Power of Pluto

After all the spiritual energy had been absorbed,

Gu Yue recalled her wind blades, looked at Li Chen beside her, and said with a light laugh,

"Let's keep moving forward!"

Li Chen shuddered at her cruel smile and replied awkwardly, "...Alright!"

"Who would've thought our luck would be this bad? We ran into a hidden big boss the moment we entered the Spirit Ascension Platform."

"Serves you right for courting death. You released the Power of Life to communicate with the trees the instant we entered."

"Haha, I won't dare do that again."

"You think there'll be a next time?"

The two chatted as they headed deeper into the forest. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the leaves, scattering mottled spots of light over their figures as they walked one behind the other.

As they moved forward, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes ahead.

The two immediately stopped. Then, a massive figure appeared in their sight.

It stood on two feet, over four meters long, its entire body covered in iron-gray scales. A single horn grew from the center of its forehead. It was a Millennium One-Horned Dragon.

The moment it saw Li Chen, it pounced without hesitation. In its eyes, Li Chen was a slab of streaky pork brimming with rich life force.

Seeing this through the soul-guidance screen, Leng Qiu could not help saying to the staff, "A thousand-year soul beast! It's a Millennium One-Horned Dragon! Hurry and warn them to teleport out!"

The staff member understood at once and swiftly operated the control console to notify the two of them.

Zi Ji looked at the soul beast on the screen. She knew very well how formidable this soul beast was.

Millennium One-Horned Dragon.

This was a soul beast that had been extremely rare even during the Dragon Clan's heyday.

The One-Horned Dragon possessed the bloodline of dragon-type soul beasts and was a type of Earth Dragon. Its physical strength was immense, placing it among the best even within the Earth Dragons. It could run swiftly through forests with complicated terrain and excelled at leaping and charging. Though it lacked long-range attacks, it possessed a special temperament: it would never rest until death. Once it chose a target, it would pursue them relentlessly until it killed them.

However, the One-Horned Dragon was not without weaknesses. This type of soul beast lacked the elemental attributes of true dragons and had no long-range attack abilities.

Although Li Chen received the order to retreat and backed away, he showed no hint of panic.

The first soul ring beneath his feet lit up, and streams of light immediately shot toward the One-Horned Dragon.

The Millennium One-Horned Dragon abruptly halted, its Soul Power spilling out beyond its control.

At that moment, Gu Yue made her move. Fireballs shot out like a rapid volley, striking its body with a series of crackles and exploding into brilliant red sparks.

Sparks scattered everywhere, igniting the surrounding grass but failing to ignite its scales. There was not even the slightest scorch mark.

"Such thick hide!"

Li Chen did not approach. Instead, he silently shielded Gu Yue behind him.

As soon as his soul skill's cooldown ended, a second beam of light shot from his hand and entered the One-Horned Dragon's body once more.

This time, the One-Horned Dragon's Soul Power returned to normal, but its physical defenses vanished.

Seeing this, Gu Yue slashed out with a cyan wind blade from her fingertips, striking its heavy scales.

The gale carried tongues of flame upward along the Millennium One-Horned Dragon's arm. Its dark scales crackled as a foul odor drifted out.

But unfortunately, although the One-Horned Dragon's defensive ability had been greatly weakened, its natural scales still protected it well.

Moreover, the One-Horned Dragon had been completely enraged and charged madly at Li Chen.

Li Chen's eyes darkened. Soul Power surged around him, black as ink, transforming into Nether Ghost Fire that coiled around his body. A vague phantom of Pluto appeared behind him, wearing the Nether Bone Crown and Black Underworld Robe. A chilling pressure that seemed to command life and death radiated from it, instantly bending the surrounding grass and trees.

The Millennium One-Horned Dragon had already charged over in fury. Its savage horn gleamed with an icy light as its powerful hind legs kicked off the ground, slamming fiercely into the tree where he stood with brute force. A deafening boom erupted. The trunk, thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around, snapped apart. Amid the flying wood chips, Li Chen rose gracefully into the air, lightly tapping a broken branch with his toes as the Underworld Power around him grew ever denser.

The One-Horned Dragon roared in pain and fury, its scarlet eyes fixed on the figure in midair. It turned and charged again, gathering strength in its hind legs before leaping into the air. Its gaping maw opened wide, sharp fangs lunging forward as a foul, wind-like stench rushed at him. Li Chen glanced at it coldly, and his Nether Soul Power suddenly erupted. The phantom of Pluto raised a hand in suppression, and endless power of deathly silence instantly enveloped the One-Horned Dragon.

"Underworld Lock!"

With that low shout, several black chains of Underworld Power burst from the void and instantly wrapped around the One-Horned Dragon's body, binding its movements tightly. The enraged One-Horned Dragon struggled with all its might, but Pluto's pressure suppressed it so thoroughly that it could not move. Even its Soul Power began to collapse. A wisp of dark Underworld Fire gathered at Li Chen's fingertip, carrying the power of annihilation, life, and death as it pointed directly at the One-Horned Dragon's brow.

Underworld power instantly invaded its soul. The One-Horned Dragon's howl came to an abrupt stop, its massive body freezing in midair before crashing heavily to the ground, utterly devoid of life. The Underworld Power around Li Chen slowly receded, and Pluto's phantom faded away, leaving only an aura of deathly silence across the ground to display the overwhelming battle that had just taken place.

As the Millennium One-Horned Dragon was successfully slain, golden spiritual energy rose and split into two in the air, entering their bodies respectively.

After sensing the subtle changes in her body, Gu Yue looked at Li Chen again. Blood splattered across the boy's fair face, and his snow-white shirt had already been dyed red.

"Let's continue deeper into the forest!" Her voice was as calm as possible. She was now certain that Li Chen's martial soul was definitely connected to the Underworld.

The boy answered with a "Mm." After using dark Soul Power to wash himself clean, he continued deeper into the forest.

As they went farther in, the light within the forest grew dimmer, while the trees became taller and denser.

As they continued through the forest, whenever Li Chen activated his first soul ring, he could basically work with Gu Yue's elemental attacks to kill their opponents with ease. There was hardly any need to use his martial soul.

As the last Millennium Soft-Bone Rabbit was killed,

A pale white light rose, and the spiritual energy split in two before entering their bodies. The yellow soul rings beneath their feet suddenly changed color, becoming purple soul rings.

First soul ring! Thousand-year!

A thousand-year soul ring—previously, at least a Soul Elder would have been able to endure one. Yet he was only six and could bear it so easily. The Spirit Ascension Platform truly was powerful.

Suddenly, battle roars and the sounds of branches snapping rang out continuously through the woods. Something enormous seemed to be rushing toward them at high speed.

Li Chen's pupils suddenly contracted. A towering dark-gold figure speeding toward him was clearly reflected in his pitch-black eyes, closing in with terrifying pressure.

It was a true behemoth of the mountains and forests.

Its entire body was covered in thick, condensed dark-gold fur that shimmered with cold light. Its mountain-like body stood more than three meters tall, and simply standing among the trees gave off a suffocating presence like a mountain pressing down overhead. Its shoulders and back were broad as ancient city walls, its muscles knotted and bulging, while its pair of arms were frighteningly thick, containing strength enough to shatter mountains and split stone.

At the ends of its thick arms grew incomparably sharp dark-gold claws. Their cold gleam was terrifying, each claw blade over a meter long, seeming capable of effortlessly tearing through any solid barrier.

It was none other than one of the most renowned and powerful races among soul beasts—the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.