Lin Qing, having called a halt, pointed at the battlefield around them, which looked as though it had been ravaged by giants.
He teased, "If we keep fighting, we might tear this whole forest apart."
At his words, Titan Giant Ape Er Ming's raised fist, poised to strike again, froze in midair.
His chest heaved violently like two enormous bellows.
Thick breaths snorted from his nostrils as he glared fixedly at Lin Qing with a pair of bell-sized eyes.
The displeasure and frustration in his gaze were practically about to take physical form.
"Roar..."
A deeply frustrated growl rumbled from his throat, as if venting his dissatisfaction and complaining that he had not fought to his heart's content.
Then, somewhat petulantly, he slammed a fist into the nearby ground, which had still been relatively intact.
Boom!
Another fresh crater appeared. []
Well, now even the last patch of decent ground was gone.
"Dad is amazing!"
"Dad beat Er Ming!"
The three little girls had long been unable to hold themselves back. Cheering like three happy little birds, they ran over with quick thudding steps from their safer position some distance away and immediately surrounded Lin Qing.
Lin Wu'er even stuck out her tongue and pulled down her eyelids at Titan Giant Ape Er Ming, who was still sulking there, making an adorable silly face.
She called out in her babyish voice, "Nyeh nyeh nyeh! Uncle Er Ming, you can't beat Dad! Dad is the strongest!"
Titan Giant Ape Er Ming: "..."
Even his enormous body seemed to stiffen for a moment.
Being suppressed by a human in terms of sheer strength was already humiliating enough.
And now he had to be "mocked" by Xiao Wu's tiny little daughter?
Yet this little girl was his adorable little niece.
He could neither hit her nor scold her.
Even roaring to scare her did not seem appropriate.
Er Ming grew even more depressed.
He could only aggrievedly turn his massive head aside.
Pretending not to see Lin Wu'er's silly face or hear what she said.
That look of "I'm not listening, I'm not looking, I'm shutting down," paired with his mountain-like body, somehow created an oddly adorable contrast.
The Sky Azure Bull Python slowly slithered over as well.
Its huge body wound forward, causing faint tremors.
Its azure eyes watched Lin Qing.
"Human, your current strength truly warrants a new appraisal."
There was heartfelt admiration in its voice, the sort born from long years and broad experience.
"For Er Ming to lose to you in a contest of pure strength is truly inconceivable."
Lin Qing was also calming the surging Soul Power and churning Qi and Blood within his body. He was very satisfied with his performance just now.
The results of this practical test had been outstanding!
Not only had it verified the terrifying power brought by multiple enhancements.
More importantly, it gave him an incomparably clear and intuitive understanding of his control over his own strength, his explosive rhythm, and his endurance limit.
Hearing the Sky Azure Bull Python's praise, Lin Qing waved a hand and politely said, "You flatter me."
"Er Ming did not use his full strength, nor did he use any of his powerful innate abilities. He only sparred with me in strength. If this were truly a fight to the death, the victor would still be uncertain."
Those words were not entirely modesty.
Er Ming had indeed mainly fought with physical strength just now.
He had not used any of his signature abilities, such as Gravity Control.
If Er Ming truly went all out, Lin Qing did not dare say he could win for certain either.
Once the pleasantries were over.
Lin Qing shifted the subject and turned to serious business.
"My first three Soul Rings are complete now, and my strength has undergone a qualitative leap."
"But I am still far from filling out my Soul Ring count. I have Level 90 Soul Power, yet lack the corresponding number of Soul Skills to support it. It still feels like a weakness."
He intended to strike while the iron was hot and continue searching the forest for suitable Soul Rings.
Ideally, he wanted to fill his fourth through sixth rings and establish some initial combat power.
That way, whether facing unexpected situations or planning for the future, he would have greater confidence.
However, with his first three Soul Rings all at a hundred thousand years, his standards had naturally risen as well.
"Da Ming, you are the ruler of the Star Dou Great Forest. You have lived for countless years and possess the broadest knowledge."
Lin Qing asked sincerely.
"Do you know of any hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts deep within this vast forest that specialize in strength? Or... are there any powerful Soul Beasts with Dragon Bloodline?"
He specifically mentioned Dragon Bloodline.
"My Golden Dragon Martial Soul is itself a top-tier existence among the Dragon Clan."
"If I can absorb the Soul Rings of dragon-type Soul Beasts, I will gain additional attribute bonuses, which can make up for the difference in age."
"..."
The Sky Azure Bull Python fell into thought.
Light shifted within its enormous azure eyes as it searched its memories for relevant information.
The surroundings suddenly fell quiet.
Only the wind whistling through broken trees remained, along with the occasional dull thud of Er Ming frustratedly pounding the ground nearby.
After a long while.
The Sky Azure Bull Python slowly spoke, its voice deep and distant. "The Star Dou Great Forest is indeed vast and boundless, with countless living beings."
"But Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are already kings among Soul Beasts and are extremely rare."
"Most have their own fixed territories, and as their cultivation deepens, they become increasingly skilled at concealing their auras and withdrawing from the world, reducing the attention of powerful humans."
"Among the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts whose activity zones I know with relative certainty, aside from us brothers, there is also a Cave Demon Spider Emperor."
The Sky Azure Bull Python recalled.
"That fellow is exceptional at hiding and burrowing, but it does not seem to be the strength-type Soul Beast you need, nor does it possess any connection to Dragon Bloodline."
"A Cave Demon Spider... that really isn't suitable for me."
Lin Qing was somewhat disappointed.
Spider-type Martial Souls were what he needed least.
"Are there any others?"
"Yes..."
A trace of remembrance flashed through the Sky Azure Bull Python's eyes, as though it had recalled something even more ancient.
"When it comes to dragon-type Soul Beasts, I do remember an existence—or rather, a memory from a very long time ago."
There was a hint of uncertainty in the Sky Azure Bull Python's tone.
"That was tens of thousands of years ago. My cultivation at the time was far inferior to what it is now."
"Once, deep in the forest's northwest, I happened to pass through a very special region."
"Oh?"
Its description immediately drew Lin Qing's full attention.
"That place was shrouded year-round in dense grayish-white mist that never dispersed. Even at noon, sunlight could scarcely penetrate it completely."
"At the heart of the mist lay a bottomless Black Pool. Its water was black as ink and gave off an unsettling aura of stillness."
The Sky Azure Bull Python's voice lowered further, vividly describing its impression from that time.
"Right at the edge of that Black Pool, I clearly sensed a powerful aura that belonged to a dragon-type creature!"
"Though it was not as pure and sacred as that of a True Dragon, the pressure in its bloodline and its unique soul fluctuations proved beyond doubt that it was a Flood Dragon!"
"That Flood Dragon already had ten thousand years of cultivation at the time and possessed considerable intelligence."
"It seemed to have claimed that Black Pool as its nest, coiling within it. It rarely ventured outside, almost never interacted with other Soul Beasts in the forest, and was extremely mysterious."
The Sky Azure Bull Python raised its enormous head and looked toward the northwest.
Its tone became profound.
"Now that tens of thousands of years have passed, judging by the growth rate of a naturally gifted, long-lived Soul Beast such as a Flood Dragon, if it did not perish midway, it has likely already..."
It did not finish its sentence, but the implication could not have been clearer.
Tens of thousands of years were enough for a Flood Dragon with immense potential to grow into something terrifying,
perhaps even a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!
Before you continue