"What's with these people?"
"That's a beast tide!"
"Why aren't they pressing the exit button?"
"This isn't the time to show off!"
Several Spirit Pagoda staff members shifted the projection screens to show Ji Fengyu and the others charging toward the beast tide.
Why were there still people practically rushing to their deaths?
Many of the staff looked anxious and had already begun asking Wu Zhangkong whether they should force the group to exit.
Though no one would actually die inside the Spirit Ascension Platform,
the pain of death was unavoidable.
Being swallowed and torn apart by the beast tide would cause such excruciating pain that it could truly kill someone.
"No need. I trust my students' judgment."
Wu Zhangkong wasn't worried at all. The chill of the Heavenly Frost Sword even froze Long Hengxu's mouth before he could say anything.
You've got to be kidding.
Even he'd been taken out in an instant while wearing Two-Word Battle Armor. What was there to fear from a measly beast tide?
"Charge straight at them and punch through their formation!"
An ordinary Soul Master could only run for their life when faced with a beast tide of this scale. But would the noble Dragon Kings run?
These ants were the ones who should flee!
Boom!!!
Ji Fengyu beat his wings, still leading the charge. He was trying to trigger Wrath of the Dragon Horde, but his own combat power was also astonishing.
The Rainbow Dragon King's ability could feed its effects back, too.
Any boost it gave Dragon-type Soul Masters would be fed back to Ji Fengyu to a greater or lesser degree.
Wang Xie was currently receiving 50% of the feedback, while Tang Wulin and the others were receiving it in full.
But there was a limit to the ratio. With Ji Fengyu at two rings, the maximum boost to his strength and attack was 200%; at three rings, it would be 300%, and so on.
That was why it was crucial for him to break through to three rings first.
Both the team and his own abilities would undergo a qualitative change.
Rumble...
The beast tide came rolling toward them like a flood. Its main force was a powerful, pack-dwelling Soul Beast known as the Flame Demon Lion.
They herded and drove countless other Soul Beasts ahead of them, forming a terrifying beast-tide bulldozer.
As they slaughtered Soul Beasts and Soul Masters and devoured their spiritual power, the snowball grew to an almost unstoppable size.
"Dragon Might!"
But in the face of the Dragon Might released by all seven of them at once, the unstoppable beast tide seemed to have its brakes slammed on.
It halted in an instant!
Some of the beasts even trampled one another.
It was as if an invisible wall stood before them, abruptly stopping the horde and draining away all its built-up momentum.
"Releasing Dragon Might once is enough. Any more, and the Soul Beasts will be scared off."
"Charge with me."
Ji Fengyu growled and plunged into the horde, beginning his assault.
Tang Wulin and the other five followed close behind, each showing off their own skills.
It was hard to imagine—
A Soul Master team with an average cultivation of only two rings had actually stopped the beast tide and torn a path through it.
"Roar!!!!"
The Flame Lion King came to its senses and erupted in fury. It had long since developed considerable intelligence and understood human Soul Masters.
These puny creatures, with only two rings each,
dared to slaughter its consorts!
The Flame Lion King roared and charged straight at the most dazzling and eye-catching Ji Fengyu.
It could sense
that Ji Fengyu was the key to this group of humans. If it killed him, victory would be theirs!
As for the Dragon Might that had just stopped their charge—
it had been powerful, but it vanished in the blink of an eye.
The Flame Lion King clearly didn't connect it to Ji Fengyu and his companions. It assumed that a powerful Dragon Clan Soul Beast had merely passed by.
"Brother Ji, look out!!!"
As the several-thousand-year-old Soul Beast lord pounced, Tang Wulin immediately appeared behind Ji Fengyu.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he was breathing like a bull!
A Golden Dragon Claw appeared on his right hand as he glared furiously at the Flame Lion King.
You dared to ambush Brother Ji?
You've got a death wish!
"Golden Dragon Claw!"
Tang Wulin struck in a fury.
The terrifying pressure of the Golden Dragon King Bloodline seemed to carry not only his anger but the Golden Dragon King's as well!
Under that Dragon Might, the Flame Lion King felt as if its blood had frozen. It stiffened in place, unable to move.
Squelch!!!
The Golden Dragon Claw pierced flesh, sinking through the Flame Lion King's skull as easily as if it were tofu.
Rip!!!!
"Arrrgh!!!!!!!"
Roaring in fury, Tang Wulin tore the several-thousand-year-old Flame Lion King apart with his bare hands!
"Holy crap!"
That spectacularly brutal sight stunned the Soul Beasts into a stupor—and gave his teammates a fright, too.
"Good heavens..."
Ji Fengyu was left in awe.
He'd torn it apart with his bare hands?
Was the Golden Dragon King really that vicious, that relentless?
"What a beast!"
Gu Yue cursed under her breath. The Flame Lion King had ambushed Ji Fengyu, but it had clearly driven both the Golden Dragon King and Tang Wulin to the brink.
"So that's what happens to anyone who ambushes Brother Ji."
Even Xie Xie felt a little sorry for the Flame Lion King.
Tsk, tsk, tsk!
You wanted to ambush Brother Ji?
Then get a taste of the furious Golden Dragon King!
"Gasp!!!!"
The Spirit Pagoda staff watching were dumbfounded. A chorus of involuntary gasps rose around them.
He'd torn apart a several-thousand-year-old Flame Lion King with his bare hands?
Among the genius Soul Masters at level 39, only a handful could pull off something like that!
And Tang Wulin was only at one ring!
He was already this powerful and savage with just one ring. Was this kid a baby Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear?!
"I told you, I trust my students' judgment."
Wu Zhangkong sheathed his sword and coolly slipped his hands into his pockets. The corner of his mouth lifted into a confident smile.
Spirit Pagoda, you'll be the ones crying today!
"Here!"
Tang Wulin sent the Flame Lion King's spiritual power toward Ji Fengyu.
Ji Fengyu absorbed all of it, without wasting a shred.
But after the spiritual power was reduced tenfold, splitting it evenly among four Hundred-Year Soul Rings yielded only a limited amount of energy.
"Keep killing!"
Tang Wulin charged around like a maddened bull, cutting left and right as he slaughtered the beasts.
He sent stream after stream of spiritual power from his hands, flying toward Ji Fengyu.
The others were harvesting kills at full speed, too.
Before long, Ji Fengyu had gathered so much spiritual power that it formed a vast cloud around him.
He stopped fighting and focused on absorbing the spiritual power, leaving the monster-slaying to his teammates.
"Roar!!!"
Tang Wulin was drenched in blood. His roar, half dragon and half human, rang across the sky.
The handsome face beneath the blood and grime had been completely obscured.
Even his temperament had changed.
He seemed more ferocious, yet there was a hint of gentleness amid the ferocity...
"Calm down, Wulin. Don't let the Golden Dragon King take over!"
Tang San had discovered another problem.
The Golden Dragon King hadn't been quite dead after all!
All these Dragon Clan auras—
especially with Gu Yue and the others competing for Ji Fengyu—had driven the Golden Dragon King right out of her coffin!
The Flame Lion King's ambush had merely been the fuse.
Most importantly,
the Golden Dragon King was female now!
Once she took control of Tang Wulin's body, he would be completely transformed... or even possessed!
Tang San was instantly beset with a splitting headache.
But Tang Wulin couldn't bear to be away from Ji Fengyu. With no other choice, Tang San could only channel some Sea God's Light to help Tang Wulin regain his senses and suppress the Golden Dragon King.
"Old Tang?"
The coolness of the Sea God's Light in his sea of consciousness finally brought Tang Wulin back to his senses a little. The killing machine at last ground to a temporary halt.
But
Tang Wulin was very impatient.
Brother Ji was in danger. Brother Ji needed him!
He was in the middle of slaughtering Soul Beasts to provide Ji Fengyu with the spiritual power he needed to break through the thousand-year mark.
And Old Tang had dragged him into the little black room again.
What was the point of that?!
Before you continue