Golden Crocodile King

Lin Feng: "The number one Soul Emperor in the world—what if they absorbed a seventh soul ring?"

Lin Lan: "Then they'd be the number one Spirit Saint."

Lin Feng: "Dad, what about you? How do you compare to Mom?"

Lin Lan: "I'm a little weaker than your mom, but if she's first, I can at least rank second."

Lin Feng: "Dad, I don't think our family will need to buy beef anymore."

Lin Lan: "What? What are you talking about?"

Lin Feng: "There'll be too many cows killed by your bragging for us to finish eating."

Lin Lan: ..."You little brat, you don't believe me, do you? Once your mom absorbs her seventh soul ring, with her combat strength, she could even take on Dugu Bo alone. Before, she still had to fear Dugu Bo's poison, but now that we have the Divine Medicine King Chapter, we don't have even the slightest remaining concern about him."

Poor Dugu Bo. As expected of the gatekeeper among Titled Douluo, he got stepped on wherever he went.

Lin Feng: "Haha, Dad, I believe Mom is first. I just think you saying you're second is bragging."

Lin Lan raised his foot and kicked Lin Feng in the butt. "Brat, whether I'm second or not isn't important. Today, I'll let you experience the kicking power of a Soul Emperor."

Lin Feng hurriedly begged for mercy. "Dad, I was joking. Ow! Even if you can't beat Mom, you still have the world's number one strength. Look, you married the number one genius and brought her home. You're number one in charm."

Lin Lan found that oddly phrased. His son seemed to be praising him, yet somehow not. While the father and son chatted nonsense, Hua Jieyu's soul ring absorption also reached its final stage. Absorbing a soul ring that exceeded the limit by ten thousand years so easily—she truly deserved to be the number one genius Lin Lan spoke of.

Seeing Hua Jieyu rise after finishing the absorption, father and son hurried over. "Mom, how was it?" Lin Feng asked.

Hua Jieyu: "The Seventh Spirit Skill, Martial Soul Avatar, is the same for everyone. But I awakened a Destruction Domain. Once the domain unfolds, an opponent's strength is suppressed according to the intensity of their Spiritual Power. If their Spiritual Power is weaker than mine, their strength is suppressed by more than half. If their Spiritual Power exceeds mine, the suppression decreases depending on the gap in Spiritual Power. Meanwhile, my attack power within the domain is tripled, and I'm unaffected by any negative factors, including all kinds of spiritual soul skills and poison."

Listening to Hua Jieyu's introduction, Lin Feng had only one thought: Dugu Bo, you really weren't that impressive.

Lin Feng: "Mom and I have both absorbed our soul rings. Are we going home now?"

Lin Lan: "Not yet. We still need to go to the swamp region southwest of here and find that sixty-thousand-year Golden Crocodile King."

Lin Feng: "Huh? Why look for it? Didn't Mom already absorb her soul ring? Do you want to kill it and see whether it has a soul bone?"

Lin Lan was speechless. "Your mother needs a soul ring after breaking through level seventy. Does your father not need one after breaking through level seventy?"

Lin Feng: "Eh? Dad, you broke through level seventy? I didn't know. You never told me."

Lin Lan: "Your mom and I were already at about the same Soul Power level, so our breakthroughs were only a matter of time. If we'd come half a year ago, neither of us would have broken through yet. Didn't we wait half a year? I just happened to break through as well."

Lin Feng gave his father a thumbs-up. "Amazing, amazing."

Lin Lan tugged at the corner of his mouth and smiled faintly, then casually smacked his son on the head.

Hua Jieyu ignored the father and son's horsing around and headed out of the valley. The two quickly followed after her.

When they reached the swamp where the Golden Crocodile King lived, Hua Jieyu took her son aside to watch while Lin Lan flashed into the air. Without even summoning his martial soul, he raised a hand and sent Dragon Soaring in the Heavens deep into the swamp. A moment later, an "enormous dark-golden tank" emerged from the depths of the marsh. This Golden Crocodile King was estimated to stand five meters tall and measure twenty-five meters long, like a moving fortress.

Lin Feng felt that his father, who stood over 1.8 meters tall, would not even be enough to fill the Golden Crocodile King's teeth.

Lin Lan did not waste words. Still without summoning his martial soul, he attacked again with the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. He flashed aside to avoid the Golden Crocodile King's massive snapping jaws, appeared at its flank, and struck its "waist" with Wild Goose Alights on Land. After taking Lin Lan's heavy blow, the Golden Crocodile King flew into a rage, its tail lashing at him like lightning. Lin Lan countered with Dragon Tail Sweep, blocking the Crocodile King's tail. Soul Power circulated through his body as he stepped on the Crocodile King's back, borrowed the force to soar upward, then struck down from above. With Dragon Soaring in the Heavens, he launched a full-force attack at the vital spot behind the Golden Crocodile King's head, delivering a fatal blow from on high. After landing the attack, Lin Lan flashed backward and flew beyond the Golden Crocodile King's range. The beast let out a tremendous roar and thrashed about, trying to attack Lin Lan again, but before its huge body could fully rise, it collapsed weakly back into the swamp and slowly breathed its last. A black soul ring floated from the Golden Crocodile King's corpse. Lin Lan flew forward once more, sat atop its head, and began absorbing the soul ring.

Having already witnessed Hua Jieyu's battle, Lin Feng had been mentally prepared for Lin Lan's fight with the Golden Crocodile King. Still, he had not expected Lin Lan to finish it so cleanly and decisively. It seemed the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms truly countered dragon-type and sub-dragon species soul beasts. He knew the palm technique was powerful, but he had not expected it to be this powerful. Yet, thinking about it, it made sense. The most famous palm technique in Old Master Jin's universe—when placed in this world, every move was probably comparable to a ten-thousand-year soul skill. And based on the depth of one's Soul Power, if a Titled Douluo used it, it would probably be "one palm, one hundred thousand years."

Watching Lin Lan enter meditation to absorb the soul ring, Lin Feng said to Hua Jieyu, "Mom, I think I understand those spoiled young masters in Heaven Dou City now."

Hua Jieyu was puzzled. "Feng'er, what are you talking about?"

Lin Feng: "Look, you and Dad are this strong. Based on Dad's earlier description, once he absorbs his seventh soul ring, the two of you will probably both have the strength to fight Dugu Bo one-on-one. If you use your Martial Soul Fusion Skill, you might even be able to battle a Super Douluo. And our family is noble and wealthy. We may not be the richest family in the world, but we have enough money to spend for generations. With conditions like these, if I still diligently cultivate at home instead of going out and throwing my weight around, wouldn't that be a bit of a loss?"

Hua Jieyu shot Lin Feng a glance. "What? You don't want to cultivate anymore? You want to become a spoiled young master?"

Seeing the displeasure in his mother's expression, Lin Feng hurriedly said, "No, that's not what I mean. I'm just lamenting that it's no wonder those people don't strive to improve themselves. With a family background like this, it really is easy for it to corrupt one's heart. After all, even if you do nothing, a lifetime of wealth and luxury is already guaranteed. But don't worry, Mom, I won't be like that. Even if I wanted to go out and throw my weight around, the scene I imagine would be opening my martial soul and displaying nine soul rings, preferably two or three red ones, then watching others bow and scrape before me. Relying on family status to throw my weight around just isn't satisfying enough."

Hua Jieyu could not help smiling. What kind of childish nonsense did her son think about all day? "You certainly have ambition."

Sometimes, Lin Feng felt he was a little contradictory. When thinking about serious matters—cultivation or the future, for example—his mentality was mature, that of an adult. Yet in everyday life, it seemed that subconsciously, he did not consider himself an adult. His usual state of mind tended toward the age of this body. But the two states did not feel separate. He guessed this was King Qin Guang's doing, allowing him to live better in this world. Otherwise, acting spoiled toward his parents with the mentality of an adult would make goosebumps fall all over the floor just thinking about it. Sometimes, another thought vaguely surfaced in Lin Feng's heart. Perhaps this was what the life of a true genius who was loved looked like: mature in serious matters, childish in daily life. He remembered some true geniuses from his previous life. Their lives had not gone well, and that was why their endings had been less than beautiful.

Soon, Lin Lan finished absorbing his soul ring as well. Like Hua Jieyu, Lin Lan had also obtained a domain: the Golden Domain. Within it, Lin Lan's attack power surged dramatically, increasing threefold or more depending on his Spiritual Power and the fullness of his Soul Power. Everyone else within the domain was suppressed, their movements slowing. The weaker they were, the heavier the suppression.

They had killed three soul beasts, including two high-level soul beasts and one mutated top-tier soul beast, yet not a single soul bone had dropped. Lin Feng thought, Is this what it means not to be the chosen protagonist? Someone else could kill a two-thousand-year spider and obtain an External Soul Bone, while his family of three had killed two sub-dragon species soul beasts and one mutated top-tier plant soul beast—two of which were more than sixty thousand years old—and still had not obtained a single soul bone. What a difference.