Innate Soul Skill, Absorbing a Soul Ring Beyond One's Rank (3)

At dawn, Sunset Forest.

Shen Tianchen repeatedly ran his fingertips over the hilt of the Dragon Abyss Sword, its bronze anti-slip grooves long soaked through with the sweat from his palm.

He stood atop a cliff at the edge of Sunset Forest, staring at the dense woods shrouded in morning mist in the distance. His Adam's apple bobbed unconsciously.

Beside him, Qianjun Douluo rested the Coiled Dragon Staff across his shoulders. The golden dragon carved into its shaft gleamed with a cold, hard luster beneath the rising sun. His eagle-sharp gaze swept the activity deep within the forest.

"Dragon-type Soul Beasts differ from ordinary Soul Beasts. They are born with the pride and strength of dragons."

Qianjun Douluo's voice had a metallic edge as it struck Shen Tianchen's eardrums. "Though your Dragon Abyss Sword contains dragon aura, it is not a true dragon martial soul. When it resonates with a Dragon-type Soul Beast, remember to hold fast to your true self. Do not be intimidated by its dragon might."

"Also, I can assist you in obtaining the Soul Rings you need along the way, but in the end, you must rely on yourself. Your Innate Soul Power is too high. You must go through battle while acquiring Soul Rings, using it to temper and forge your Soul Power."

Shen Tianchen nodded hard, chewing over his teacher's instructions before swallowing them deep into his heart.

He was not yet seven years old, yet his cultivation as a Quasi Soul Sect was already exceptionally rare among his peers. The reason he was only called a Quasi Soul Sect was largely because all of his current Soul Rings had been absorbed beyond his rank. It was dangerous, but the increase in strength it brought was immense.

Still, he knew full well that before a Dragon-type Soul Beast, this little strength was like a child wielding a wooden stick.

The Dragon Abyss Sword trembled lightly within its sheath, its blade forming a subtle resonance with his Soul Power, as though it too anticipated meeting a Soul Beast of its own kind.

The instant the two stepped into the forest, the air grew heavy. The branches and leaves of towering ancient trees intertwined into an impenetrable canopy. Sunlight could only spill through the cracks in mottled specks, falling upon the thick layer of rotting leaves and casting an eerie phosphorescent glow.

Qianjun Douluo's pace appeared slow, but every step landed precisely upon a node of Soul Power. From time to time, the Coiled Dragon Staff tapped against a tree trunk, and the golden dragon carved into it glimmered faintly, sensing every fluctuation of Soul Power within a hundred zhang.

Shen Tianchen's fingertips moved along the ice-crack patterns on the hilt of the Dragon Abyss Sword, the chill of bronze seeping through his fingers and into his bones. He stood beside an Ice Seal stream at the outskirts of Sunset Forest, watching Qianjun Douluo use the Coiled Dragon Staff to lift a piece of floating ice. In the reflection on the ice, the golden dragon carved into the staff spread its scales. His white hair was swept up by the cold forest wind, standing in stark contrast to the fiery clouds on the distant horizon.

"Our target this time is an Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon. This type of Soul Beast generally hides in ice caverns that have not melted for a thousand years." Qianjun Douluo tossed the floating ice into the stream, and the splashing water froze into ice crystals in an instant.

"Its Inverse Scale grows on the seventh vertebra of its tail. That is where the purest ice marrow condenses, and it is the key to your third Soul Ring. Remember, the Ice Dragon's Soul Power may appear frigid, but beneath that lies the resilience of living water. It perfectly suits the nature of your Dragon Abyss Sword."

As Shen Tianchen nodded, the Dragon Abyss Sword suddenly let out a clear cry. The blade shook violently inside its sheath, forming a marvelous resonance with a dragon's roar beneath the ice of the stream, as though some sleeping power were awakening.

The boy took a deep breath and circulated his Soul Power through his meridians. With every cycle, his connection to his martial soul grew tighter, while every tremor of the Dragon Abyss Sword felt like a countdown.

When the two entered the heart of the forest, the layer of ice beneath the rotting leaves cracked under their footsteps.

Every time Qianjun Douluo struck the ground with his Coiled Dragon Staff, three rings of golden ripples spread outward, mapping the fluctuations of Soul Power within a hundred zhang into an invisible chart. When the ripples reached due north, the golden dragon on the staff suddenly raised its head and let out a faint dragon cry. The ice crystals gathered at the tip of the staff burst apart at once.

"It's in the ice cave ahead. That beast has just finished hibernating."

Qianjun Douluo's gaze pierced through layers of icicles. "Its ice-element Soul Power has not fully recovered yet. This is the perfect time to strike."

Shen Tianchen pushed aside the ice vines blocking his path, keeping the Dragon Abyss Sword's Soul Power resonance at the lowest possible level within its sheath.

As he passed through a thicket of low trees hung with icicles, he saw a sight he would never forget—a more than ten-meter-long Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon. Its entire body was covered in pale blue scales, with silver ice patterns flowing between them as if alive. Between its two horns floated a mass of icy mist the size of a basketball. Every contraction lowered the surrounding temperature by three degrees.

The Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon seemed to sense their observation and snapped its head around. Two streaks of silver ice exploded from its vertical pupils.

Its neck abruptly swelled as a deep roar rolled in its throat. The surrounding icicles instantly resonated, forming a rotating barrier of ice blades around its body.

"First Spirit Ability, Violet Firmament Heavenly Thunder Sword!" Shen Tianchen struck first. Four longswords formed from thunderous power, trailing blue arcs as they cleaved toward the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's Inverse Scale. He had calculated the weakness following its awakening, and this attack contained seventy percent of his Soul Power. The thunder swords tore through the icy mist, leaving crystalline trails of water in midair.

The Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon released a deafening roar, its tail suddenly whipping out. Its ice-blue scales instantly stood erect, forming an indestructible ice shield.

The moment the blue water ripples collided with the silver ice shield, Shen Tianchen used the recoil to retreat swiftly. He clearly saw ripples spread across the shield's ice patterns the instant they touched the Sword Qi. It was a resonance between ice-element and water-element Soul Power.

"Not bad. You know how to observe." Qianjun Douluo's voice came from behind him.

The Coiled Dragon Staff spun a golden halo in his palm. "Its ice shield may seem solid, but every seven scales contain a gap in the force field. Your Sword Qi just now has already forced out its weakness."

Shen Tianchen understood immediately and abruptly changed tactics. Rather than attacking the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's vital points, he used the Dragon Abyss Sword to draw lines of water across the ice, guiding the living water beneath the ice toward the ancient dragon's limbs.

The instant water and ice came into contact, they produced a marvelous reaction. The Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's movements visibly slowed, and fine droplets of water condensed atop its pale blue scales.

"Roar!" The Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon was clearly enraged by this insignificant human. The icy mist between its horns suddenly expanded, and dozens of ice spikes shot out like silver arrows, weaving into an airtight net of ice that descended upon Shen Tianchen.

Qianjun Douluo's Coiled Dragon Staff suddenly plunged into the ice. Golden Soul Power spread along the frozen surface, forming a circular barrier beneath Shen Tianchen's feet.

The ice spikes crashed against the barrier with a series of crisp clangs. The golden membrane shook violently, yet never shattered.

"Now!" Qianjun Douluo roared. The Coiled Dragon Staff abruptly tripled in size, slamming into the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's flank with the phantom of a golden dragon. This strike contained thirty percent of Qianjun Douluo's Soul Power. Wherever the staff's shadow passed, the ice burst into countless shards.

The Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon was knocked three zhang sideways, crashing through three frozen ancient trees. It swung its long tail furiously, all of its pale blue scales standing erect. The ice patterns around its Inverse Scale became chaotic, faintly revealing the soft pale-pink flesh beneath.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Shen Tianchen drew an ice-blue arc across the frozen ground with the Dragon Abyss Sword. "Second Spirit Ability, Dragon Scale Split!"

The sword light of Dragon Scale Split did not strike the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon directly. Instead, it froze into rings upon the ice surrounding it, forming a spiral ice wall.

The Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's tail struck the ice wall. As the ice shattered, countless ice fragments flew out and clung to its scales. When Shen Tianchen injected Soul Power into them, the fragments suddenly erupted with bone-piercing cold, delaying the ancient dragon's movements by half a second.

"Good!" Qianjun Douluo swung the Coiled Dragon Staff again, this time smashing precisely into the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's foreclaw joint.

With a crisp crack, the ancient dragon's left claw twisted at a grotesque angle, no longer able to support its massive body.

The Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon let out a desperate roar. The icy mist between its horns suddenly shrank to a single point, silver ice spikes condensing into an arm-thick pillar of ice that shot straight at Qianjun Douluo.

As a Super Douluo, Qianjun Douluo had naturally been prepared. He spun the Coiled Dragon Staff before him into a golden disc, diverting the ice pillar toward a nearby ice cliff.

In that flash of lightning, Shen Tianchen's Dragon Abyss Sword had already thrust toward the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's Inverse Scale.

The instant the blade touched the Inverse Scale, it suddenly erupted with dazzling blue light—it was an attack in which he had concentrated all his Soul Power to the limit.

Squelch!

The Dragon Abyss Sword plunged three cun into the Inverse Scale, and the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's body convulsed violently. Its pupils rapidly dimmed, while the icy mist around its body receded like the tide, finally condensing into a purple Soul Ring that slowly rotated in midair.

Even more shocking, two wing-sized bones floated from the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's back. Silver ice patterns coiled around them. They were the exceedingly rare Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon Wings—an External Soul Bone capable of enhancing ice-element Soul Skills while also providing acceleration and flight.

"Quickly absorb them!" Qianjun Douluo's voice was urgent. "The Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's ice marrow power is beginning to backlash. Only your Dragon Abyss Sword can neutralize it!"

Shen Tianchen sat cross-legged and guided the Soul Ring and Soul Bone toward himself at the same time.

The instant the Soul Ring slipped onto his wrist, he felt as though he had been thrown into an ice cellar. The ancient dragon's ice-element Soul Power surged wildly through his meridians, each circulation feeling as though countless ice needles were piercing him.

Meanwhile, the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon Wing entered his body through his glabella like a living creature, forming a silver Ice Core at the center of his Sea of Consciousness.

"Hold your mind steady!" Qianjun Douluo's golden Soul Power wrapped around Shen Tianchen's consciousness like ropes, binding it firmly within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Imagine your Soul Power as a warm current and the ice-element power as ice. Make them merge, not oppose each other!"

Following his teacher's guidance, Shen Tianchen let the water-element Soul Power of the Dragon Abyss Sword flow through his meridians, leaving behind a layer of water wherever the ice-element Soul Power passed.

The two powers changed from violently clashing at first to gradually forming a spiral symbiosis. Like a river in early spring, the ice melted within the warm current, yet made the water even clearer.

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Tianchen suddenly opened his eyes. A pair of ice-blue wings unfolded from his back, and a flash of blue-silver ice light passed through his pupils. He raised a hand and gripped the Dragon Abyss Sword. Silver ice patterns suddenly entwined with the water patterns on the blade, and it released a clear sword cry.

Information on the Third Spirit Ability branded itself into his mind—Dragon Abyss Break. Shen Tianchen softly spoke the Soul Skill's name and swung the Dragon Abyss Sword. A red-and-blue intertwined Sword Qi howled forth, striking the distant ice cliff.

A layer of frost instantly formed across the ice cliff's surface, but ghostly blue flames burned within it. Amid the intertwining ice and fire, the cliff slowly disintegrated.

"There was an unexpected gain, too." Qianjun Douluo looked at the faintly visible ice pattern on Shen Tianchen's glabella. "That External Soul Bone has merged with your Sea of Consciousness. From now on, your ice-element Soul Skills will carry the Frozen Slow effect."

Just then, dense footsteps sounded in the distance. Their expressions changed as they warily looked toward the source. A group of Soul Masters wearing white robes appeared on the snowy slope. The elderly man at their head held an ice crystal staff topped with an enormous sapphire.

"Your Excellency Qianjun, you actually brought your disciple here to hunt an Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon without authorization."

The old man's voice carried icy authority. "This is a Soul Beast listed as Class-A protected by my Heaven Dou Empire."

Qianjun Douluo struck the ice with his Coiled Dragon Staff, and golden Soul Power formed an invisible barrier. "Prince Xue Xing, this is an internal matter of Spirit Hall. There is no need for your concern."

"An affair of Spirit Hall?" Prince Xue Xing sneered. "This Eternal Frost Valley is territory of the Heaven Dou Empire. You hunted a Soul Beast here—did you obtain Your Majesty's permission?"

Qianjun Douluo's expression darkened. As Spirit Hall's Third Elder, a figure beneath one person and above countless others, he knew Prince Xue Xing was deliberately picking a fight.

"Xue Xing, you have quite the nerve! Why should I answer to your meddling? You truly grow more muddleheaded with age. Since you insist on being so aggressive, none of you will be leaving!"

Prince Xue Xing pointed his ice crystal staff at Shen Tianchen. "I advise you not to act rashly, Your Excellency. This boy absorbed the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's Soul Ring and Soul Bone. He must return with us for investigation."

This Prince Xue Xing truly was as arrogant and overbearing as in the original story. Shen Tianchen tightened his grip on the Dragon Abyss Sword, while the Ice Marrow Dragon Heart Bone in his chest grew slightly hot.

He could sense that although the Soul Power fluctuations of these Heaven Dou Empire Soul Masters were not weak, they were far inferior to the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon's. Fighting spirit flashed in the boy's eyes. He was no longer a child who needed his teacher's constant protection.

"If you have the ability, come take it." Shen Tianchen's voice was cold as red-and-blue Soul Power began to surge across the Dragon Abyss Sword.

Prince Xue Xing clearly had not expected a young Soul Elder to dare speak to him in such a manner. His face instantly turned livid. "Insolent fool! Take him down!"

Battle erupted in an instant. Azure-blue sword shadows collided with ice-element martial souls of every color, and the valley echoed with the sharp clash of weapons and the thunderous explosions of Soul Power.

Relying on his newly acquired strength, Shen Tianchen weaved freely through the guards. Every swing of the Dragon Abyss Sword carried intertwined light of ice and fire, leaving his enemies unable to defend against it.

Amid the fierce battle, Shen Tianchen discovered that although the guard Soul Masters coordinated well, their ice-element Soul Power was utterly vulnerable before his Ice Fire Twin Dragon Break.

The red-and-blue Sword Qi could always easily dissolve their Soul Skills, even absorbing their ice-element Soul Power in turn to strengthen itself.

"That's impossible!" Prince Xue Xing watched his guard force retreat step by step, disbelief covering his face. "How can your martial soul suppress both ice and fire attributes at once?"

Shen Tianchen did not answer. All of his focus was fixed on the battle.

He could feel the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon Wings on his back continuously supplying energy. The Dragon Abyss Sword's power grew ever stronger, even beginning to affect the surrounding environment—snowflakes melted the instant they approached him, while the pooled water on the ground froze immediately afterward.

In less than half an hour, more than half the guard Soul Masters had fallen.

Prince Xue Xing looked at his subordinates sprawled on the ground, then at Shen Tianchen, whose momentum was steadily rising. A trace of fear flashed through his eyes. He knew that continuing would only bring humiliation upon himself.

"Retreat!" Prince Xue Xing roared, fleeing Eternal Frost Valley in disarray with the remaining guards.

Shen Tianchen watched their retreating figures vanish and let out a long breath.

He leaned on the Dragon Abyss Sword and panted heavily. His clothes had been soaked through with sweat and snow, but his eyes only shone brighter.

"Good lad, well done." Qianjun Douluo walked to his side and patted his shoulder, an approving smile appearing on his face.

"I never expected the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon Wings to improve you so much. Even that old fool Prince Xue Xing suffered a setback. But that fellow has always been arrogant and domineering, so you must be careful when you are out in the world."

"By the way, Xiao Chen, what level is your Soul Power at now?" Qianjun Douluo asked.

"I just broke through to level thirty-nine, but it is somewhat unstable. After that battle, the Soul Power in my body is a little chaotic. I need to meditate and regulate it for a while," Shen Tianchen answered.

"Alright. Rest and regulate your breathing first. Later, we will find a place to cultivate. Once you break through level forty and obtain your fourth Soul Ring, we will return to Spirit Hall." Qianjun Douluo smiled in satisfaction.

The two exchanged a glance, and each saw excitement and anticipation in the other's eyes.

Shen Tianchen clenched the Dragon Abyss Sword, feeling the surging power of ice and fire within him. His heart filled with unprecedented confidence. He knew that his path as a Soul Master had only just begun, and that more secrets and challenges awaited him in the future.

The Dragon Abyss Sword gave an eager hum, as though anticipating the battles to come.

The Ice Crystal mark on his glabella glowed faintly as it warmed, illuminating the path ahead of the young boy. On this continent filled with the unknown, a new legend was quietly beginning.