Thunder Hell Vine

Hearing Su Ming's confident words, Dugu Bo stopped trying to dissuade him. The two of them waited quietly for Dugu Yan to finish absorbing her fourth Soul Ring.

Two hours later, Dugu Yan opened her eyes. She had finished absorbing it..

Dugu Bo hurried over to ask her about it, and Su Ming followed close behind.

"What changes did your Martial Soul undergo, Yanyan? What's your Soul Skill?"

Dugu Yan didn't waste any time. She immediately used Martial Soul Possession.

Dugu Bo and Su Ming looked at Dugu Yan's Martial Soul. She had indeed purged the poison from her body and absorbed an immortal herb, the Eight-Petal Orchid, which had strengthened her constitution and removed impurities. Her source was now pure..

She had also absorbed a Sub-Dragon Soul Beast. The originally dark green scales of her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul had turned ice blue, and two little horns had grown on her head. Looking down at its belly, they saw four legs. Her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul could now be called the Jade Phosphorous Ice Flood Dragon.

Seeing Dugu Yan's Martial Soul evolve, Dugu Bo broke into a broad smile.

"Not bad, not bad. Her Martial Soul really did evolve. How effective is your Soul Skill?"

Su Ming quickly chimed in.

"Right, since your Martial Soul evolved, what changes did your first three Soul Skills undergo?"

Dugu Yan sensed her Soul Power Level and the Soul Skills of her first three Soul Rings. They hadn't changed much; they had only gained an ice attribute.

"My Soul Power has risen to level forty-three. My fourth Soul Skill is called Cold Poison Dragon Scale. When I use it, dragon claws appear on my body, and I can also release ice-blue cold poison. It increases my attack and defense by twenty percent."

"As for my first three Soul Skills, aside from the poison gaining an ice attribute, nothing else has changed."

With the discerning eye of a Titled Douluo, Dugu Bo could naturally tell that once her Martial Soul evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Ice Flood Dragon, her fighting style had changed too. She had gone from control to assault.

"Not bad, not bad. Now you've got dragon claws. You've gone straight from control to assault. Once you activate your fourth Soul Skill, you can charge into a crowd. If they surround you, quickly unleash your three Soul Skills, attacking and releasing poison as you go—and now with cold air, too. Just imagine how that'll feel."

Su Ming said, "And your fifth Soul Skill could definitely be an area-control type. Ideally, it could freeze your enemies in place. Then you could keep attacking them with poison."

Afterward, Dugu Bo found a thousand-year Soul Beast and had Dugu Yan demonstrate how her fourth Soul Skill worked alongside her first three.

Watching, Su Ming thought, As expected, it's that powerful. She's practically a walking nuclear weapon—wherever she goes, everything gets poisoned.

The Soul Hunting trip had gone very smoothly, taking only one morning. But instead of returning to Soul Splitting Town to rest, they flew straight toward Heaven Dou City using Su Ming's Martial Soul.

The Extreme North Land and Star Dou Forest lay at opposite ends of the region, one in the north and one in the south. Heaven Dou City was on the way.

So they decided to rest in Heaven Dou City for a night. After three more days of flying, they finally arrived on the third evening.

Once they reached Heaven Dou City, he went straight to Dugu Manor rather than returning to Shrek Academy, so they wouldn't waste time.

After they arrived at Dugu Manor, Dugu Bo asked Dugu Yan whether she wanted to make another trip to Star Dou Forest or wait here.

Dugu Yan thought it over and decided not to join them in hunting Soul Beasts. She didn't stay at home either, but went straight back to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Watching Dugu Yan set off for Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Su Ming stopped Dugu Bo, who was about to head back to his room to rest, and pulled him over to the living-room sofa. He sat down too.

Once they were seated, Su Ming turned serious and said to Dugu Bo:

"Listen, Old Monster. Don't go resting just yet. I need to tell you something."

"Tomorrow morning, we'll go Soul Hunting. With your strength, killing a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast won't be difficult. Getting back will be the hard part."

"After we return from hunting the Soul Ring, word will get out in Heaven Dou City that Dugu Yan's Martial Soul evolved. Once the various major powers investigate, they'll find out it evolved after she met me."

"They'll dig into my background and discover that Wang Sheng, who attended the same Primary Academy as me, also had his Martial Soul evolve. With two examples involving different Martial Souls, they'll be certain I can help people evolve their Martial Souls. You'll have to protect me then, Sect Guardian Elder."

Hearing Su Ming's worried words, Dugu Bo said with a laugh,

"Little Monster, when nothing's wrong, you call me Old Monster. When you need something, suddenly I'm the Sect Guardian Elder. You, honestly..."

"Don't worry. I'll protect you."

"I don't believe you didn't see this coming. You must have a way to counter it, or some way to get others on your side and keep you safe."

At Dugu Bo's retort, Su Ming looked a little embarrassed.

"I do have a plan. I'm just giving you a heads-up first. We'll take care of it after we get back from hunting the Soul Ring. I'll need to borrow the intimidating presence of your level-ninety-four Titled Douluo strength then, my Sect Guardian Elder."

"Fine! Sect Master Su."

As he spoke, Dugu Bo stood up and headed toward the bedroom.

Watching Dugu Bo go off to rest, Su Ming followed him to the guest room.

Early the next morning, the two of them flew toward Star Dou Forest using Su Ming's Martial Soul. After five days of flying at full speed, they finally reached Soul Hunting Town.

On the way to Star Dou Forest, Su Ming had already told Dugu Bo where they were headed.

In a place called Thunder Roar Cliff within Star Dou Forest grew a Soul Beast known as the "Thunder Hell Vine."

Su Ming's target on this trip was a "Thunder Hell Vine" just over ten thousand years old.

Star Dou Forest was vast, so it took the two of them half a day just to find Thunder Roar Cliff. When they arrived, they discovered that despite its name,

it was actually a mountain range. Most of the Soul Beasts living there were lightning-type, with a few wind-, fire-, earth-, and plant-type Soul Beasts mixed in. It was called Thunder Roar Cliff entirely because of one Plant-type Soul Beast.

That's right: the "Thunder Hell Vine."

The two of them searched the mountain range for a while. They came across a "Thunder Hell Vine" that was six thousand years old, but its age was too low, so they kept searching.

After an afternoon of searching, they found a "Thunder Hell Vine" that was over twelve thousand years old.

The ten-thousand-year-old "Thunder Hell Vine" had gained some intelligence. Seeing people approach, it immediately summoned lightning and struck at Su Ming and Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo used Soul Power to block the lightning strike, then rushed forward and slapped it with a poison-coated palm. One blow poisoned it so badly that it was left on its last breath.

Seeing it barely alive, Su Ming took out a dagger and cut through its roots. The enormous lightning vine immediately toppled to the ground.

As the "Thunder Hell Vine" condensed its Soul Ring, Su Ming used the Creation Furnace to disguise what happened, so Dugu Bo wouldn't notice anything unusual. It appeared that the whole vine had turned to ash and vanished after the Soul Ring was formed, when in fact it had been absorbed into the Creation Furnace.

Seeing the vine turn to ash and disappear, Dugu Bo said nothing. There were countless Soul Beasts, and plenty of them vanished into ash after being killed and condensing a Soul Ring.

Once it was done and Dugu Bo had no suspicions, Su Ming began absorbing the Soul Ring, using the Creation Furnace to improve the quality of the Thunder God bloodline.