Azure Luan Douluo

On the other side, Jiang Lin knelt on one knee beside the corpse of the Golden Thunder Python and removed the Ninja Mask.

A jet-black, ten-thousand-year spirit ring rose slowly from the snake's carcass, its dark light swirling with a depth and weight far beyond any spirit ring he had seen before.

As a Golden Thunder Python nearing thirty thousand years, possessing both a golden bloodline and the thunder attribute, this spirit ring was more than enough to crush the one from the Purple Lightning Mad Lion.

Dugu Bo retracted his Avatar of the Spirit, the phantom of the Jade Phosphorus Poison Dragon slowly dissipating.

The cyan-purple toxin patches on his face had mostly faded, making him appear at least ten years younger.

He pulled Dugu Yan along as he hurried over to Jiang Lin, bowing in salute.

"Young Master, why are you here?"

Dugu Bo's tone was filled with surprise and delight. "I was just about to take Yan Yan to see you; I never expected to run into you here in the Sunset Forest."

"That is a question I should be asking you."

Jiang Lin stood up and brushed the bloodstains from his robes. "I came out to hunt for my fourth spirit ring and happened to run into the chaos you were causing."

He glanced at Dugu Yan behind Dugu Bo; the young girl was timidly peeking out, her emerald-green eyes curiously sizing Jiang Lin up.

Dugu Bo chuckled and pulled Dugu Yan in front of him.

"Yan Yan, this is the Young Master I've told you about. Hurry and pay your respects."

Although Dugu Yan was usually spoiled and carefree under Dugu Bo's doting, she knew when to be sensible.

Seeing that even her grandfather treated the youth before her with such reverence—not to mention that he was their family's savior—she dared not act out. She performed a proper salute, her voice crisp and clear:

"Dugu Yan greets the Young Master."

Dugu Bo nodded repeatedly, his gaze falling upon the black spirit ring of the Golden Thunder Python, a flicker of gratification in his eyes.

"Is the Young Master intending to use the Golden Thunder Python as your fourth spirit ring?"

"Yes."

Jiang Lin nodded without denial.

However, Dugu Bo felt a twinge of worry.

"This... is that not too dangerous?"

"How can one grow stronger without taking risks?"

Having said that, Jiang Lin glanced at the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd in his hand. The blood-colored patterns on the halberd were pulsing faintly, resonating intensely with the Golden Thunder Python's spirit ring.

He sat cross-legged beside the snake's corpse and nodded toward Tang Yuan and Elder Chen.

"Uncle Tang, Elder Chen, guard me. Dugu Bo, keep an eye on the surroundings as well; the commotion here was too great, and it might attract other things."

Dugu Bo acknowledged the order, re-summoning his Jade Phosphorus Poison Dragon spirit to lay down a barrier of poisonous mist around them.

Tang Yuan stood by Jiang Lin's side, shouldering his Clear Sky Hammer, while the vertical pupil of Elder Chen's Three-Eyed Fire Leopard slowly opened. The auras of the two Title Douluo intertwined to form an invisible line of defense.

Jiang Lin took a deep breath, reached out, and extended his spirit power toward the pitch-black spirit ring.

The moment the ring touched his spirit power, a surge of violently wild thunder-attribute energy poured into his body, accompanied by the tyrannical pressure unique to the golden bloodline.

This force was many times more ferocious than when he had absorbed his third spirit ring, threatening to tear his meridians apart on the spot.

Jiang Lin let out a muffled groan, veins bulging on his forehead. With the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd across his knees, the blood-colored patterns on the weapon lit up, beginning to frantically devour the thunder energy flooding into his body.

The Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd was a thunder-attribute spirit itself, possessing a natural affinity for and ability to absorb lightning power.

Although the Golden Thunder Python's spirit power was violent, it was continuously absorbed and converted by the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd the moment it entered his meridians, and the rampaging thunder snakes were gradually tamed within the patterns of the halberd.

But the truly tricky part was the golden bloodline.

It was an incredibly arrogant force; once inside his body, it ignored the guidance of his spirit power and instead rampaged through his meridians, as if judging whether this human was qualified to inherit its power.

Jiang Lin gritted his teeth, channeling all his spirit power to surround the golden bloodline, while the aura of the Blood Fiend surged from his spirit to collide head-on with it.

Excruciating pain washed over him like a tide, but his spine remained unyielding.

Time passed, and eventually, the golden bloodline was forcibly suppressed by his dense spirit power and the aura of the Blood Fiend, merging into his very bones and limbs.

Jiang Lin slowly opened his eyes.

A flash of golden lightning flickered in his pupils before vanishing.

He raised his right hand and curled his fingers into a claw; an arc of dark golden electricity danced in his palm, crackling crisply.

This arc was more solid and more tyrannical than before.

His fourth spirit ring rose slowly around him—a black, nearly thirty-thousand-year spirit ring. At the same time, his spirit power broke through its bottleneck during the absorption process, jumping three levels from forty to settle firmly at the peak of level forty-three.

"Congratulations, Young Master."

Dugu Bo was the first to speak, the joy on his face entirely genuine.

Tang Yuan nodded slightly; though he said nothing, a hint of approval flashed in his eyes.

Jiang Lin stood up, stretched his limbs, and felt the surging power within him, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

Then, his gaze fell upon Dugu Yan, who was looking at him with eyes full of adoration.

A fourth spirit ring that was nearly thirty thousand years old—what a genius!

He was far stronger than that Yu Tianheng who kept pestering her.

Qian Renxue walked several miles with Snake Lance and Ci Xue, and only after confirming they were out of the sensory range of those two Title Douluo did she stop by a mountain stream.

The gentle smile belonging to Xue Qinghe had completely faded from her face, replaced by a grave and heavy stillness.

"That man in the gray robe—you couldn't see through him?" She turned to ask Ci Xue.

The person she was asking about was, naturally, Tang Yuan.

Snake Lance Douluo shook his head, his tone resolute:

"I couldn't. Your subordinate didn't even sense his martial soul; he never released his spirit rings from start to finish, and even his spirit power fluctuations were extremely faint. But it is precisely because I couldn't see through him that he is all the more terrifying—the pressure that man gave me was no less than that of the Great Elder."

Qian Renxue fell silent.

Her grandfather, the Great Elder Qian Daoliu, the true guardian of Martial Soul Hall, was a level ninety-nine Limit Douluo.

That gray-robed man could naturally not have reached such a height, but for Ci Xue to say such a thing was enough to prove that the other party was at least a peak Douluo of level ninety-seven or higher.

A level ninety-three Fire Leopard Douluo and an unfathomable gray-robed powerhouse acting as bodyguards for a teenager in his teens.

And then there was the Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, that Dugu Bo who had never submitted to anyone...

"That teenager..."

Qian Renxue narrowed her eyes, the figure that had leaped from the shadows emerging in her mind.

A blood-colored halberd, precise timing, and decisive strikes.

At such an age, with such courage, and with three Title Douluo-level combatants gathered by his side.

"Investigate him when we return."

Qian Renxue pulled back her thoughts. "Focus the investigation on that teenager's martial soul and background. Remember, do not alert the enemy."

Snake Lance and Ci Xue both acknowledged the order.

Just then, Qian Renxue suddenly raised her head and looked toward the northern horizon.

A streak of cyan light was tearing through the air at an incredible speed, its flight trajectory sharp and elegant, trailing a long cyan wake.

The streak of light circled once above the three of them, then retracted its radiance and slowly descended before Qian Renxue.

The newcomer was a middle-aged man with a slender build, a clean-shaven face, and black hair tied atop his head with a jade hairpin; his cyan robe snapped in the wind.

Nine spirit rings rotated slowly around his body.

In his hand, he carried a spirit beast that had already fallen unconscious—it was a snow-white giant eagle with a wingspan of nearly three Mi, its feathers edged with a soft golden halo, and a cluster of golden plumes growing on its forehead, emitting a faint, holy aura even in its unconscious state.

Holy Light Eagle!

Seeing this, Qian Renxue stepped forward, her tone carrying a rare hint of intimacy.

"Grandfather Azure Luan."