Blazing Mad Lion, Distributing Pills

The three inspected the Poison Pool Dragon Crocodile's corpse. No soul bone had dropped, so they tossed the body back into the poison pool and continued toward the Blazing Lion's territory.

Lin Feng and the other two soon arrived at the Blazing Mad Lion's territory. The Blazing Mad Lion was a high-bloodline lion-type soul beast from the same race as the Blazing Lion Lin Feng had encountered in the Star Dou Great Forest. Though it could not compare to truly top-tier bloodlines like the Titan Giant Ape or Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, it was on par with the vast majority of sub-dragon species soul beasts, even surpassing the Poison Pool Dragon Crocodile they had just faced. Although it was only 8,500 years old, its strength exceeded that of many ten-thousand-year soul beasts. Lin Feng was far stronger now than when he had been in the Star Dou Great Forest, but he was still no match for this Blazing Mad Lion, which was much stronger than the Blazing Lion from back then. He could fight it, but there was no need. Lin Feng did not lack combat experience, and he had just satisfied his urge to fight, so he asked Dugu Bo to make a move.

When the three arrived, the Blazing Mad Lion was sprawled atop a scorched boulder, its golden mane like flowing lava. It had just driven off a group of challenging soul beasts and was enjoying the tranquil calm of an overlord. The air was thick with the scent of sulfur and flames. When it saw the three of them and sensed the faint pressure emanating from Dugu Bo, its beastly instincts warned it of an unprecedentedly lethal threat.

The Blazing Mad Lion turned to flee, but Dugu Bo released his Earth Poison Dragon martial soul. Nine spirit rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—appeared around him. Without moving from where he stood, his First Spirit Ring flashed. The earth rumbled, and the ground beneath the Blazing Mad Lion suddenly collapsed. Countless toxic crystal rock spikes glimmering with dark poisonous light burst from the ground, instantly weaving into a massive cage that trapped it within. The mad lion's furious flames washed over the spikes, leaving behind only faint scorch marks. The hardness of those toxic crystal rock spikes was far beyond imagination! This was Earth Vein Prison, the transformed First Soul Skill produced after Dugu Bo's Jade Serpent Emperor evolved.

Immediately afterward, his Second Spirit Ring flashed, and he unleashed his newly transformed Second Soul Skill, Corrupting Poison Gas. A dark yellow poisonous mist seeped silently into the prison as though it were alive. The protective flames burning around the Blazing Mad Lion let out a sizzling wail the moment they touched the mist, rapidly dimming and extinguishing! Flames, which should have restrained poison, were utterly powerless now. After all, this was the poison of a Titled Douluo. Even if it had not evolved along with his martial soul, it was not something an 8,500-year soul beast could resist.

Dugu Bo did not attack a third time. If two soul skills were not enough to deal with a soul beast under ten thousand years old, then there would be no point in him being a Titled Douluo. The Blazing Mad Lion was soon corroded by Dugu Bo's poison until it had only a breath left. If Dugu Bo had not carefully held back his strength, it would already have been dead.

Lin Feng stepped forward and finished it with a palm strike, then sat cross-legged to absorb its spirit ring. With the enhancement of Ice Fire Body Tempering and Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Jelly, an 8,500-year spirit ring was indeed within Lin Feng's tolerance. He soon completed the absorption successfully. Like his first two, Lin Feng's Third Soul Ring granted him an elemental soul skill. Fire attribute truly deserved its reputation as an offensive attribute, however, as the soul skill's power increased by 300% rather than the 200% of water and earth. His Soul Power also rose to level 33 from absorbing above his level limit. In theory, he had exceeded the limit by 6,800 years, which brought him a decent improvement.

Lin Feng demonstrated his Third Soul Skill to the two from the Dugu Clan. Then the three inspected the Blazing Mad Lion's corpse, but no soul bone had dropped again. It was indeed far too difficult for soul beasts under ten thousand years old to drop soul bones.

The three returned to Heaven Dou City. Lin Feng went home, while Dugu Bo and his granddaughter returned to Dugu Bo's residence in Heaven Dou City. Dugu Yan would next enter seclusion at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye for a period of time to fuse with her External Soul Bone. She also needed to disappear from public view for a while to conceal her rapidly increasing strength, so she had to return home to pack some things. Dugu Bo also needed to request a long leave for her from Heaven Dou Royal Academy. To avoid being recognized, the grandfather and granddaughter wore large black cloaks and sneaked home furtively, nearly being mistaken for thieves by the old steward. Fortunately, the old steward had served the Dugu Clan for many years and had followed Dugu Bo through many households, so he eventually recognized his own clan head. It became quite the joke.

After returning home, Lin Feng told his parents about Dugu Bo and mentioned that he had invited Dugu Bo to oversee the academy he planned to establish. His parents had no objections and merely treated it as listening to their son recount his experiences from the past week. Lin Feng took out all the Immortal Herbs he had obtained from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye and let Lin Lan and Hua Jieyu choose. After looking through them, Hua Jieyu accepted the Lovesick Heartbreak Red but declined everything else. She only told Lin Feng to give Lin Lan one Mysterious Jade Divine Bamboo Pill after he refined the Mysterious Jade Divine Bamboo into pills. The Mysterious Jade Divine Bamboo was highly suitable for weapon-type martial souls.

It had been two months since they returned from South Gate City. During this time, Lin Jian trained bitterly and had also broken through to level 10 Soul Power. Lin Lan sent someone to take him hunting, and he obtained a 500-year Iron Arm Ape as his First Spirit Ring. He gained a powerful offensive soul skill: Steel Fist Mountain Collapse. When used, the strength in both arms surged dramatically, and each punch released a shockwave with a knockback effect. Lin Jian's Soul Power was currently level 11.

Lin Feng had been away from home for a week, and after he returned, Lin An clung to him and chattered away for a long time. Lin An had grown up in the Lin Family, where the atmosphere was warm and harmonious, which had given him a sunny, little-sun-like personality. The only issue was that he sometimes talked too much. Lin An had been by Lin Feng's side since childhood, so he was very close to him. Sometimes, Lin Feng felt that although Lin An was six years older than his current physical age, being around him gave Lin Feng the feeling of raising a child. Not to mention that he now had the body of a nine-year-old with the mind of someone in his thirties—even in his previous life, when he had truly been nine years old, he had been more mature than the current fifteen-year-old Lin An.

Lin An's martial soul was Sword Feather. At the time of his Martial Soul Awakening, it had appeared as a single Light Feather. It looked neither imposing nor offensive, yet he possessed innate level 8 Soul Power. If he had awakened at Spirit Hall, he likely would have added another useless martial soul to the Soul Master World. Fortunately, Hua Jieyu was knowledgeable and talented. She saw the potential of this martial soul, used the Light Feather to practice swordsmanship, and nurtured it into Sword Feather, making it no weaker than a top-tier weapon martial soul.

The day after Lin Feng returned, he refined the Mysterious Jade Divine Bamboo, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, and Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew into pills, obtaining six pills of each. He gave one Mysterious Jade Divine Bamboo Pill to Lin Lan and another to Lin An. He gave one Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum Pill to Lin Jian and one to Han Ping. Han Ping had accompanied Lin Feng in the Star Dou Great Forest for so long and had continued running errands and handling various matters for him afterward, so Lin Feng also wanted to thank him.

As Lin Feng refined the pills, he wondered why he had not thought of turning the herbs into pills when he helped Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan evolve their martial souls. He must have been too excited after obtaining the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye and forgotten about it.

After taking the Mysterious Jade Divine Bamboo Pill, Lin Lan's martial soul did not undergo a fundamental evolution. The Battle Soul Blade was already a top-tier martial soul, after all, and it could not evolve into a God-tier Spirit through a single Immortal Grade herb. However, its sharp aura was greatly enhanced.

Lin Jian's martial soul did not change much either. There were merely some silver patterns on his arms. It seemed that the medicinal power of one Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum was still insufficient for a Body Martial Soul to reach Silver-level Awakening. However, Lin Jian's Soul Power rose from level 11 to level 20. As long as he obtained another spirit ring, he could become a Soul Grandmaster. Low Soul Power was indeed easier to raise.

Under the medicinal effects of the Mysterious Jade Divine Bamboo, Lin An's martial soul evolved from Sword Feather into Flowing Light Sword Feather. It looked even more light and ethereal, yet it carried an extremely sharp and dangerous aura. Moreover, because of his martial soul's evolution, Lin An became somewhat more handsome than before. His looks had originally been rather delicate, but now his handsomeness was obvious. Lin Feng had not expected Lin An to undergo an "evolution" in appearance. The Mysterious Jade Divine Bamboo did not possess such an effect, so it must have come with the Flowing Light Sword Feather. What Lin Feng had not expected even more was that besides becoming lively and mischievous, Lin An also gained an extra touch of vanity. Lin An's Soul Power rose from level 37 to level 40 as well, but without a spirit ring, they did not know exactly how far beyond level 40 he had reached.

After Han Ping took the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum Pill, his martial soul evolved from the Sky-Rending Eagle into the Sky-Rending Emperor Eagle. Compared with before, his eagle wings grew by three meters after Martial Soul Possession, while his eagle claws grew by one meter, making them appear far more capable of tearing things apart. His Soul Power also rose to level 60.

Lin Feng planned to take Lin An and Lin Jian to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye for body tempering before obtaining their spirit rings. He had originally planned to bring Han Ping as well, but Lin Lan said that Ice Fire Body Tempering had little effect on Soul Kings and Soul Emperor-level soul masters. Body tempering needed to be done while one was still a low-level soul master, mainly to build a better foundation. Lin Feng thus abandoned that plan and merely told Han Ping that once they returned, they would head together to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt spirit rings.