Fourth Soul Ring, Cangbei Sea Spirit Turtle [Please Vote and Follow]

He Qing's expression changed drastically.

As a Title Douluo, yet this person had easily snatched a Ninth-Grade Soul Tool from his grasp.

He immediately realized that the person before him was not someone he could contend with. He put on a humble expression and said,

"This junior is from the Heaven Dou Empire, not the Sun Moon Empire."

"This junior is willing to trade the God-Sealing Platform with you, Senior. Even if you want the Soul Beast Embryo, that is no problem."

Xu Tinglan frowned slightly.

He increasingly felt that something was amiss.

The Far North was extremely close to the Heaven Dou Empire. This man being from the Heaven Dou Empire seemed perfectly reasonable.

But why had it later been sold at the Star Luo Auction House?

And then bought by people from Mingde Hall?

The war between Star Luo and Sun Moon had dragged on for ages. This was clearly aiding the enemy.

Wouldn't it have been better to keep it within their own ranks?

Why had it been sold around, and always to hostile nations at that?

He thought again.

Xu Jiujiu had said that this embryo was merely an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with poor bloodline, incredibly weak.

But that was clearly not the case.

The mental backlash of a Ferocious Beast was no trivial matter. No matter how talented this Soul Douluo was, if he absorbed this Soul Beast Embryo, he would absolutely be crushed to death by the Ferocious Beast's pressure!

Thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

This was very likely a conspiracy aimed at Xiao Hongchen of Sun Moon Academy!

They feared that Xiao Hongchen would break through the limits of his talent.

So they had planned to sell it to Mingde Hall.

When Xiao Hongchen absorbed this Soul Beast Embryo in the future, he would surely be swollen to the point of exploding by the Snow Empress.

Thus, they would eliminate a Title Douluo of extraordinary talent.

Xu Tinglan's expression changed repeatedly.

No wonder this part of Peerless Tang Sect had seemed so strange in his previous life. Why had the Sun Moon people sold the God-Sealing Platform to Star Luo, only for Star Luo to sell it back to Sun Moon?

Only now did he understand that the people who had first obtained the Soul Beast Embryo were not from the Sun Moon Empire at all.

The purpose of this God-Sealing Platform was to kill with a borrowed blade!

Kong Deming examined the Soul Tool he had just acquired.

With his centuries of experience, he was certain that this item had not come from Mingde Hall.

As for whether it had any connection to the Offering Hall, he could not be sure.

Kong Deming raised his head and looked at the Snow-Clad Elder.

He took out a Soul Tool no larger than his palm, shaped like a full moon.

He held the item up, aiming it directly at the man.

Moonlight fell upon He Qing.

This item was called Bright Moon Upright Heart, an eighth-grade Soul Tool.

It could examine fluctuations in the other party's spiritual power and thereby determine whether they were lying.

"I ask. You answer!"

He Qing lowered his head, his expression ugly.

"What country are you from?"

"I am from the Heaven Dou Empire."

The instant he said that, the gentle glow of the round moon rapidly turned blood-red.

It was bewitching beyond compare.

Kong Deming sneered.

Cold sweat streamed down He Qing's back.

Such intense hostility!

He sensed that something was wrong. The worst possibility he had anticipated had come to pass.

The person before him was not from the original Douluo Three Kingdoms. He seemed to be from the Sun Moon Empire!

He immediately said in a trembling voice,

"I am an imperial offering of the Star Luo Empire. However, Your Excellency, I have never harmed anyone from the Sun Moon Empire!"

Who would have thought,

The round moon's bloody glow deepened further.

Kong Deming said coldly,

"Where did you obtain the God-Sealing Platform?"

"The Star Luo Royal Family. The Star Luo Royal Family gave it to me. I know nothing else!"

The blood moon gradually returned to its silver radiance.

Kong Deming's face darkened as a Silver Moon Soul Tool flew from his hand.

The silver moon danced through the air.

It pierced through the man's heart.

The Snow-Clad Elder stared at Kong Deming in disbelief. He had never imagined that he would be killed the moment they met.

The difference in their strength was simply too vast!

He had thought today would be his lucky day, only to die moments later.

Above the corpse,

A Left Leg Bone emitted a faint yellow glow.

With a wave of his hand, Kong Deming stored the Left Leg Bone away.

Xu Tinglan's chest rose and fell violently.

It was his first time witnessing someone being killed.

And it had been a powerful Title Douluo.

Yet before his adoptive father, the man had not possessed the slightest ability to resist.

Bright red blood splattered across the snow, and the corpse quickly turned into an ice sculpture.

Kong Deming said calmly,

"Tinglan, remember this."

"As long as one is a soul master, neither killing nor being killed is innocent."

Xu Tinglan unconsciously repeated those words.

Looking at the corpse before him, he strangely discovered that the agitation in his heart was rapidly calming.

The elder commented,

"This man was rather clever. He knew that claiming to be from Heaven Dou would make others wary."

There was no other reason than that Shrek was located within the Heaven Dou Empire.

Most of the Pavilion Elder's ancestors had also come from the great clans of the Heaven Dou Empire.

With matters here settled,

Kong Deming took the youth with him and, in a single flash, arrived twenty kilometers away.

After learning that one of the Two Emperors of Ice and Snow had already become a Soul Beast Embryo, traveling through the Far North became much easier for them.

It did not take long.

The two of them had already crossed the Far North and arrived at the Unfrozen Sea.

The Unfrozen Sea lay deep within the Far North.

It was the only anomaly amid the endless frozen plains. Its waters were dark blue and unfathomable, never freezing year-round. Wisps of white mist rose from its surface, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding glaciers.

Legend had it that ancient Divine Beast remains lay at the bottom of the sea, radiating enough warmth to withstand the Far North's bitter cold.

There was nowhere to stand here.

The elder carried the youth floating through the air, his spiritual power sweeping across vast stretches of sea as he searched for a suitable Soul Beast.

The Cangbei Sea Spirit Turtle lay dormant in the depths of the Unfrozen Sea.

Its shell was black as an abyss, its crisscrossing patterns flowing with a deep blue, icy glow. Ice-crystal bone spikes grew along the edge of its shell. Its head resembled a dragon's, covered in black scales, and its amber vertical pupils were cold as the abyss.

A short hill stood upon its back, and its cultivation exceeded ten thousand years.

After spending ten days searching,

Kong Deming finally found this Sea Spirit Turtle of the appropriate age somewhere in the deep sea.

He raised one hand.

The Cangbei Sea Spirit Turtle struggled violently, but a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast was only comparable to a Soul King-level expert.

Even with its thin Divine Beast Bloodline, it could only barely rival a Soul Saint.

Before Kong Deming, who possessed the strength of a Limit Douluo, it was as weak as a crawling insect.

A Soul Tool appeared in the elder's hand.

It was square in shape.

He took a drop of blood from both the Sea Spirit Turtle and Xu Tinglan, then dripped them into the Soul Tool vessel.

After intense struggling and rejection,

Xu Tinglan's blood successfully devoured the other drop.

Kong Deming nodded.

"The age is quite suitable."

Seeing that there was no problem with the Soul Beast, they returned to the Far North.

This stretch of sea was not suitable for the youth to stand upon.

The Cangbei Sea Spirit Turtle was thrown onto the snow.

It had already been beaten to the brink of death. It glared at the two of them, its eyes filled with human-like unwillingness and hatred.

Seeing this, Xu Tinglan

Finally understood his adoptive father's words: soul masters were never innocent.

Since things had come to this,

He drew the Tide Trace Sword and ended the Sea Spirit Turtle's life.

A black Soul Ring slowly rose into the air.

Xu Tinglan looked at the Soul Ring and cast aside all his previous thoughts. This was a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring!

"Absorb it quickly. I will stand guard for you."

Even if the youth could not resolve the Soul Beast's mental backlash, he was confident that he could shatter the Soul Beast imprint.

However, if that happened, the strength of the Soul Skill produced by the Soul Ring would be greatly reduced.

"Thank you, Adoptive Father!"

Xu Tinglan quickly sat cross-legged and prepared to absorb this ten-thousand-year Soul Ring.

He had long been looking forward to his Fourth Soul Skill.

The Soul Ring hovered in the air, its dim light flowing.

He drew the Soul Ring around his body. His meridians felt as if they were being scoured by molten iron, and excruciating pain tore through every inch of his body.

He gritted his teeth as cold sweat soaked through his clothes.

A phantom of the Sea Spirit Turtle emerged within his Sea of Consciousness and launched a fierce battle against his will.