First Soul Ring (Part 1)

Elephant-type Soul Beasts were more intelligent than ordinary Soul Beasts. A typical Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast possessed intelligence equivalent to that of a human, while this leading Diamond Mammoth was even sharper.

When it saw two Titled Douluo charging toward "it" at once, the thirty-thousand-year Diamond Mammoth, which had been eating, was instantly seized by a sense of impending death. In particular, it sensed the oppressive presence of a superior being from the human leading the charge.

In its eyes, Chen Li's Martial Soul appeared behind him as a phantom, roaring furiously at it.

The giant elephant's body was covered in alternating azure and white Dragon Scales. Its four long tusks were as dangerous as four spears, and aside from a crystal atop its head resembling the Diamond Mammoth's "crown," it also had two dragon horns as sharp as blades. Nine Soul Rings lit up, radiating boundless killing intent.

What terrified the Diamond Mammoth most was that this Titled Douluo's speed completely surpassed its ability to react. In the briefest instant, he shot toward it like a streak of light. If they truly fought, it feared it would not even have a chance to flee.

Just as the thirty-thousand-year Diamond Mammoth prepared to fight to the death, Chen Li, who had been charging with overwhelming momentum, suddenly changed direction. He first punched it back several steps, then spun around and arrived before the smallest Diamond Mammoth in an instant, kicking down and directly breaking all four of the little elephant's legs.

After giving the leading Diamond Mammoth a vicious glare, he dragged the crippled young elephant away.

Watching its most gifted descendant get brutally crippled and dragged away before its eyes by a Titled Douluo, the lead elephant's gaze was filled with fury, yet it also carried a faint trace of relief.

Once it confirmed that they really did not seem to be after it, the lead elephant immediately let out a low roar, ordering the other Diamond Mammoths with just over ten thousand years of cultivation to take the younger ones with thousand-year cultivation and leave first. It then slowly moved its own body along behind them, guarding against a sudden attack from the Titled Douluo.

After discovering that they truly wanted only one member of its clan, the Diamond Mammoth finally relaxed. It roared at Chen Li and Chen Ping as a threat, but after the two men glared fiercely at it, it immediately curled up its trunk and hurriedly followed the main herd that had retreated earlier.

High-level Soul Beasts all possessed an instinct to seek fortune and avoid disaster. Although their increased cultivation granted them intelligence no less than that of humans, their living environment and social structure meant that, while they valued familial bonds, most of them did not reach the same level as humans.

Soul Beasts that had just given birth would protect their young out of instinct, while Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beasts would protect their young for the sake of bloodline inheritance and pride.

As for these mid-tier Soul Beasts, which had moved beyond pure instinct and still had plenty of time left to live, they were comparatively protective of their young.

If they could win, they protected them. If they could not, they ran.

As long as I'm alive, I can have more sons. If I'm dead, my son might not survive anyway.

If Chen Ping and Chen Li had wanted to wipe out every last one of the Diamond Mammoth's offspring, then even knowing it could not win, the Diamond Mammoth would have fought them to the death. But if they only took one...

Even if that one was the offspring with the best bloodline, it still was not enough to make a Diamond Mammoth in the prime of its life recklessly fight two Titled Douluo.

What a joke. It was not some Golden Mane Lion Mastiff with rocks for brains.

If it had that kind of courage, it would have led the herd into the Core Area long ago. Why settle down in the Mixed Area?

Watching the elephant herd retreat just like that, Chen Ming felt that something was off, as though he had an old complaint lodged in his throat and did not know how to voice it. But upon further thought, seeing the Diamond Mammoth lead the herd away, he felt there was not really anything wrong with it.

"Xiao Ming, those beasts are just beasts. Even if they've lived for ten thousand years and gained intelligence, they still do not think like humans."

Chen Li had clearly seen this sort of thing more than once. He appeared entirely at ease, merely patting Chen Ming on the shoulder and offering a few simple words. Then he tossed the smallest Diamond Mammoth, which he had dragged over by the trunk, forward, causing it to crash heavily onto the ground.

"Come on, don't think too much about it. Absorb your First Soul Ring first."

"Mm, all right." Chen Ming was not someone who obsessed over things. After adjusting his state of mind slightly, he turned his attention to the Diamond Mammoth, whose four legs had been broken and whose body had suffered countless additional fractures from being thrown down.

In Chen Ming's previous life, an adult African elephant stood about three and a half meters tall on average and weighed around four and a half tons. The Diamond Mammoth before him had not yet reached a thousand years of cultivation, but it was no shorter than an adult African elephant and even outweighed one.

It had earthy yellow skin with a texture like rock. Each of its four thick elephant legs was as broad as a water vat. Its pair of tusks had a jade-like texture, while a large, protruding ossified growth extended from the skull atop its head, resembling an enormous diamond.

This was also the main reason why the Diamond Mammoth, despite being a pure-blooded Golden Soul Beast, had been named after diamonds by humans.

Chen Ming summoned his Martial Soul Possession. His body abruptly swelled in size, large portions of it becoming covered in golden Dragon Scales. His limbs expanded greatly, and his ten fingers turned into ten sharp claws wrapped in Dragon Scales. His face seemed to be covered by a mask, shrouded in golden Soul Power, while two small dragon horns rose from his head.

Chen Ping and Chen Li merely watched silently, offering no further guidance on what Chen Ming should do next.

For a Soul Master, if a Soul Beast had already been crippled and placed before them and they still could not handle it, then they might as well give up on becoming a Soul Master.

Chen Ming took out a prepared iron hammer and a long steel nail from the Storage Soul Tool at his waist. Following the method described in the books, he stepped on the Diamond Mammoth's head, positioned the nail against its ear, and swung the hammer fiercely. The steel nail immediately pierced through the Diamond Mammoth's brain and burst out through its other ear.

With a light twist, the Diamond Mammoth, still suffering in agony, was released from its final pain. Its pupils dilated, its enormous body ceased struggling, and a Soul Ring, deep yellow with a faint tinge of purple, slowly rose from its massive body and appeared before Chen Ming's eyes.

"So this is... a real Soul Ring?"