Soul Douluo

Under the endless starry sky, countless souls swirled above Hals and the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad, as if following some pattern.

Hals lifted his head to gaze up at the many souls, and the many souls gazed back at Hals. A multitude of emotions spilled from their eyes—hatred, indifference, gratitude.

The Dew-Condensing Ice Toad, focused on its breathing nearby, seemed to sense something wrong. It tensed every muscle, staring in terror at the souls filling the sky, letting out "gurgle, gurgle" sounds. As the Ice Toad's muscles contracted and relaxed, a thick layer of hard ice formed on its surface, encasing it.

Hals let out a disdainful snort. Ice was something tangible, while souls were intangible. How could something tangible ever block something intangible?

Everything had its limits—souls included—but his soul was not among them.

Hals spread his arms, and green flames rose from his hands, gradually spreading across his entire body.

"All things have souls; souls shape all things. Master the soul, master the self. Offer the soul as sacrifice, elevate you and me, merge as one."

A voice—hoarse and sinister yet grand and imposing—rang out across the snowfield, now slightly dim under the shroud of souls.

The swirling souls finally stopped moving. They stared at the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad before them, their eyes filled with both fervor and release.

The countless souls of all shapes and sizes howled and shrieked. Their bodies began to burn, releasing vast amounts of Soul Essence into the space, which was instantly absorbed by the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad.

Countless souls turned into streams of mist, drilling relentlessly into the Ice Toad's seven orifices, forcibly strengthening its soul flame.

The Dew-Condensing Ice Toad trembled in agony, trying to expel the intruders from its body, but to no avail. Visibly, the once-massive Ice Toad began to shrink, its body withering. Yet its surface grew translucent, its whole form like jelly, allowing a faint glimpse of its skeleton inside—a glowing emerald green!

As all the souls on the field entered the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad's body, the flames on Hals grew fiercer. At the same time, a faint green fire ignited on the Ice Toad itself.

Fire kindled beneath Hals's feet as he walked step by step toward the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad. His right hand, now stripped of flesh and skin, leaving only bone, slowly extended and gently pressed against the Ice Toad's head.

As if sensing the green flames on Hals, the green fire on the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad spread toward him.

His right hand slowly applied pressure, his five fingers contracting bit by bit. The five hard, sharp bone fingers pierced slowly but steadily into the Ice Toad's brain.

The Dew-Condensing Ice Toad's body kept trembling, but it was futile. The moment the five fingers touched, the Ice Toad finally ceased all movement.

The green flames on the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad gradually dimmed and died out, while the green fire on Hals still blazed fiercely.

In less than a moment, a soul ring—black tinged with red—emerged from the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad's corpse. But strangely, as time passed, the ring was visibly turning redder!

"Heh."

A low laugh escaped Hals's throat. Just as he thought—by burning souls to produce Soul Essence and fusing it with the soul of this soul beast, the resulting soul ring was also sublimated and transformed.

Hals sat down on the spot, staring at the soul ring before him with anticipation. The green flames in his eyes burned ever brighter.

The Dew-Condensing Ice Toad's soul ring gradually turned red. The soul's power was nearly spent, and in the end, it failed to form a second pattern on the ring.

But Hals was already satisfied. He reached out, guiding the soul ring to drift over and settle around him, spinning continuously.

All the flesh and skin on Hals's body had vanished. He couldn't close his eyes, so he could only stare with the blazing green flames in his eye sockets as he entered meditation.

The flames on Hals's surface contracted, leaving only a thin wisp of fire that leaped onto the soul ring, spreading like a clinging parasite, slowly devouring and assimilating the Dew-Condensing Ice Toad's soul ring.

The blizzard had stopped at some point, but snowflakes still drifted. The sky and earth were one color—pure white and tranquil.

In the Extreme North, there were only rare times when it didn't snow, and now was one such fine day. The calm snowfield carried a unique sense of peace and warmth.

At some point, a snow mound had appeared within the Ice Pillar Forest. Suddenly, the mound trembled, and a hand covered in scars struggled to reach out, groping and brushing away the surrounding snow.

After barely clearing the snow, Hals escaped from an environment that had nearly suffocated him to death.

"Hah... hah..."

Hals collapsed inelegantly on the ground, gasping for fresh air. After a long while, he extended his hands with a complicated expression.

The scars on his right hand had faded considerably, but his skin had grown paler. Meanwhile, his originally smooth and fair left hand was now covered in countless symbols of varying sizes.

"Runes..." Hals murmured to himself.

"Sigh." Hals let out a helpless sigh, the green flames in his eyes flickering. "It seems my skin will never go back to how it was."

Hals raised his hand to the lantern at his waist and drew out a wisp of green soul.

His Martial Soul manifested. Behind him, eight soul rings—Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Black, Red—appeared in sequence, arranged behind Hals. The last blood-red soul ring was especially dazzling.

"Two soul skills..."

Hals raised his hand. The eighth soul ring behind him flickered. A small amount of Soul Power and a large amount of water element gathered together, merging with the soul in Hals's hand. The soul took on its former appearance—a lithe leopard-type soul beast.

Watching the solidifying soul entity before him, Hals felt a bit concerned. Leopard-type soul beasts were known for speed and flexibility, while ice crystals were known for hardness. Could it truly replicate the leopard's agility in life?

With that thought, Hals said hoarsely, "Come, attack me."

The leopard soul didn't hesitate. It lunged at Hals without a moment's delay.

Hals easily sidestepped the attack, then swung his hand in a hook, striking the leopard soul's waist and sending it flying into a massive ice pillar.

The solid soul's waist had a huge gash torn open by Hals's strike, but it healed in an instant.

A hint of joy appeared on Hals's stiff face. "Speed slightly decreased, strength greatly increased, remarkable recovery. Very good."

"Continue."

"Wroooar!" With a howl, the leopard soul lunged again.

Looking at the pile of ice shards not far away, Hals dusted off the ice chips clinging to his robe with satisfaction.

Through experimentation, Hals discovered that as long as the soul hadn't exhausted its power and disappeared, this crystal construct couldn't die. Even if you smashed it to powder, as long as its soul power was sufficient, it could recover.

Hals was very pleased with the first hundred-thousand-year soul skill. But a hundred-thousand-year soul ring could provide two soul skills.

"So, let me see what the second soul skill is."