When Tang Tong cried for help, the imagined scene of Xuan Zi suddenly appearing, slapping the Hundred-Thousand-Year banyan tree to the ground, then immediately berating it for injuring a Shrek student so badly never happened.
Instead, Tang Tong watched as the Hundred-Thousand-Year banyan tree's aerial roots pierced his skin and forcibly pulled the Soul Bones from his right arm and left leg.
At that moment, pain was no longer the issue for Tang Tong. Everyone knew that only powerhouses at the Titled Douluo level could survive after having their Soul Bones removed.
Although Rank 90 was only one Soul Ring away from Titled Douluo, one could only truly be considered a Titled Douluo after absorbing the final Ninth Soul Ring and reaching Rank 91. Rank 90 Soul Power still fell within the Spirit Douluo realm, and a Spirit Douluo could not survive having a Soul Bone removed. Thus, Tang Tong felt the aura of death steadily closing in on him.
Even at the moment of his death, he could not understand why Xuan Zi had refused to come save him. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast should have been even easier for Xuan Zi to handle than those two Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bears.
"E-Eldest Senior Brother?"
A Shrek student who had come to hunt for a Soul Ring stared in disbelief as the Soul Bones in their Eldest Senior Brother Tang Tong's right arm and left leg were extracted. Any Soul Master below the Titled Douluo level would undoubtedly die after having a Soul Bone removed. Everyone knew that. Even a Titled Douluo would instantly lose ten ranks of Soul Power after losing a Soul Bone. It could be said that having a Soul Bone extracted meant either death or grave injury.
Under such circumstances, Xuan Zi could not possibly do nothing. In other words, Xuan Zi, who had always been beyond their perception, truly was not here!
At that moment, they had no time to grieve for their Eldest Senior Brother Tang Tong, because they faced an even more serious problem: what were they supposed to do next?
Before them stood a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Though they had all reached bottlenecks and needed only one Soul Ring to advance to the next stage, not one of them had obtained the Soul Ring needed for a breakthrough. No one had reached the level of an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo, and there were not even many Seven-Ring Soul Sages among them.
With such strength, fighting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast might not mean certain death, but it was absolutely a nine-in-ten chance of dying.
"Junior Disciple Sister, you and Ruoruo provide support. This time... I'm afraid it'll be hard for us to survive."
Xiao Yan stepped forward, seven Soul Rings appearing around him: two yellow, two purple, and three black. Facing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with such strength was undoubtedly suicidal, but at this moment, they had no other choice.
Even if each of them possessed one or two Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, and even if the quality of their martial souls was generally high, facing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast when not a single one of them possessed an eighth soul ring meant they were doomed.
Fortunately, Shrek's higher-ups were unreliable, but at least the students could rely on one another. Under these circumstances, they barely had the strength to put up a fight. As for how much chance that gave them of winning, that was difficult to say.
Elsewhere, in a certain part of the Star Dou Great Forest.
With his powerful spiritual power and keen perception of the air currents, Lin Feng quickly found the Golden Hawksbill Turtle clan. Through his spiritual senses, he swiftly discovered the Hundred-Thousand-Year Golden Hawksbill Turtle disguised as a thirty-thousand-year one.
Without any hesitation, Lin Feng activated the Soul Bone skill of his left Palm Bone. The Flash Freeze Ray from his four-hundred-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone shot directly at the Golden Hawksbill Turtle.
Seemingly sensing danger, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Golden Hawksbill Turtle instantly unleashed his innate Soul Skill, Invincible Shield.
In an instant, a white barrier capable of easily blocking attacks from Titled Douluos, Super Douluos, and even Limit Douluos spread around him. Because it was an innate Soul Beast skill, it was unlike the Invincible Shields of ordinary Soul Tools, which could only last for a brief three seconds.
With his hundred-thousand-year cultivation, the Golden Hawksbill Turtle's Invincible Shield was not only immensely durable, but also exceptionally long-lasting.
"So it really is you." After sensing the strength of the Invincible Shield, Lin Feng became completely certain that this was the Hundred-Thousand-Year Golden Hawksbill Turtle he had been seeking.
Then, in the next instant, Lin Feng appeared directly inside the Invincible Shield. Without giving him the chance to say that he was actually a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Lin Feng used Flash Freeze Ray once more and instantly froze him.
The next moment, Lin Feng grabbed the Golden Hawksbill Turtle and left the Golden Hawksbill Turtle gathering grounds.
The other Golden Hawksbill Turtles watched one of their own get captured by a human, but they did not make any major move.
For one thing, they were not adept at attacking or speed, so they could not catch Lin Feng. For another, in their eyes, that Golden Hawksbill Turtle was merely a thirty-thousand-year existence. Though some mutation seemed to have made his Invincible Shield extraordinarily powerful, thirty thousand years was still only thirty thousand years. He was not some Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. If he was captured, then so be it.
Though they were displeased by the capture of one of their kind, a Soul Beast that was not a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast could not possibly seek out the ferocious beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest to demand justice for them.
And so, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Golden Hawksbill Turtle successfully tricked himself with his own disguise.
After dragging him to another area of the core region, Lin Feng casually drove away the Soul Beast occupying that territory, then ended the Hundred-Thousand-Year Golden Hawksbill Turtle's life with a Wind Blade.
With Lin Feng's current strength and spiritual power, absorbing a mere Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring no longer required an overly peaceful environment. He could even fight while absorbing a Soul Ring. Moreover, he had Soul Spirits by his side to protect him. Thus, Lin Feng was in no rush to leave the Star Dou Great Forest and began absorbing the Soul Ring while remaining vigilant.
Soon, the second Soul Ring of his Ice Jade Scorpion martial soul appeared, and Lin Feng obtained the Soul Skills Invincible Shield and Life Amplification as he had wished.
After obtaining the Soul Skills, Lin Feng looked at the Golden Hawksbill Turtle corpse that had nearly been devoured by his second Soul Spirit, the Winged Tiger. From within it, he retrieved Life's Gold and the Hundred Thousand Year torso bone.
Looking at the Hundred Thousand Year torso bone, Lin Feng fell into a dilemma.
If he gave this Soul Bone to his family, Lin Feng would have trouble explaining where it had come from. After all, his family existed on the timeline after Dou San, not Dou San itself. By then, Soul Beasts could no longer be killed at will.
But if he rewarded this Soul Bone to one of his subordinates, the problem was whether Dragon Duke was worthy of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
If he gave it to Meng Yiran, he would have to spend time guarding her, yet he could not remain on the Douluo Era 1 side forever. That was clearly unsuitable as well.
Should he use this Soul Bone to repay the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's favor?
Just as Lin Feng was thinking this, the massive Soul Power fluctuations from the southwest caught his attention.
Before you continue