"Fifth Soul Skill, Thunder Spirit Bodyless."
The Fourth Soul Ring beneath Su Zhen's feet lit up, and his body became a figure made of lightning, dodging a gigantic golden slash.
"Not bad, kid. The power of that attack of mine reached the Soul Saint level, and you still managed to deflect it."
A mountain-sized giant bear spoke before Su Zhen. Its entire body was covered in dark-gold fur, and its arms were unusually long, hanging past its knees. Its enormous dark-gold claws radiated enough power to tear space apart.
"Senior Xiong Jun, you flatter me. Although I was lucky enough to dodge a fatal blow, I was still injured by the shockwave of the slash."
Su Zhen wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth and spoke calmly.
The giant bear before him was none other than Xiong Jun, one of the five great guardian Ferocious Beasts of Star Dou Forest and the king of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears.
"Hahaha! You sure know how to butter me up, kid. All that Spirit-Controlling Bee honey I gave you wasn't wasted after all."
"That's enough for today. A message came from Di Tian. He found the tiger Xiao Zhen needs."
A stunning young woman in a long, jade-green dress casually swept out a streak of green light, which landed on Su Zhen and instantly healed the internal injuries he had sustained from Xiong Jun's slash.
Her long, jade-green hair fell to her waist, and green stockings covered her beautiful legs beneath her jade-green dress. The green accents made her exquisite face look even fairer. She was Bi Ji, the Soul Master World's number-one beauty, the strongest healing-type Soul Beast, and the clan leader of the Emerald Swans.
"Senior Di Tian found that Soul Beast? I can finally break through to Soul Saint."
Su Zhen had been cultivating in Star Dou Forest for a year. With the forest's resources fully poured into him, he had climbed from level sixty-two to level seventy in that time, becoming the youngest Soul Saint on Douluo Continent and setting a precedent as a Soul Saint at thirteen and a half.
The Seventh Soul Ring Su Zhen had chosen for himself belonged to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, which had a cultivation of sixty-five thousand years—the super Soul Beast polluted by the Evil God.
Thump~
A black tiger was thrown down from the sky. It was eight meters long and completely black, without a single other color. Its tail was formed from countless joints like a scorpion's, and a gleaming, barbed stinger stood erect at its tip.
This super Soul Beast, which had been able to fight two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts when it was only sixty thousand years old, now lay on the ground, barely alive. A hideous wound ran straight through its abdomen.
"This tiger is pretty cunning. It knew I was looking for it, so it went into hiding. With that trace of Evil God bloodline in its veins, even I would've had to work to find it if it didn't want to be discovered."
Di Tian slowly descended from the sky, landing on the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger and examining the prey he had captured.
"Kid, kill it. Its age is a little low, but its bloodline is far beyond those two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts outside."
Su Zhen stepped before the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger at his words. Raising his arm, he shaped lightning into a black spear and drove it into the tiger's eye. After twisting it a few times, a pitch-black Soul Ring slowly emerged from the tiger's corpse.
Su Zhen immediately activated Martial Soul Possession, sat cross-legged, and began guiding the Soul Ring onto himself and absorbing it.
The instant Su Zhen closed his eyes, a black bead shot out of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's corpse, attempting to escape into the void.
But how could it get away with three Ferocious Beasts watching? The moment it emerged, Di Tian caught it in his claw.
As the long process of Soul Ring absorption began, Di Tian, Xiong Jun, and Bi Ji sat nearby, silently watching the thirteen-and-a-half-year-old boy.
"Di Tian, do you think this kid can really lead the Soul Beast Clan to glory?"
Xiong Jun asked Di Tian, bored out of his mind.
"He can. He'll bring prosperity to our Soul Beast Clan. Don't forget who he is. Ever since the Three-Eyed Golden Lion sacrificed herself to him, he's been the only Auspicious Beast of our Soul Beast Clan. With him here, our clan is sure to flourish."
Di Tian shared his thoughts. As the Ferocious Beast who had known Su Zhen the longest, he understood just how terrifying the boy was. Yet when he spoke of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, his eyes dimmed despite being the Beast God.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, whom he had regarded as his own daughter, had sacrificed herself to the young man before them and become his Sixth Soul Ring. Since they were both Auspicious Beasts, her sacrifice had completed the Thunder Prison Qilin. Su Zhen's Sixth Soul Ring was practically his own life-bound Soul Ring.
As an Auspicious Beast's life-bound Soul Ring, Su Zhen's Sixth Soul Skill could be called a divine skill.
The life-bound Soul Skill had three stages, dramatically increasing Su Zhen's offensive power. The moment he used the skill, it formed a layer of lightning armor around his body, greatly enhancing his attack speed and defense. All attacks made while wearing the lightning armor carried paralysis and explosive effects. Fate Judgment was the second stage of the Sixth Soul Skill. Centered on Su Zhen, it spread a vast Thunder Domain. This domain had only one effect: it allowed Su Zhen to foresee every action everyone inside it would take over the next three seconds. Thunder God's Spear was the final stage. It immobilized an enemy for one second, then gathered all the power of the lightning armor and domain into a lightning spear in Su Zhen's hand. He hurled it at the immobilized enemy, and the spear locked onto its target. Once thrown, it was guaranteed to hit, causing a spherical lightning explosion that dealt heavy damage and inflicted severe paralysis. Su Zhen named this Soul Skill "Heavenly Punishment: Thunder Prison Judgment."
When Su Zhen described the effects of his Sixth Soul Skill before all the Ferocious Beasts of Star Dou Forest, they fell silent. With enhancement, a domain, target-locking, and damage all in one, it could already be called a divine skill.
It took Su Zhen two months to finish absorbing his Seventh Soul Ring.
Opening his eyes, Su Zhen felt the immense Soul Power surging through his body, and a smile spread uncontrollably across his face. At last, he had joined the ranks of the strong.
"Thank you three seniors for protecting me while I cultivated."
Su Zhen rose and bowed deeply to Di Tian and the others. The three seniors had stayed by his side without leaving for the entire two months he had spent absorbing the Soul Ring.
"What's the big deal? Three months is just enough time for us to take a nap. It's no trouble. We've got nothing better to do anyway."
Xiong Jun was the first to speak, unable to hide the pride on his face. As one of the kings of Star Dou Forest, he was feared by every Soul Beast beneath him. This was the first time he had felt respect from Su Zhen, and the king of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears found it deeply gratifying.
"Kid, absorb this too."
Di Tian tossed Su Zhen a black bead.
"What's this? The inner core of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger!"
The instant Su Zhen caught the bead, he recognized its origin. He could sense the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's cold, sinister aura on it.
"That's right. It came out while you were absorbing the Soul Ring, and I caught it. It contains the essence of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's cultivation. Absorbing it will surely bring a qualitative leap to your Seventh Soul Ring."
"Thank you for keeping an eye out, Senior Di Tian."
Before absorbing the Soul Ring, Su Zhen had been focused entirely on it and had completely forgotten about the inner core. Fortunately, Di Tian had taken care of it.
Su Zhen swallowed the inner core and entered a cultivation state once more. Absorbing the core was nothing like absorbing a Soul Ring; this time, he finished cultivating in just two hours.
"How is it? How do you feel?"
"Senior, I..."
Before Su Zhen could finish replying to Di Tian, his entire body turned into a streak of lightning and vanished from where he stood.
Boom~
Di Tian and the other two instantly reverted to their true forms, their three enormous bodies appearing beside the Lake of Life. The three of them swept their spiritual power across all of Star Dou Forest, yet couldn't find even a trace of Su Zhen's presence.
"Boss, what's going on?"
Xiong Jun asked Di Tian. Su Zhen's disappearance was serious enough that even he needed Di Tian to make the call. It was the first time he had called Di Tian "Boss."
"This is no ordinary matter. I sensed..."
"Master!"
The three beasts ended their discussion and transformed into human form. Gu Yuena appeared where Su Zhen had just vanished, and the three respectfully bowed to her.
"Di Tian, you felt it too, didn't you? That being's aura."
Gu Yuena's icy voice rang out, and a hint of astonishment could be heard in it.
"Yes, Master. I never imagined that being could leave behind an inheritance on Douluo Continent."
"How unexpected. Su Zhen, you must seize this chance."
Gu Yuena gazed at the place where Su Zhen had disappeared. Her icy dragon eyes seemed ready to pierce through the layers of space before her.
"Where is this?"
Su Zhen looked at the dilapidated, ancient palace before him, perplexed.
More than half the palace had collapsed. The empty great hall held only one enormous stone pillar, standing at its center. Dragons and phoenixes were carved across it, and strands of golden lightning coiled around its surface.
"Welcome to the Thunder God Temple, my inheritor."
A majestic male voice rang through the hall, booming like thunder and carrying an ancient aura of destruction and judgment.
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