The system's mechanical prompt echoed through Su Chen's mind.
"Rewards being issued."
"Host's light affinity has increased to one hundred percent."
"The Judgment Holy Sword's First Soul Skill has automatically evolved into a growth-type divine skill: Heavenly Kingdom Judgment."
"Soul Power Level increased by three."
"Current Soul Power: Level 25."
As the system's announcement ended,
a gentle yet vast energy surged from deep within Su Chen's limbs and bones.
It carried none of the violent, tearing sensation of the Dark Nightmare Demon Tiger's energy.
Like spring rain, it nourished the meridians that had just endured immense pressure,
completely healing the fine internal injuries.
Su Chen could clearly feel
that he now had absolute control over the light elements drifting through the surrounding air.
With just a thought,
those elements would become the sharpest weapons.
He slowly rose to his feet.
The deep, nearly black purple-black Soul Ring beneath him stopped spinning
and hovered steadily around his body.
A second Soul Ring, six thousand three hundred years old.
It was an unprecedented miracle in the history of Douluo Continent.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei came over from a distance.
The two Peak Douluo looked at the thousand-year Soul Ring beneath Su Chen's feet,
their eyes filled with undisguised awe.
Six years old.
Level 25.
A first Soul Ring of two thousand five hundred years.
A second Soul Ring of six thousand three hundred years.
And, on top of that, a top-grade External Soul Bone of fifty thousand years.
If this configuration got out,
all the so-called geniuses on the continent would be so ashamed they'd kill themselves.
"Congratulations, Your Highness the Holy Son. You've achieved what you set out to do."
Yue Guan bowed slightly.
His tone was more respectful than ever before.
"That good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang's theories aren't even worth shit compared to you."
Gui Mei nodded along.
"After this journey, Your Highness's foundation is completely secure. No one your age can match you."
Su Chen paid no heed to their praise.
He raised his right hand.
Golden light gathered.
The Judgment Holy Sword appeared in his palm.
The golden holy flames burning along its blade were several times fiercer than before.
At the very heart of the flames, a hint of pure white shone—the mark of extreme heat.
"Let's see what this divine skill can do."
Su Chen muttered.
He tightened his grip on the hilt.
His Level 25 Soul Power surged into a boil.
His one-hundred-percent light affinity flared to its full extent.
The purple-black Soul Ring beneath him blazed.
"First Soul Skill."
"Heavenly Kingdom Judgment."
Su Chen swung his sword at the golden waters around the edge of Lake Heart Island.
No earth-shaking blade aura flew out.
The space in the direction of his sword simply twisted violently.
In the next instant,
the sunlight, previously obscured by dark clouds, was forcibly torn open by a vast rift.
A column of pure golden light, more than ten meters in diameter, descended from the sky.
It carried an irresistible law of purification
and slammed straight into the lake.
Boom!
There was no spray of water.
Only extreme heat and purifying power erupted in an instant.
The golden lake water within several hundred meters
vanished into nothingness the moment it touched the beam.
The mud that had settled on the lakebed for tens of thousands of years, along with the stinking blood left behind by the Raging Thunder Dragon,
began to sizzle beneath the holy light.
In just three breaths,
a vast stretch of dry land, more than ten meters deep, had been forcibly blasted out of the center of the lake.
The rocks at the bottom melted in the heat,
then solidified into a smooth layer of pure light crystals,
radiating a gentle golden glow.
Yue Guan sucked in a sharp breath.
He looked at the terrifying aura lingering in the crater,
and his scalp prickled.
"Is that really a First Soul Skill?"
"An attack that instantly evaporates such a large body of water and carries an absolute purification effect—its destructive power is already close to a Soul King's Fifth Soul Skill."
Gui Mei swallowed.
"The most terrifying part is that law power that locks down space. The beam descended from the sky. There's no dodging it with footwork; you can only take it head-on."
Su Chen put away the Judgment Holy Sword.
The beam vanished with it.
Feeling that he had used up about thirty percent of his Soul Power,
he was thoroughly satisfied with Heavenly Kingdom Judgment's might.
It was a divine skill that combined wide-area destruction with guaranteed accuracy.
Paired with the Endless Dark Prison Domain of the God-Slaying Magic Spear,
he was now confident he could instantly kill any Soul Elder below Level 35 without using his External Soul Bone.
If he revealed all his trump cards,
he would even dare to fight a Level 40 Soul Ancestor.
"Let's go. Back to Spirit City."
Su Chen turned around
and strode toward the edge of the forest.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei immediately followed.
They had cleared the way in advance,
so the return trip was much faster.
Half a day later,
the three of them emerged from the Star Dou Great Forest
and returned to Soul Hunting Town.
The Black Scaled Dragon Horse carriage was still parked at the town entrance.
No one dared come anywhere near it.
Su Chen climbed aboard.
Yue Guan flicked the reins.
The dragon horse whinnied and pulled the carriage away at a breakneck pace,
leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
On the return journey,
Su Chen sat cross-legged inside the carriage the whole time.
The Chaos God-Demon Art continuously circulated within him.
He needed to thoroughly temper and solidify the three levels of Soul Power he had just gained.
The forces of light and darkness formed a perfect balance in his dantian.
They neither interfered with each other
nor stopped complementing one another as they circulated.
Five days later,
the magnificent Spirit City came into view in the distance.
The carriage underwent no inspection at the city gate;
it drove straight down the central avenue and into Spirit Hall's inner district.
At last, it stopped beneath the steps of the Pope Palace.
"Your Highness the Holy Son, we've arrived."
Yue Guan spoke respectfully from outside the carriage.
Su Chen pushed open the door
and strode down.
He climbed the white jade steps
and headed straight for the main hall of the Pope Palace.
The main hall doors stood open.
Bibi Dong was standing in the middle of the hall before a sand table,
apparently studying the Heaven Dou Empire's military deployment.
Hearing footsteps,
Bibi Dong turned around.
When she saw Su Chen entering the hall,
a trace of tension flashed through her eyes.
She hurried over,
her gaze sweeping up and down Su Chen.
Only after confirming that all his limbs were intact and he had no external injuries
did she secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
"You're back."
A trace of concern, difficult to detect, colored Bibi Dong's voice.
"You didn't try to force yourself to absorb Soul Beasts far beyond the limit, did you?"
Su Chen stopped.
He looked straight into Bibi Dong's eyes.
"Teacher, I got what I wanted."
"Release your Martial Souls. Let me see."
Bibi Dong stepped back half a pace.
She needed to inspect Su Chen's Soul Ring ages and physical condition herself.
Su Chen said nothing.
He raised both hands.
His Twin Martial Souls appeared at once.
The God-Slaying Magic Spear in his left hand.
The Judgment Holy Sword in his right.
Ultimate darkness and light flooded the entire hall.
At the same time,
Two dazzling Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.
Beneath his left foot.
A deep-purple Soul Ring slowly revolved.
It radiated an intense aura of corrosion and destruction.
Beneath his right foot.
A thousand-year Soul Ring, so dark it was almost black, bobbed up and down.
Holy arcs of lightning flickered faintly across its surface.
The air in the hall instantly froze.
Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes widened.
She stared fixedly at the two Soul Rings beneath Su Chen's feet.
Her ample chest heaved violently.
She gripped the Pope Scepter so tightly that it let out a faint creak.
"This... how is this possible?"
Bibi Dong's voice had lost its usual composure.
It had grown somewhat shrill.
"Deep purple. That's a Soul Ring over two thousand years old."
"And that purple-black one. It's at least six thousand years old."
"You didn't just exceed the limit. You exceeded it by two entire ranks."
She rushed up to Su Chen.
She grabbed his wrist.
Purple Soul Power surged recklessly into his body.
She thought Su Chen was using some secret technique that drained his life to forcibly suppress the Soul Rings' backlash.
But when her Soul Power entered Su Chen's meridians,
she froze completely.
They were as broad as rivers.
And as tough as steel.
Not only were Su Chen's meridians completely undamaged,
they were brimming with vitality.
His pure Soul Power, at level twenty-five, surged through them without pause.
His foundations were so solid that even she, a Peak Douluo, couldn't find a single flaw.
"Level twenty-five."
Bibi Dong let go.
She took two steps back.
Looking at the calm-faced six-year-old boy before her,
she suddenly felt as if everything she knew had been overturned.
When she had obtained her First Soul Ring,
absorbing a four-hundred-year-old Soul Beast had left her in agony.
But this disciple before her
had ground Yu Xiaogang's limit theory underfoot,
yet stood before her completely unharmed.
"Teacher, I told you before. Data can lie."
Su Chen withdrew both Martial Souls.
The oppressive clash of light and darkness vanished from the hall.
"Limits are nothing but shackles meant to restrain the weak."
Bibi Dong took a deep breath.
She struggled to calm the tumult raging inside her.
She looked at Su Chen,
and a fervent light unlike any she had ever shown suddenly blazed in her eyes.
"Good. What a fine set of shackles meant to restrain the weak."
Bibi Dong burst into laughter.
Her laughter rang with the triumph of finally having her day.
"If Qian Daoliu saw you like this, he'd regret it so much he'd smash every pillar in the Worship Hall."
"You're not just the Holy Son of my Pope Palace. You're also the Spirit Hall's invincible blade, destined to sweep across the continent."
Bibi Dong turned and walked back to the Pope Throne.
As she looked at Su Chen,
her gaze now held the respect one mighty expert showed another as an equal.
"What you gained from hunting Soul Beasts this time is enough to be recorded in the Spirit Hall's most confidential annals."
"As a reward, every resource vault in the Pope Palace is open to you."
"What else do you need? Just ask."
Bibi Dong waved a hand,
granting Su Chen the greatest privilege outright.
Su Chen had been waiting for those words.
He bowed slightly.
"Teacher, there is indeed something I need to take care of."
"I need access to the Spirit Hall's intelligence archives to find someone."
Bibi Dong looked a little surprised.
"Find someone? Who are you looking for?"
Su Chen raised his head.
His eyes were cold.
"Yu Xiaogang."
At the sound of that name,
the smile vanished from Bibi Dong's face.
Her brows knitted tightly together.
"What do you want with him?"
Bibi Dong's tone grew somewhat stiff.
Although she and Yu Xiaogang had parted ways many years ago,
his name had always been a thorn in her heart.
Su Chen made no attempt to hide his intentions.
"I'm going to Nuoding City in Fasinuo Province."
On the way, Su Chen had already asked the system to pinpoint Yu Xiaogang's approximate location.
"That fraud, a worthless braggart, is using the scraps he stole by peeking into Spirit Hall to swindle people out there."
"He's not only deceiving the world, he's tarnishing the Spirit Hall's good name."
Su Chen met Bibi Dong's gaze.
"Teacher, you can't come forward to clean house. So let me, the Holy Son, play the villain."
"I'm going to Nuoding City and tear off his hypocritical mask in front of everyone."
"I'll make sure he is utterly disgraced throughout the Soul Master World."
Before you continue