Thousand-Needle Porcupine, But Ten Thousand Years

"Healing Light."

"Restoration Light."

It must be said, the soul skills of a healing-type Soul King are top-tier.

As the two support-type soul skills landed on Zhang Yang, he immediately felt much better.

"This subordinate will take his leave."

"Mm." Guangling Douluo waved his hand dismissively, sending away the Soul King he had plucked over on a whim.

Struggling to stand up from the grass, Zhang Yang raised his hand to salute Guangling Douluo: "Many thanks to the Elder for your repeated guidance. If it weren't for—"

"Eh, no need for more words. This old man just wanted to watch the show," Guangling Douluo interrupted, waving his hand.

Ignoring Guangling Douluo's tsundere attitude, Zhang Yang continued: "Regardless, Zhang Yang must thank the Elder."

"Thank?" Guangling Douluo clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes rolling as an idea immediately took shape.

Guangling Douluo shifted the topic: "If you want to thank me, then help me do something."

Zhang Yang was stunned upon hearing this.

A Title Douluo, asking me to help him with something?

What could there be that I can do, but a Title Douluo cannot?

Zhang Yang's mind was full of question marks, but he still readily agreed: "Please, Elder, give your instructions."

"I want you to help me win a bet."

A bet?

A bet between Title Douluo?

Zhang Yang felt a bitter pang in his heart.

Brothers, this Guangling Douluo doesn't seem like a good person.

Why did Qian Daoliu hand me over to him?

Though he thought this, Zhang Yang's words were of a different tone: "Please instruct me, Elder. Zhang Yang will certainly do his utmost."

Surface-level work still had to be done properly; otherwise, if he offended the person in charge, Guangling Douluo, how could he have any good days ahead?

Guangling Douluo waved his hand: "Rest assured, it's nothing difficult. After all, this old man is no devil."

With that, Guangling Douluo turned and began walking away: "Go back and adjust your state. Three days from now, come to the entrance of the Pope Palace, and I will take you to hunt for a soul ring."

Zhang Yang hurriedly asked: "Elder, the bet you mentioned..."

"You'll know when the time comes."

After saying this, Guangling Douluo suddenly turned to look at Zhang Yang, wearing an expression like a "naughty child seeing a new toy," before his figure flashed and vanished.

Zhang Yang's heart suddenly began to pound.

Family, I think I've boarded a pirate ship.

Tell me, is it too late for me to jump ship now?

Just like that, Zhang Yang spent the most agonizing three days of his life.

Three days later, at the entrance of the Pope Palace.

Standing within the range tolerated by the palace guards, Zhang Yang, dressed in tight-fitting gear, felt somewhat restless.

The time reached around 11 o'clock. Zhang Yang had already been waiting here for two hours, and he had no idea how much longer he would have to wait.

Just as Zhang Yang was preparing to continue waiting, he suddenly felt a chill approach him.

Zhang Yang turned his head abruptly, only to find that Guangling Douluo had appeared beside him without him noticing.

"Greetings, Elder Guangling."

Guangling Douluo nodded and chuckled: "Mm, very punctual."

"..." Zhang Yang was speechless for a moment.

Having played with Zhang Yang, Guangling Douluo was in a great mood. A pair of ice-crystal wings rose from his back, with ice crystals constantly falling from their edges, refracting iridescent light.

Guangling Douluo's body floated naturally into mid-air, and with a flap of his wings, he flew toward the East City Gate, leaving behind only one sentence: "Keep up."

Seeing this, Zhang Yang could only circulate his soul power and struggle to give chase.

Zhang Yang felt he had been toyed with by Guangling Douluo again.

Guangling Douluo's flight speed was very deliberately maintained at a level where Zhang Yang had to run at full speed just to avoid being left behind.

Furthermore, there were clearly so many wide avenues to take to exit the East City Gate, yet he insisted on leading Zhang Yang through the most densely crowded path.

Along the way, Zhang Yang didn't know how many people he had nearly collided with, nor how many times he had been chased and "greeted" by others.

Zhang Yang only knew that the Guangling Douluo in the sky must be feeling very satisfied right now.

Fifty kilometers east of the Martial Soul City east gate lies the edge of the Star Dou Forest.

After resting for a moment at the edge of the Star Dou Forest to barely recover his stamina, Zhang Yang followed Guangling Douluo into the woods.

Unlike the cautious, step-by-step approach he had taken when entering the Star Dou Forest in the past, Zhang Yang now felt a sense of leisure, as if he were out for a spring outing.

The once gloomy and dangerous Star Dou Forest had unexpectedly become filled with lush green grass and babbling brooks.

Even the tiger roars and dragon howls that periodically echoed through the forest sounded crisp and pleasant.

Zhang Yang couldn't help but sigh; even downloading maps in the system didn't feel as relaxed and carefree as this moment.

Upon entering the Star Dou Forest, Guangling Douluo spread his spiritual power in all directions, rapidly searching for traces of his target.

The spiritual power of a Title Douluo is incredibly formidable; with just a slight release, he could clearly probe all information regarding soul beasts within a radius of several hundred meters.

Under the suppression of Guangling Douluo's terrifying soul power aura, these soul beasts, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of years in age, were so terrified that they were paralyzed with fear, not daring to make a single sound.

Zhang Yang, following behind, didn't need to walk stealthily at all; he simply followed with long, confident strides.

After a while, Guangling Douluo, who had once again dispersed his spiritual power to probe, suddenly revealed a smile: "I've finally found you. Keep up."

With that, the ice wings on Guangling Douluo's back flapped, and his figure vanished, leaving only a streak of light slowly dissipating in mid-air.

Zhang Yang, trailing behind and eating his dust, dared not delay and hurriedly chased in the direction the streak of light had vanished.

Bursting through a dense thicket, what met Zhang Yang's eyes was an iceberg radiating a bone-chilling cold.

Inside this iceberg, a Thousand-Needle Porcupine with a shoulder height of over two meters was actually frozen solid.

Before being frozen, this Thousand-Needle Porcupine had been kneeling on its hooves, its tusks and snout buried deep into the soil in a gesture of submission.

Yet, it could never have imagined that a top-tier powerhouse like a Title Douluo would enter the Star Dou Forest this time specifically for it.

Submission?

Today, this big shot isn't accepting signals or keeping pets.

Seeing Zhang Yang catch up, Guangling Douluo pointed at the Thousand-Needle Porcupine inside the iceberg and said, "Kill it."

"Yes, Elder." Zhang Yang nodded, and the M14 instantly appeared in his hands as his yellow, yellow, and blue soul rings rotated and pulsed beneath his feet.

Zhang Yang aimed his rifle, and his first and second soul rings lit up in succession.

"[First Soul Skill: Precision Shot]"

"[Second Soul Skill: Armor-Piercing Declaration]"

The iceberg created by a Title Douluo was incredibly hard, capable of freezing even soul beasts solid with no possibility of breaking free.

Zhang Yang didn't harbor any delusions; he activated his soul skills directly, stacking buffs with auto-aim and armor-piercing.

"Pfft!"

Zhang Yang pulled the trigger, and the soul-powered bullet left the chamber, gouging a half-meter-long ice hole into the iceberg.

Yet, the end of this ice hole was still a full meter away from the forehead of the Thousand-Needle Porcupine.

One must know that at this moment, Zhang Yang not only possessed level 40 soul power and had activated his 888-year-old second soul ring, but he also held the special effect from the level 3 display registration of the red-tier collectible [Tusk Fossil].

"[Tusk Fossil], display level 3. Attribute: Moderately increases the penetration of M14 attacks."

With these buffs fully stacked, if this were a defense-type soul master of the same level, Zhang Yang's shot would have been considered a dud if it didn't punch straight through their turtle shell.

But now, a single shot from Zhang Yang could only drill a half-meter-deep hole into this iceberg.

A Title Douluo is truly terrifying.

Of course, Zhang Yang wasn't naive enough to think he could pierce a Title Douluo's methods with a single shot.

He was merely experimenting to see if his bullet would suffer from trajectory deviation after entering the iceberg.

After confirming the bullet wouldn't deviate, Zhang Yang let loose.

Switching the firing mode to full-auto, Zhang Yang aimed his muzzle at the Thousand-Needle Porcupine inside the iceberg and held the trigger down.

"Pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft!"

Over a dozen bullets poured out like water, boring through the meter-thick ice layer and viciously piercing the massive head of the Thousand-Needle Porcupine.

The Thousand-Needle Porcupine died on the spot, and a faint black light began to release from its body, condensing within the iceberg.

Soon, a black Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring radiating majestic soul power was fully formed.

Seeing the color of the soul ring, Zhang Yang first looked at Guangling Douluo, who was smiling in mid-air, then looked at the M14 in his own hands.

At this moment, only one thought crossed his mind: "Holy crap, a ten-thousand-year fourth ring. I'm about to take off."