Three Thousand Nine Hundred Year Second Ring! Second Soul Skill—Amaterasu!

A day later.

"First Soul Skill—Tsukuyomi!!!"

Within the jungle, a Black Flame Demon Bird, black all over and wreathed in black flames like a crow, let out a cry before hurtling toward Taichu.

However.

A Purple Soul Ring emerged from Taichu's body, radiating violet light as his gaze met that of the Black Flame Demon Bird.

In an instant.

The Black Flame Demon Bird was struck by his First Soul Skill and dragged into Tsukuyomi Space.

In reality.

Only a second had passed.

The diving Black Flame Demon Bird suddenly let out a pained shriek. It arced through the air before landing not far in front of Taichu, the black flames around its body gradually fading away.

"I didn't expect my luck to be this good after running into the Imperial Dou Team."

Taichu had not expected this either.

Last time.

When he encountered the Imperial Dou Team from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Yu Tianheng, that guy whose brain had suddenly short-circuited, had exposed the fact that his First Soul Ring was a Thousand Year Soul Ring. Taichu therefore knew he could not remain in Sunset Forest any longer.

After all, although Dugu Yan had temporarily stopped the other Imperial Dou Team members from trying to rob him.

Once they returned to Heaven Dou City and told the families behind them about him, those people would definitely send someone into Sunset Forest to search for him on a large scale.

Fortunately.

He had put on a mask early on because he had been worried that his Thousand Year First Soul Ring might accidentally be exposed. At least no one knew what he really looked like.

Now, it seemed.

He had truly made a wise decision back then.

Although his Mangekyō Sharingan Martial Soul was indeed extremely special, even if those families wanted to hunt him down, they could never do so openly. After all, who would not want to keep something this valuable to themselves?

If everyone knew about it, with their little bit of ability, could they protect it?

They would definitely act in secret.

If that was the case.

The chances of them finding him through his Martial Soul were extremely low. However, he had exposed his Mangekyō Sharingan at the Soul Fighting Arena in Nuoding City. If they pinpointed Nuoding City's location, they could still possibly find him.

However.

He had considered that as well.

He had originally planned that, since he could not find a Black Flame Demon Bird here, he would go to the Star Luo Empire to search for one. Along the way, he would compete at the Soul Fighting Arenas in various cities.

He would leave traces of himself in every city, making it difficult for those trying to capture him to determine his exact location.

But who could have expected that he would encounter the Soul Beast he wanted to hunt the very next day?

"Could beating up the Protagonist and supporting characters from the Original Work give me a boost in fortune?"

Taichu was puzzled.

But the Black Flame Demon Bird was lying right in front of him, and he immediately tossed the thought aside. Whatever. He would get his Second Soul Ring first.

He carefully inspected the Black Flame Demon Bird.

"Three purple tail feathers have already completely developed flame patterns, and the fourth purple tail feather is nearly covered in flame patterns too. Is its age close to Four Thousand Years?"

The Black Flame Demon Bird had a total of nine tail feathers. These feathers were extremely unusual, changing according to the Soul Beast's age. For example, they were white for a Ten Year Soul Beast, yellow for a Hundred Year Soul Beast, purple for a Thousand Year Soul Beast, black at Ten Thousand Year, and red once it reached Hundred Thousand Year.

Among them.

During the Ten Year Soul Beast stage, every ten years would add black flame patterns to one tail feather. The same was true for the Hundred Year, Thousand Year, and Ten Thousand Year stages.

So...

Nearly four tail feathers being covered in black flame patterns meant this Black Flame Demon Bird was nearly Four Thousand Years old.

"My First Soul Ring was 1,100 years old. In addition, over the past few months, I've consumed two Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubbers, and my Physical Quality has improved considerably. Grandfather Ma Xiunuo also said that my Physical Quality has already far surpassed that of a Soul Elder."

"My Physical Quality can at least withstand a Soul Ring of over three thousand years, but this one is Three Thousand Nine Hundred Years old."

Taichu hesitated somewhat.

However.

Thinking of how he had spent more than a month and a half in Sunset Forest and had finally found this top-tier Soul Beast, the Black Flame Demon Bird, he was unwilling to give it up just because its Soul Ring age exceeded his limit by a few hundred years.

"Damn it, if I die, I die; if I don't, I'll live forever! I'll gamble on it!"

With that thought, Taichu directly took a dagger from his Soul Tool and ended the Black Flame Demon Bird's life with a single strike.

A moment later.

A thousand-year Purple Soul Ring slowly emerged above the Black Flame Demon Bird's corpse.

Seeing this.

Taichu scattered some medicinal powder around him to drive away Soul Beasts, then immediately sat down cross-legged.

He activated his Martial Soul and drew in the Soul Ring for absorption.

Under his guidance.

The Soul Ring settled around his Martial Soul as though it had settled around his body.

The energy within the Soul Ring battered his body.

Unlike when he absorbed his First Soul Ring.

This time, the pain was far more intense.

But.

Whenever he felt he could no longer endure it, a heat flow would emerge from somewhere within his body, seemingly repairing his body as though it had been torn apart. This heat flow resembled the one produced when he had refined Whale Rubber.

This heat flow that had appeared from nowhere truly helped him.

But he had no time to think about that.

He could only use his full strength to completely absorb this Soul Ring.

Time passed second by second.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Until a Tiger-type Soul Beast appeared not far away. It seemed to have come after smelling blood. The medicinal powder did not drive it away, and when it saw Taichu, it opened its bloody maw and slowly approached, preparing for a feast.

But at that moment.

The Thousand Year Soul Ring completely settled around his body.

The Level 20 barrier was completely broken at that moment as well.

His Soul Power Level began to rise rapidly.

Level 21!

Level 22!

Level 23!

It advanced a little further, but ultimately did not reach Level 24 Soul Power. However, this was within Taichu's expectations. He had been worried that raising his Soul Power too quickly would make his Soul Power Level unstable, so he had condensed his Soul Power.

Otherwise.

A Soul Ring of nearly Four Thousand Years could have allowed a Soul Grandmaster to reach Level 25.

Opening his eyes.

He saw the Black Tiger approaching him with its bloody maw wide open.

"This Beast Repellent Powder isn't very effective, is it?"

The thought flashed through Taichu's mind.

"But you're just in time to test my newly acquired Second Soul Skill!"

His Mangekyō Sharingan met the Black Tiger's eyes.

His Second Soul Ring glowed purple.

"Second Soul Skill—Amaterasu!!!"

With a whoosh, black flames erupted across the Black Tiger's body. The temperature of the flames caused it unbearable pain, and it began rolling on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the Black Flame. But it was futile. The Black Flame did not go out; instead, it burned even more fiercely.

A minute later.

Under Taichu's gaze, the Black Tiger burned into ashes, leaving only a White Soul Ring floating above them.