The next morning, Lu Chen stepped into the ancient Star Dou Great Forest with Lu Jinnian leading the way!
Just inside the forest, they could still glimpse a few Soul Masters traveling in groups. But after they left the Small Town behind, only towering trees surrounded them. Their dense canopies blotted out the sky and muffled every sound, leaving only the roars of Soul Beasts fighting deeper in the forest!
Along the way, Lu Jinnian usually took a detour to avoid any weak or unsuitable Soul Beasts. A few foolish ones did attack him, but Lu Jinnian drove them off with his Cauldron!
Lu Jinnian's Martial Soul was called the Mysterious Yellow Cauldron. It possessed immense defensive and suppressive power, and with Lu Jinnian's strength as a Soul Ancestor, even a Thousand Year Soul Beast couldn't get the better of him!
"All right, let's rest for a while!"
Lu Jinnian and Lu Chen sat down against a large tree. Lu Jinnian took out some rations and water and handed them to Lu Chen.
They had rested for about half an hour when a tiger's roar sounded nearby.
Lu Jinnian quickly lifted Lu Chen up and ran toward the sound. "Chen'er, if we're lucky, you'll have your Soul Ring!"
Lu Jinnian darted through the forest and finally landed steadily on a branch of a giant tree.
Standing atop the tree, Lu Chen looked into the distance. A Blood Tiger was tearing a pack of Nether Wolves to pieces.
The Blood Tiger was nearly five meters long, its body covered in dark-red stripes like congealed blood. Three bone spikes jutted from its forehead, and its teeth and claws gleamed with a fearsome light. Its eyes were dark red, radiating brutality and bloodlust!
Lu Chen said gravely, "That's... a Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger! Like the infamous Man Faced Demon Spider, this Soul Beast is an evil creature with an intense thirst for slaughter!"
As he spoke, the pack of thirty or forty Nether Wolves had dwindled to its last three members. Limping, they lunged at the Demon Tiger.
The three Nether Wolves leaped at the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger, their claws sinking deep into its thick shoulders.
But the beast merely grunted. Its powerful tail swept across like a steel whip. The wolf on its left took the blow to its ribs, which caved in at a grotesque angle. The wolf on the right was struck across the neck, its head lolling to one side at an unnatural angle.
The wolf that had attacked head-on met the worst fate of all. The Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger flung it into the air, then brought down a heavy paw. Gray fur and brain matter stuck to the ground...
But the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger was badly hurt too. Blood gushed from wounds on its shoulder and hind leg, making its dark-red stripes look even more savage.
"Attack!"
At Lu Jinnian's command, Two Yellow Two Purple Soul Rings rose beneath his feet. His Third Soul Ring and Fourth Soul Ring lit up.
The Yellow Earth Great Cauldron swelled several times in size before Lu Jinnian hurled it. It smashed toward the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger with a whistle that tore through the air.
Lu Chen didn't hesitate. He flipped his hand, and the Asura Demon Sword appeared. At the same time, a Blood Ring spread from his body and enveloped the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger.
The pure Slaughter Aura made the Demon Tiger falter. A trace of wariness flashed in its eyes.
In that instant, the Mysterious Yellow Cauldron crashed onto the Demon Tiger's spine.
With a sharp crack, the cauldron's mysterious patterns lit up, pinning the Ferocious Beast firmly in place.
Lu Jinnian brought Lu Chen to the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger. The beast's chest still rose and fell faintly as dark-red blood poured from its mouth.
Without hesitation, Lu Chen thrust the Asura Demon Sword into the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger's body.
The Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger's body convulsed twice. Gradually, the ferocity faded from its red eyes.
A few breaths later, a faint Purple Soul Ring gathered above the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger's corpse.
Lu Jinnian looked at it regretfully. "What a pity. This Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger had only just reached the Thousand Year level."
Feeling the Asura Demon Sword tremble faintly in his hand, Lu Chen said to Lu Jinnian, "Grandpa, I feel like I can absorb this Soul Ring!"
Lu Jinnian's brows drew together. "Chen'er, that's absurd! Do you know what happens when a Soul Ring turns on you?"
Lu Chen didn't answer. Instead, he took out an intact crystal ball. Blue light instantly filled about two-thirds of it. This crystal ball could measure Soul Power up to Level Thirty!
Lu Chen slowly released his Soul Power and said, "Grandpa! I wasn't born with Innate Full Soul Power. I have Innate Level 20 Soul Power! My Martial Soul is the legendary God Tier Martial Soul!"
Lu Jinnian stared at Lu Chen in disbelief, shock filling his aged face.
"Grandpa, I'm confident I can absorb this Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
Seeing the determination in Lu Chen's eyes, Lu Jinnian nodded, then said solemnly, "You must never let a third person learn of this! Until you're powerful enough to protect yourself, don't tell anyone about your Martial Soul!"
Innate Level 20 Soul Power! A God Tier Martial Soul!
Those few words filled Lu Jinnian with a shock unlike anything he had ever felt. If he were strong enough, he wouldn't have to worry about people coveting Lu Chen. But he wasn't. If the great powers learned the truth, Lu Chen might lose his freedom for the rest of his life!
Lu Chen sat beside the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger's corpse. The Asura Demon Sword trembled faintly in his hand, and the Blood-Colored Patterns on its Sword Body seemed to come alive, resonating subtly with the Soul Ring.
Faint purple Soul Power settled onto the Asura Demon Sword, and a pure force surged into Lu Chen's body.
The Asura Domain spread around Lu Chen, enveloping the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger's corpse. Blood Fiend Qi flooded into the domain as countless currents of Slaughter Aura surged and gradually gathered into a phantom that looked exactly like the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger—only more savage than the real beast!
Lu Chen's consciousness had sunk into his Sea of Consciousness. He seemed to be standing in an endless Blood Sea as millions of shrill beast roars exploded in his ears. The Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger's ferocity, carried by the Soul Ring's power, was relentlessly consuming his mind.
"Pathetic!"
The Asura Demon Sword rang like a clear bell in Lu Chen's hand, instantly silencing every other sound.
"Condense!"
Lu Chen's eyes snapped open. His once-black pupils had turned red. The Blood Tiger phantom inside the domain let out a deafening roar, Soul Power surging through its body like the tide.
Half an hour later, the Asura Domain slowly receded. The Blood Tiger phantom turned into a streak of light and shot into the Asura Demon Sword. The faint Purple Soul Ring pulsed along the sword's length.
"First Soul Skill! Blood Fiend Power!"
Lu Chen gripped the Asura Demon Sword with both hands, and the Purple Soul Ring on its blade lit up.
Crimson Gold Patterns glimmered across the Asura Demon Sword, while dense Blood Fiend Flames coiled around its blade.
The moment Lu Chen infused it with Soul Power, Crimson Gold Patterns spread across both his arms.
He swung once. A streak of blood-red light flashed past, and the Blood Fiend Demonic Tiger's corpse in front of him was cleaved in two. A blood-red sword mark scored the ground as well, its edges still wreathed in lingering Blood Fiend Flames.
Before Lu Jinnian could ask, Lu Chen said, "My First Soul Skill doubles my strength and also doubles the Asura Demon Sword's Attack Power!"
Lu Chen was very pleased with his First Soul Skill. Combining the strength amplification with the Attack Power amplification was far more than a simple one-plus-one-equals-two.
Lu Jinnian was stunned by Lu Chen's First Soul Skill. As a Defense System Soul Ancestor, he knew all too well that the power of Lu Chen's sword strike was already comparable to that of a Soul Ancestor.
Before you continue