Blazing Sun Domain

Courage was a rather mysterious thing.

When faced with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Xiao Yan knew he was no match for it, yet he still fought to the death.

Though it was a foolishness called hot-bloodedness, cowardice would only tarnish a young man's heart of the Dao.

Xiao Yan's goal had always been clear: to stand alone through the ages.

There had been so many works and so many worlds throughout history. They had to be real, every last one of them. He cultivated only so he could become worthy enough to witness those worlds.

If he couldn't stand alone through the ages, how could he roam the sea of stars and witness the boundless, magnificent worlds?

The Fire Lotus burned hotly, slowly incinerating the snake's corpse before him.

As the snake's corpse was gradually burned to ashes, Xiao Yan and the Soul Ring slowly completed their fusion.

His very first Soul Ring was a thousand years old. Though it couldn't compare to how powerful Huo Yuhao's first ring had been, it was still astonishing.

With a Soul Ring nearly three times older than the norm, that single Thousand-Year Soul Skill would be enough to give those little kids a hard time during the entrance exam.

It had to be said: a Thousand-Year Soul Ring was simply too authoritative as a first ring. After absorbing it, Xiao Yan's Soul Power had almost instantly risen by five levels, reaching level fifteen. He was now just one level away from evolving Little Fire Dragon.

Xiao Yan had wanted to squeeze in a little more cultivation, but after thinking it over, he decided to stabilize his realm first.

Improving too quickly would leave his foundation unstable. And since he didn't have an Ultimate Martial Soul, tempering his body and spirit was all the more essential—the correct way forward.

After all, this was how he had made it through before the Pokémon Egg hatched.

Cultivation was all about perseverance.

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes. The young man's brows were like swords and his eyes like stars, yet his aura was restrained. The scorching, violent presence seemed to have completely vanished.

Little Fire Dragon also looked much more spirited now.

Martial Soul: Little Fire Dragon.

Type: Beast Martial Soul (possesses independent intelligence).

Level: Fifteen (shares Soul Power with its host).

...

[Smokescreen]: Spits up smoke at the opponent.

[Dragon Breath]: Spits Dragon Breath at the opponent, sometimes paralyzing them.

Xiao Yan's Little Fire Dragon now had two new skills. On top of that, it had the boost from its First Soul Skill, so its combat strength could be said to have doubled.

Even without merging with Xiao Yan, Little Fire Dragon could now hold its own against an ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Beast. By that measure, Little Fire Dragon alone had already surpassed Soul Masters of the same level.

With more versatile skills, it might even beat ordinary Soul Masters below level twenty. It could also give a Soul Grandmaster a run for their money.

"Phew... Thank you for guarding me, Big Sister Xiao Ya, Big Brother Beibei, Yu Hao."

After waking, Xiao Yan thanked everyone who had protected him.

"Huh? Why do you call them big brother and big sister, but call me Little Yu Hao?"

Yu Hao froze, then questioned him when he realized.

Xiao Yan found it rather amusing. At this point, Yu Hao was still a sweet, innocent little kid, even though he carried the burden of hatred. If he received a proper upbringing, who knew? Maybe he wouldn't end up being trained like a dog by the Sugar God King in the future.

"Ahem, Yu Hao, your Big Brother Beibei and Big Sister Xiao Ya are already dating, so they count as adults. But you're still a kid, so there's nothing wrong with calling you 'Little,' right?"

He delivered the line with complete seriousness.

"...Huh?"

"Ahem, let's not talk about that. Little Brother Xiao Yan, what's your Soul Skill?"

Beibei interrupted the two of them as they bickered, steering the conversation back to business.

At that, Xiao Yan's lips curled into a smile, and he summoned Little Fire Dragon.

"Char!"

"Little Fire Dragon, First Soul Skill: Blazing Sun Domain!"

At Xiao Yan's command, a purple Soul Ring appeared around Little Fire Dragon and began to shine. A wave of heat washed over everyone.

It was coming from Little Fire Dragon.

"Heh, my First Soul Skill is similar to Yu Hao's. It's also a domain-type skill. But my Blazing Sun Domain has a diameter of only ten meters, and it can't be used for Spiritual Detection."

"Within the domain, the environment is treated as Sunny Day, increasing the damage of Fire-type moves by 50%. On top of that, the damage of my and Little Fire Dragon's Fire-type moves increases by another 50%, doubling it. My strength, speed, and Soul Power recovery rate—and those of my teammates—also increase by about 20%."

"And if I actively pour Soul Power into the domain, it evolves into Scorching Land, continuously inflicting fire-burn damage on all enemy units within its range."

The three of them all formed their mouths into O's.

"Little Brother Xiao Yan, that one Soul Skill of yours is worth two other Soul Skills. It also suits you perfectly. Congratulations!"

Beibei spoke first. Tang Ya nodded too. Though she was a Control System Soul Master, she could still see how powerful this skill's boost would be for a Power Attack System Soul Master.

Even Huo Yuhao couldn't help comparing Xiao Yan's Soul Skill with the one Brother Sky Dream had given him.

Setting aside the damage boost that benefited him personally, increasing the whole team's damage by 20% within the domain was already terrifying. Soul Skills with percentage-based boosts never went out of fashion.

What's more, Xiao Yan's Soul Skill even dealt area damage. Its boost was somewhat limited to a fixed patch of ground, but the defensive utility of its burn damage made up for that. Xiao Yan and his future team would be able to attack, defend, and enhance their abilities all at once.

A single Soul Skill was already this powerful. It was hard to imagine what achievements he would reach in the future.

After resting for a while, they prepared to head back to Shrek.

Xiao Yan and Tang Ya had both finished hunting for Soul Rings. They needed to return to Shrek as soon as possible so Yu Hao and Xiao Yan could enroll.

But what no one had expected was that they would make another discovery along the way.

On the way back to Shrek City, Xiao Yan wanted to train Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing Soul Skill. As they walked, he casually said to him:

"Yu Hao, your detection range is too wide. It shouldn't be fan-shaped. Try compressing it into a straight line, as much as possible—like this."

As Xiao Yan spoke, he had Little Fire Dragon spit out a straight line of Embers. Huo Yuhao nodded as if he understood, then began compressing his Spiritual Detection range.

As he shared his detection while compressing and stretching it, time slipped by unnoticed.

After a while, Huo Yuhao's face had gone deathly pale. He had clearly almost used up his Soul Power and spiritual power. Xiao Yan had no intention of squeezing him to keep training; he simply told him to rest if he was tired.

Huo Yuhao stopped compressing his detection and let Spiritual Detection Sharing expand to its full range. Just then, he suddenly let out a surprised cry.

"Huh? Someone's fighting a Soul Beast."

At that, Xiao Yan, Tang Ya, and Beibei hurriedly looked through the view from Spiritual Detection Sharing. In a clearing, they saw someone fighting a pack of wolves.

The person looked about the same age as Xiao Yan. His clothes were in tatters, and he gripped a black Giant Ruler that blazed with flames.

Xiao Yan recognized him at once. Overjoyed, he hurried toward the clearing and shouted:

"Xiao Yulü, if you're not dead, answer me!"

Hearing him call out, Xiao Yulü turned his head and looked equally delighted.

"Xiao Yan!"