Ten-Thousand-Year Fourth Soul Ring!

Stepping out of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes, Dugu Bo did not immediately take his granddaughter into the air.

He stood at the entrance of the valley, narrowing his dark golden dragon eyes slightly as if pondering something.

Dugu Yan followed behind her grandfather, looking somewhat puzzled when he stopped in his tracks.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

Dugu Bo turned around and looked his granddaughter up and down.

Her emerald-green long hair fluttered gently in the mountain wind, and her clear, luminous emerald-green dragon eyes were filled with curiosity and anticipation.

Her complexion was much better than when they arrived, and her entire being radiated a vibrant vitality.

"Yan Yan, Grandpa wants to ask you a question."

Dugu Bo spoke, "How do you think your current state would handle absorbing a ten-thousand-year-level soul ring? Any issues?"

Dugu Yan was taken aback.

A ten-thousand-year soul ring?

She was currently a level-forty Soul Ancestor, and the theoretical limit for her fourth soul ring was ten thousand years.

But that was just theory.

In reality, absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring at level forty was practically impossible in the soul master world.

Because ten-thousand-year soul beasts left behind mental resentment upon death, attacking the absorber's Sea of Consciousness during the soul ring absorption.

The mental power of soul masters between level thirty and forty was generally insufficient to withstand the mental attacks of a ten-thousand-year soul beast.

To force the absorption meant minor mental trauma at best, turning into an idiot at worst, or even dying on the spot.

"Grandpa, a ten-thousand-year soul ring..."

Dugu Yan hesitated. "Aren't you only qualified to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring once you reach level fifty as a Soul King? No one on the mainland has ever absorbed a ten-thousand-year one for their fourth soul ring; they say doing so causes your body to explode and die."

"That applies to ordinary people."

Dugu Bo shook his head, his tone calm and resolute. "You are not an ordinary person. Your martial soul has already evolved into the Jade Scale Dragon, a true dragon species."

"A true dragon species martial soul has a natural suppression over sub-dragon and snake-type soul beasts."

"This suppression isn't just a coercion in combat; it is also manifested in the absorption of soul rings."

Dugu Yan nodded thoughtfully.

Grandpa made sense.

Snake-type soul beasts trembled in front of the Jade Python Snake, let alone now that she had evolved into the Jade Scale Dragon?

That was a true dragon.

An existence standing at the pinnacle of the food chain.

"Besides, Grandpa has checked your body."

Dugu Bo continued, "The medicinal power of the Aromatic Silk Beauty hasn't been fully absorbed yet. Your meridians, bones, and physical strength are several times stronger than those of an ordinary level-forty soul master."

"There is absolutely no physical problem with absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring."

"The only thing to worry about is the resentment impact on the mental level."

Dugu Yan bit her lips.

Mental power was indeed her weak point.

Her martial soul was a beast martial soul, not a mental type, and her mental power could only be considered mediocre among peers.

She might not be able to withstand the resentment impact of a ten-thousand-year soul beast.

"Grandpa, what should we do then?"

Dugu Yan asked.

The corners of Dugu Bo's mouth curved up slightly, a gleam of wisdom flashing in his dark golden dragon eyes.

"Yan Yan, Grandpa asks you a question."

"What question?"

"Why do ten-thousand-year soul beasts produce mental attacks during soul ring absorption?"

Dugu Yan thought for a moment. "Because they have given birth to sentience, felt pain and fear during battle, and their resentment doesn't disperse after death?"

"Correct."

Dugu Bo nodded. "Then what if... they don't feel pain or fear when they die?"

Dugu Yan froze.

No pain or fear?

"Grandpa means..."

"Knock them out."

Dugu Bo stated his plan. "When the soul beast is most relaxed and completely unguarded, use mental power to stun it."

"Then, you deliver the final blow."

"That way, the soul beast has no consciousness, no pain, and no fear at the exact moment of death."

"The mental resentment remaining after death will naturally be much lighter, or perhaps even completely nonexistent."

Dugu Yan's eyes grew brighter the more she listened.

This method sounded feasible!

"Grandpa, have you tried it?"

"No."

Dugu Bo shook his head honestly. "But it makes complete sense theoretically."

"Besides, taking a step back, even if a knocked-out soul beast still has resentment impact upon death, the Jade Scale Dragon's mental suppression over the sub-dragon species is enough for you to easily endure it."

Dugu Yan took a deep breath and nodded heavily.

"Grandpa, I trust you."

"Good."

Dugu Bo reached out to embrace his granddaughter's shoulders, deep purple nether qi lifting their bodies as they flew toward the depths of the Sunset Forest.

"Then let's go hunt a ten-thousand-year sub-dragon species."

Deep within the Sunset Forest.

Dense ancient trees blocked the sky, allowing sunlight to filter through the gaps in the leaves only as mottled light spots.

The air was filled with the damp scent of decaying leaves, mixed with the fishy stench of various soul beasts.

Dugu Bo took his granddaughter and flew above the forest for about the time it took to burn an incense stick, his mental power fully unleashed to scan every inch of land below.

Within a radius of ten miles, every movement was within his perception.

His mental power, after the baptism of the Heavenly Tribulation, was a full fold stronger than before, and its quality had undergone a qualitative transformation.

Searching for a suitable soul beast was as easy as turning over his hand for him.

"Found it."

Dugu Bo suddenly stopped, his dark golden dragon eyes locking onto a swamp area below.

Dugu Yan looked in the direction of her grandfather's gaze and saw a huge python coiled in the center of that swamp.

No, not a python.

That giant beast was over ten meters long, its entire body covered in dark green scales that shimmered with a metallic luster at the edges.

Its head was flat, a single horn grew atop it, and short whiskers flanked its mouth.

Four indistinct bulges were vaguely visible beneath its belly.

Those were the traces of dragon claws that had not yet fully regressed.

"Grandpa, what soul beast is this?"

Dugu Yan asked in a low voice, a trace of excitement flashing in her emerald-green dragon eyes.

"Venom Swamp Python," Dugu Bo said. "A sub-dragon species possessing thin dragon clan bloodline, with a poison attribute, skilled at lurking and ambushing in swamps."

"What is its age?"

"A little over twelve thousand years." Dugu Bo stated the number precisely. "It's just right for your fourth soul ring."

Twelve thousand years.

Dugu Yan swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The theoretical limit for a fourth soul ring was ten thousand years, and this Venom Swamp Python, at twelve thousand years, had already reached the theoretical limit of what a Soul King could absorb.

Yet she trusted her grandfather's judgment.

"Yan Yan, are you ready?"

Dugu Bo asked.

"I'm ready."

"Then Grandpa will begin."

Dugu Bo did not strike directly.

He brought Dugu Yan to land in a large tree hundreds of meters away from the swamp, concealing their figures well.

Then, his mental power silently spread outward.

His mental power, following the Heavenly Tribulation baptism, was not only high in strength but also extremely covert.

Although the Venom Swamp Python possessed twelve thousand years of cultivation, it was completely incomparable to a Title Douro in terms of mental power.

It didn't notice at all that an invisible force had already enveloped it.

Dugu Bo's mental power, like an invisible snake, slowly approached the head of the Venom Swamp Python.

He did not rush to launch an attack.

Instead, he waited.

Waiting for the Venom Swamp Python to become most relaxed.