"Ding-dong. Bibi Dong has slain a former Shrek Academy student, an eighty-sixth-level Soul Douluo. Reward: 9,600 Snow Hatred Value."
Current Snow Hatred Value: 1,506,000
At night, Qin Chuan lay in his dormitory, looking at the Snow Hatred Value before him, which had reached 1.5 million. His feelings grew complicated.
Resurrection of the Dead: 1,500,000
[Resurrection of the Dead]: Bring a deceased person to the current time period (without affecting the timeline).
Qin Chuan had considered choosing it several times, but each time, he slowly lowered his raised hand.
"My revenge remains unavenged. Improving my strength is the top priority."
Qin Chuan silently apologized to his mother, sister, and grandfather in this world, then opened the store and tapped the Soul Bone page.
With 1.5 million Snow Hatred Value, he could exchange for fifteen Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones. If he wanted, he could collect a complete set in a single night.
Qin Chuan had already given it some thought: his Soul Bones would mainly come from dragon Soul Beasts.
Dragons held a top position among Soul Beasts, and their bodies were powerful enough to make it easier to form Yin-Yang Complementary Dual Soul Cores in the future.
Naturally, the Nine Dragon Kings became Qin Chuan's top targets.
"I should be able to get two Soul Bones from the Water Dragon King and Fire Dragon King at the bottom of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. As for the other seven Dragon Kings, let's see..."
As the foremost of the Nine Great Dragon Kings, the Mountain Dragon King was the obvious first choice. Qin Chuan turned his attention to its exchange list.
The Mountain Dragon King's Head Soul Bone, torso, left and right arm bones, and left and right leg bones cost a total of six million Snow Hatred Value.
Qin Chuan stared at the price, secretly clicking his tongue. He would probably have to wage a large-scale war to collect that much Snow Hatred Value.
"System, help me exchange for the Mountain Dragon King Million Year Torso Bone."
"Ding-dong. The Mountain Dragon King Million Year Torso Bone has been exchanged. One million Snow Hatred Value deducted."
Current Snow Hatred Value: 506,000
Qin Chuan suddenly felt the space around him collapse. A terrifying pressure, as heavy as a mountain, descended. The tables, chairs, and other furniture in the room buckled beneath it and crumbled into dust.
Every bone in Qin Chuan's body cracked and popped. Gritting his teeth against the pressure, he slowly raised his head—and saw the Mountain Dragon King Million Year Torso Bone appear before him.
The Soul Bone was earthy yellow. The next moment, Qin Chuan's pupils contracted.
The Million-Year Torso Bone before him turned from solid to illusory, manifesting as a Mountain Dragon King as massive as a mountain. The Mountain Dragon King lowered its head, its earthy-yellow eyes fixed on Qin Chuan as it looked him up and down.
"System, what's going on? How come I run into a ghost just trying to absorb a Soul Bone?"
At the same time, the system's cold prompt sounded.
"Know this: there are no Soul Beasts in the world that have truly lived for a million years. Even Sky Dream Ice Silkworm only reached a pseudo-million-year cultivation thanks to the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow. A true million-year Soul Beast would have lived year after year; its age would not have been forcibly raised by some means."
"The Mountain Dragon King Million Year Torso Bone before you was formed by the system extracting the mountains and land that became the Mountain Dragon King, then fusing them together. It bears the power of every mountain and stretch of land on the planet Douluo Continent."
"To absorb it, the host must pass the test of the million-year Mountain Dragon King before him. Success will send the host soaring to new heights. Failure will cause the Soul Bone to vanish, returning to its original form as the power of mountains and land and merging back into the earth's veins."
Qin Chuan felt strange after hearing this. He had been thinking of giving himself a full set of million-year Soul Bones, but now that a million-year Soul Bone had truly materialized, he understood a simple truth.
There was no such thing as a free lunch. To obtain something, he first had to pay the corresponding price.
Just as the system had said, success would send Qin Chuan soaring to new heights, while failure would waste a million Snow Hatred Value. Throughout the history of Douluo Continent, there had never been a million-year Soul Bone. Even the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had only lived for nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand years, and it had reached that age by devouring others.
The Mountain Dragon King Million Year Torso Bone before him, however, had been forged by the system from the mountains and land that the Mountain Dragon King had become. Its significance was entirely different.
"I, Qin Chuan, am willing to take the test," Qin Chuan said through gritted teeth.
The next moment, the pressure on Qin Chuan vanished.
Everything in the room warped. Before long, a barren plain came into view. It was empty and devoid of life, save for several mountains stretching across it, soaring into the clouds like pillars holding up the heavens.
"Rumble—"
At that moment, a Mountain Dragon King as vast as a mountain appeared and spoke in a human voice. "Human, I'll give you three chances to strike. If you can make my body dissipate, I'll merge with you."
"Three chances?"
Qin Chuan's gaze grew serious. He didn't choose to use Death Spider Emperor possession. Instead, he slowly raised his right hand.
The sleeve over his right arm exploded, replaced by a claw covered in golden scales: the Golden Dragon King's Claw.
Qin Chuan took out a claw-shaped gauntlet covered in scales and put it on. Soul Power poured into it without end.
It was a Level Five Soul Tool. Its Core Array released more than ten times its wielder's strength. Combined with the Golden Dragon King's Claw—
Qin Chuan planted his feet and launched himself into the air. The Golden Dragon King had power at the very pinnacle. With its strength amplified tenfold, Qin Chuan became a human cannonball.
The Mountain Dragon King's gaze remained as calm as an ancient well. It lightly raised its right claw, and the instant the two made contact, Qin Chuan went flying backward.
The disparity in strength was absolute. Qin Chuan's power was like an insect trying to shake a tree; he couldn't budge the Mountain Dragon King in the slightest.
Against a Soul King or even a Soul Emperor, Qin Chuan could have relied on his overwhelming strength to smash them to pieces.
The Mountain Dragon King's position was unshakable. It was the foremost of the Nine Great Dragon Kings.
Qin Chuan regretted choosing this enormous opponent.
"You have two chances left."
The Mountain Dragon King's voice came from nearby.
Qin Chuan put away the claw-shaped gauntlet, and his right arm returned to normal.
This time, he didn't repeat his previous attack. The sleeve over his left arm burst open instead, revealing an arm covered in dense silver scales: the Silver Dragon King's Claw.
The Mountain Dragon King's pupils contracted at the sight.
Then Qin Chuan unleashed the powers of wind, fire, lightning, and other elements.
The elements twisted together into a dazzling, multicolored sphere that shot straight toward the Mountain Dragon King.
Faced with the oncoming attack, the Mountain Dragon King merely blew on it. The sphere of intertwined elements vanished in an instant.
Seeing this, Qin Chuan didn't feel the slightest bit discouraged. Instead, he was delighted.
The Mountain Dragon King's voice rumbled. "You have one last chance."
"Why are you smiling?" The Mountain Dragon King looked at Qin Chuan, puzzled.
"Tell me, how long has it been since you last saw the Dragon God?"
"The Dragon God! You know of the Dragon God?"
"Not only do I know of the Dragon God—I'll make you see him!"
As soon as he finished speaking, silver and golden scales spread rapidly across both of Qin Chuan's arms. The differently colored dragon scales extended from his wrists up to his shoulders, finally forming a tiny, multicolored scale beneath his neck.
A dragon scale belonging to the Dragon God. Even just one.
One was all he needed.
"Dragon God Descent!"
Qin Chuan sent out a streak of silver light and a streak of golden light, one from each hand. The two streaks spiraled together.
At that moment, an aura from the ancient, primordial past spread throughout the mysterious space.
The Mountain Dragon King's enormous body trembled. It gazed at the huge seven-colored dragon head emerging from the clouds. The sheer pressure filled the Mountain Dragon King with awe.
Then the brilliantly colored dragon crashed down, crushing the Mountain Dragon King in an instant and making it explode.
After the Mountain Dragon King's body burst apart, wisps of mountain-and-land energy spread through the mysterious, unknown space.
Curious, Qin Chuan gently touched one of the earthy-yellow strands. The weight of a mountain nearly shattered his right arm.
Every strand here was made up of a mountain range. Each one had once been part of the mountains and land that became the Mountain Dragon King.
Then, an endless force of mountains and land transformed into earthy-yellow streaks of light and rushed into Qin Chuan's chest. They surged toward him until they had wrapped him up completely.
The mountain-heavy pressure from before did not return. Qin Chuan only felt that as long as he stood on the earth, he could draw upon the power of the mountains without end.
Put simply, Qin Chuan was like a phone with only one percent battery left, while the earth was a magnetic power bank that constantly supplied him with Soul Power and recharged him wherever he went.
This was one of the Mountain Dragon King Torso Bone's million-year Soul Bone Skills: Coil.
The Mountain Dragon King Torso Bone had four Soul Bone Skills in total.
"Coil," which drew upon the power of the earth to replenish Soul Power.
"Guard," which drew upon the power of the earth to form an Absolute Defense.
"Suppress," which drew upon the power of the earth to form an absolute domain.
"Mountain," its sole attack, which drew upon the power of the earth.
All four Soul Skills were closely tied to the power of the earth. This Soul Bone had been formed from the power of mountains and land left behind when the Mountain Dragon King fell. It was utterly unique across the entire Douluo Continent.
At dawn, sunlight fell across Qin Chuan's face, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"I'm back?"
Qin Chuan found his room quiet. Even the tables and chairs that had turned to dust the night before were now intact.
Everything was just as it had been. Nothing was damaged.
Just as Qin Chuan began to wonder what had happened, a knock sounded at the door.
Qin Chuan opened it, and a beautiful figure stood before him.
Meng Hongchen's wine-red hair fell like a waterfall. Her delicate cheeks glowed pink, and her eyes were a deep blue. She stared intently at Qin Chuan, her gaze full of worry.
"You've been in your room for seven days straight. I was really worried about you."
"What?! I was in my room for seven whole days?" Qin Chuan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yeah. I asked Sister Xue about you, and she said you might be cultivating. Even Grandpa told me not to disturb you, but today I couldn't hold back anymore... so I knocked."
Qin Chuan gently ruffled Meng Hongchen's wine-red hair and smiled calmly. "Thank you."
"Huh? You're not mad at me?"
"What would I be mad about?"
"Did I interrupt your cultivation?"
"Not at all. I only just woke up, too."
Before you continue