Douluo: Starting Out by Roasting Grandmaster

But when he saw what it was, Lu Yu was dumbfounded.

Lu Fei beside him could not help exclaiming, "Holy shit, a Golden Armor-Piercing Beast? Did a Soul Beast just deliver itself to our doorstep?"

That was right. This Golden Armor-Piercing Beast was one of Lu Yu's targets on this trip.

No, more accurately, the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast had not been among Lu Yu's potential choices. Although this type of Soul Beast fit his needs, it was far too rare. Lu Yu had never even considered that he might encounter one.

The Golden Armor-Piercing Beast might have been a herbivorous Soul Beast, but the horn on its head was no decoration. Among opponents of the same rank, there was no defense it could not pierce.

And because it could only attack by charging, if Lu Yu used it as his Soul Ring, there was a high chance it would grant him a defensive-breaking enhancement Soul Skill.

Judging by the number of rings on its horn, there were exactly seven. That meant this Golden Armor-Piercing Beast had a cultivation of around seven hundred years.

It could not have suited him better.

Even Lu Yu had not expected a Soul Beast to come knocking on its own, and for it to be the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast that best met his needs.

When the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast spotted Lu Yu and Lu Fei, it first studied them warily. Only after hearing Lu Fei's shout did it turn and flee.

That was right. It fled.

As herbivorous Soul Beasts, their first instinct when faced with danger was always to run. They would only retaliate after being driven into a corner.

But how could Lu Yu let it get away?

The instant it turned around, Lu Yu became a string of afterimages and gave chase. At the same time, the Eight-Faced Han Sword appeared in his hand.

Seeing this, Lu Fei hurried after him.

Speed was not the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast's strong suit.

Lu Yu, using Lingbo Microsteps, quickly caught up with it.

"Nine Absolutes Sword Technique—Flash Shadow Triple Kill!"

Other than its armor-piercing charge, the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast posed no threat to Lu Yu. So the moment he attacked, he used a killing move.

He intended to take it down in one strike.

Soul Power surged as he raised his hand and slashed three times through the air. Three streaks of golden sword energy appeared, their sharp sword intent enough to make one shudder.

The sword energy formed the shape of the Chinese character for rice. Its curving arcs created an overwhelmingly powerful visual impact that seemed almost unbelievable.

This was actually a Soul Skill that a Soul Scholar could unleash.

The sword energy tore through the sky and nearly instantly caught up to the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast. Sensing danger, the beast abruptly stopped and turned, trying to block the attack.

Unfortunately, the gap in strength was too great.

"Pfft..."

The fierce sword energy instantly tore open the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast's flesh.

Hot blood sprayed into the air as the Soul Beast crashed to the ground.

That was right. The Golden Armor-Piercing Beast had died just like that, without even understanding why.

"No way, it's already done?" Lu Fei, who had caught up, stared blankly at the dark yellow Soul Ring slowly rising from the corpse.

It was still a seven-hundred-year Soul Beast, after all.

And it died in the blink of an eye?

Lu Yu said calmly, "It's just a herbivorous Soul Beast. It has little ability to fight back. Did you expect a fierce battle?"

"Uh... ahem, ahem..."

Only then did Lu Fei realize he had lost his composure. He hurriedly covered his embarrassment with a few coughs.

"Stand guard for me. I'll absorb the Soul Ring first." With that, Lu Yu walked over to the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast's corpse and sat down cross-legged.

Soul Power gathered in his right hand, and the Eight-Faced Han Sword slowly emerged. It then descended before Lu Yu, hovering in midair.

Drawn by a burst of golden light, the dark yellow Soul Ring belonging to the Golden Armor-Piercing Beast slowly flew toward Lu Yu.

As the Soul Ring drew closer, Lu Yu felt a powerful pressure crashing down on him, making every bone in his body crack.

Lu Yu's cultivation method was unusual, and his physique far surpassed that of ordinary people. Otherwise, that pressure alone would have crushed him completely.

Very soon, the Soul Ring reached the top of Lu Yu's head. It gave him almost no time to react before shrinking into a bracelet-sized ring and settling onto the Eight-Faced Han Sword.

In an instant, Lu Yu felt as if his right hand had been plunged into lava. A scorching yet razor-sharp energy surged wildly into his body. The moment it entered, it began battering his meridians and internal organs.

Even with Lu Yu's powerful physique, the force of that Soul Power impact still made his whole body tremble uncontrollably.

Seven hundred years was not only the limit for a Soul Grandmaster, but also his own limit. So the process was far from easy.

Fortunately, though the Soul Power impact was intense, it had not reached the point Lu Yu could not endure. The process was simply very unpleasant.

Beside him, Lu Fei watched Lu Yu tremble without stopping and grew anxious. After all, all of this had only been their speculation.

What if it failed?

Lu Fei did not dare imagine it.

Without a powerful Soul Master present, if Lu Yu failed to absorb it, there would be no chance of survival. Death would be the only outcome.

Fortunately, as time passed, Lu Yu's trembling gradually subsided and finally became still. That was clearly a sign that the absorption had succeeded.

"Phew..."

Lu Fei could not help letting out a breath of relief, though even his exhale trembled slightly.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. The mission has been completed, and the reward has been issued."

"Ding! A new mission has been released. Please check it."

Two system notifications rang out in Lu Yu's mind one after another, but instead of being pleased, his face darkened.

"System, please come out and explain this. Where exactly did you issue my reward?"

Absorbing a seven-hundred-year First Soul Ring had indeed improved Lu Yu's potential. He could clearly feel that his speed of absorbing the world's primordial energy had increased a little.

But only a little. It was nothing too dramatic.

The problem was that this had been granted by the Soul Ring, not a reward from the system.

Where was the system reward?

Could this thing actually borrow flowers to offer Buddha?

However, the system ignored him completely.

Only now did Lu Yu understand that this was not a mission at all.

It was plainly just a reminder, telling him the maximum limit his First Soul Ring could withstand.

Although he was a little annoyed, Lu Yu's attention was soon drawn to his First Soul Skill.

"Holy shit, this is practically a god-tier skill."

A First Soul Skill Comparable to a Divine Skill

Absolute Armor Piercing: After using this Soul Skill, the next attack will inflict a one-hundred-percent armor-piercing effect. It can be stacked with other Soul Skills.

The description in the system alone might not have seemed very intuitive, but the feedback from Lu Yu's own Soul Skill made him understand just how absurdly powerful it was.

One-hundred-percent armor piercing meant that from now on, there would be no defense in his eyes that he could not break.

Of course.

That one hundred percent referred to opponents of the same rank.

If he wanted to fight above his rank, the result would be another matter.

After all, the quality of Soul Power differed, as did the level of defense.

The most incredible thing about this Soul Skill was that it could be stacked with other Soul Skills.

In other words, if Lu Yu used this Soul Skill and his next attack was just an ordinary strike, it would not be of much use.

He might not even be able to break the defenses of a defense-type Soul Master of the same rank.

But what if his next attack was Flash Shadow Triple Kill?

At that point, let alone opponents of the same rank, even Soul Grandmasters or Soul Elders would probably be unable to withstand that strike.

And what if his next attack was a Ninth Soul Skill, or Flash Shadow Triple Kill after reaching level ninety? At that point, it would probably truly ignore all defenses.

That made it obvious just how powerful this Soul Skill was.

As expected of a seven-hundred-year Soul Beast. As expected of the exceptionally rare Golden Armor-Piercing Beast. This Soul Skill was simply perfect.

Additionally.

The seven-hundred-year First Soul Ring had given Lu Yu not only an outrageously powerful Soul Skill, but also a full three levels of Soul Power.

And he was not far from level four.

Within a month, Lu Yu was confident he could break through to level fourteen.

Only then would he truly catch up to Tang San.

If Tang San found out, he would probably be so furious he coughed up blood.

Tang San had Innate Full Soul Power and had worked himself to the bone just to reach level fourteen, yet Lu Yu, who had only Innate Soul Power Level Five, had somehow caught up to him.

Where was the justice in that?

Of course, a breakthrough in cultivation was not merely a rise in Soul Power Level. Lu Yu's speed, physique, agility, and everything else had also increased tremendously.

Afterward, Lu Yu checked the new mission.

After reading it, Lu Yu's expression immediately became strange.

[Mission: Join Spirit Hall]

[Mission Details: Every genius needs a protector on their path to growth. Once you display talent beyond ordinary people, without a reliable faction to protect your path, you may easily die prematurely. Spirit Hall in this world is a good choice.]

[Mission Reward: External Soul Bone—Sword Finger / Ten Thousand Years / No Side Effects]

Lu Yu now seriously suspected that this damned system could hear his thoughts, but simply could not be bothered to respond to him.

There was no need to mention joining Spirit Hall. He had already planned to do that long ago. But this reward...

It was obviously prepared for Lu Fei.

A few days ago, he had been wondering what Lu Fei should do without a suitable weapon. Now the system had produced a Sword Finger.

Although he did not know its exact function, he could roughly guess from the name. Sword Finger, Sword Finger—was it not a finger Spirit Bone that could be used like a sword?

Still, this was a good thing, so Lu Yu naturally had nothing to complain about.

Weapons were useful, but they could not be used in every situation.

Take the Soul Master Tournament, for example.

No external objects were allowed in the tournament.

But Spirit Bones were different.

They did not count as external objects.

As everyone knew, support-type Soul Masters were the easiest to target. But imagine trying to assassinate the enemy's support Soul Master, only to discover that their combat strength was even greater than their team's main fighter.

How would you react?

Wouldn't you be scared half to death?

Caught off guard, the assassin would surely die on the spot.

"Brother Yu, how was it?" When Lu Yu opened his eyes, Lu Fei hurried forward to ask.

Lu Yu nodded. "Very good. Seven hundred years is about our limit. Any higher, and it becomes dangerous."

Lu Fei immediately grew excited and quickly asked, "What about your Soul Power? How many levels did your Soul Power Level rise?"

Lu Yu said, "More than three levels, almost four."

"Ha ha ha..." Lu Fei said happily, "Then aren't you about to catch up to Tang San?"

Lu Yu nodded.

Lu Fei said arrogantly, "What Innate Full Soul Power? It's nothing special. Brother Yu's cultivation method is still the best."

"Enough with the nonsense. Hurry up and let's go find your Soul Beast." Lu Yu could only shake his head helplessly at Lu Fei's glib tongue.