Purple lightning surged from Shen Feng's right hand, and the Leiming Blade appeared.
He planted a foot on the Moonlight Savage Bear's massive head, raised the Leiming Blade, and aimed its tip at the creature's vulnerable eyes.
Soul Power surged, and the Leiming Blade immediately shone with a razor-sharp gleam.
"Xiao Feng, wait!"
Just as Shen Feng was about to strike, Dugu Bo called out in time to stop Shen Feng.
"Look, what's that?"
Shen Feng looked over in confusion. In the distance, a flash of lightning had appeared.
A huge scorpion with a brilliant blue exoskeleton and lightning constantly crackling around it was silently approaching through the poisonous fog. It seemed completely unafraid of Dugu Bo's poison formation.
"A Thunder Armor Scorpion? It's actually a Thunder Armor Scorpion!"
When the giant scorpion appeared, Shen Feng's eyes went wide.
Although the Thunder Armor Scorpion wasn't a Power Attack System Soul Beast and didn't provide much of a boost to strength, its astonishing lightning attribute and attack power could absolutely make up for that weakness.
Just look at the violent lightning blazing around it. It could actually tear through Dugu Bo's poison formation, making it immune to all poisons. Its power was plain to see.
As the Thunder Armor Scorpion drew closer, Shen Feng finally got a clear look at it.
It was 1.7 meters long, with a pair of strong, powerful pincers and six legs as sharp as spears. Its tail, as thick as an adult's calf, arched high into the air. It consisted of thirty-six segments of brilliant blue bone, and at its tip sat a blue stinger the size of a watermelon, crackling with lightning and ready to strike.
"1.7 meters long, with a 3.6-meter tail and thirty-six segments. That makes it exactly thirty-six thousand years old."
"Haha, this is perfect for me."
"Old man, I don't want the Moonlight Savage Bear anymore. This Thunder Armor Scorpion is a better fit for me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Soul Power surged through Shen Feng. Black Scale Armor instantly covered his body, his first and second Soul Rings lit up, and he shot toward the Thunder Armor Scorpion like a streak of purple-black lightning.
The next moment, Shen Feng appeared above the Thunder Armor Scorpion. Gripping the lightning-shrouded Leiming Blade in both hands, he pointed its tip downward and stabbed viciously at the creature's eyes.
At thirty-six thousand years old, the Thunder Armor Scorpion was already as powerful as a human Soul Saint. It was naturally no easy opponent.
Shen Feng's attack was incredibly fast, but it clearly hadn't exceeded the Thunder Armor Scorpion's reaction speed.
Clang—
In that split second, the Thunder Armor Scorpion raised its pincers and caught Shen Feng's Leiming Blade before he could strike. At the same time, its poised stinger shot high into the air.
Whoosh—
Moving like thunder and striking like lightning, the Thunder Armor Scorpion's thick tail became a blue blur. Its sharp stinger thrust straight toward Shen Feng, who had spent his momentum and hadn't yet gathered strength for another move.
"Ha—"
Shen Feng shouted, and his third Soul Ring suddenly lit up. Lightning crackled as immense repulsive force burst from his body, knocking the Thunder Armor Scorpion's stinger away from its original trajectory.
"Take it somewhere else! Don't disturb Yanyan while she absorbs her Soul Ring!"
Dugu Bo shouted sternly. A giant hand made of earth smacked the Thunder Armor Scorpion, freeing Shen Feng from its hold and sending the creature flying dozens of meters away.
Shen Feng gave Dugu Bo an apologetic look, then activated his second Soul Skill again and chased after the Thunder Armor Scorpion.
Seeing that Shen Feng had reached the battlefield, Dugu Bo waved a hand. Thick earthen walls rose from the ground, enclosing a twenty-meter-diameter arena around Shen Feng and the Thunder Armor Scorpion.
"Fight seriously. I'll back you up."
As he spoke, Dugu Bo was already standing atop the earthen wall.
Shen Feng glanced back at Dugu Bo, his only spectator, and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Phew..."
Shen Feng took a deep breath and focused his gaze. Soul Power surged through him, and the Water and Fire Dual Soul Cores in his dantian spun rapidly. Red and white dragon wings, wreathed in flames of contrasting colors, burst from his back.
Shen Feng beat his wings and rose into the air. Below him, the Thunder Armor Scorpion seemed agitated. It kept stepping backward, its stinger swaying from side to side as it let out soft, continuous hisses.
Soul Beasts had keen senses, and the stronger they were, the keener those senses became.
Earlier, Dugu Bo's sudden burst of Soul Power had sent it flying dozens of meters with ease. That alone had made it sense that something was wrong.
Now the walls had gone up, leaving it trapped like a cornered beast. Its only opponent had taken to the air, and it seemed to realize what fate awaited it.
But Soul Beasts weren't like humans. A person might beg for mercy when faced with death, but a Soul Beast would only fight to the bitter end.
In an instant, lightning erupted across the Thunder Armor Scorpion's body, and all of it converged on the blue, watermelon-sized stinger at the end of its tail.
As lightning blazed, countless wild, uncontrollable bolts burst from the stinger.
A gigantic web of lightning spread out from its body, covering dozens of meters in every direction.
Shen Feng furrowed his brows. Soul Power raced through him, and purple-black lightning erupted around his body. He focused intently on the Thunder Armor Scorpion, ready for the dangerous attack to come.
The next moment, the crackling web of lightning suddenly froze for an instant, then frantically converged on the Thunder Armor Scorpion's stinger.
Whoosh—
A sharp sound split the air. A short, fast bolt of compressed lightning shot toward Shen Feng's face like a laser.
Shen Feng's pupils shrank. He had no time to dodge.
Instinctively, he raised the Leiming Blade and narrowly blocked the attack.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
But the Thunder Armor Scorpion didn't stop attacking. A continuous stream of compressed lightning bolts rained down on Shen Feng.
"Holy crap!"
Shen Feng shouted and immediately activated his second Soul Skill, transforming into lightning as he darted to the side.
The Thunder Armor Scorpion swung its tail around at once and, like an antiaircraft gun, kept firing after Shen Feng.
For a moment, the entire scene looked just like an antiaircraft gun shooting at a plane.
Shen Feng repeatedly activated his second Soul Skill, flickering around as he yelled, "Holy crap, crap, crap! You're a giant scorpion, a carbon-based life-form, not an antiaircraft gun! You're firing this fast and from this far away—can you even keep it up?"
Dugu Bo, standing on the earthen wall, was speechless. What kind of dirty talk was that? Was this something an old man like him should be hearing?
"Xiao Feng, can you handle it or not? If you can't, let me take over. You're just wasting time."
At that, Shen Feng stopped in midair and swung the Leiming Blade at high speed, deflecting a barrage of compressed lightning beams.
"How could a man ever say he can't handle it?"
"Damn you, you stinking scorpion! Take this—American Style Iaijutsu!"
With a flick of his hand, he pulled a machine gun from his wrist guard and lightly squeezed the trigger. A hail of bullets poured from the barrel.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—rat-a-tat-tat-tat—
Using the firearm's high rate of fire in combination with his second Soul Skill, Thunder Flash, Shen Feng shot while dodging. For a brief moment, he actually managed to suppress the Thunder Armor Scorpion.
But the rifle's damage was still too low. Although the bullets could pierce the Thunder Armor Scorpion's hard bony armor, they couldn't inflict a fatal wound.
Taking advantage of the brief suppression, Shen Feng put the rifle away and pulled out a cylindrical bomb. He bit off the pull ring and threw it down at the Thunder Armor Scorpion.
Pff—
A small explosion sounded, spraying out a cloud of white powder. The next moment, endless white flames roared to life around the Thunder Armor Scorpion, burning over a radius of more than twenty meters.
Hiss, hiss—
The flames scorched it, and the Thunder Armor Scorpion let out a piercing hiss as it fled in panic. It repeatedly unleashed the lightning within its body, trying to put out the sudden blaze.
But it was all in vain.
The bomb Shen Feng had thrown wasn't an ordinary one. It was a White Phosphorus Bomb, known in the wars of his previous life as "Hellfire."
White phosphorus was easy to extract and had an extremely low ignition point. Once ignited, it burned at temperatures of up to 800 degrees Celsius, or even 1,000 degrees in an enclosed space. Water couldn't put it out, and it readily reignited.
With such extreme heat and an ability to cling so stubbornly, even Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Flame couldn't come close to matching it for the time being.
Shen Feng extended his right hand and used the fire-controlling ability of his Fire Dragon Soul Bone. He compressed all the white phosphorus flames around the Thunder Armor Scorpion, doing everything he could to raise their temperature.
Hiss, hiss, hiss—
The assault of temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees made the Thunder Armor Scorpion hiss and writhe nonstop.
Its shell was extraordinarily hard, and the lightning inside it was incredibly violent. With thirty-six thousand years of Soul Power cultivation, it possessed combat strength comparable to that of a Seven-Ring Soul Sage.
But faced with these inextinguishable white phosphorus flames, it was helpless.
Although the 1,000-degree flames couldn't burn through its outer shell, their extreme heat could absolutely roast it alive.
At that moment, its supposedly indestructible shell had become an oven, roasting it from within.
Watching the incredibly absurd scene unfold, Dugu Bo's mouth twitched uncontrollably. "Living Yama. He's a Living Yama, through and through. He doesn't act like a proper Soul Master at all."
"But I like it. Hehehe."
Hunting a Soul Beast wasn't difficult, and absorbing a Soul Ring was even easier.
By dusk, Shen Feng, who had begun absorbing his Soul Ring later, had already finished first.
A surging wave of Soul Power burst from Shen Feng's body. Yellow, purple, purple, and black Soul Rings revolved slowly around him.
He slowly opened his eyes, and a flash of bright lightning passed through his dark pupils.
He clenched his fist, feeling the sudden swell of power within him, and found it somewhat difficult to adjust.
Dugu Bo appeared silently behind Shen Feng, smiling. "You're awake. How does your fourth Soul Ring, from a thirty-six-thousand-year Soul Beast, feel?"
Shen Feng jumped in fright. He braced his right hand against the ground, transformed into lightning, and sprang more than ten meters away.
When he saw that it was Dugu Bo, Shen Feng's guard immediately dropped. "Old man, are you that bored?"
Dugu Bo laughed heartily. "You're fast. Looks like you got quite a boost. What level are you now?"
Shen Feng felt the Soul Power still filling his dantian. "Exactly level fifty."
Shen Feng closed his eyes and released his spiritual power, sensing the area around him. When he opened them again, he said, "My spiritual power's improved a lot too. I reckon I can absorb a Soul Beast over fifty thousand years old now."
Dugu Bo's expression stiffened, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Has your spiritual power already reached the Soul Douluo level?"
Shen Feng shook his head, then nodded. "I'm not sure. I've never met a Soul Douluo, so how would I know how strong their spiritual power is?"
"But it feels about right. Anyway, absorbing this thirty-six-thousand-year-old Thunder Armor Scorpion was pretty easy."
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched uncontrollably. "You really are a monster through and through."
"The Soul Masters born in the same era as you must have done something truly awful in their past lives."
Shen Feng chuckled. "Each generation has its own talent, and each gets its turn in the spotlight."
"Your generation had Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu, peerless powerhouses who shook the entire world, didn't it?"
"Twelve years ago, Tang Hao stormed onto the scene and fought the Spirit Hall, killing its pope and dominating the headlines for a while."
"The current pope, Bibi Dong, is known as the youngest pope ever, and her strength is unfathomable."
"Every era has its own monsters. They're just hiding away and growing in secret. How could you expect an old man like you to spot them so easily?"
Dugu Bo nodded thoughtfully. "You make a good point. Until someone becomes famous across the world, nobody knows which monster will have the last laugh."
"I heard that Godwind Academy also had someone with Innate Full Soul Power. But the academy couldn't protect him, and to avoid making him a target, they actually held back his cultivation. They're truly wasting his talent."
"Feng Xiaotian?" Shen Feng asked in surprise.
Shen Feng hadn't expected Dugu Bo to bring up Feng Xiaotian out of nowhere, much less that the slow pace of his cultivation had something to do with this.
But it made sense. The Spirit Hall, Clear Sky Sect, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan—the one hall and three sects—hadn't produced a single genius with Innate Full Soul Power in twenty years.
If Feng Xiaotian had really attracted too much attention, Godwind Academy, without a Titled Douluo to protect it, probably wouldn't have been able to keep him safe.
Dugu Bo nodded thoughtfully. "I think that was his name. When Yanyan and the others went to Godwind Academy for a friendly match, they competed against him."
"Yanyan said he's already twenty-two, but only at level forty-five. At this rate, whether he'll ever reach the Titled Douluo rank is anyone's guess."
"Such a pity. If his talent hadn't been revealed so early, who knows? He might have had a chance to astonish the world someday."
Shen Feng fell silent. He believed Dugu Bo.
Before you continue