Bloody Battle and Absorption

Su Zhen stood not far away, watching the Thunder Spirit with vigilance. Even though he had already activated his second soul skill, he still couldn't keep up with the creature's speed. Had he not practiced keen reflexes under Grandfather Guang Ling, that last strike from the Thunder Spirit would surely have left him severely wounded.

"I cannot rely on speed to kill it; I must use other means."

Su Zhen lowered his arm, and a thunderous chirping sound emanated from his palm, as if thousands of birds were crying out at once. A massive amount of lightning elements condensed in his palm, forming a blinding white sphere of light with stray arcs of electricity dancing between them. This was a self-created soul skill he had developed based on a manga from his previous life.

"Chidori!"

As Su Zhen activated his second soul skill, he transformed into a bolt of thunder, charging toward the Thunder Spirit amidst the cacophony of a thousand birds.

The Thunder Spirit let out a roar, sensing the threat within the noisy chirping. With a flash, it dodged Su Zhen's assault once again. Su Zhen's Chidori struck the ground where the Thunder Spirit had been coiled, blasting out a crater the size of a human head.

"Xiao Zhen's technique has decent power, comparable to the third soul skill of some soul masters, though the difficulty of learning it is quite high."

Qian Daoliu watched Su Zhen's Chidori with a look of regret. This technique required an extremely high level of control over soul power and elements; it involved using soul power to draw in lightning elements, condensing them in the palm through high-intensity compression, and releasing them instantly upon impact. Qian Daoliu had originally wanted to promote this technique within Martial Soul Hall on a small scale, but the requirement for elemental control alone filtered out ninety-nine percent of soul masters. Even those who could compress the elements in their palms could not match the actual combat power Su Zhen displayed. He had no choice but to abandon the experiment.

Su Zhen stood up, the Chidori in his palm dissipating. The Thunder Spirit's repeated provocations had thoroughly enraged him.

"Third soul skill, Thunder Kirin Clone!"

The third soul ring beneath Su Zhen's feet shone brilliantly. Countless bolts of lightning emerged from his body and converged to the side. In the blink of an eye, a figure condensed—it looked seventy percent similar to Su Zhen, though its entire body was purple, and no soul rings floated beneath its feet.

This clone-type soul skill, derived from the 9000-Year Thunder-Roar Two-Headed Snake, created a lightning clone with seventy percent of his own strength and fifty percent of his physical durability. If the clone were struck, it would explode on the spot, though he could also control the detonation manually. The resulting arcs of electricity would paralyze enemies with immense power, and if necessary, he could swap positions with the clone.

Su Zhen flashed, appearing behind the Thunder Spirit, forming a pincer formation with his clone.

The clone moved, charging at the Thunder Spirit under Su Zhen's command. The Thunder Spirit roared, paying no mind to the energy construct before it. As soon as the clone reached the Thunder Spirit, it was swiped away by the creature's tail and exploded. A violent blast swept out from the point of impact, and countless arcs of electricity slammed into the Thunder Spirit, engulfing its position in a massive lightning storm.

"Hiss!"

The Thunder Spirit let out an angry roar, shattering the lightning storm. Its body remained intact, though the arcs of electricity dancing on its surface had diminished slightly. Such a terrifying attack had barely caused it any damage.

"The Thunder Spirit is immune to the vast majority of lightning-attribute attacks. Xiao Zhen, do not overuse your soul skills."

Qian Daoliu noticed something and called out to warn Su Zhen.

"This beast is quite a handful."

Su Zhen spat lightly. His soul power was already more than half depleted, yet the Thunder Spirit opposite him remained full of vigor.

"Since lightning attacks don't work, I'll serve it something better."

As he spoke, Su Zhen took nine white spheres from his soul tool. Each sphere was two centimeters in diameter, with a golden ring encircling each side. These were crafted from the patella of a Gold-Eating Ape. Because the Gold-Eating Ape fed on rare metals year-round, its bones were exceptionally hard—no less durable than top-tier metals—yet lighter in weight.

Su Zhen brought out these nine spheres to replicate an attack method he had seen in a hot-blooded anime from his past life. Lightning surged in his hands, and dense arcs of electricity coiled around the golden rings on the sides of the spheres, rapidly compressing and rotating. The spheres began to spin at high speeds, emitting a buzzing sound.

Su Zhen raised his palm, pointing his fingertips at the Thunder Spirit. The spheres spinning in his palm shot toward the target like arrows, but at a speed many times faster.

The projectiles struck the Thunder Spirit before it could even react. It wasn't until the intense pain hit that it began to thrash wildly on the ground; the spheres had blasted nine bowl-sized holes into its body.

"Roar!"

The Thunder Spirit roared toward the sky, its previous snake-like hiss now transformed into a dragon's roar. Its body grew rapidly, turning into the size of a small hill in the blink of an eye. The purple lightning arcs on its body vanished, replaced by red dragon scales. Aside from lacking limbs, it looked almost exactly like the true dragons from the myths of Su Zhen's past life—it was essentially a jiao.

"Xiao Zhen, step back. You have angered it. You cannot handle a second-stage Thunder Spirit in your current state."

Qian Daoliu moved slowly forward, arriving before the Thunder Spirit. His tone was calm, showing no urgency despite the creature's fury.

"Fifth soul skill, Holy Sword!"

The phantom of a Six-Winged Angel appeared behind Qian Daoliu, and nine soul rings—eight black and one red—emerged beneath his feet. The fifth black soul ring lit up. A golden longsword condensed in his hand, and Qian Daoliu swung it gently toward the enraged Thunder Spirit.

The furious Thunder Spirit felt a void beneath it as its body was sliced in two. Its upper half slowly slid to the side, and along with it, a small hill behind the creature collapsed.

"Cool! Grandfather is just too powerful! Brother Zhen, did you see that strike? It was so handsome!"

Su Zhen was stunned. Although Qian Daoliu was his teacher, he had never seen him take action, nor had he ever summoned his martial soul during their training. He hadn't expected him to be able to level a mountain with a single strike. Was this the power of a Limit Douluo?

"Xiao Zhen, go give it the final blow. We still need to hunt a soul ring for Little Ao after you finish absorbing this."

Su Zhen snapped out of his shock and approached the Thunder Spirit, which had reverted to its original form. He raised his sharp claws and pierced its eyes. Moments later, a pitch-black soul ring rose slowly from the creature's corpse.

Su Zhen sat cross-legged, guiding the soul ring onto his body to begin the absorption.

"Grandfather, can Brother Zhen really absorb this ten-thousand-year soul ring? He's only a Soul Ancestor!"

Oscar was still worried about Su Zhen's safety.

"He can. Ever since Zhen'er awakened his martial soul, his physique has been constantly nourished. Medicinal baths, Whale Rubber, body tempering—these things have never stopped. His physical constitution alone is not inferior to some tool-soul-type Soul Emperors. As long as he can endure the soul shock, a ten-thousand-year soul ring is no problem for him."

No sooner had Qian Daoliu finished speaking than Su Zhen's body underwent a strange change. His previously steady aura became exceptionally chaotic, and wisps of purple-gold lightning began to spark from his body.

"Grandfather, what's wrong with Brother Zhen?"

Oscar's urgent tone was filled with worry for Su Zhen.

"It seems he has begun to resist the soul shock. Now, we can only wait and see if Xiao Zhen can pull through."

Qian Daoliu's tone remained calm, as if the process of absorbing the soul ring could not possibly go wrong, but his hands, hidden beneath his robes, were clenched into tight fists.

Within his spiritual consciousness, Su Zhen sat cross-legged. The process of absorbing the soul ring was proceeding smoothly; his body was fully capable of withstanding the tempering of a ten-thousand-year soul ring. Suddenly, his sea of consciousness turned blood-red. The slain Thunder Spirit appeared within, and unlike the remnants of thousand-year soul beasts, this remnant still possessed a few strands of consciousness. It charged straight at the seated Su Zhen, wreathed in surging lightning.

"Hmph, I couldn't beat you when you were alive, but now that you are nothing more than a remnant soul, what makes you think you can kill me on my own turf?"

A brilliant light erupted from Su Zhen's body, and countless purple-gold lightning bolts surged from the depths of his consciousness, wrapping around him. In an instant, Su Zhen transformed into a majestic purple-gold Kirin. The Kirin let out a roar toward the sky, stepped forward, and bit into the Thunder Spirit. With a powerful tug, it tore a rift in the creature's lightning-composed body.

The Thunder Spirit roared in pain, turning to bite the Kirin's chest, attempting to tear off a piece, but the Kirin's scales were exceptionally hard. The Thunder Spirit's attack was useless, while the Kirin tore into the remnant soul piece by piece.

Outside, Su Zhen's chaotic aura gradually calmed, but a pair of dragon horns began to slowly condense on his forehead, shifting from ethereal to solid.

"External Soul Bone!"