Xue Yao took a deep breath and walked toward the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew.
"Senior, there are extremely strict rules for harvesting and consuming these Immortal Herbs. If you use the wrong method, not only will their medicinal effects be lost, but you could even bring calamity upon yourself." As he walked, Xue Yao spoke to Dugu Bo behind him.
At that moment, Dugu Bo looked just like an old scholar who thirsted for knowledge. He watched Xue Yao's every move without blinking and nodded repeatedly.
When Xue Yao reached the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, he did not touch its tender leaves. Instead, he bent down slightly and brought his face close to the flower, which resembled an eye.
He opened his mouth and gently sucked at the pool of dew, clear as a spring, deep within the flower's center.
The dew had no taste as it went down his throat, but in the very next instant, an indescribably pure, icy coolness shot straight into Xue Yao's mind!
Boom!
Xue Yao's body shuddered violently, and he immediately sat down cross-legged.
The coolness surged into his Sea of Consciousness and instantly transformed into a torrential downpour.
For a Beast Tamer, the Sea of Consciousness was the foundation that bore the power of every contract.
Before this, Xue Yao's Sea of Consciousness had already far surpassed that of his peers, but it was still no more than a pond. Now, nourished and expanded by this "Autumn Water Sweet Dew," the barriers surrounding the pond were swept away like dry leaves before a gale!
The pond became a lake, and the lake continued to expand outward!
His head did not feel the slightest pain. Instead, he experienced a clarity and lucidity unlike anything he had ever known.
His perception radiated outward at a terrifying, geometric pace. Even with his eyes closed, he could clearly "see" every current of ice and fire energy swirling through the surrounding air. He could even make out the minute patterns on a blade of grass ten meters away, as clearly as if they were right before him.
Half an hour passed before Xue Yao slowly opened his eyes.
The instant he did, a tangible-looking purple-gold divine light shot from his pupils, streaking through the air in two beams more than a foot long that lingered without fading!
His eyes had become brighter and deeper than ever, like two dazzling stars, as if they could see through every illusion in the world.
"What pure spiritual energy..."
Dugu Bo, who had been standing guard nearby, drew in a sharp breath.
As a Titled Douluo, he could clearly sense that the spiritual power of the eight-year-old boy before him had already reached the terrifying level of an advanced Soul King!
But this was only the beginning.
Xue Yao did not get up. Instead, his gaze shifted and locked onto a giant chrysanthemum nearby, its whole body shimmering with golden light, its many clustered petals resembling tufts reaching to the heavens.
He raised his hand. Wind elements gathered in his palm and formed an exceptionally gentle Wind Blade, which precisely severed the stem of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.
Just as the flower was about to hit the ground, Xue Yao reached out with a pull from afar and drew it into his palm.
"The Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum is a neutral Immortal Herb. Eating it fills the limbs with strength and circulates blood through all eight meridians. It can cultivate an Indestructible Diamond Body." Xue Yao murmured, then bit straight into the golden flower without the slightest hesitation.
According to the knowledge in his mind, the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum had to be eaten starting with the stamen, followed by the petals. There was no need to chew; it would dissolve as soon as it entered the mouth.
When the last golden petal melted into rich liquid and slid down his throat, Xue Yao's face instantly flushed bright red.
If the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew had been a gentle breeze and drizzle, then the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum was a torrent of lava!
An unimaginably vigorous stream of heat suddenly exploded in Xue Yao's dantian.
It did not rush into his Soul Power meridians. Instead, it turned into countless fine golden currents that frantically burrowed into his limbs, muscles, and bones!
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Dense pops rang out inside Xue Yao's body, like beans frying in a pan.
It was an agony of tearing apart and reassembling!
The Immortal Herb's immense medicinal power was forcibly transforming his body in an almost savage manner.
His meridians widened and grew stronger, the density of his bones increased rapidly, and every muscle fiber was tempered again and again by the golden energy.
Xue Yao clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, but he did not cry out once.
As the medicinal power continued to be refined, a sticky, dark-gray substance began to seep from Xue Yao's pores. It was the impurities hidden in the deepest parts of the human body.
After those impurities were expelled, his originally fair skin began to glimmer with a faint, diamond-like sheen!
This was the rudimentary form of an Indestructible Diamond Body! In that moment, his physical strength underwent a qualitative leap!
At the same time, the immense medicinal power left in the two Immortal Herbs finally began to nourish his Soul Power.
Under the push of this pure energy, Xue Yao's Soul Power Level, which had stagnated because he had deliberately suppressed his foundation, surged forward like floodwaters bursting through a breached dam, smashing through bottleneck after bottleneck!
Level thirty-one... Level thirty-two... Level thirty-three...
His progress was frighteningly fast. Dugu Bo watched from the side, his eyelids twitching, afraid the boy's foundation would prove unstable and his body would explode.
But Xue Yao's aura remained as steady as a mountain, without the slightest hint of instability.
Level thirty-four... Level thirty-five...
At last, when the golden energy had completely merged with Xue Yao's limbs and bones, his Soul Power Level came to a hard stop at level thirty-six!
Six levels in one leap!
An eight-year-old Soul Elder at level thirty-six!
This kind of talent was unprecedented—not only in the Heaven Dou Empire, but throughout the entire history of the Douluo Continent!
"Phew—"
Xue Yao let out a long breath of foul air tinged with a faint stench. A powerful wave of energy, several times stronger than before, swept outward from him, scattering the surrounding red and blue mist.
He stood up and casually clenched his fist.
With his pure physical strength alone, he now dared to go toe-to-toe with a Power Attack System Soul Ancestor!
Yet what filled Xue Yao with even greater joy than his six-level Soul Power increase and strengthened body was the qualitative transformation his Soul Skills had undergone thanks to his enhanced physique!
As a summoning-type Soul Master, his only means of self-preservation and mobility were his Soul Skills, granted by his affinity for wind elements.
His second Soul Skill, "Ride the Wind," was an exceptionally unusual stacking enhancement Soul Skill. Each use could increase his speed by 120% for a short time.
In theory, as long as he had enough Soul Power, he could stack this Soul Skill without limit.
But reality was cruel. The air resistance and strain on the body caused by moving at extreme speed were terrifying. Before this, Xue Yao's somewhat frail physique could withstand at most two stacks of "Ride the Wind."
If he forced a third stack, the horrifying strain of that speed would instantly snap his meridians and tear his muscles apart!
But now, everything was different!
The rudimentary Indestructible Diamond Body granted by the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum had made his meridians and body tough to an almost unbelievable degree.
"Let's give it a try!"
A flash of light crossed Xue Yao's eyes as he lightly tapped the ground with his toes.
Second Soul Skill, Ride the Wind!
Whoom! A cyan wind ring lit up beneath his feet. His body instantly felt light as a feather, and his speed surged by 120%.
Second stack!
Whoom! A second wind ring lit up. Xue Yao's figure left an afterimage where he stood, and his speed reached a 240% increase.
Even a Soul King from the Agility Attack System would not dare challenge him in pure speed.
Before, Xue Yao's muscles would have begun to ache faintly by this point.
But now, he felt nothing but power coursing through him. His meridians were broad as rivers, and he felt nowhere near his limit.
Xue Yao drew a deep breath, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes as Soul Power surged wildly through his body.
Third stack!
Boom!
Accompanied by an extremely sharp tearing of the air, a third dazzling cyan wind ring exploded beneath Xue Yao's feet!
A 360% increase in speed!
In that instant, Dugu Bo's vision blurred, and Xue Yao simply vanished into thin air!
The next second, Xue Yao stood firmly on the other side of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, while the afterimage he had left in the air had only just begun to fade.
"Good! What a Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum!"
Feeling his meridians completely unharmed, Xue Yao could not help throwing back his head and laughing.
A maximum speed boost of 360%, paired with his powerful spiritual perception, meant that no one at his level on the Douluo Continent could touch the hem of his clothes. Even if a Soul Emperor-level powerhouse tried to kill him, he was fully capable of making a calm escape!
His physical strength could also be shared with Little Griffin. As his Martial Soul, Little Griffin could withstand even more outrageous speeds.
And so, his Sea of Consciousness had expanded, his body had become as indestructible as diamond, his Soul Power had soared to level thirty-six, and his trump card for staying alive had undergone a complete transformation!
All the groundwork had been perfectly laid.
Xue Yao turned around, his bright eyes seeming to see through every illusion fixed on the two ultimate Immortal Herbs where the red and blue hot springs converged.
Now it was time to obtain the Ice and Fire Peerless Constitution, the true prize that could grant immunity to every extreme element and defy fate!
Before you continue