Martial Soul Mysterious Tortoise, Counterattack Armor Critical Strike

"Can't you at least look a little scared of this place? Show it some respect, okay? This is Death Valley, the trial ground that even Spirit Hall students fear!"

The three of them kept grumbling, but their hands honestly grabbed a few seeds and started chewing.

Watching the explosions outside, they had never felt so at ease.

Yue Guan, the Head Coach, and the others hidden in the shadows could not help but twitch at the corners of their mouths when they saw this.

"Why is that kid's tortoise shell defense so terrifying?"

"And it has such a terrifying rebounding force that it made those Bloodthirsty Wolves self-destruct..."

Cliff Iron Bridge

Inside the tortoise shell, the four of them ate sunflower seeds as they watched the Bloodthirsty Wolves continuously self-destruct before them.

The Bloodthirsty Wolves suddenly realized something was wrong. More than a dozen had died, and they were suffering badly, so they all stopped attacking.

Wolves held grudges, but faced with this situation, the tortoise shell was simply too hard. They could not break through it and would only be sacrificing themselves for nothing.

Looking at their companions on the ground, turned into flesh and blood as yellow hundred-year Soul Rings rose one after another, they were extremely unwilling, but there was nothing they could do. In the end, they could only retreat.

At that moment, the Mysterious Patterns on Huang Wei's Mysterious Tortoise shell bloomed with light.

The dozen or so Soul Rings on the ground instantly turned into particles and merged into the tortoise shell.

Right after that, Huang Wei felt part of the energy turn into experience for his level, while another part merged into his First Soul Ring, seemingly increasing its age.

However, it was not simply stacking the hundred-year Soul Rings together. If it were, Huang Wei's First Soul Ring would now be close to a thousand years old.

His level, which had been on the verge of breaking through due to his increased Cultivation Speed, finally broke through at that moment.

Huang Wei's Soul Power cultivation rose to level twenty-four.

It was truly an infuriating yet exciting thing.

The scene of those Soul Rings turning into particles and being absorbed was witnessed by Hu Liena and the other two, as well as Yue Guan and the others hidden in the dark.

They all widened their eyes, shocked by the sight.

What kind of trick was this?

"Your Eminence, what exactly is going on? Why did all those Soul Rings enter that tortoise shell?"

"This is truly inconceivable!"

The Head Coach and the others were utterly stunned.

Yue Guan narrowed his eyes. This was the first time he had seen such a situation.

He said, "Continue following them. I'll go back and report this to His Eminence. I'll return soon."

The Head Coach nodded. "Don't worry, Your Eminence. The Soul Beasts in the Outer Area are at most two thousand years old."

"Mm! Remember, you must not spread word of what you saw today. Otherwise, do not blame me for showing no regard for our fellowship!"

A gloomy look appeared in Yue Guan's eyes as he warned them.

The pressure of a Titled Douluo was no joke. These people immediately broke out in cold sweat and hurriedly declared, "Rest assured, Your Eminence. We saw nothing and heard nothing today! We only waited at the finish line. We know nothing about what happened to them along the way!"

"Very good."

Yue Guan nodded in satisfaction, then swiftly turned into an afterimage and disappeared from the area at incredible speed, flying toward the Papal Palace.

As he left, the power of the Titled Douluo vanished completely.

The others finally let out a breath of relief. "The pressure of a Titled Douluo is truly terrifying."

"Let's keep watching." They seemed to have already forgotten certain information.

That was their professional discipline. Otherwise, they would not have survived this long.

Seeing that the wolves had all fled and were no longer fighting, Huang Wei lost interest. He withdrew his tortoise shell and continued forward.

Hu Liena and the other two wanted to ask Huang Wei what had just happened.

Huang Wei merely replied indifferently that it was one of his Martial Soul's traits, something their Martial Souls could not do.

They continued onward and arrived at an iron bridge.

Hu Liena and the other two were not crossing this iron bridge for the first time.

"You three, do you want to go across first?" Huang Wei asked as he looked at them.

This iron bridge was rather unsettling. It was made entirely from interlocking Iron Chains, with no wooden planks at all.

Below the bridge was a bottomless Cliff. Clouds and mist swirled beneath it, but they could clearly hear the sound of flowing water coming from below.

At least they knew there was water beneath them.

If they fell, they might not die if they were lucky.

But they would definitely be injured.

If they were unlucky, they would either be crippled or killed.

"I'll cross first and receive you from the other side," Yan said.

"You go ahead. We'll stay here in case anything happens," Xie Yue and Hu Liena said with a nod.

"Kid, watch carefully. When crossing such a long, rickety iron bridge, you have to be fast, make sure each step lands accurately, and most importantly, be bold!"

With that, Yan leaped into the air. He landed skillfully on the Iron Chain Bridge and rapidly headed toward the other side.

At the same time, he remained extremely cautious. Even with so much experience, one moment of distraction could make him miss his footing and fall.

He did not want to embarrass himself.

Yan soon reached the opposite side.

He finally let out a sigh of relief.

But in the next instant, his expression turned grave. Something was moving in the forest ahead.

A massive python immediately shot out.

"A five-hundred-year Mysterious Underworld Snake!"

Hu Liena and Xie Yue recognized it at first glance, and Yan naturally did as well.

He immediately dodged aside, avoiding the Mysterious Underworld Snake's ambush.

Cold sweat ran down Yan's forehead from the fright.

Xie Yue said, "This place is like that. Whenever you let your guard down, all sorts of heart-stopping Soul Beasts will ambush you from every direction. This place is dangerous because there are too many bloodthirsty Martial Souls and poisonous Soul Beasts, and there is very little other food to eat, making it hard to find."

Hu Liena added, "Soul Beasts are edible meat too, but if you cook them, the scent and blood smell will attract even more fierce, bloodthirsty Soul Beasts to besiege you. It's extremely dangerous. Even though we're Soul Elders, one careless mistake could turn us into food for these Soul Beasts."

After dodging the attack, Yan immediately summoned the Flame Lord and unleashed his First Soul Skill, Hell Lava Charge, cutting off the Mysterious Underworld Snake's path.

At the same time, it sent the Mysterious Underworld Snake flying.

Then he used his Second Soul Skill, Granite Rock, and smashed the Mysterious Underworld Snake to death.

For him, dealing with a five-hundred-year Mysterious Underworld Snake was more than easy.

This thing carried extremely cold Mysterious Underworld Poison. If it bit him, his flesh-and-blood body would suffer severe damage.

Looking at the hundred-year Soul Ring before him, he was not as monstrous as Huang Wei. He could only watch helplessly and wait for it to disappear.

"Junior Brother, hurry over. Be careful," Hu Liena said.

As long as Huang Wei crossed over, they would be able to cross easily as well.

Huang Wei nodded. He walked to the iron bridge, looked down at the Cliff, and felt it was fine. He was not especially afraid.

He had been studying the structure of this Iron Chain Bridge the entire time, constantly simulating it in his mind. In the end, he found the crossing method most suited to him.

He jumped in place, circulated Soul Power through his feet to get used to it, then landed on one chain. Controlling his strength and speed, he landed on the next chain.

Hopping from chain to chain, he smoothly reached the center of the Iron Chain Bridge.

This was also the most dangerous and unstable part.

Huang Wei grabbed the chain along the bridge's edge and briefly looked at the cloud-shrouded scenery ahead. It felt wonderfully beautiful, as if his entire body had relaxed at that moment.

But he could not relax now, or one slip would send him falling.

He was a tortoise. He was not as fast as Yan.

But every step he took was steady.

In the end, he crossed successfully.

Everything was safe.

It could be considered a close call without real danger.

Huang Wei turned to look at the two behind him, but before he could speak—

Seeing that he had crossed safely, Hu Liena and Xie Yue immediately followed after him.

Bloodthirsty Demonic Wolf

After crossing the bridge, the four continued forward.

The deeper they went, the more they could feel the vastness and towering grandeur of the forest within Death Valley.

In the Outer Area, danger lurked with every step.

There were snakes on the ground, and suddenly a Great Eagle swooped down from the sky.

Without a word or even a greeting, it directly launched a wing attack at the four below.

Unhurried, Huang Wei summoned Turtle Shell Defense and protected all four of them.

Suddenly, milky-white currents of electricity appeared on both the snakes on the ground and the attacking Great Eagle in the sky.

Then they all exploded, scattering everywhere.

One hundred-year Soul Ring after another dropped down. The Mysterious Patterns on the tortoise shell continued glowing as they absorbed those Soul Rings.

Huang Wei immediately felt different.

"I've never eaten Great Eagle meat before."

He headed toward where the Great Eagle had fallen. Though there was a large cloud of blood mist, chunks of meat would still remain.

He collected the two severed wings.

The four continued onward.

Ahead lay nothing but Swamp. Crocodiles lurked beneath it, all of them more than a hundred years old.

This time, Yan still took the lead and crossed with ease.

As for Huang Wei, he looked at the surrounding cliffs.

Then he looked at the swamp below. Who knew where it might swallow him in? It was too dangerous.

As for climbing the Cliff, even if he accidentally lost his footing and fell, his tortoise shell could protect him.

After thinking it through, he ran directly toward the cliff on the left.

"Hey, what are you going over there for?!"

Yan, Xie Yue, and Hu Liena were all stunned by this.

"I'm climbing the Cliff to get across."

Huang Wei had already begun climbing. He was careful with every step. Fortunately, the Cliff was not completely vertical, but irregularly shaped, with many protruding rocks.

"Good heavens, he doesn't follow the rules at all."

"No, wait, that Cliff doesn't lead across either!"

Xie Yue suddenly noticed and shouted.

That was right. The Cliff in front of Huang Wei only extended halfway. The other side was not connected at all.