70,000-Year-Old Crimson Flame Ancient Tree, 90,000-Year-Old Ice and Fire Demon Wolf King!

Ye Qing, Dugu Bo, and Dugu Yan had just reached a corner of the training grounds.

Dugu Yan could not wait to speak.

"Grandpa, have you really found a Soul Ring suitable for Ye Qing?"

Dugu Bo stood with his hands behind his back, a trace of pride flashing through his jade-green eyes.

"Would this old man lie to you?"

"Over this period, I searched all over the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, then spent three whole days probing deep into its core region. I finally found suitable prey in a hidden canyon."

He paused, his gaze falling on Ye Qing.

"It is an extremely rare fire-element plant-type soul beast, around seventy thousand years old. It should suit your Chaos Green Lotus very well."

"Kid, do you want to go?"

Ye Qing's eyes lit up.

Seventy thousand years, plant-type, and fire-element!

This was practically a Soul Ring tailor-made for him.

Without another word, he nodded. "I'm going."

"Besides, staying at the academy just means beating up Yu Feng and the others every day. It's not much fun."

Yu Feng, who was wiping sweat in the distance, inexplicably sneezed.

"I'm going too!"

Dugu Yan grabbed Ye Qing's arm, her jade-green eyes full of determination.

But Dugu Bo shook his head, his tone unusually serious. "Yanyan, not this time."

"That soul beast is entrenched deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, surrounded by ten-thousand-year soul beasts. Just clearing a path there took quite a bit of effort."

"To deal with a soul beast over fifty thousand years old, I must go all out. I won't have the spare focus to protect you."

Dugu Yan opened her mouth, wanting to argue.

But when she saw the deep mark of exhaustion between her grandfather's brows, she swallowed the words that had reached her lips.

Knowing the bigger picture, she released Ye Qing's arm and bit her lip. "When will you be back?"

"At best, half a month. At worst, a month."

Dugu Bo turned around, his robes fluttering sharply. "Kid, let's go."

Ye Qing looked back at Dugu Yan and gave her a confident smile.

"When I come back, I'll bring you some local specialties from the Star Dou Great Forest."

Dugu Yan rolled her eyes at him. "Who wants them?"

Ye Qing was carried away through the air by Dugu Bo.

Only then did Yu Feng and the others gather around, curiously asking what Ye Qing had gone off to do.

Even Qin Ming was curious.

Dugu Yan simply said that her grandfather had taken Ye Qing to hunt a soul beast.

However, she did not mention that it was for Ye Qing's sixth Soul Ring.

Everyone assumed Ye Qing was going to acquire the fourth Soul Ring he had never displayed before, and no one was particularly surprised.

Still, Yu Feng sighed. "Once the captain gets his fourth Soul Ring, won't no one be able to stop him?"

Everyone agreed deeply.

After all, Ye Qing could brutally thrash every one of them without relying on Soul Skills.

Ten days later.

Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.

Ye Qing stood on a horizontal branch of a towering ancient tree as scorching gusts blasted toward him from ahead, whipping his robes in the wind.

Ahead lay a canyon filled with surging flames.

The rock walls on both sides of the canyon entrance had been baked dark brown by the relentless heat over countless years.

The surfaces of the rocks were covered in spiderweb-like cracks.

The air was thick with the mingled smell of sulfur and charred wood.

Every breath made his throat feel as though it were on fire.

"Senior, is this the soul beast's nest you found inside this canyon?"

Ye Qing narrowed his eyes, gazing deep into the canyon through the rolling heatwaves.

"So hot..."

Dugu Bo grinned, his smile carrying a deeper meaning.

"That's right."

"And it is not any fire-element soul beast you have ever seen. It is called the Crimson Flame Ancient Tree, an exceptionally rare plant-type soul beast."

"This old man has traveled the continent for decades and has only seen it twice."

Ye Qing's heart stirred.

A plant-type soul beast with a fire element—this combination of attributes was simply tailor-made for the Chaos Green Lotus.

"Senior, when do we make our move?"

Ye Qing asked eagerly.

Then he recalled a crucial question. "A seventy-thousand-year soul beast... are you confident you can handle it?"

Dugu Bo stood with his hands behind his back, and a proud gleam flashed through his jade-green eyes.

An even more immense Soul Power pressure than before suddenly erupted from his body.

The phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor coiled behind him and hissed.

That phantom was more solid than it had been several months ago. The patterns on its scales were clearly visible, and the eerie glow in its snake eyes was nearly tangible.

"I never told you this, but thanks to your Soul Bone Poison Extraction method, after channeling the poison within my body into my head Soul Bone, the Soul Power bottleneck that had troubled me for decades finally loosened."

A confident curve formed at the corner of his mouth. "This old man is now a ninety-second-level Title Douluo. What is there to fear from a mere seventy-thousand-year soul beast?"

Old Poison was level ninety-two?

Ye Qing clicked his tongue inwardly.

No wonder the old man was putting on such an imposing air today, as if even the wind followed him when he walked.

Though the difference between level ninety-two and level ninety-one was only one level.

For a Title Douluo, however, that single level was often a hurdle that could not be crossed even after decades.

Having broken through that bottleneck, the old man's combat strength had increased by at least severalfold.

As soon as Dugu Bo finished speaking, he leaned forward, preparing to dart into the canyon.

But just as he was about to take a step, his whole body suddenly froze.

Ye Qing's pupils also contracted.

They sensed the powerful aura that had suddenly entered their range of perception almost at the same time.

Both raised their heads and looked toward the highest cliff above the canyon.

There, atop the cliff, stood a giant wolf whose body was woven from icy blue and crimson red.

It was a full nine meters long.

Its limbs were as thick as ancient trees.

Half the mane along its spine burned with raging flames, while the other half was covered in deep-blue ice crystals.

Two utterly opposing powers had reached a strange balance within its body.

It stood at the edge of the cliff, its enormous head lowered.

Its mismatched wolf eyes, one red and one blue, stared coldly into the canyon as a low whine rumbled from its throat.

"An Ice-Fire Demon Wolf?"

Ye Qing nearly blurted out the name of the soul beast.

He knew of this type of soul beast.

It was a rare breed that possessed both ice and fire elemental powers, and its body length reflected its years of cultivation.

But Dugu Bo's face darkened in an instant.

A gravity Ye Qing had never seen before flashed through his jade-green eyes.

He stared at the giant wolf for three full breaths before slowly speaking.

"Kid, you should call it the Ice and Fire Demon Wolf King." His voice was low, as though forced through clenched teeth.

He took a deep breath, and a solemnity that made Ye Qing's heart sink entered his tone.

"For an Ice-Fire Demon Wolf, every meter of body length represents ten thousand years of cultivation."

"This one is a full nine meters long, meaning it has ninety thousand years of cultivation!"

"A ninety-thousand-year Ice and Fire Demon Wolf King has combat strength that even exceeds an ordinary Title Douluo!"

"If it were only a seventy-thousand-year Crimson Flame Ancient Tree, this old man would be confident of taking it down."

"But... with an additional ninety-thousand-year Ice and Fire Demon Wolf King... this is no longer hunting a soul beast. This is risking our lives."

Dugu Bo's expression was exceptionally grave.

He was not exaggerating.

Ordinary soul beasts of eighty or ninety thousand years already possessed the strength of a Title Douluo.

Ye Qing looked at the giant wolf atop the cliff, where icy cold and blazing heat intertwined, and his heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

Just then.

The Ice and Fire Demon Wolf King slowly turned its head.

Those mismatched wolf eyes crossed the blazing canyon and, from hundreds of meters away, locked directly onto the two men in the ancient tree.