Nine-Nether Ao! One of the Ten Primordial Evils!

"Why panic?"

Lin Qiu said calmly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he stopped suppressing the aura within him.

Boom!

An aura even more terrifying, ancient, and ferocious than the one that had erupted when the Titan Giant Ape appeared swept out from Lin Qiu's body.

The Titan Giant Ape, which had been about to smash Chrysanthemum Douluo to death with one punch, suddenly froze.

"!!!"

A trace of humanlike confusion—and... wariness?—showed in its blood-red eyes.

Behind Lin Qiu, the Chaos Green Lotus quietly faded away.

In its place appeared a vast, ink-black sea. Above it, the enormous, hideous shadow of a Ferocious Beast slowly emerged.

It was shaped like a wolf, but it had nine snarling heads. Fangs jutted from every maw, and its eyes glowed blood-red, as if they held the chilling depths of the Nine Nether Hells.

Behind it, nine enormous tails stretched out like evil dragons. Even their tips bore barbed hooks resembling dragon heads, gleaming with a vicious light, ready to devour anything in their path.

The Nine-Nether Ao!

One of the Ten Primordial Evils!

An supreme malevolent spirit from the Shrouding Heavens World, powerful enough to devour heaven and earth!

As this Martial Soul Avatar appeared, two blood-red rings slowly rose from beneath Lin Qiu's feet.

They were no ordinary Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.

They were Hundred Thousand Year God-Bestowed Soul Rings, altered by the system and imbued with the baleful aura of the Shrouding Heavens World!

Red light filled the sky, staining the entire forest crimson.

At that moment, Lin Qiu's figure was small, yet in the eyes of Chrysanthemum Douluo and Hu Liena, he seemed thousands of times taller than the Titan Giant Ape.

The pressure rising from the depths of their bloodlines made even the surrounding air seem to freeze.

Everything fell silent.

The once-rampaging Titan Giant Ape now took a hesitant half-step back. A low, uneasy growl rumbled from its throat as it stared fixedly at the shadow of the Nine-Nether Ao.

From that shadow, it sensed the aura of a superior being.

It was a terrifying bloodline that could tear it apart and devour it with ease.

"This..."

Chrysanthemum Douluo gaped, his jaw nearly hitting the ground. He was completely petrified.

"Th-this is the young master's Martial Soul?"

"Such pressure... could it be even more terrifying than a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

Lin Qiu stood with his hands behind his back as the Nine-Nether Ao's shadow roared at the heavens, shattering the firmament.

The shadow was so enormous that its nine heads loomed above the Star Dou Forest like towering mountains.

Each head exhaled black mist—the stillness of death from the depths of hell.

The Titan Giant Ape's blood-red eyes, once ablaze with savagery and fury, now trembled faintly.

It could feel it.

This wasn't suppression by Soul Power Level. It was an overwhelming force rooted in the very level of life itself—in the source of the soul.

In its perception, the tiny human boy before it was no longer human. He was an unparalleled Fiend God who had once fed on stars and regarded all living things as mere weeds.

If it dared take even one more step forward, those nine gaping maws, each capable of devouring heaven and earth, would mercilessly chew it to pieces, hide and bone alike.

The king of the forest was afraid.

Its mountain-like body stood frozen in place. Uneasy whimpers rumbled from its throat, like a young beast that had stumbled upon its natural enemy.

Lin Qiu stood with his hands behind his back, his expression as calm as if he were strolling through his own garden.

He made no unnecessary movements. Simply standing there, his presence was already perfectly complete.

One man had cowed a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

At last.

The Titan Giant Ape slowly took one step back.

That slight step seemed like a signal.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, the previously imperious colossus whipped around and fled toward the forest's inner reaches, scrambling on both hands and feet.

Rumble—

The earth trembled again, but this time the sound grew more and more distant.

Only after the Titan Giant Ape had vanished into the depths of the woods did the suffocating pressure slowly dissipate.

With a thought from Lin Qiu, the Nine-Nether Ao's shadow dissolved into specks of starlight. The two scarlet Hundred Thousand Year God-Bestowed Soul Rings beneath his feet faded away as well.

The forest returned to peace, falling even quieter than before.

"This... this..."

A golden figure stumbled out from the shadows.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan had none of a Titled Douluo's composure left. His delicate face was frozen in shock, his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.

He had been prepared to fight to the death. He had even accepted that he might perish there.

And what happened?

Not only had their young master refused to run, he had actually scared that fiend... away?

That was the Titan Giant Ape!

Even if His Holiness the Pope had come in person, it would have taken considerable effort to drive it off. What had just happened was practically a myth come to life.

Yue Guan looked at Lin Qiu differently now.

Before, he had merely respected the Pope's adopted son. Now he revered him as a strong fighter.

A Soul Saint driving off a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

If anyone told that story, no one on the entire Douluo Continent would believe it.

"Qiu..."

Hu Liena finally came to her senses. She had completely forgotten to act demure. Her beautiful eyes clung to Lin Qiu, brimming with so much admiration it seemed ready to spill over.

This was the man she loved.

Powerful, mysterious, and capable of anything.

She would never forget his figure as he stood there like a demon god descended to earth—not even a hundred years from now.

Lin Qiu turned around and saw the two of them staring as if they had seen a ghost. He lightly brushed dust that wasn't there from his sleeve.

"It's over."

His tone was casual, as if he had just chased away an annoying fly.

"That big fellow knew when to quit. If it had stayed a moment longer, I wouldn't have minded trying braised monkey brains."

Yue Guan's mouth twitched.

Braised monkey brains?

That was the brain of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Titan Giant Ape!

The young master's appetite... was a bit much.

Seeing that Lin Qiu was truly unharmed, Yue Guan let out a long breath. At last, his hanging heart settled.

But he soon realized something.

The power Lin Qiu had just displayed, and the strange pressure from his Martial Soul, were far beyond anything an ordinary Soul Master could understand.

This might even affect Spirit Hall's plans for the future.

Yue Guan gave Lin Qiu a long look, then quietly retreated and vanished into the darkness again.

He had to report everything that had happened here to His Holiness the Pope, without leaving out a single detail.

The young master's potential was probably ten, even a hundred times more terrifying than anyone had imagined!

"Qiu, what was that move you just used? It was so cool!"

Hu Liena had already come over, tugging on Lin Qiu's arm and shaking it, excitement written all over her face.

Lin Qiu smiled and was about to speak, but his brows lifted slightly.

A commotion rumbled in the distance, accompanied by the roars of Soul Beasts and a woman's shout.