Chen Xin pointed a finger at Ling Chen's brow. His vast sword intent immediately suppressed Ling Chen's surging murderous urge, and the killing aura around him slowly faded.
Ling Chen's consciousness gradually returned, and the Peerless Domain began to recede.
"Sorry for the trouble I caused you!"
Ling Chen looked apologetic and somewhat at a loss. He really had been overcome by murderous intent just now, but he hadn't managed to suppress it and had nearly lost his reason.
"You're still young. It's normal that you can't control a power like this yet. We were too abrupt, too, putting so much pressure on you. It must have been hard."
Ning Fengzhi offered words of comfort from the side. If it had been any other child, they would probably have started crying by now.
Chen Xin also let out a long breath of relief. If this little killer had been made to fight the other children...
Tsk, tsk. It was almost too horrible to imagine! The psychological scars it would leave on the other children would be enormous.
"Enough. The strength you've shown has far exceeded my expectations. It's my honor to take a monster like you as my disciple!"
Ling Chen was overjoyed and hurriedly cupped his fists.
"Your disciple, Ling Chen, pays his respects to Master!"
Bone Dragon Douluo patted Chen Xin on the shoulder, his face full of envy.
"Chen Xin, when are you going to find me a direct disciple too? That way, my Bone Dragon Douluo legacy won't die out!"
Hearing this, Chen Xin teased him.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is full of prodigies, yet you still haven't managed to find yourself a direct disciple."
Gu Rong smiled helplessly and pointed at Ling Chen.
"My standards aren't high. Half his talent would be enough. That's not too much to ask, is it?"
Chen Xin waved his hand and ruffled Ling Chen's little head.
"That depends on luck! We guard the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, so perhaps we can find a disciple like that among these little ones."
Chen Xin's meaning was clear: Gu Rong ought to show a little appreciation.
"Easy enough. Come on, Li Tianyi! Uncle Gu Rong will take you to get a Soul Ring!"
As he spoke, Gu Rong grabbed Ling Chen and sprang into the air, leaving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Battle Tower. A gigantic Bone Dragon appeared, and the two stood on its head as it soared into the clouds.
Above the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
A Bone Dragon streaked across the sky, sending the surrounding Soul Beasts fleeing in every direction. Gu Rong scanned the Soul Beasts below, but none of them caught his eye.
Either they weren't old enough, or Ling Chen's Martial Soul wasn't a good match for them.
Finding a Soul Beast that suited Ling Chen and was over three hundred but under five hundred years old was merely a bit of a hassle for Gu Rong.
Ling Chen, meanwhile, was thinking about how he could loot corpses in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan without interfering with his corpse looting in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Oscar's Copy Mirror Sausage? No, its duration is too short."
Wait...
Could he get a Soul Skill like a clone? If he looked for a Soul Beast that fit that requirement, Ling Chen would even accept a ten-year white Soul Ring.
"Uncle Gu Rong, you don't need to look for a Soul Beast that matches my Martial Soul. I want my first Soul Skill to be something like a clone."
Gu Rong paused. A Soul Skill like a clone?
"Tian Yi, did losing control on the platform give you a fever? You have a Power Attack System Martial Soul. You should focus on finding a Soul Beast suited to a Power Attack System. Why are you thinking about developing toward an Agility Attack System?"
Ling Chen didn't reply. He simply summoned the Green Steel Sword and placed it in Gu Rong's hand.
Gu Rong's heart jolted at its weight... a hundred jin! Ling Chen could wield a sword that heavy with one hand, which meant the hundred-jin weight of his Green Steel Sword would only come down on his opponents!
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed. Even a cursory thought was enough to scare him!
Ling Chen's strength was inferior to Chen Xin's; that much had been clear on the platform. But he could wield this hundred-jin Green Steel Sword, which gave him the explosive power of a Power Attack System.
"I see. With a hundred jin of weight and a blade this sharp, there are probably very few people who can withstand your sword."
Gu Rong returned the Green Steel Sword to Ling Chen, envying old Chen Xin even more. When would he ever find a disciple this monstrous?
"Maybe only a monster can find another monster..."
Gu Rong could only console himself this way. It wasn't as if he could go wait in Slaughter City for a six-year-old child who was skilled in defense and possessed the Divine Slaughter's Domain.
Putting those thoughts aside, now that he had a general target, finding a Soul Beast would be much easier.
Before long, Gu Rong's Bone Dragon had its sights on a four-hundred-year Soul Beast.
"You're the one! Hundred Shadow Demon Crow!"
The Bone Dragon roared, and countless bone spikes instantly engulfed a giant tree.
Gu Rong struck swiftly. Ling Chen only saw the tree covered in crows; when the bone spikes hit them, they vanished into black shadows.
One bone spike had pierced the Hundred Shadow Demon Crow's head, drawing blood, and its Soul Ring appeared.
Ling Chen didn't rush to loot the corpse. He was afraid that if he did, the White Dragon in Dragon Pillar Space would swallow it along with the Soul Ring.
Ling Chen sat down on the spot and began absorbing the Soul Ring. The yellow Soul Ring slowly settled around him, gradually contracting toward him.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn, Ling Chen had finished absorbing the Soul Ring and gained the Soul Skill—Hundred Shadow Demon Body.
Ling Chen didn't get up to test his Soul Skill. Instead, he went to Dragon Pillar Space and touched the White Dragon Pillar.
Information about the Soul Ring poured into his mind. First, Ling Chen checked the stacking limit: it had risen from ninety-nine years to nine hundred and ninety-nine years.
After a brief moment of thought, he immediately figured it out.
His stacking limit was determined by the age range of the Soul Rings he absorbed. The upper limit for white Soul Rings was ninety-nine years, while the upper limit for yellow Soul Rings was nine hundred and ninety-nine years.
And so on. If Ling Chen wanted to unlock higher Soul Ring age limits, he would have to absorb Soul Rings with greater age limits.
It seemed a bit underwhelming at first glance, but in truth, it was incredibly powerful.
The stacking limit didn't do much to strengthen newly absorbed Soul Rings, but it let him stack all his previous ten-year and hundred-year Soul Rings up to the age limit of his new Soul Ring. That would bring a qualitative leap in the power of his Soul Skills.
So what was there to say? Just do it!
The White Dragon instantly woke up and spat out one ninety-nine-year white Soul Ring after another, placing them around Ling Chen and fusing them with the four-hundred-year yellow Soul Ring.
Four hundred and ninety-nine years, five hundred and ninety-eight years... eight hundred and ninety-five years, nine hundred and ninety-four years, nine hundred and ninety-nine years.
Six ninety-nine-year Soul Rings and one ten-year Soul Ring had successfully brought Ling Chen's first Soul Ring up to the stacking limit.
However, there were still eighty unused ninety-nine-year white Soul Rings left, which left Ling Chen feeling a little wistful.
Once Spirit Hall made its move against both the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, there would be many more Soul Rings.
At his current level, he couldn't use so many stacked Soul Rings. But that might not be true in the future.
For nine million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand years, or ninety-nine million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand years, how many hundred-year Soul Rings would he need to stack to reach such age limits?
His consciousness returned to reality. Looking at his Soul Ring, yellow with a hint of purple, Ling Chen couldn't help laughing ruefully. It might not be noticeable at first glance, but a closer look would certainly reveal something unusual.
"How is it? How do you feel?"
Gu Rong had been watching the changes in Ling Chen's expression the whole time, afraid something might go wrong.
Ling Chen grinned.
"Fantastic!"
Before you continue