Wither-Bloom Calamity Flame Domain

Within this space, the Nine-Colored Emperor Flame coiled at the center, burning quietly.

At the edge of the Emperor Flame, a grayish-green flame tightly wrapped in its firelight, unable to break free, appeared especially jarring and out of place.

This was his Martial Soul Origin space!

As for that grayish-green flame, it was naturally the Wither-Bloom Dragon Fire that had yet to be refined.

Even more strangely, a grayish-green thread was wrapped around the Emperor Flame.

The thread's origin was unknown, but its end was tightly connected to the Emperor Flame, emanating an eerie yet scorching aura.

Seeing this, Lin Yan did not hesitate. His consciousness followed the thread and continued tracing it back.

Guided by an inexplicable sense, after passing through an invisible membrane seemingly woven from countless rules, his consciousness entered another unfamiliar space.

This space had no light or color, no form or shape. Since he had entered with only his consciousness, there was no such thing as "seeing," yet he could clearly sense everything around him.

The instant he entered, a flood of chaotic information began pouring into his consciousness.

[Fire Breath: Charge for three seconds, then unleash a scorching beam of flame that deals fire damage in a straight line.]

[Fire Armor: Condense flames into armor covering the upper body, increasing defense while inflicting flame burns on nearby attackers.]

The information flooding into his consciousness was the introduction to one soul skill after another.

And this was naturally the soul ring's origin space—the Soul Skill Rule Space containing all the bloodline information of this Wither-Glory Fire Dragon!

The reason Lin Yan could so skillfully find this place dated back to the first time he absorbed a soul ring.

Back when he absorbed his first soul ring, he had been curious about the mechanism by which soul rings produced soul skills.

Thus, during the absorption process, he deliberately ignited the Prajna Heart Lamp, attempting to use the Heart Lamp's Wisdom Divine Light to comprehend the structure within the soul ring.

Unfortunately, the soul ring had not yet been fully absorbed at the time, and its connection to him was still extremely weak. It was difficult to penetrate it with his senses, and in the end, he discovered nothing.

Just as he was about to give up, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind.

With the enhancement of the Prajna Heart Lamp's Wisdom Divine Light, he was the first to find his own Martial Soul Origin space.

Then, following the connection between his martial soul and the soul ring, he naturally "slipped" into the soul ring's origin space.

After further in-depth investigation, he finally understood the true nature of this space and grasped the essence of how soul skills formed.

The Soul Skill Rule Space contained all bloodline inheritance information accumulated by a soul beast from ancient times to the present.

Of course, over the long passage of time, some bloodline information would inevitably be completely lost.

Otherwise, Lin Yan would only need to find any random draconic or phoenix-type soul beast to trace its bloodline back to the Dragon God or the Phoenix Ancestor. He would not need to seek out low-level soul beasts that clearly inherited a portion of powerful divine beast bloodlines.

In essence, this bloodline information consisted of countless rule fragments flowing deep within a soul beast's bloodline.

When a soul ring was absorbed by a human, certain rule fragments were drawn to and fused with the martial soul. Once they solidified within the soul ring, they became soul skills.

As for the remaining rule fragments that did not solidify, Lin Yan's later investigation suggested that they completely dissipated along with the absorption of the soul ring.

At the same time, after Lin Yan's consciousness entered this Rule Space, it carried the aura of his own martial soul. Thus, whenever he approached various rule fragments within the space, the fragments would automatically generate information about the corresponding soul skills.

From that moment onward, his method of obtaining soul skills officially upgraded from blind-box mode to cracked mode—custom selection!

As he received the endless stream of soul skill information entering his consciousness, Lin Yan drove his consciousness rapidly through the Rule Space.

One wondrous soul skill after another flowed into Lin Yan's consciousness as streams of information, and he quickly understood and memorized them.

[Flame Claw: Condense flames at the fingertips and unleash a sharp flaming claw strike that can inflict a tearing effect.]

[Flame Tyrant Body: For a short period, increase one's strength, defense, and flame intensity by 100%. Enter a tyrant state and become immune to 50% of fire-attribute attacks.]

Lin Yan's consciousness roamed through countless soul skills, not only to find more powerful ones, but also to absorb the vast variety of soul skill information within them.

As this information poured in, his horizons broadened and his thoughts became more active.

[Flame Domain: Increase all of one's attributes by 20%, reduce the opponent's by 20%, and greatly enhance control over the fire element.]

Feeling the information flood into his mind, Lin Yan's thoughts flashed like lightning. He paused briefly before [Flame Domain], memorized its location, and then resumed racing through the soul ring's soul skill space.

As Lin Yan rapidly received the soul skill information entering his consciousness, he also thought swiftly to himself.

He was naturally tempted by a domain-type soul skill, but it was too ordinary. Compared to his first two soul skills, its quality was far inferior.

Of course, only Lin Yan dared to be so extravagant.

Even if it were any Quasi-Titled Douluo-level powerhouse, if they had the chance to obtain a domain-type soul skill, they would definitely choose it without hesitation, even if it did not match their martial soul's attributes—as long as it did not cause a conflict.

But Lin Yan was different, because he knew that this space definitely contained even more powerful soul skills.

Based on his experience from searching for soul skills twice before, this soul skill space, which contained endless rule fragments, followed a pattern. The place where his consciousness had first entered was merely the shallowest layer of this Rule Space.

The deeper he went toward the core, the more powerful and ancient the rule fragments became!

[Burning Flame Body: At the cost of damaging one's Martial Soul Origin, enter a Burning Flame state for ten seconds. All attributes are greatly enhanced, and those below the level of gods cannot break one's defense.]

[Wither-Bloom Fire Sea: Violently unleash one's Wither-Bloom Dragon Fire, forming a vast sea of flames. The flames within possess an unending burning property, stealing life force to replenish oneself. As long as the flames do not extinguish, one shall not die. After use, one will enter a month-long weakened state.]

As Lin Yan's consciousness gradually drew closer to the core, the soul skills that appeared grew increasingly powerful. Some were no longer abilities that a draconic soul beast like the Wither-Glory Fire Dragon could possibly possess.

These soul skills, which were gradually racing toward the realm of "utterly overpowered," were derived from ancient rule fragments buried in the deepest recesses of the Wither-Glory Fire Dragon's bloodline.

Normally, these rule fragments remained hidden deep within the Rule Space. When a soul ring was absorbed normally, the martial soul could mostly only attract some of the more active fragments in the shallow regions.

That was precisely why the rule fragments in the Core Zone were basically impossible for anyone to draw out and turn into soul skills!

Time could not be sensed within the Rule Space. When the portion of Lin Yan's mind left outside stirred uneasily, he understood that the soul ring's absorption was nearing its end.

Thus, Lin Yan began rushing at full speed toward the Core Zone.

His consciousness sped onward, soul skills entered his mind one after another, and the massive flood of information battered his consciousness, making him dizzy and unfocused.

After an unknown amount of time, the rule fragments around him began growing increasingly sparse, yet every single one emitted an incomparably powerful fluctuation.

[Dragon Fire Enhancement: Increase the power of all fire-attribute skills by 800%. While active, greatly enhance one's affinity with the laws of flame.]

[Wither-Bloom Calamity Fire: The origin calamity fire of the Calamity Flame Ancient Dragon. Its power is boundless; once fully mastered, it can burn worlds and boil seas.]

Lin Yan forcibly suppressed his temptation toward these two soul skills, because beyond them floated a lone, "dazzling" rule fragment, emanating fluctuations far surpassing both.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Yan immediately directed his thoughts toward that final rule fragment.

Yet what first entered his consciousness was not soul skill information, but a shocking image.

It was an enormous ancient dragon. Half of its body was wrapped in deathly black-green withered flames, its scales dry and charred like burnt wood. The other half flowed with crimson ash and green patterns, with faint traces of vitality swirling around it. Calamity fire and ash-laden winds poured from its mouth and nostrils. Wherever its four limbs crossed volcanic scorched earth, the ground would wither in an instant before tiny grass shoots sprouted moments later. It wielded the calamity of withering and flourishing flames.

When the image shattered, an ocean of soul skill information immediately surged wildly into Lin Yan's consciousness.

[Wither-Bloom Calamity Flame Domain: ① Upon activation, all of one's fire-attribute attacks gain the power of calamity, ignore 50% of the enemy's defense, and inflict continuous damage. ② At the same time, Calamity Fire Descent is derived according to the characteristics of one's martial soul. The descending calamity fire possesses a locking, guaranteed-hit property. ③ Within the domain, withering and flourishing cycle endlessly: wither enemies, flourish oneself. Continuously strip the enemy's life force and Soul Power to restore one's own condition. ④ Suppress all enemy attributes within the domain by 30% and increase all of one's own attributes by 30%.]