Thus, Liu Yuan quickly adjusted his mood.
He began considering his next Soul Ring choice.
During his six years at Shrek Academy, although he had been blind, that had never stopped his thirst for knowledge.
On the contrary, having lost his sight made him focus even more on hearing and thinking.
He had specifically spent money on a Soul Tool Player, his only window into understanding this world.
Through that machine, he had listened to every audiobook the library had available on Soul Beasts, Martial Soul theory, and tactical combinations.
As a result, Liu Yuan now possessed a wealth of theoretical knowledge in every area.
He continued thinking.
"In the original story, Huo Yuhao took the path of a control-type Battle Soul Master."
"Spirit Detection Sharing is indeed a godly skill, and Soul Shock is decent too, but he leaned far too heavily toward support and control."
"That is an enormous waste of a spiritual-attribute Martial Soul!"
In Liu Yuan's view, Spirit Power was not merely for detection and interference. It was also an intangible, formless, and impossible-to-guard-against weapon of terrifying lethality!
Although the Soul Master system of Douluo Continent had developed for tens of thousands of years, mental defense had always remained a tremendous weakness.
Most Soul Masters desperately trained their bodies, raised their Soul Power, and enhanced the destructive and defensive capabilities of their soul skills.
Yet few would deliberately improve their own "resistance" to Spirit Power.
That was because there were simply too few spiritual-attribute Soul Masters.
And under such circumstances...
Even a Title Douluo, if lacking a specialized mental-defense Soul Tool or a spiritual-attribute Head Soul Bone, would often suffer badly when faced with a sudden mental attack.
"Since I have these Double Pupils, and since I possess Spirit Power talent far beyond that of ordinary people, why should I become a support?"
"The path I will take is one of pure mental attacks!"
"Spirit Power is the sharpest sword!"
Liu Yuan's thoughts were exceptionally clear.
Since he did not have the four soul skills bestowed by Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he would find his own.
"My first soul skill must be a powerful single-target mental attack. Ideally, something as simple and brutal as 'Soul Shock,' an ability that directly destroys an enemy's Spirit Sea of Consciousness."
Liu Yuan closed his eyes, and every Soul Beast Illustrated Handbook he had studied swiftly flashed through his mind.
"There are quite a few Soul Beasts capable of providing mental attack-type soul skills..."
"Spirit Demon Spider? No. Its venom is too potent and could easily cause the soul skill to mutate into a poison attribute."
"Purple Demon Eye Beast? Too rare, and it could easily cause backlash."
"Then the remaining choices are... Soul Spider, Three-Eyed Demon Wolf, or Cyclops."
These three Soul Beasts were all fairly typical spiritual-attribute Soul Beasts. Though they were nowhere near as monstrous as Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, they were still extremely troublesome among low- and mid-tier Soul Beasts.
The Three-Eyed Demon Wolf in particular was naturally cunning. The third eye on its brow could unleash an innate skill called Spirit Pierce, which perfectly matched the effect Liu Yuan wanted.
"As for the age... I'm at level twenty Soul Power now, and my body has grown much tougher after this month of training."
"So absorbing a Soul Ring of seven or eight hundred years should be no problem."
Liu Yuan quickly set his target.
"Let's go!"
With a clear objective, Liu Yuan's efficiency rose dramatically.
Over the following week, he no longer wandered around aimlessly as before. Instead, he specifically searched for special regions suitable for his target Soul Beasts.
His Double Pupils opened, and Insight was activated to its fullest.
Not even the slightest rustle in the wind, nor any traces of Soul Beast droppings or footprints, could escape his eyes.
Finally, on the thirty-seventh day after entering the Star Dou Great Forest.
At the entrance to a valley littered with jagged rocks.
"Found it..."
Liu Yuan lay behind a massive boulder with only half his head exposed, his Double Pupils fixed tightly on a cave roughly fifty meters below.
Scattered around that cave were numerous white bones—some from wild beasts, and some from... humans.
A nauseating stench drifted up on the wind.
At the cave entrance, a massive wolf nearly two meters long lay lazily in the sun. Its body was covered in bluish-gray fur, and it had three dark yellow eyes.
Its muscles were sleek and packed with explosive force. The vertical eye on its brow occasionally flashed with an eerie gleam that sent chills down one's spine.
A Three-Eyed Demon Wolf!
Judging by its size and the color of its fur, this Three-Eyed Demon Wolf was likely between six hundred and fifty and seven hundred years old.
A perfect target!
As though it sensed the gaze watching it, the previously lazy Three-Eyed Demon Wolf abruptly raised its head. All three eyes locked onto Liu Yuan's hiding place.
"Roar!"
With a low growl, the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf did not pounce and bite like an ordinary beast. Instead, it stood in place as the third vertical eye on its brow suddenly shone with a dazzling yellow light!
Buzz!
A strange ripple spread through the air.
An invisible wave of mental force, like an unseen spear, crossed fifty meters in an instant and stabbed straight toward Liu Yuan's brow!
Spirit Pierce!
This was the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf's life-saving trump card.
Against opponents with weaker Spirit Power, this strike was enough to turn them into idiots in an instant—or even cause immediate brain death.
Yet faced with this sudden mental attack, Liu Yuan not only failed to dodge, but instead stood up from behind the boulder with a cold smile curling across his lips.
"You want to play with Spirit Power in front of me? You're showing off before an expert!"
His eyes widened sharply. Within his Double Pupils, the two pupils overlapped, and an overbearing aura that seemed to originate from ancient primordial times erupted in an instant!
Boom!
The Three-Eyed Demon Wolf's previously unstoppable mental attack shattered the moment it struck Liu Yuan's Spirit Sea of Consciousness, like an egg smashing against a stone!
Not only that, Liu Yuan's Spirit Power followed that connection and surged back in retaliation!
"Awooo—!!"
The Three-Eyed Demon Wolf let out an incomparably miserable scream. Its enormous body shuddered violently, its savage gaze instantly turning unfocused as a trace of foam even dribbled from the corner of its mouth.
Spirit Backlash!
That was the cruelty of a clash between spiritual-attribute Soul Masters.
The victor took all, while the loser instantly lost the ability to fight.
"Now!"
Seizing the perfect opportunity while the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf was briefly dazed, Liu Yuan did not hesitate in the slightest. He directly unleashed his strongest move!
"Double Pupils—Distortion!"
Liu Yuan fixed his eyes on the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf's vulnerable waist, pouring more than half of his remaining Soul Power and all his Spirit Power into his eyes without holding anything back!
This time, he went all out!
Buzzz—!!!
A powerful invisible ripple instantly descended upon the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf.
The Three-Eyed Demon Wolf, still struggling in agony from the Spirit Backlash, suddenly felt as though two invisible giant hands had seized its waist in opposite directions, and then...
Twisted hard!
"Crack! Crack! Splat!"
The bloodcurdling sounds of bones shattering and muscles tearing rang out simultaneously.
The Three-Eyed Demon Wolf's incomparably tough waist underwent a horrifying ninety-degree twist in an instant!
Then—
"Bang!"
Like an overinflated balloon suddenly bursting.
The Three-Eyed Demon Wolf's waist exploded outright! Flesh, shattered bones, and organs mixed with blood, spraying in every direction like fireworks!
This ferocious beast that had dominated the area for centuries did not even have time to let out one final cry before Liu Yuan blew its body apart with a single glare!
Thud.
Liu Yuan landed and staggered, nearly falling over.
A fierce wave of dizziness hit him, darkening his vision and turning his face pale as paper.
That full-power Distortion had nearly drained more than half his Spirit Power.
But he still forced himself to stand steady as he looked at the ruined corpse split into two before him.
A deep yellow Soul Ring slowly rose above the mangled flesh, radiating an alluring glow.
"Ha... haha..."
Liu Yuan panted heavily, but his face broke into an ecstatic smile.
The consumption had been somewhat high, but that power... was simply intoxicating!
He had killed a seven-hundred-year Soul Beast with a single glare!
This was the power of the Double Pupils!
"Even without Sky Dream Ice Silkworm... this Three-Eyed Demon Wolf is still extremely compatible with me."
Liu Yuan sat cross-legged and stared at the slowly drifting yellow Soul Ring, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"Come, my First Soul Ring."
"Let me see what kind of surprise you'll bring me!"
Before you continue