang Yu had faithfully summarized every one of Xu Xiao's combat sessions over the past two months and offered his advice.

Xu Xiao knew that he had only been an ordinary person in his previous life. Even after coming here and awakening an incredible Ultimate Martial Soul and Double Pupil, he still needed time to gradually change his combat mindset.

Letting out a breath, Xu Xiao now felt that his college military training had practically been a wellness retreat.

Following Xiang Yu's training plan, he would eventually fight a life-or-death battle against a high-level three-ring Evil Soul Master whose Soul Skills had been sealed!

Led by Xiang Yu into a secluded valley, Xiang Yu used Soul Power Seal to block off the surroundings, ensuring that no one outside could see or hear what happened within the valley.

Xiang Yu nodded at Xu Xiao and released that bloodthirsty Evil Soul Master.

"Kehehehe! You little bastard, you dare use me as a whetstone? Aren't you afraid I'll break you instead? Hahahaha! I'll suck every last drop of blood from your body!!"

The Evil Soul Master threw back his head and laughed maniacally.

Xu Xiao had just been about to snap back when he felt a sinister gust sweep toward him. He hurriedly tilted his head aside and dodged!

He glanced at the forest pierced by that Black Wind Blade. Trees had been severed at the waist one after another.

It turned out that the Evil Soul Master had attacked the moment Xu Xiao was about to retort, intending to cripple him and take him hostage!

Unfortunately, under Xu Xiao's Double Pupil, all of his intentions were futile.

"I didn't expect even an Evil Soul Master to possess a Self-Created Soul Skill. Xiang Yu really found me a good opponent. Then I'll use your blood to claim my First Kill since coming here!"

Dodging another wind blade, he appeared at the Evil Soul Master's right side. His foot, wrapped in the power of Extreme Fire, accurately kicked at the weak point of the Evil Soul Master's waist and abdomen!

But the latter blocked it with an elbow strike.

A Fierce Fire Fist followed through toward the Evil Soul Master's eyes, leaving him no time to unleash another wind blade and forcing him to block with his left hand.

The Evil Soul Master had fought and killed for many years, yet Xu Xiao had seized the initiative from the very start. He had already realized that his opponent was far from simple. Could he predict my movements?

He cursed inwardly. Where the hell did this genius come from?

I only came out for a walk, and I ran into this kind of bad luck!

No, I can't let him grow any stronger! To lower Xu Xiao's guard, I'll exchange a few dozen moves with him first, then self-destruct!

Xu Xiao's flames slammed into the ground, blasting out a large crater. Seeing the Evil Soul Master's speed suddenly increase, he calmly dodged a Black Tiger Steals Heart before smashing his left fist into the man's temple. The blazing heat instantly scorched away a chunk of the Evil Soul Master's scalp!

The already ugly Evil Soul Master's face was now half ruined by severe burns from the Extreme Fire.

Before the fight, Xiang Yu had suggested that Xu Xiao suppress the Extreme Fire to the level of only one rank of Soul Power so he could train himself more effectively.

Otherwise, the Evil Soul Master would have died the instant even a trace of it touched him!

Level-one Ultimate Soul Power clashed continuously with the level-38 Evil Soul Master. After his face was disfigured, the Evil Soul Master abandoned his cautious approach and began trying to trade injuries for injuries.

Xu Xiao's clothes had been slashed apart as well, but the wind blades still could not harm him. Just as the Evil Soul Master leaped above his head, gathering an extremely compressed wind blade in his hand for a fatal strike—

Xu Xiao suddenly realized that something was wrong. The level-six triggered Soul Guiding Shield activated!

"Die! Trading my life for yours is worth it—aaah!"

The Evil Soul Master spoke like a lunatic as he self-destructed.

BOOM!!!

At the place where Xu Xiao had been fighting, every trace of power left behind by the wind blades detonated as the Evil Soul Master sacrificed his life and everything he possessed!

Xu Xiao finally experienced a true brush with death. Had he activated the level-six Soul Guiding Shield even half a second later, that self-destruction—which carried the full force of a peak Spirit King—would have killed him long ago!

He cursed inwardly that Evil Soul Masters were all insane!

But he had indeed seen his own shortcomings through this battle.

When an opponent faced the threat of death, he would not care whether he could survive. The premise of a life-or-death battle was to forget life and death!

"Lord, your practical combat training has concluded. In the future, you only need to gradually fight all kinds of strong opponents to refine a combat style that belongs to you."

Xiang Yu took out a new set of clothes from his Storage Soul Tool Ring and gave them to Xu Xiao to change into.

Xu Xiao knew that Xiang Yu was doing this for his own good. Even if he had failed to activate the Soul Guiding Shield in time, Xiang Yu could have used Control Field in that instant of 0.01 seconds to immobilize the self-destruction of that mere Soul Elder.

Not every Titled Douluo was as useless as Xuan Zi!

Xu Xiao felt that even if Xuan Zi and Xiang Yu possessed equal strength now, if they truly fought a life-or-death battle, Xuan Zi would definitely be the one to die!

He looked toward the spot where the Evil Soul Master had just self-destructed. It had been blown apart so thoroughly that not even scraps remained.

Through his Double Pupil, Xu Xiao could sense that even the man's soul had likely been destroyed along with him. The price of self-destruction was not so easily borne.

"Let's go hunt a Soul Ring first. With my current physical strength, my First Ring can reach the eight-thousand-year limit."

"Lord, have you decided which soul beast you want to hunt for your First Ring?" Xiang Yu asked.

"My first Martial Soul is the Sun Martial Soul, and it is also Extreme Fire. There are very few soul beasts on this continent that can help me. Only the Hell Three-Headed Dog clan in the Star Dou Great Forest can meet my needs."

Hell Hounds in the Star Dou Great Forest naturally possessed the Extreme Fire attribute, along with destruction and annihilation attributes. Even within the Star Dou Great Forest, they were a terrifying clan.

Because they rarely appeared in the original work, Xu Xiao had specifically gone to the library to investigate. Only then did he learn that the Hell Three-Headed Dog clan had opened up a separate dimension, with most of their soul beasts hiding inside it.

A month ago, he had dispatched Xiao He to monitor the Star Dou Great Forest. Finally, yesterday, good news arrived: he had captured a Hell One-Headed Dog.

A Hell One-Headed Dog was a thousand-year soul beast, a two-headed one was a ten-thousand-year soul beast, and a three-headed one was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

So that Lord could hunt Soul Rings more effectively in the future, Xiao He used the Space Attribute of his Martial Soul to quickly locate the spatial coordinates of that separate dimension through the soul beast!

As a level-91 Titled Douluo with the Space Attribute, it was effortless for Xiao He to take Lord quietly through the Space Barrier. Moreover, he happened to have an eight-thousand-year Hell One-Headed Dog on hand.

Thus, Xu Xiao and Xiang Yu returned to a space beneath the mountain estate. This was naturally a separate dimension Xiao He had spent fifteen days creating, covering two thousand mu.

At this moment, only Xiao He and an eight-thousand-year Hell One-Headed Dog stood in the empty plaza.

Sensing ripples spreading through space, Xiao He waved his hand and removed the seal. Xu Xiao and Xiang Yu appeared where they stood.

Seeing the dying Hell One-Headed Dog, Xu Xiao hurriedly used a level-six Melee Soul Tool Knife to cut off its head.

A Deep Purple Soul Ring slowly rose from the soul beast's body.

It seemed to contain the aura of hellish destruction, resisting anyone who tried to fuse with it. Xu Xiao sat cross-legged and drew it toward himself.

One hour later.

Extreme Fire, a notch stronger than before, erupted from Xu Xiao's body. If the God of Fire in the God Realm had seen this, he would immediately have designated Xu Xiao as the Divine Heir of the God of Fire.

Xu Xiao checked his current Soul Power Level, his face filled with shock.