Six years later, beneath the Angel Statue in the Worship Hall.
A young man sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. He wore a purple-and-gold robe embroidered with a fierce golden Kirin. His handsome face was fair, and his long purple-and-gold hair was tied high with a white cloud-patterned hairpin. He slowly opened his eyes. A spark of electricity flashed, and his pale blue eyes held only indifference and coldness. This was Su Zhen.
"I've finally broken through to level 40. I wonder if my teacher has found the Soul Ring I need."
If anyone else had heard Su Zhen's muttering, they would have collapsed on the spot. A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor had never before appeared in the entire Soul Master World. Such talent was nothing short of monstrous.
Normally, Qian Daoliu wouldn't have needed to personally search for a fourth Soul Ring for a Soul Ancestor. It was truly a waste of his great abilities. But the Soul Beast Su Zhen needed was exceptionally rare; even Star Dou Forest didn't have one. As soon as Qian Daoliu had learned about that kind of Soul Beast from Di Tian, he had personally searched all over the continent. Only someone with the strength of a Limit Douluo like him could find the creature in the shortest time. As for calling on Spirit Hall's forces, that would let Bibi Dong learn Su Zhen's background, so the Great Enshrined had no choice but to go himself.
"Brother Zhen, when are we going to hunt for my Soul Ring? It's already been half a month since I broke through to Soul Grandmaster."
An eight-year-old boy with grayish-white hair walked in and asked. He was Oscar. After Su Zhen had brought him to Spirit Hall as a child, he had lived in the orphanage in Spirit City ever since. Thanks to Su Zhen, he had enjoyed a very good life there, often getting special meals made with Soul Beast meat. Su Zhen also took him around Spirit City whenever he had free time between classes, so Oscar had been especially close to him since childhood.
Su Zhen gazed at Oscar's captivating golden, peach-blossom eyes, momentarily lost in a daze. The baby who had once drunk wild-vegetable porridge in his arms had become a Soul Grandmaster. When Oscar turned six, Su Zhen had made a special trip to the Spirit City orphanage to awaken his Martial Soul himself. Just as expected, Oscar had an Innate Full Soul Power Sausage Martial Soul. The first food-type Soul Master with Innate Full Soul Power on the continent had barely appeared before the news reached Pope Bibi Dong. She had even come in person, hoping to take Oscar away, but Su Zhen had come prepared and brought Guang Ling along for the awakening. Faced with the Worship Hall's unyielding stance, Bibi Dong could only return empty-handed.
After Oscar was brought to the Worship Hall, he immediately became the disciple of the Fifth Enshrined, Guang Ling. Guang Ling was delighted and even went to Star Dou Forest himself to hunt Oscar's First Soul Ring. Thanks to Whale Rubber, Oscar's First Soul Ring came from a Fragrant Bone Pig over six hundred years old. It could speed up the recovery of injuries, Soul Power, and stamina, and lasted for fifteen minutes. Now, after Su Zhen, he was the Worship Hall's second most beloved treasure.
"Don't rush, Little Ao. I reckon they should be here soon."
"Xiao Zhen, Little Ao, I'm back. Get ready. It's time to hunt your Soul Rings."
"Teacher / Great-Grandpa."
Qian Daoliu walked in from outside the Worship Hall. He came up to the two boys and looked them over with satisfaction. A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor and an eight-year-old Soul Grandmaster—they were both peerless talents, the kind that were hard to come by. And now both were gathered in their Worship Hall.
"Teacher, we're ready. Let's go."
"Good."
Northwestern Province of the Heaven Dou Empire,
A simple carriage rolled along a mountain path. Inside, Su Zhen, Oscar, and Qian Daoliu sat together.
"Xiao Zhen, the Soul Beast you need is in the deepest part of Thunder Canyon. We have to finish this hunt quickly to avoid being discovered by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect."
"Thunder Canyon? The one behind the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect?"
"Mm. The lightning attribute is strongest there on the entire continent, so it's only natural that the Soul Beast you need would be born there."
"It's only the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect. They have just one Thunder Douluo at level 95. With Great-Grandpa's strength, couldn't you just sweep them aside? Why be so careful?"
This time, it was Oscar who spoke.
"Little Ao, what have I always taught you? A gentleman should be benevolent and keep to proper conduct, with compassion in his heart. We're hunting here without their knowledge, so we're already in the wrong. If we also wiped out the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, that would be the behavior of a petty villain."
Qian Daoliu sternly rebuked Oscar.
The moving carriage came to a halt.
"Get out. I'll carry you the rest of the way."
Su Zhen stepped out of the carriage. Not far away, he saw nine towering mountain ranges joined together, with an ancient-looking cluster of buildings nestled at their foot.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect is built against the mountains, easy to defend and hard to attack. It'll take some effort to deal with them later.
Qian Daoliu swept Su Zhen and Oscar up with him and shot into the sky, flying toward Thunder Canyon beyond the nine mountain ranges.
Thunder Canyon was shrouded in thunderclouds all year round, making the lightning elements within it exceptionally active. Most lightning-attribute Soul Beasts on the continent could be found there. That was why the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect had established its clan there and claimed Thunder Canyon as its private territory.
As soon as they entered the canyon's range, a torrent of lightning fell from the clouds and struck at the three of them. Qian Daoliu casually formed a Soul Power shield, blocking every bolt.
After flying for nearly an hour, Qian Daoliu slowly descended with the two boys.
Su Zhen stood on the charred earth and surveyed his surroundings. The moment he landed, he felt the rich lightning elements here. Even breathing in made his body tingle.
Countless lightning-struck trees grew here, and the scorched ground was riddled with craters left by lightning strikes. There was no sign of life in the valley. Under the cover of black clouds, the place seemed like a land of the dead.
"Why is it so desolate? Is the Soul Beast Brother Zhen needs really here?"
"It's desolate because this is the deepest part of Thunder Canyon, where lightning strikes most frequently. Not every Soul Beast or plant can survive here. If we head a little farther out of the valley, we'll still see Soul Beasts."
"Then where do we look for the Soul Beast Brother Zhen needs?"
"We don't have to look. That Soul Beast is extremely territorial. It sensed our presence just now, and it's already on its way."
"Hiss—"
A beast's roar rang out. It was deafening and strangely hollow. In their ears, it sounded like a thunderclap, shaking their brains with pain.
"It's here. A fifteen-thousand-year-old lightning-attribute overlord—the Thunder Spirit."
Thunder Spirits were born from the condensation of the world's lightning elements. They appeared only in places where lightning elements were at their densest, and had no fixed species or appearance. Some took the shape of snakes or dragons, others of tigers or lions. A hundred Thunder Spirits meant a hundred different appearances. The one Su Zhen and the others encountered was a purple serpent. It had two horns on its head and no nose or eyes. A huge mouth took up its entire face, and its body was fifteen meters long. Countless bolts of lightning coursed over its body in place of hard scales. Speed like a flash of lightning and a roar like a thunderclap were the Thunder Spirit's most distinctive traits.
"Xiao Zhen, spar with it for a while. I'll step in if you can't hold on."
Su Zhen had been itching for a fight. He activated Martial Soul Possession, and three purple Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet. The third was already tinged with black, barely short of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
"Thunderstorm Shocking God Transformation!"
"Startling Thunder Flash!"
The First and Second Soul Rings beneath Su Zhen's feet lit up in succession. His body turned into a bolt of lightning as he charged at the Thunder Spirit.
Su Zhen's Second Soul Ring came from a four-thousand-year-old Instant Thunder Bright Bird. It gave him a 200 percent boost to his speed for twenty minutes and increased the power of his lightning-attribute Soul Skills by 50 percent.
Just as his electrified claws were about to strike the Thunder Spirit, a flash of white light streaked past. The Thunder Spirit vanished from the spot in an instant and reappeared behind Su Zhen, opening its huge mouth to bite him. Su Zhen hurriedly pivoted into a roundhouse kick to block its attack, then a crack of thunder boomed beneath his feet as he sprang backward.
"Thunder Spirits are darlings of the world, incarnations of thunder. They have speed comparable to lightning, so you must stay completely focused when fighting one."
From a short distance away, Qian Daoliu explained the Thunder Spirit's characteristics to Su Zhen.
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