Blood-Red Soul Ring

The moment she called him Dad, the atmosphere in the cave instantly froze.

"Y-you... what did you just call me?"

Su Chen asked cautiously.

Though he had lived two lives, he had never even had a girlfriend, much less been someone's father.

"Dad!"

Thinking Su Chen had not heard her clearly, the little girl called out again.

"Tsk, how am I supposed to explain this..."

Su Chen scratched his head awkwardly. He had brought this blood cocoon out of the Blood River, so it did not seem entirely wrong for her to count as his daughter.

"Though it's more or less the same, I probably can't be considered your dad."

But as for who her mother was, that was truly impossible to explain.

"Mommy~"

Seeing Su Chen refuse to acknowledge her, tears instantly welled up in the little girl's eyes. She turned and ran toward Ziji.

"I'm not your mommy either..."

Ziji had wanted to tell the little girl the truth, but before she could finish speaking, tears had already fallen.

The words at the tip of her tongue were swallowed back down.

"There, there. Don't cry."

Reaching out with one claw, Ziji gently teased the little girl before her.

Before this little girl, the ever-lofty Ziji displayed a rare tenderness.

"Right, do you have a name?"

Su Chen suddenly remembered something and asked tentatively.

"Meng Po."

The little girl bounced on her feet, her attention entirely focused on the dragon claw in front of her.

She answered Su Chen's question absentmindedly.

"So it really is Meng Po..."

Su Chen nodded, confirming his suspicion.

The Blood River from before, along with the three bridges, had undoubtedly been the Wangchuan River and the Bridge of Helplessness.

"Then, if I'm not mistaken..."

Leaping down from Ziji, Su Chen began circulating his Soul Power.

"Second Soul Skill, Wangchuan's Difficult Crossing!"

His previously dim Second Soul Ring had now turned a terrifying blood-red.

Several streaks of dark yellow were mixed within it, making it appear even more eerie.

The instant Su Chen activated his second soul skill, Meng Po's petite body floated into the air.

A horrifying ferocity gleamed in her pale red eyes.

There was none of her earlier cuteness left.

"What is this?!"

Ziji, who had been playing with Little Meng Po, paled drastically. Even she sensed danger from this power.

"Ziji, do me a favor."

Feeling the power inside him expand severalfold in an instant, an eerie curve rose on Su Chen's lips.

"Huh?"

"Help me test the strength of my second soul skill now."

Countless blood-red wraiths rapidly flew out from Little Meng Po's body.

They immediately wrapped around Su Chen's entire body.

Blood mist rose, and a dim red glow flickered throughout the cave.

"Come on."

Ziji readily accepted Su Chen's request.

With her ninety-thousand-year cultivation, she would at least be comparable to a Titled Douluo if translated into human terms.

Su Chen was only a Soul Elder in his thirties. This was nothing more than child's play to her.

"What?!"

But the moment she agreed, Ziji realized something was wrong.

At some point, she had already stepped into a Blood River.

"Hmph, you think this can trap me?"

Spreading her wings, Ziji tried to break free from the Blood River.

"I won't let you leave that easily."

At this moment, Su Chen was covered in eerie dark-red patterns, radiating a strange aura.

His long black hair fluttered without wind, adding several degrees of majesty to his floating figure.

As Soul Power poured in, the Blood River grew viscous.

One resentful soul after another stretched out hands from within, desperately dragging Ziji downward.

No matter how much Soul Power she used, she could never clear away all these wraiths.

"So annoying. Get lost!"

She unleashed a blast of Dragon Breath, but after it sank into the Blood River, there was no further reaction.

Only then did Ziji realize.

"Wait, this thing isn't Soul Power at all!"

"A mental illusion? Interesting."

Unleashing the immense spiritual power granted by her ninety-thousand-year cultivation, Ziji finally broke free from the Blood River.

"Is that all your soul skill can do?"

Having successfully dispelled the illusion, Ziji sneered from midair.

This was her retaliation against Su Chen.

Retaliation for using such a disgusting illusion-type soul skill against her.

"Now the real show begins!"

As he clenched his outstretched hand into a fist, the entire Blood River suddenly exploded.

Caught off guard, Ziji let out a muffled groan as well.

Those illusions from before had merely been a diversion to fool her.

The real attack had already been completed amid the repeated pulling.

Countless wraiths' Soul Power had attached themselves to Ziji's body.

"Drip."

A drop of dragon blood slowly slid down from Ziji's chest.

Even Dragon Scales could not be truly airtight.

The gaps between the Dragon Scales' defenses had ultimately become Su Chen's opening.

But the massive output of Soul Power had drained half of Su Chen's mana in one go.

With the attack complete, Su Chen naturally could not continue maintaining it.

He returned to his previous completely naked state and sat on a crystal nearby with considerable satisfaction.

Little Meng Po had already quietly returned to the Bridge of Helplessness. That was her home.

Using such a soul skill once was enough to make her rest for quite a while.

"Pretty impressive, brat."

Ziji looked at him approvingly.

Such an attack naturally could not hurt her in a real battle.

But relying on her advantage in Soul Power, she had been somewhat careless.

That was how Su Chen had found an opening to exploit.

"Of all the human soul skills I've seen, your second soul skill is definitely the strongest."

Ziji gave him extremely high praise.

Ordinary second soul skills were only hundred-year ones, after all. They could not possibly be mentioned in the same breath as Su Chen's special Soul Ring.

"This is going to be troublesome."

Su Chen scratched his head helplessly.

His Second Soul Ring had been strange before, but he could at least conceal it somewhat.

Now, this Second Soul Ring had turned this blood-red color.

"How am I supposed to explain it to people if I go back later?"

Without question, the absurd color of this Soul Ring would definitely make people mistake it for a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings were still exceedingly rare luxuries in this era.

And this was a hundred-thousand-year Second Soul Ring...

Once news like this got out, Su Chen did not even know how to imagine the consequences.

"Then don't go back to the human side. Staying in the Star Dou Great Forest with me wouldn't be bad either."

"Humans only live for a hundred years. Even if I stayed, I'd only be an insignificant passerby in your life, wouldn't I?"

Su Chen smiled rather self-deprecatingly.

"Who says that?"

Ziji immediately denied it.

"For soul beasts like us, who live such long lives, interesting things are very rare."

"I can remember you for at least a hundred thousand years. No, two hundred thousand years!"

"Then, thank you."

Leaning against the crystal, Su Chen sincerely revealed a grateful smile.