Thorn Blade Dragon

Lin Xingyu clearly sensed his Soul Spirit advancing, and his heart filled with joy. Right after that, he began examining his own condition. Though the battle had been thrilling and satisfying, and his body was completely unharmed, the drain on his Mental Power surged like an undercurrent, difficult to recover from in a short time. After half a day of fierce slaughter, the loss of stamina and Soul Power had already left him struggling to endure, and his mind was even more exhausted.

His brows knitted tightly. After pondering for a long while, a flicker of resolve flashed through his eyes, and he finally made up his mind: he would kill a Thousand-Year Soul Beast as the finale to this operation. For one thing, it would draw a shocking full stop to this trip through the Spirit Ascension Platform. For another, he wanted to challenge himself and test how much he had grown along the way.

I've gained enough spiritual energy this time! Before I leave, I'll go all out one more time and see where my limits are. If I can't beat it, I'll retreat! Lin Xingyu thought to himself. As a rank twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster, he had already confirmed that his third soul skill would still be provided by Aya, and he knew how to make his first three soul skills link together. When that happened, his attack power would multiply, and his combat strength would undergo a qualitative change. Right now was the perfect opportunity to test his limits. After all, inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, his life would not be in danger.

With his current strength, hunting a Thousand-Year Soul Beast should not be a problem. Deep within the elementary Spirit Ascension Platform, there was a buffer zone, as well as a guardian, most likely the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear. After being killed, it would drop the precious Dark Gold Dreadclaw External Soul Bone. As long as he did not recklessly run into it, he would be fine. The thought of that soul bone made Lin Xingyu unbearably tempted. Its value was simply too high. Once he reached three rings, he would definitely challenge that Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.

With his mind made up, Lin Xingyu acted with swift decisiveness. He immediately chose a powerful target from among the Life Magnetic Fields he sensed, preparing to begin the hunt.

Lin Xingyu felt the magnetic field fluctuations coming from ahead, one large and two small. He took a deep breath and locked onto his target. The big one should be a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, while the two small ones were Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, all within the range his strength could control.

Boom! With a tremendous blast, the fireball condensed from Glazed True Fire exploded. The largest Thousand-Year Soul Beast nimbly avoided the impact with its spiritual horn, but the two smaller Hundred-Year Soul Beasts were directly wounded by the blast, screaming again and again. Flames and torrents swept out in every direction, blasting six connected charred pits into the ground, and even a tree thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around was blown in half at the waist.

Relying on his Spiritual Power and Magnetic Field Control, Lin Xingyu saw the condition of the three soul beasts clearly: the large one was unscathed, while the small ones were badly injured. His figure moved like lightning as he charged straight at the two smaller soul beasts. Holding to the idea of "kill him while he's down," he planned to deal with the small ones first, then handle the Thousand-Year Soul Beast, lest it become troublesome if they grouped up.

Bang! A flash of light swept past. Accompanied by a shrill, mournful cry, one earth dragon had its brains smashed out by Lin Xingyu. His physical strength was already several thousand kilograms to begin with, and with Martial Soul Possession and his Soul Power fully reinforcing him, he faced Hundred-Year Soul Beasts without the slightest obstruction, easily finishing it off.

The instant Lin Xingyu blasted apart one Hundred-Year Soul Beast, his blood and qi surged through his body. Following the momentum, he exerted force a second time, shooting toward the other like an arrow loosed from the string. Before it could react, he ended its life with the same clean and decisive methods.

Roar! The surviving Thousand-Year Soul Beast let out a roar full of grief and rage, glaring viciously at Lin Xingyu.

Only now did Lin Xingyu have time to size up this Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It crouched on all fours, its body shaped like a fierce tiger, covered entirely in iron-black scales. Its body was over four meters long, its shoulder height around two meters, with three single horns on its forehead. Thornlike blades stood densely along its back, and its tail was as sharp as a long saber. So it was the Thousand-Year Soul Beast Thorn Blade Dragon, a ferocious type of earth dragon.

It had the bloodline of a Dragon Soul Beast flowing through it. Though it had no special elemental abilities, its physical strength was astonishing, and among earth dragons, its power ranked near the top. Whether in forests, plains, or highlands, it could run swiftly. Its strength, speed, and defense were all top-tier, and its dragon bloodline granted it extraordinary endurance as well. It was truly difficult to deal with.

This Thorn Blade Dragon had a tail like a sharp blade. If it reached the ten-thousand-year level, its use of the blades on its body would be like that of a saber master, absolutely capable of delivering a fatal strike to its opponent.

Roar! After roaring, the Thorn Blade Dragon charged straight at Lin Xingyu in a mad rush.

The Second Soul Ring on Lin Xingyu's body lit up in an instant, and patterns flickered into view across the Crimson Gold Armor. He mobilized the Soul Power throughout his body, and the Fire Element in the air gathered wildly, transforming in the blink of an eye into streams of flame. This time, the flames did not condense into a fireball, but instead formed a net of fire, completely sealing off the Thorn Blade Dragon's path forward.

But the Thorn Blade Dragon did not slow down at all. Instead, it accelerated its charge. A black-iron radiance covered its entire body, with a faint golden sheen flickering within it, clearly showing that it had activated its own Bloodline Power. Seeing this, Lin Xingyu did not hesitate. He retreated at high speed while continuously urging the light on his body, constantly gathering the Fire Element as streams of flame once more enveloped it.

He fought while retreating, quickly adjusting his breathing. After all, he had just killed two Hundred-Year Soul Beasts in succession, and the drain was not small. Seizing the right moment, he released Force Field Impact, briefly slowing the Thorn Blade Dragon's steps and using the chance to successfully avoid its collision. With a boom, a tree thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around was snapped in half at the waist.

The Thorn Blade Dragon swiftly adjusted its body and locked onto Lin Xingyu again. Lin Xingyu calmed his blood and qi. This time, he did not retreat. He charged straight toward the Thorn Blade Dragon. Facing the ferocious opponent bearing down on him, he stopped condensing Glazed True Fire and did not use a soul skill. He merely raised his right fist high.

At this moment, Lin Xingyu's right hand bloomed with intense crimson-gold light, filled with the aura of slaughter and destruction, yet also carrying a vast momentum that stood high above, looking down upon all living beings. For a time, heaven and earth seemed to resonate with him. To be his enemy was like opposing all of heaven and earth.

Lin Xingyu perfectly fused his Spiritual Power and Soul Power, then punched out. This punch, whether in momentum, timing, strength, speed, or intent, had reached the pinnacle, resonating with heaven and earth and attaining the realm of Unity of Heaven and Man. In any era of Douluo Continent, this would be a top-tier Self-Created Soul Skill, like Dragon God Douluo Mu En's "Reign of the World" ten thousand years ago, which the Body Sect also called "Unity of Heaven and Man." Though some factions with ancient inheritances now possessed such high-level Battle Skills, they were still rarely seen.

Relying on "High-Dimensional Vision," Lin Xingyu fused Soul Power, Spiritual Power, life force, Martial Soul Origin, and will into one, bringing the power of his Self-Created Soul Skill to its limit.

In a normal state, he could at most fuse Soul Power, Spiritual Power, and intent. This time, he imitated the power of the "High-Dimensional Vision" state, activating the slaughter and destructive intent of his Martial Soul Origin, and borrowing the momentum of "High-Dimensional Vision." Only then did this punch come into being.

Though this was only a half-finished product, its power was already no weaker than Mu En's "Reign of the World." After all, the complete version could only be unleashed while in a cheat-like state. "Reign of the World" would make people feel the urge to submit. Lin Xingyu named his own move "Annihilation of the Ten Directions," and what he fused into it was the pure slaughter and destructive intent of his martial soul. Moreover, his armor had been born for battle to begin with, so the name was fitting. As for what consequences there would be after being defeated by this move, he did not know either. After all, he had never tested it on a person.

Lin Xingyu's Self-Created Soul Skill, "Annihilation of the Ten Directions," made its first appearance. Thud! His fist collided violently with the Thorn Blade Dragon's claw.

Roar! Accompanied by a pained roar, the black light on the Thorn Blade Dragon's body shattered instantly, and its right claw was directly broken. Immediately afterward, a powerful force like a mountain crashed heavily into its body. Under this punch, the Thorn Blade Dragon was blasted away, flying backward at an even greater speed.

Just then, a streak of white light shot straight at Lin Xingyu, whose old strength had just faded and new strength had yet to arise. Unable to dodge in time, he was struck in the chest by the white light. After a muffled thud, he retreated six or seven steps before stabilizing himself. Fortunately, with Toughness and Magnetic Field Control, only his blood and qi surged upward, and he was not seriously hurt.

When he saw that the thing attacking him was actually the Thorn Blade Dragon's tail, Lin Xingyu could not help cursing. It could still lash out with its tail on the verge of death—what a slick move!

Seeing that the Thorn Blade Dragon had suffered a heavy injury, Lin Xingyu calmed his blood and qi and no longer circled around. He stepped forward directly. The severely wounded Thorn Blade Dragon went berserk, making its final struggle, but a moment later, it still became a soul beneath his hands.

From the corpses of the three Thorn Blade Dragons, a ray of light flew toward Lin Xingyu from each and was instantly absorbed by Aya. One was a thousand years, one five hundred years, and one six hundred years; the gains were quite abundant. According to the rules of the Spirit Ascension Platform, when a soul master killed a soul beast, one-tenth of the soul beast's age cultivation would merge into the soul master's Soul Spirit and be divided evenly according to the number of soul rings. These three dragons provided Lin Xingyu with two hundred and ten years of spiritual energy, raising Aya's age by one hundred and five years.

Though hunting low-level soul beasts in groups was more efficient, this battle had consumed forty percent of Lin Xingyu's Soul Power, leaving less than twenty percent in his body, and his Spiritual Power had also been drained enormously. He really could not keep fighting. What a pity. The Soul Spirit's age still hasn't reached a thousand years. I can only wait until the next time I enter the Spirit Ascension Platform. He lay on the ground, released Martial Soul Possession, raised his hand, and pressed the Distress Signal Device on the back of his hand.