Four Years Later

Four years later, Shangling City, Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.

Ancient trees soared into the clouds, their thick vines twisting together like coiling dragons among the shattered trunks and ruins. The air was thick with surging Soul Power and the faint, rank scent of beast blood.

"Boom—"

A thunderous crash erupted. Several thousand-year Soul Beasts, their bodies scarred, trembled in fear as they stared at the freakishly strong girl in the distance. With a whimper, they scrambled away with their tails between their legs, terrified of being caught in the shock waves of the battle.

The girl standing at the center of the battlefield had exquisite features. Her short chestnut-red hair danced like a raging flame, and her red combat outfit outlined her lean, sharp figure. Her graceful curves were beginning to take shape.

"Roar—"

Across from her, the Soul Beast roared in fury.

It was a massive tiger, its body pitch-black and three meters long. Its fur stood on end like steel needles, its eyes were bloodred, its fangs bared, and a deadly glint shone from its claws.

A Dark Demon Evil Tiger, with four thousand years of cultivation!

Though the Soul Beast before them had a name just one character different from the legendary Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, the two were unrelated. The Dark Demon Evil Tiger was an artificial Soul Beast that the Spirit Pagoda had bred using Soul Spirit technology.

Long ago, a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger with sixty thousand years of cultivation had appeared in the Star Dou Great Forest. Its combat strength was no less than that of a top-tier hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.

It had slaughtered at will throughout the Star Dou Great Forest, until the Ferocious Beasts of the core region were forced to step in and subdue it.

After the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger perished, the tiger-type Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest were subjected to a brutal, indiscriminate purge and vanished completely.

To fill the gap left by the loss of tiger-type Soul Beasts, the Spirit Pagoda had painstakingly bred the Dark Demon Evil Tiger. To honor the legendary super Soul Beast favored by an evil god, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, they had given it a similar name.

Still, fierce as the Dark Demon Evil Tiger was, it could never compare to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.

As the Dark Demon Evil Tiger charged at her in a rage, a trace of disdain flashed through the girl's crimson eyes. She snorted and clenched her fists.

Soul Power surged beneath her feet as two deep purple Soul Rings rose into view. Her First Soul Ring and Second Soul Ring lit up in turn, and dark-attribute Soul Power poured from her body.

"Fallen Sky Curtain."

"Dark Demon Sword."

She spoke in a clear voice touched with a hint of wickedness. As the words left her lips, the faint phantom of a dark-purple angel slowly took shape behind her. Its aura was steeped in evil, its wings folded, its power pure and dark.

Almost at the same time, a vast field of darkness spread out, trapping the Dark Demon Evil Tiger within it.

This was the Fallen Sky Curtain, a domain-type Soul Skill. Once activated, it completely blocked the enemy's vision, greatly weakened nearby light-attribute power, slowed the enemy's movements, and steadily eroded the Soul Power within its body.

The moment the Dark Demon Evil Tiger was engulfed by the Fallen Sky Curtain, its movements faltered. The Soul Power within its body grew sluggish.

Seizing the fleeting opening, the girl raised her right hand high. A massive, pitch-black sword formed in her grasp, its blade wrapped in the dual forces of burning darkness and curses. She brought it crashing down on the Dark Demon Evil Tiger.

With the Fallen Angel Martial Soul, the girl's identity was clear: Yuanen Yehui, who had grown and greatly increased her strength over the past four years.

It was this fierce battle between Yuanen Yehui and the four-thousand-year Dark Demon Evil Tiger that had caught the surrounding Soul Beasts in the crossfire and sent them fleeing in panic.

Once, Yuanen Tiandang had worried deeply about his daughter's Fallen Angel Martial Soul, afraid that it might run wild.

Later, after several demigod powerhouses joined forces to study the matter, they discovered that Yuanen Yehui's Titan Giant Ape Martial Soul was no weaker in bloodline than her Fallen Angel Martial Soul.

With the Titan Giant Ape suppressing the Fallen Angel, as long as she kept focusing on cultivating her Titan Giant Ape Martial Soul, her Fallen Angel Martial Soul would never easily run out of control before she reached the Titled Douluo level.

So, after learning all this, Yuanen Yehui made no effort to suppress the power of her Fallen Angel Martial Soul. She believed she could wield that power properly.

"Roar—"

Another earth-shaking tiger's roar burst from the Dark Demon Evil Tiger. Though the Dark Demon Sword had struck it head-on, its formidable physique let it withstand the blow by force.

Yuanen Yehui's smooth little combo had left only a deep, bone-gouging gash across its back. It hadn't lost its ability to fight; instead, the attack had roused its ferocity.

Inside the Fallen Sky Curtain, black smoke poured from the wound on the Dark Demon Evil Tiger's back. It was the curse power of the Dark Demon Sword, viciously eating away at its flesh and Soul Power.

The piercing pain only intensified the killing intent in its bloodred eyes, until they seemed ready to bleed.

Even trapped within the Fallen Sky Curtain, it relied on its keen senses to keep Yuanen Yehui's position firmly in its sights.

Clouds followed dragons, and winds followed tigers.

The distance of a mere few dozen meters was nothing to the Dark Demon Evil Tiger. It crossed it in an instant.

It dug in with all four paws, its body flashing forward like a bolt of black lightning. Its gaping jaws snapped open, fangs shooting toward Yuanen Yehui's head as it tried to swallow her whole.

"First Soul Skill, Titan Strength!" Yuanen Yehui cried.

"Boom—"

Her shout was accompanied by a deafening crash. A tremendous shock wave burst outward, ripping the Fallen Sky Curtain that shrouded the area to shreds.

Billowing dust filled the air. When it settled, the scene at the heart of the battlefield came into view: Yuanen Yehui was locked in combat with the Dark Demon Evil Tiger.

She switched Martial Souls: Titan Giant Ape!

Yuanen Yehui drove her primary Martial Soul to its full potential. The Titan Giant Ape's strength was unrivaled among its peers.

Now, three purple Soul Rings shone brilliantly around her. As the light flowed over her, the muscles throughout her body swelled, and thick brownish-yellow fur spread across her skin.

Faced with the Dark Demon Evil Tiger's sudden attack, she neither dodged nor retreated. Her iron fist, packed with the Titan Giant Ape's immense strength, slammed into its claw.

Every punch and kick, every move and strike, displayed the Titan Giant Ape's boundless brute force.

While Yuanen Yehui fought the tiger, another fierce battle was unfolding in the woods not far away.

A peerlessly beautiful girl was also facing a formidable Soul Beast no weaker than the Dark Demon Evil Tiger.

Four years had honed Na'er into an even more exquisite and captivating young woman, like an immortal who had wandered into the mortal world by mistake.

Her pure white dress was spotless, its hem fluttering in the breeze. Silver hair cascaded to her waist like a flowing galaxy, and her silvery-white eyes were as clear as the depths of the sky. Her waist was slender enough to fit in one hand, and her figure was graceful, though her curves still hadn't developed as much as Yuanen Yehui's.

"Roar—"

Across from Na'er stood a giant dragon covered in bony spikes.

The dragon was lithe, its entire body protected by hard, dark-green scales. Sharp barbs like thorns grew along the edge of every scale, and the slightest movement sliced through the air.

Bony spikes bristled along its back like a row of natural blades. At the end of its tail was a round, thorn-covered ball, bristling with venomous spikes. Even a casual flick of its tail unleashed a fierce, meteor-hammer-like strike, powerful enough to shatter metal and stone.

A Thorn Dragon, a four-thousand-two-hundred-year Soul Beast!

A highly formidable dragon-kin subspecies with poison and space attributes!