Encountering Huo Wu, Feng Xiaotian

"If I can't get into the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, perhaps I can try my luck at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

Ling Yun thought to himself. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was one of the Upper Three Sects, possessing wealth that could rival a nation.

Moreover, the sect's martial soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, was a purely support-type martial soul. To protect their disciples, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect recruited many talented soul masters every year.

If he could join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ling Yun's quality of life would improve significantly, and given his talent, joining shouldn't be a problem.

"More importantly, after joining the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, if I can become a core disciple, I might be able to obtain the Ring Fusion Secret Technique and the Heart Separation Control secret technique."

Ring Fusion, as the name suggests, involves merging all soul rings into one to increase the power of soul skills; the Heart Separation Control secret technique allows for the simultaneous execution of multiple soul skills.

The Ring Fusion Secret Technique goes without saying; if he could master it, Ling Yun's combat power would jump up an entire tier.

And if he could master the Heart Separation Control secret technique, he might be able to control multiple elements simultaneously.

Ling Yun vaguely remembered that in GG Bond, there existed combination techniques similar to martial soul combos, where different beast-form warriors could execute joint skills based on the mutual generation of the Five Elements.

For example, the Flame Crane and the Stone Armor Bear could unleash a joint skill called "Blazing Meteor."

Currently, Ling Yun could transform into the wood-attribute Divine Wood Ape and the fire-attribute Flame Crane. Wood generates fire, which perfectly satisfied the requirements for executing a joint skill.

If he could master the Heart Separation Control secret technique, he might be able to execute joint skills all by himself.

"Regardless, immortal herbs are the most important thing. I'll go to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy first. If I can enroll, that's best; if not, it won't be too late to go to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

With that decided, Ling Yun had his next plan set. Before heading to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he first returned to the Five Elements Village to visit Grandpa Colin.

Upon learning that Ling Yun had become a two-ring Soul Grand Master at only eight years old, Colin was grinning from ear to ear. He immediately prepared a sumptuous dinner and brought out the fine wine he had cherished for years to drink to his heart's content.

Early the next morning, Ling Yun left fifty Gold Soul Coins for Colin and then departed from the Five Elements Village. Relying on a map of the Douluo Continent he had bought in Notting City, he headed north toward Heaven Dou City.

He didn't take a carriage but walked the entire way. The distance between the Five Elements Village and Heaven Dou City was too great, and there were many mountain roads in between; if he were to take a carriage, it would cost at least over a hundred Gold Soul Coins.

He didn't have that much money on him now, so he could only proceed on foot. If he encountered a mountain blocking his path, he would transform into the Flame Crane to fly over the peaks.

Just like that, more than two months passed in a flash. During this time, Ling Yun traveled by day and meditated by night, and his soul power actually broke through in one go, reaching level twenty-five.

"My current location should be near the Sunset Forest."

Looking at the map in his hand, Ling Yun muttered to himself, "Although there is still a distance to go before reaching Heaven Dou City, it's not far now. If nothing goes wrong, I can reach Heaven Dou City within ten days. If I transform into the Flame Crane and fly there, the speed will be even faster!"

"ROAR--"

Just as Ling Yun was lost in thought, a thunderous roar suddenly came from not far away.

The sound was deafening. Not only did it give Ling Yun a huge fright, but the surrounding soul beasts also scattered and fled upon hearing this terrifying sonic boom.

After the lion's roar passed, it was followed by a series of earth-shaking sounds, as if the entire ground were trembling.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a massive lion sprinting toward him. Its entire body was covered in orange-red fur, especially the mane on its head, which was a vibrant, fiery red, radiating a scorching heat.

"Is this guy a Flame Berserk Lion?"

Ling Yun named the soul beast. He had read many books about soul beasts over the past two years, so he could naturally recognize the identity of this soul beast at a glance.

"The Flame Berserk Lion is a high-level fire-attribute soul beast. Its comprehension of fire power even surpasses that of the Earth King. And looking at its size, this should be a thousand-year soul beast; its cultivation is not inferior to the Earth King at all."

As he spoke, Ling Yun keenly noticed that there were dense lacerations and claw marks on the Flame Berserk Lion's back. The wounds hadn't healed yet, and as it ran wildly, scarlet blood splattered out.

Even though it was so severely injured, it didn't find a place to heal but instead kept running wildly; it was clearly being hunted.

"ROAR ROAR!"

At this moment, the Flame Berserk Lion noticed Ling Yun in front of it and immediately let out a roar toward the sky, its hind legs suddenly exerting force.

"BOOM--"

In an instant, the ground cracked and gravel flew, while the Flame Berserk Lion darted out like an arrow from a bow. It opened its blood-red maw and spat out a stream of scorching flames, heading straight for Ling Yun.

"Heh, are you trying to eat me to fill your stomach? Too bad you're destined not to be my match!"

"Five Spirits Power, Transform! Beast-form Warrior: Flame Crane!"

Ling Yun suddenly unleashed his soul skill. His second soul ring glowed faintly, and then a red light flashed. Ling Yun's figure disappeared, replaced by a crane with snow-white feathers.

Seeing the flames roaring toward him, Ling Yun immediately condensed his soul power, and his white wings also ignited with raging fire.

"Fire Spirit Power!"

Before the words faded, the monstrous flames spat out by the Flame Berserk Lion suddenly changed direction. In the Flame Berserk Lion's shocked gaze, the flames it had spat out were now attacking it at an even faster speed.

The incident happened suddenly, and coupled with the fact that the Flame Berserk Lion was already seriously injured, it couldn't dodge in time. It could only watch helplessly as the flames hit it, leaving it severely wounded.

Seeing this, Ling Yun grinned and said, "Heh, using fire in front of me is like playing with a broadsword in front of Guan Gong—a display of incompetence."

After transforming into the Divine Wood Ape, he could control all plants; now that he had transformed into the Flame Crane, he could naturally control all flames, and soul beast skills were no exception!

Seeing that the Flame Berserk Lion was on its last breath, Ling Yun immediately condensed his soul power, preparing to deliver the final blow. Thousand-year soul beast meat was of great benefit to a soul master's cultivation.

However, just as he was about to act, he heard a shout.

"Brother, wait a moment! Spare its life—ah, no, show mercy!"

As soon as the words fell, a young man with white hair, a mask on his face, and wearing cyan clothing dove down from the sky and landed in front of Ling Yun.

Behind him followed a yellow-haired youth in fire-red combat gear and a girl in a red miniskirt with a sexy and fiery figure.

Seeing this, Ling Yun recognized the identities of the three at a glance: they were Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang from Blazing Academy, and Feng Xiaotian from Godwind Academy.

Feng Xiaotian sidled up, wearing a familiar grin as he chuckled, "Hehehe, brother, we discovered this Flame Berserk Lion first. See that gash on its back? That was my doing."

"Could you do us a favor and yield this soul beast to us? My girlfriend really needs this soul ring!"

"Feng Xiaotian! Stop gilding the lily; when did I ever agree to be your girlfriend?"

Huo Wu snapped in annoyance, then looked toward Ling Yun, who had transformed into a Flame Crane. Mistaking him for a senior Soul Saint, her tone softened instantly as she pleaded.

"Senior, could you please yield this Flame Berserk Lion to me? I am willing to pay five hundred Gold Soul Coins to purchase this soul beast!"