Soul Beast Sacrifice (Seeking Collection, Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Dugu Bo laughed, a laugh born of pure exasperation.

"Fine, fine, fine. So that's how you want to play it."

With that, Dugu Bo pulled a Bone Whip directly from his Soul Tool, preparing to teach Yu Tianshuo another lesson—this one titled "Respecting Your Elders."

Yu Tianshuo was far too sharp for that; he had already started running the moment Dugu Bo turned to retrieve his weapon.

Seeing Yu Tianshuo sprinting further and further away, Dugu Bo let out a cold laugh, brandishing the Bone Whip as he gave chase.

In the distance, Dugu Yuan was still running for his life.

He had already carried his father's corpse quite a distance away, but who could have guessed his father would suddenly resurrect and immediately dash off to support his junior brother?

What else could he do but turn back?

His luck on the road was poor, however; he hadn't been watching where he was going, and after stepping on something soft, this dragon had started hunting him down.

He had been puzzled at the time, glancing back only to realize the dragon had been sleeping on its back, buried in the dirt.

Are you kidding me, bro?

Who taught you to sleep like that in the wild?

It wasn't until the dragon let out a piercing roar that he realized what that "soft thing" actually was.

What else could he do but keep running? His poison arts had zero effect on this dragon, so he could only scream for help as he fled.

"Father!"

"Where are you guys!?"

"Help me!!!"

It was then that a familiar voice appeared behind him.

The sound grew closer and closer, becoming increasingly recognizable!

It was his junior brother!

Just as Dugu Yuan turned his head, tears streaming down his face, he clearly heard what Yu Tianshuo was shouting.

"Ahhhhh! Master, have mercy!"

"How can you use time-stop to travel? That's just bullying!"

"Help me!!!"

The voice grew louder, the commotion more intense.

Dugu Yuan could only watch as Yu Tianshuo barreled through everything in his path, smashing through trees and shattering rocks.

Finally, after crashing through the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that had been hunting him, Yu Tianshuo zipped right past his side.

Behind his junior brother followed an old man whose figure flickered in and out of existence.

Oh! So that old man is my father. Well, that's fine then.

After witnessing the entire spectacle, Dugu Yuan glanced at the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the distance, which looked either stunned by the collision or paralyzed by the Dragon Might, and let out a sigh.

"Sigh, forget it. I'm used to it."

With that, he stood where he was and began to regulate his breathing.

As for why he didn't sit down?

Heh, he didn't want to end up as dragon dung later.

Half an hour later, Yu Tianshuo appeared before Dugu Yuan, looking disheveled.

Though "disheveled" was a stretch; his clothes were just tattered, and his hair and garments were covered in twigs and leaves.

Yu Tianshuo scratched his head with a laugh, gave his senior brother a wide grin, flashed a thumbs-up, and said, "Senior brother, I've helped you experience the devilish special training. It was quite invigorating—you're in for a treat later!"

Upon hearing this, Dugu Yuan, who had been feeling relaxed just moments ago, felt as if the sky were collapsing.

"No—!"

At that moment, a song seemed to echo in Dugu Yuan's ears.

"Snowflakes drifting, north winds whistling."

"The world is vast and desolate."

It wasn't just a phantom melody; Yu Tianshuo was actually singing it right beside him.

"Ahhhhhhh—!"

Just as Dugu Yuan was lamenting how he would survive the days to come, Dugu Bo's voice drifted out from the thicket.

"Stop making a fool of yourselves. Finish this quickly, and let's head home."

Dugu Bo walked toward the soul beast lying on the ground, seemingly prepared to claim his ninth soul ring.

But just then, Yu Tianshuo spoke up, interrupting his master's movements.

"Master, no need to rush. Let your disciple handle this."

After saying this, Yu Tianshuo flashed a few times and appeared beside the head of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

He began to mutter something to the soul beast.

Seeing that the soul beast seemed uncooperative, Yu Tianshuo immediately revealed his three soul rings.

"Yellow, purple-gold, gold-brown."

Of the three soul rings, except for the first one which was normal, the other two were anything but; even the second soul ring had fused from red and blue into a purple-gold color.

At this moment, the gold-brown soul ring emitted a dazzling radiance.

In an instant, dragon scales appeared on Yu Tianshuo's body, though this time, there were additional gold-brown patterns across his physique.

In a flash, the surrounding sand and rocks were manipulated by Yu Tianshuo into chains, tightly binding the soul beast's body and limbs.

The binding technique was a bit hard to look at; if any fellow from Blue Star were here, they would surely recognize it as the Kinbaku often seen in movies from a certain island nation.

After Yu Tianshuo slapped the soul beast twice, it became obedient. After the two sides exchanged some words, Yu Tianshuo undid the chains and walked over to his master, saying.

"It's settled, Master. It says it's willing to offer itself as a sacrifice to you."

Looking at his disciple's smile, Dugu Bo was truly speechless, but curiosity got the better of him, so he asked Yu Tianshuo what exactly he had said to it.

"Oh, that? I just explained the benefits of being obedient to it, and then it kept telling me that its clan leader wouldn't let me off the hook or something."

"Once I released my soul rings, it became honest, crying and snotting about how it had been blind and failed to recognize a superior earlier."

"Yeah, that's about it. It's voluntary, too, I definitely didn't threaten it or anything."

Hearing this, Dugu Bo burst into laughter. Once he had laughed enough, he patted Yu Tianshuo on the shoulder and walked toward the hundred-thousand-year Dragon King soul beast.

As if suddenly remembering something, Yu Tianshuo shouted at his master's back.

"Master! Remember to tell it in advance which part you want for the soul bone, we've already communicated! You can choose that yourself!"

Dugu Bo merely waved his hand to signal he understood, then began to converse with the soul beast.

Just as Yu Tianshuo was watching his master with a smile, Dugu Yuan crept up to his side with a shifty look and whispered into his ear.

"Junior brother, you see, I've treated you pretty well on a daily basis, haven't I?"

Seeing his senior brother act like this, Yu Tianshuo felt goosebumps all over. Rubbing his shoulders, he said to Dugu Yuan.

"Senior brother, what kind of relationship do we have? If you have something to say, just say it directly. Don't act like this, it's a bit nauseating."

Hearing this, Dugu Yuan only laughed to cover his embarrassment, as his appearance just now had indeed been a bit sleazy.

After coughing twice, he straightened his expression and requested.

"Junior brother~, my eighth and ninth hundred-thousand-year soul rings will have to depend on you."

Yu Tianshuo breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He had wondered what it was, but this was a minor matter at most; according to the intelligence gathered, there were three hundred-thousand-year soul beasts in this space alone.

Since he didn't need them, these would be enough for them to divide among themselves.

As for himself? He would certainly have to continue absorbing the essence of the Dragon King.

Although the danger was still significant, the rewards were truly immense.