The Wonders of Tailed Beast Origin

Sword Douluo glanced at the miserable state of the Ironclad Rhino and nodded slightly. "That's about enough. Disperse." Sword Douluo formed a sword-finger seal, and the moment the word fell, the countless sword shadows filling the sky vanished without a trace, as if they had never appeared at all.

All that remained was a Ten Thousand Year Ironclad Rhino covered in wounds and a patch of ground that had been plowed into utter ruin.

"Grandpa Sword, I'll go first." Ye Zhiqiu greeted Sword Douluo, then smiled at Ning Rongrong before pulling the long dagger from his Black Jade Bracelet. With agile movements, he leaped toward the Ten Thousand Year Ironclad Rhino lying there, twitching faintly.

Before long, Ye Zhiqiu came to a stop in front of the Ironclad Rhino. Just as he was about to give its head one final stab with his dagger, an unexpected change occurred.

The Ironclad Rhino, which had seemed to be on its last breath, suddenly opened its eyes wide in fury. The enormous horn on its snout, as large as a human head, thrust straight toward Ye Zhiqiu's head. Ye Zhiqiu was standing right beside it and was badly startled.

He had not expected an Ironclad Rhino injured to such an extent to still possess the strength to resist. It was already too late to dodge. "Watch out!" Two cries rang out at the same time.

At that critical moment, Ye Zhiqiu could no longer keep it hidden.

Substitution Jutsu. Ye Zhiqiu silently recited in his heart.

Bang— A cloud of smoke rose where Ye Zhiqiu had been standing.

Ye Zhiqiu's figure instantly vanished from the spot, leaving behind only a dense cloud of smoke large enough to cover a person.

Within the smoke, a Blue Silver Grass leaf that had been severed by Sword Douluo's soul skill was lightly sent flying by the Ironclad Rhino's horn. It drifted through the air for quite some time, refusing to fall.

Substitution Jutsu was a soul skill that exchanged the positions of two targets. That Blue Silver Grass leaf had originally been beside the Ironclad Rhino's head. Now that Ye Zhiqiu had exchanged positions with it, he naturally appeared at the Ironclad Rhino's side.

To Ye Zhiqiu, the Ironclad Rhino's head, which had originally lunged forward, now looked as though it had stretched out its neck to await slaughter.

Naturally, Ye Zhiqiu would not let such a fine opportunity pass. He extended his right hand and slashed his tightly gripped dagger viciously across the Ironclad Rhino's throat. Its scales had already been carved apart by Sword Douluo, leaving its body far too fragile to withstand Ye Zhiqiu's assault. Its windpipe was severed on the spot, and blood erupted continuously like a small fountain, dyeing the ground crimson.

The Ironclad Rhino's life force was tenacious. Even with its throat cut by a sharp blade, it did not die immediately. Instead, it stubbornly turned its head, wanting to continue attacking Ye Zhiqiu. This time, however, its movements were much stiffer and slower, utterly weak.

Their eyes met, and Ye Zhiqiu saw determination and a trace of confusion in its gaze. With only its final sliver of strength left, the Ironclad Rhino naturally could not harm him.

Seeing the Ironclad Rhino's resolute gaze, as though it would not rest until it struck him once even in death, Ye Zhiqiu secretly admired it. There were strong-willed individuals even among soul beasts.

In the end, the Ironclad Rhino still failed to hit Ye Zhiqiu. Even though Ye Zhiqiu stood at its side without moving again, just as its horn was about to strike his chest, its head crashed powerlessly to the ground with a boom. The Ironclad Rhino had exhausted the last of its strength, but its eyes remained wide open, filled with unwillingness.

Ye Zhiqiu stared fixedly at the Ironclad Rhino lying on the ground, feeling as though some chord in his heart had been stirred. This soul beast deserved his respect. If Sword Douluo had not intervened, perhaps man and beast could have been worthy opponents.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhiqiu bent his knees slightly and crouched down. He reached out and patted its large head resting on the ground, saying regretfully, "The strong prey on the weak; survival belongs to the fittest. Although I'm sorry for killing you, I need your spirit ring. Since you wanted so badly to hit me once, I'll fulfill your final wish."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Zhiqiu used both hands to lift the Ironclad Rhino's huge head. He gently bumped it against his own chest, then gently set it back on the ground.

At first, the Ironclad Rhino's gaze was somewhat stunned. Then it unexpectedly turned into faint excitement. Finally, it closed its eyes.

Negative Emotion Value from Ironclad Rhino +566

Negative Emotion Value from Ironclad Rhino +5666

As for the excitement in the Ironclad Rhino's eyes, Ye Zhiqiu guessed that this rhino brother had probably been moved by him. He had fulfilled its final wish before death—he truly was a good person. The situation on the field had changed in an instant. The Ironclad Rhino had nearly severely wounded Ye Zhiqiu, only for Ye Zhiqiu to suddenly turn into smoke and reappear beside its head, delivering a fatal blow. That final scene left Sword Douluo and Ning Rongrong staring blankly. Your way of fulfilling a soul beast's dying wish was really something else. It was way too outrageous. Ye Zhiqiu had no idea what they were thinking. He had always acted as he pleased, doing whatever came to mind. Unless there was some irresistible force, no one could stop him from farming Negative Emotion Value.

After the Ironclad Rhino died, black specks of light slowly emerged from its body. Before long, they gathered above it into a light-black Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring that slowly rotated.

After finding a relatively clean spot nearby and sitting down cross-legged, Ye Zhiqiu did not immediately draw in the spirit ring. Instead, he browsed the System Shop.

He now had over 17,000 Negative Emotion Value saved up, so naturally he had to buy Three-Tails Isobu's Enhanced Origin first. Perhaps it could lend a hand while he absorbed the spirit ring? The 3,000-year Chameleon Stealth Dragon spirit ring had become one over 5,000 years old thanks to Shukaku and Matatabi's Origins. Now, with Isobu's Origin added as well, could this Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring perhaps become thirty or forty thousand years old with the help of three Tailed Beast Origins? Could it change from light black to pure black?

He acted as soon as he thought of it. He would have bought Isobu's Origin sooner or later anyway, and since he had enough Negative Emotion Value now, the earlier he bought it, the better.

After Ye Zhiqiu spent 7,000 Negative Emotion Value to purchase Three-Tails Isobu's Enhanced Origin, another turtle-shaped white orb of light appeared in his sea of qi, just like before. Together with the other two Origins, it formed a three-way balance, each occupying a corner and echoing one another from afar.

After that, Ye Zhiqiu began absorbing the Ironclad Rhino's spirit ring. The process went smoothly. He did not feel any pain from his body being unable to withstand the spirit ring's age, which showed that Ye Zhiqiu's physical strength was becoming increasingly monstrous.

With the aid of the three Tailed Beasts, the spirit ring absorption soon neared its end. Once the Soul Power transformed from the Ironclad Rhino's spirit ring had been completely divided among the three Tailed Beast Origins, Ye Zhiqiu's body fell quiet.

At this point, Ye Zhiqiu knew it was time to purchase a soul skill. After all, he already had experience with this, so he was much more familiar with the process now.

Without much thought, Ye Zhiqiu spent 3,000 Negative Emotion Value to buy the A-rank Multiple Shadow Clones Jutsu. The B-rank Shadow Clone Jutsu had also been within his considerations, and it only cost 500 Negative Emotion Value. That would have left him with enough to buy Four-Tails Son Goku's Enhanced Origin as well.

But after thinking it over carefully, he could only attach nine soul skills in total, so naturally he had to choose the stronger ones. Thus, Ye Zhiqiu ruled out Shadow Clone Jutsu.

The instant Ye Zhiqiu purchased Multiple Shadow Clones Jutsu, the three Tailed Beast Origins began, as usual, to feed back the Soul Power needed for Ye Zhiqiu to condense his spirit ring.

Three vast surges of Soul Power suddenly erupted within Ye Zhiqiu's body. After strengthening his body once more, they slowly dissipated outward and gathered above his head into a pure-black Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring. The spirit ring pulsed as it slowly descended, covering the first purple Thousand-Year Spirit Ring. The spirit ring absorption process was finally complete.

One purple and one black spirit ring slowly revolved around Ye Zhiqiu. The sight made Sword Douluo's mouth twitch slightly. Why did this pure-black spirit ring not look like it was only ten thousand years old either?