Shadow Flood Dragon! Nine Nether Beast Ancient Ferocious Beast, Terrifying Bloodline!

Lin Yuan traveled alone, weaving through the dense forest in the inner perimeter.

The light grew dimmer all around, and the air was thick with the scent of decay that had not seen sunlight for years.

Tall, thick ancient trees blocked out the sky, and intricate vines coiled around the trunks like giant pythons.

After searching for several hours, he encountered many soul beasts with cultivation levels of two or three thousand years.

Yet, he never once made a move.

It was not because these soul beasts were too strong, but simply because they did not meet his requirements.

As an ancient ferocious beast, the Nine Nether Beast possessed an incredibly domineering bloodline.

If he were to forcibly absorb a soul ring with ordinary attributes, not only would he fail to unleash its maximum power, but it would also drag down the purity of his martial soul.

Only soul beasts that inherently carried the bloodline of powerful ferocious beasts, or those with mutated top-tier bloodlines, were the nourishment most compatible with the growth of the Nine Nether Beast.

Unknowingly, Lin Yuan had ventured deep into the heart of this Soul Hunting Forest.

Ahead appeared a Dark Swamp shrouded in thick fog.

The surface of the swamp was covered in a layer of foul-smelling, dark green duckweed, and the surroundings were deathly silent; not even the chirping of insects or the calls of birds could be heard.

Lin Yuan stopped in his tracks, stepping onto a relatively solid bluestone.

He intended to take this opportunity to rest for a moment and recover his strength.

The moment he stood still, an extremely concealed shadow was swimming silently and rapidly beneath the water deep in the swamp.

It was a Shadow Flood Dragon over fifteen meters in length.

This flood dragon was covered from head to tail in hard, ink-black scales, the edges of which shimmered with a highly toxic, eerie light.

It was an extremely cruel and evil soul beast that relied on the partial flood dragon bloodline within its body to dominate this Dark Swamp.

It never let any creature that dared to approach its territory escape.

At this moment, its blood-red eyes, which looked like two red lanterns, had already locked onto Lin Yuan on the bank through the murky, muddy water.

It had a near-maniacal craving for the flesh and blood of human soul masters.

The water surface did not even ripple; the sneak attack of the Shadow Flood Dragon came without any warning.

"Splash—"

A massive amount of black mud mixed with foul, filthy water erupted into the sky.

The Shadow Flood Dragon's massive head broke the surface in an instant.

It opened its blood-red maw, filled with sharp fangs, and aimed directly at Lin Yuan on the bank.

A large, concentrated stream of pitch-black venom sprayed out like a waterfall.

This venom possessed the terrifying power to rot bones and dissolve flesh; wherever it passed, even the air hissed as it was corroded.

The surrounding vegetation turned into a pool of black liquid the moment it was touched.

Had it been an ordinary soul master, they would have had no way to dodge such a sudden, toxic spray and would have been reduced to a pile of dry bones on the spot.

But Lin Yuan was incredibly sensitive to the aura of demonic beasts.

The very instant the shadow moved beneath the water, he had already sensed the murderous intent.

Facing the deadly venom covering the sky, Lin Yuan did not move his feet, nor did he even frown.

The Nine Nether Beast bloodline hidden deep within his meridians surged instantly.

Ink-like dark power poured out from his body, transforming into a twisting vortex of darkness before him.

The toxic liquid, capable of melting even rock, was swallowed up completely and domineeringly the moment it touched this dark power, as if a clay ox had entered the sea.

Not even a single drop of spray touched the hem of Lin Yuan's clothes.

Failing in one strike, the Shadow Flood Dragon let out a sharp hiss.

It slammed its massive tail against the water, and using the recoil, its enormous body shot toward Lin Yuan's face like a black giant arrow released from a bow.

Lin Yuan sneered.

"Courting death."

He stomped his right foot heavily, shattering the bluestone beneath him, and used the force to soar into the sky.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, charging straight toward the behemoth.

In mid-air, Lin Yuan clenched his right hand into a fist.

Violent power gathered frantically at his knuckles.

There were no flashy techniques, just the ultimate explosion of pure physical strength and bloodline power.

With a fierce punch, he struck precisely at the softest reverse scale on the Shadow Flood Dragon's lower jaw.

"Boom!"

A thunderous roar exploded over the swamp.

The Shadow Flood Dragon's massive body, over fifteen meters long, was actually brought to a momentary standstill in mid-air by this irresistible force.

Immediately after, piercing screams echoed through the dense forest.

The Shadow Flood Dragon spewed a large mouthful of black blood mixed with organ fragments from its massive maw.

Its entire body, like a kite with a broken string, crashed heavily back into the swamp, splashing mud everywhere.

This attack had completely enraged the ferocious beast with Flood Dragon bloodline.

It thrashed its body wildly, churning the entire swamp into boiling water.

Countless dark water arrows, carrying potent poison, shot towards Lin Yuan in mid-air from all directions.

Lin Yuan twisted his body in the air, landing steadily on the thick branch of an ancient tree nearby.

Looking at the soul beast in its berserk state below, he felt the tyrannical Flood Dragon bloodline aura emanating from within it.

This was an extremely rare four-thousand-year soul beast.

It perfectly met his requirements for his first spirit ring.

Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, his blood beginning to surge and flow at an unprecedented speed.

Over the past few years, Bibi Dong had fed him countless rare spiritual herbs and elixirs from the outside world to solidify his foundation.

These immense medicinal energies had been dormant within his limbs and bones, never fully absorbed.

Now, stimulated by the life-and-death battle, these long-suppressed medicinal energies exploded like a gunpowder keg that had been ignited.

A torrent of surging energy madly scoured Lin Yuan's meridians.

The Nine Nether Beast bloodline and martial soul were completely activated at this moment.

The colossal phantom image of an ancient ferocious beast, so vast it blotted out the sky, slowly materialized behind Lin Yuan.

Nine tails, like nine demonic dragons capable of easily shattering stars, writhed wantonly in the void.

As his martial soul was fully revealed, Lin Yuan's aura began to climb wildly, his power temporarily surging.

A pressure from the ancient era, that of a top predator that stood alone against eternity, descended upon the swamp below.

The Shadow Flood Dragon, which had been frantically counterattacking, trembled violently the instant this pressure arrived.

It was an absolute suppression from the depths of its soul.

In the face of a beast like the Nine Nether Beast, an ancestor of ferocious beasts, its own thin Flood Dragon bloodline was utterly insignificant.

Seizing the moment the Shadow Flood Dragon was stunned by the pressure, Lin Yuan leaped down from the tree trunk.

Every punch Lin Yuan threw carried a heavy force that could shatter the void.

When the Flood Dragon's tail swept over, he met it head-on with his bare arms.

Time trickled by.

"BOOM!!!"

A full half-hour of fierce combat.

The ancient trees within a hundred-meter radius were completely destroyed, and shocking, massive craters were gouged into the ground.

Lin Yuan's clothes were tattered, and several bloody gashes from scales had appeared on his arms and shoulders.

Yet, far from showing any fatigue, he grew stronger with each passing moment, each strike more lethal than the last.