Golden Xuanwu! Soul Skill: Emperor Armor?

Before taking Xiao Yao away, Qian Daoliu told Golden Crocodile the maximum age of the soul ring Xiao Yao could now withstand after absorbing his first soul ring.

Sixty-three thousand years. Golden Crocodile Douluo was no longer shocked upon hearing that number. After the previous string of shocks had repeatedly shattered his worldview, he found sixty-three thousand years perfectly normal. After all, this was a god-tier Martial Soul, the Golden Lion Mastiff. Understandable!

Later, while Golden Crocodile and Qian Daoliu were searching for soul beasts, they encountered Azure Luan and Xiong Shi. They told them about Xiao Yao's first soul ring skill and that the age limit for the soul beasts he could seek had risen to sixty-three thousand years. The two of them also left trembling all over, presumably needing time to process the news.

More than two months passed like this. Although they found several divine beast Martial Souls, their ages were either too high or too low. Or their ages were suitable, but the soul beasts could only be considered top-tier soul beasts, and their Martial Souls were merely super Martial Souls, still a step short of divine beast-tier soul beasts.

The people from the Worship Hall had no intention of settling. After all, being a little short now could mean falling a little short when facing enemies or becoming gods in the future. Since they had time and Spirit Hall had nothing urgent to deal with, they intended to make everything as perfect as possible and find Xiao Yao the best and most suitable soul beast, making him even stronger.

Another month passed. As Qian Daoliu flew over a lake with Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao suddenly felt the Golden Lion Mastiff stir. "Teacher! My Golden Lion Mastiff Martial Soul has reacted. Should we go into this lake and take a look?"

Hearing that the god-tier Golden Lion Mastiff Martial Soul had reacted again, Qian Daoliu said, "Alright. We'll go down now."

Qian Daoliu activated his Martial Soul Avatar. A Peerless Douluo's Soul Power enveloped Xiao Yao as his spiritual power swept through the lake in advance, then he plunged into the water.

After entering, they swam deeper for more than ten minutes. Both Qian Daoliu and Xiao Yao were somewhat surprised. They had thought the lake was only a few hundred or perhaps a thousand meters deep, yet they had already descended several thousand meters without reaching the bottom.

A grave expression appeared in Qian Daoliu's eyes. If he were alone, he was confident that with the divine artifact Angel Holy Sword and the power of his ninth soul ring skill, Angel Descent, there was nowhere in the world he could not go.

But Xiao Yao was with him now. He feared that if an opponent of equal rank appeared and fought him, the collateral damage might injure Xiao Yao. That would be far from ideal. So he immediately returned along the same route. Once they reached the surface, he sent a signal into the sky, summoning the other worshippers.

Two days later, Golden Crocodile, Azure Luan, and Xiong Shi arrived one after another. Mighty Lion Douluo asked, "Big Brother Qian Daoliu, has the second soul beast arrived?" Golden Crocodile and Azure Luan also looked puzzled. After all, there was no sign of a soul beast nearby.

Qian Daoliu said, "When we passed this lake two days ago, Xiao Yao's Golden Lion Mastiff reacted. Xiao Yao and I went in to investigate, only to find that even several thousand meters beneath the water, we still had not reached the bottom. I felt something was unusual, so I called you all here. You protect Xiao Yao while I go down and take a look myself."

Xiao Yao had not expected Qian Daoliu to be so cautious and concerned for his safety, fearing even the slightest mishap might befall him. He could not help feeling moved. He thought that if he became a god someday, he would definitely bring Qian Daoliu with him to enjoy the good life.

After briefly giving his instructions, Qian Daoliu placed Xiao Yao between Golden Crocodile, Azure Luan, and Xiong Shi. Then he activated his Martial Soul Avatar, took up the holy sword, and descended alone.

Two days later, Qian Daoliu burst from the water carrying a mountain-sized beast. The beast had a dark golden, octagonal turtle shell covered in naturally profound patterns resembling the veins of the earth. Lava-like crimson-gold light flowed through those patterns.

Its four limbs were like pillars holding up the heavens, covered in overlapping layers of dragon scales. Dragon horns grew from its head, bone armor covered its face, and its pupils were pure molten gold.

A golden giant python of the same origin as the turtle's body coiled around the shell several times.

The moment Xiao Yao saw Qian Daoliu, he hurriedly asked, "Teacher, did anything happen to you underwater? Were you hurt?"

Seeing that his disciple's first concern was for him rather than the soul beast, Qian Daoliu felt gratified and said happily, "I'm fine. But this Golden Xuanwu truly knows how to hide and endure. It actually burrowed several hundred meters into the seabed and lay dormant at a depth of thirteen thousand meters. If the Golden Lion Mastiff hadn't indicated that there might indeed be something beneath the lakebed—"

"—and if I hadn't kept using my strongest attacks against the surrounding lakebed and accidentally struck it out, I truly would not have found it."

"A sixty-two-thousand-year Golden Xuanwu. It is unquestionably at the divine beast level, and it is highly suitable for you to absorb."

Xiao Yao looked at the Golden Xuanwu in surprise. He had not expected Douluo Continent to possess such a divine beast. Ten thousand years later, Xu Sanshi evolved through absorbing a hundred-thousand-year Golden Hawksbill Turtle soul spirit. It was unquestionably a divine beast-tier soul beast.

Xiao Yao's lips curled upward. "Thank you, Master, for putting so much effort into nurturing me! I will definitely repay you in the future."

Qian Daoliu shook his head with a smile. "Alright, enough with the polite words. Let's head to the outer region, kill it, and absorb its soul ring."

One or two hours later, in the outer region of Star Dou Forest, Qian Daoliu, Golden Crocodile, Azure Luan, and Xiong Shi watched Xiao Yao with complicated expressions as he absorbed a sixty-two-thousand-year soul ring as his second soul ring.

Azure Luan said gloomily, "Why is the gap between people so enormous? Boss Qian Daoliu, in Spirit Hall's twenty-thousand-year records, has there ever been anyone like Xiao Yao?"

Qian Daoliu shook his head slightly. "No, there truly hasn't. I doubt there will be anyone like Xiao Yao even in the next ten or twenty thousand years. His Martial Soul is far too special. Its attributes and strength are simply incomprehensible. Even the Qian Family's god-tier Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul is nowhere near this level of power and attributes."

Golden Crocodile said, "For one or two hundred years, I listened to others say that I relied entirely on my Martial Soul and attributes. I never thought that in the end, I would say the same about someone else. All I can say is that seeing Xiao Yao is like a mayfly seeing the azure heavens."

Xiong Shi looked at his Blazing Lion Martial Soul, then at the Golden Lion Mastiff in the distance. "They're both lions, so why is the difference so great? If I had even one-tenth of my grandson's strength, I would have pinned Big Brother Golden Crocodile down and beaten him long ago."

As they chatted, they remained alert at all times, protecting Xiao Yao's safety.

Finally, several hours later, Xiao Yao finished absorbing the second soul ring. He impatiently summoned his Martial Soul and used his second soul skill.

A layer of golden-yellow substance, like flowing liquid gold, enveloped Xiao Yao. Before long, a suit of golden armor formed.

The helmet was shaped like dragon horns. The armor's body was a dragon's body, with eagle arms, tiger shoulders, a mastiff's back, and rhinoceros legs. The belt and knee sections bore black-and-white Yin-Yang Taijitu patterns.

"Isn't this Emperor Armor? It's way too handsome and cool!" Xiao Yao exclaimed in delight as he felt his current appearance. Especially after sensing the effects of his soul skill, he could not help sucking in a cold breath. He truly felt like he had struck gold! This soul skill was far too overpowered.