A river of molten lava flowed on and on, radiating waves of terrifying heat.
In Li Zishuo's eyes, Li Changsheng's entire presence had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
After more than ten days together, Li Changsheng seemed to him like an outstanding big brother, far beyond his years. Though he was usually silent, his lively, keen eyes were always observing their surroundings, and he possessed an air of great mystery.
The wondrous Meditation Method he had taught him, along with those strange footwork, eye techniques, and hand techniques—
All of it left Li Zishuo utterly astonished. Though he had never put them to practical use, just hearing the explanations was enough to tell him that what Li Changsheng had taught him was absolutely no ordinary thing.
At that moment,
Li Changsheng's entire aura changed once again.
A vast sheet of flames blotted out the sky and covered the whole world. Endless fire surged up from the ground and fell from above like meteorites, crashing down on the Hard-Bone Wolf Pack trapped by the lava.
Wrapped in flames and pelted by fireballs like falling meteorites, the wolves did not descend into chaos. They rammed their bodies into the fireballs and, still led by the Hard-Bone Wolf King, continued charging toward Li Changsheng.
All around them was a world of fire. The forest that had once stood there had long since vanished.
The shattered world of flames shook violently.
Seeing this,
Li Changsheng swept one hand across his brow.
In an instant,
the tip of the Night-Startling Divine Spear pierced through the dimensional barrier first. Then, amid surging black mist and wild crimson light, its long shaft appeared as well.
Li Changsheng gripped it in one hand.
He glanced back at Li Zishuo, who was slumped on the ground, completely dumbstruck.
With a slight smile, he pointed the Night-Startling Spear toward the wolves. "Watch closely."
Li Zishuo froze. At first, he had no idea what Li Changsheng meant. But when he saw the purple light in Li Changsheng's eyes grow brighter and his legs gradually turn translucent, he understood.
Li Changsheng was guiding him—showing him how to practice and apply the strange, out-of-sync footwork and miraculous eye techniques he had taught him.
Li Zishuo's mouth fell open. He stared at Li Changsheng as he drifted away, treading across the surging sea of flames like a crushing tsunami, and bore down directly on the Hard-Bone Wolf Pack.
From beginning to end, he had not seen Li Changsheng's Soul Ring. He had not even gotten a clear look at his Martial Soul.
That was because the Immortal Execution Painting Martial Soul transformed into an entire world the instant a Soul Skill was released.
Each Soul Skill could manifest a different world.
The world of flames before them was one such example.
As Li Changsheng grew stronger, the attacks available within this world would increase as well.
For instance, the fireballs raining down from the sky right now came crashing down in an endless torrent, their power nearly tangible. They pounded some ten-year Hard-Bone Wolves to death outright.
The lava on the ground, however, could only hinder and burn them because Li Changsheng's Soul Power was low. If he were stronger, those Hard-Bone Wolves would turn into Soul Rings the moment they stepped into it.
Gripping the Night-Startling Spear, Li Changsheng used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to tread through the air above the fiery tsunami.
Lava towering up to the heavens formed a screen of light. Li Changsheng's stern, purple eyes fixed on the Wolf King at the front.
The century-old Hard-Bone Wolf King was 419 years old. Compared with ordinary wolves, it had almost no physical weaknesses. The saying "a copper head, iron bones, and a tofu-soft waist" had been improved upon in the Hard-Bone Wolf: its entire body was as hard as refined iron.
But by now, all the wolves' fur had been burned away, leaving them looking like hairless cats. They continued to race onward, trying to escape the sea of flames beneath their feet.
There was no escape.
The range of Li Changsheng's first Soul Skill, Three Thousand Sumeru Flames, was simply too vast.
By rights, with only fifteen levels of Soul Power, he should not have been able to unleash an attack like this. But thanks to the Soul Ring rewarded by the system, the Soul Skill it granted him consumed very little Soul Power—so little that it seemed as though this blazing world of flames had always been inside the Soul Ring.
This was the Immortal Execution Painting Martial Soul.
Immortals entered the painting, and returned clutching their heads.
Standing atop the sea of flames, Li Changsheng felt as though he had found the same sensation the God of Wisdom must once have felt when towering over the Black Dragon. Almost without thinking, he raised the Night-Startling Divine Spear.
Bathed in firelight, the pitch-black Night-Startling Spear erupted with power!
Boom!
Li Changsheng lightly pushed off with his toes, holding the spear before him. He leaped into the air and landed on a falling fireball, then shot down toward the ground at blinding speed.
At last, the Hard-Bone Wolf King stopped. Its paws were charred black, and lava crawled little by little over its limbs. It looked back at the few wolves still remaining behind it, and at the white Soul Rings that had risen from the sea of flames all along the way.
It lifted its head and let out a mournful howl.
The wolves, roasted until they were barely clinging to life, raised their heads as well and answered with faint cries.
Their howls seemed to pierce through the world of flames, resonating with the bright full Moon high in the sky outside.
A vague, enormous wolf-head apparition appeared above the pack, tinged with a sorrowful yellow hue. It had only one eye, and that eye kept changing, like the Moon waxing and waning. One moment, it was a crescent as slender as a willow leaf; the next, a curved blade of a full Moon.
Led by the Hard-Bone Wolf King, with the remaining wolves supporting it, white and yellow Soul Power began to gather toward the enormous phantom wolf head. Its outline grew ever clearer.
Wolf King Howls at the Moon!
This was probably a suicidal attack the Hard-Bone Wolf King had mastered, one that used its own life as the price and drew upon some of the other wolves' Soul Power.
The enormous wolf head had fully taken shape.
Its single, ever-changing Moon eye burst with violet light. The beam shot straight out, like a laser, and pierced directly toward Li Changsheng.
Li Changsheng scoffed. No matter how many wolves howled in grief, they would still spill blood here today.
He began to swing the Night-Startling Divine Spear.
Soul Power drained rapidly from his body.
Ten percent.
Twenty percent.
Fifty percent!
Sixty percent!
Only when Li Changsheng's face had turned somewhat pale did he finally stop swinging the spear. Then he raised his arm and hurled the Night-Startling Spear with all his strength.
As the thrown spear crossed the remaining distance, it began to draw in the power of the surrounding flames.
Like a dragon sucking water, vast quantities of lava surged toward the Night-Startling Spear.
But the moment the crimson lava neared it, the spear's Night Domain devoured it, turning the lava black.
Screee!
The spear's shaft suddenly turned translucent.
Surrounded by black lava, it transformed into a Black Flame Phoenix, head raised in a piercing cry.
The phoenix beat its wings, carrying the lava of the entire molten world. Stepping across fireballs the size of sesame seeds, it led the way with its two black talons.
Its beak opened, black flames streaming endlessly within. It swallowed the terrifying violet light of destruction whole.
Then its massive talons, brimming with savage tearing power, reached out and crushed the ever-changing Moon in the giant wolf head's eye!
Rumble!
The Black Flame Phoenix's attack did not stop there.
The wolf head vanished. Its enormous wings stirred up one black fire tornado after another, wiping out every remaining Hard-Bone Wolf and turning them into Soul Rings.
Then, with a thump, the Night-Startling Spear plunged into the lava.
The very next moment, the entire world of the Soul Skill shook violently. It seemed that one tremor of the Night-Startling Spear had left the world unable to withstand its immense power, and it promptly dissipated.
"Pfft..."
The instant he reappeared in the forest, Li Changsheng spat out a mouthful of blood.
He was injured.
The Night-Startling Spear had landed and pierced straight through his Soul Skill's world.
This had caused the Soul Skill to backfire.
If not for this being a rewarded Soul Ring, it might have shattered outright.
Li Changsheng looked at the Night-Startling Spear lying on the ground, wariness deepening in his eyes.
The power the Night-Startling Spear unleashed in his hands was actually not that strong. If anything, he seemed to be holding it back.
But the moment it left his hand, its savagery was laid bare.
He walked over and picked up the spear.
Wiping away the trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, he turned around and looked at Li Zishuo, who was still utterly dumbfounded. He smiled faintly.
Then he pointed to the Soul Ring formed by the Hard-Bone Wolf King and said, "This Soul Ring isn't a very good fit for you. It matches my Martial Soul, so I absorbed it first."
Li Zishuo's mouth hung open. He kept nodding, unable to say a word.
It was simply too shocking.
He silently withdrew the chessboard that had appeared in his palm.
He had wanted to help Li Changsheng just now, but the battle had ended too quickly. There had been no need for him to step in.
As for Soul Rings, he understood as well. Li Changsheng had explained along the way that his Exquisite Chessboard Martial Soul was suited to Soul Rings from rhinoceros- or elephant-type beasts, with shockwave attacks or powerful attacks over a wide area. The Hard-Bone Wolf King was more suited to single-target attacks, so it was not a good fit for him.
Li Changsheng was different. According to the God of Wisdom, the power of his Genesis Book Martial Soul would not be limited by a Soul Ring's age. What mattered most was whether Li Changsheng could withstand the damage the Genesis Book inflicted on him.
In other words, the greater Li Changsheng's endurance, the greater his power.
This applied not only to both Martial Souls, but to the Night-Startling Spear as well.
Li Changsheng drew in the Soul Ring, then released the Genesis Book Martial Soul.
As its pages rustled, the light in Li Changsheng's eyes grew ever more brilliant.
At last, he was about to witness the true appearance of the Genesis Book Martial Soul.
How exciting.
He immediately sat cross-legged and told Li Zishuo to stay alert, then began absorbing the Soul Ring.
Absorbing a Soul Ring from a hunted Soul Beast was different. A Soul Ring contained the resentment the beast had felt before its death. You had killed it and still wanted its power? Who would willingly give that up? That was why absorbing a Soul Ring granted by a Soul Beast was somewhat difficult.
A Soul Ring rewarded by the system was different. It held no resentment. It was even as if a child were rushing into its mother's embrace.
As Li Changsheng attached the Soul Ring, Li Zishuo glanced at the campfire, now burned to ashes. He did not relight it. Instead, he drew his short sword and released his own Exquisite Chessboard Martial Soul, keeping his mind taut.
At the same time, he watched how Li Changsheng attached the Soul Ring, hoping to prepare himself for when he attached one of his own.
And just as dawn was approaching, a sharp howl suddenly rang out from the distant forest, accompanied by the crash of falling trees...
Was some enormous Soul Beast charging over from far away?
Li Zishuo glanced at Li Changsheng, who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground, absorbing the Soul Ring. He instinctively tightened his grip on the short sword and the Exquisite Chessboard Martial Soul in his other hand, murmuring:
"I have to protect Big Brother! I have to! Li Zishuo, you can do it!"
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