Soul Master, Soul Beast

As the three of them lay down into the hibernation pods, a wave of dizziness washed over them.

Opening their eyes again, the three found themselves inside the Riot Spirit Ascension Platform, surrounded by lush, verdant trees.

The three of them scanned their surroundings.

Xie Xie's face held a hint of nervousness as he looked toward Chen Zhou and asked:

"Brother Chen, what do we do now?"

"Should we go straight to hunting soul beasts after entering, or do we need to do something else?"

"Just follow me. I can quickly locate soul beasts, and then we'll hunt them down."

Chen Zhou's voice was calm.

As he raised his palm, a massive water dragon slowly emerged behind him.

The state of this water dragon was somewhat peculiar; its body seemed to be expanding and contracting rhythmically, and its originally water-blue scales were in a very strange condition.

Chen Zhou's current Water Dragon King martial soul was in a critical state between the Water Dragon King and the Primordial Dragon—it had neither fully evolved into the Primordial Dragon nor remained within the category of the Water Dragon King.

This state had to be maintained for a long time, which was part of the Primordial Dragon's adaptation to the Douluo World.

If he had forced the evolution into the Primordial Dragon without this adaptation, it would have had a massive impact on Chen Zhou's martial soul.

It might even have resulted in the martial soul being ruined because it couldn't adapt to the Douluo World, or because Chen Zhou couldn't withstand the strain.

However, even in this state, the Water Dragon King's size was several times that of a normal martial soul.

Looking at the colossal creature behind Chen Zhou, a trace of shock appeared on Xie Xie's face.

It wasn't his first time seeing this martial soul.

Ever since last year, the martial soul Chen Zhou released had looked like this, but the creature had only grown increasingly massive since then.

A low dragon roar echoed out as the giant Water Dragon King tilted its head back and let out an angry bellow.

The next second, a terrifying force swept outward, and countless water droplets condensed, beginning to scout the surroundings—or rather, to pinpoint the traces of other life forms possessing water.

Chen Zhou closed his eyes to sense for two seconds, then tapped his feet against the ground and surged forward, with Na'er and Xie Xie following closely behind.

Chen Zhou was currently at the three-ring cultivation level, while the other two were at the two-ring level. Although there was a gap of one soul ring, Chen Zhou did not push his speed to the limit, allowing the two to keep up easily.

Their pace was swift, and their target was clear.

As the tall grass was pushed aside, the first thing that came into view was a massive rhinoceros.

It was a strange-looking rhinoceros with two spirit horns.

At this moment, the rhinoceros spotted Chen Zhou and, without a moment's hesitation, charged straight at him.

Sensing the aura of a century-level soul beast from the rhinoceros, Xie Xie frowned. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, his eyes filled with vigilance:

"Brother Chen, be careful! This rhinoceros is at least 500 years old; its strength is formidable."

There was a hint of caution in Xie Xie's words, but before he could continue, a pitch-black soul ring emitted a deep luster. As his first soul skill lit up, Clear Stream Dragon Breath was unleashed.

A terrifying blast of dragon breath erupted, and a thick stream of water struck the rhinoceros. The terrifying force swept through, instantly reducing the beast into a sky full of light particles.

Watching Chen Zhou casually kill a century-level soul beast with a single strike, Xie Xie subconsciously swallowed hard.

But before he could react, Chen Zhou's gaze shifted to the left.

The water stream he had just unleashed suddenly split into 36 strands as Chen Zhou flicked his palm, and those 36 streams violently surged toward the side.

This move was sudden, and the people on the left clearly hadn't reacted in time.

It wasn't until Chen Zhou's attack struck that they seemed to snap out of their daze.

Two figures suddenly darted out; one had hair covering his body like a wolf, while the other had eyes that were pitch black.

The two charged toward Chen Zhou with clear intent, but before they could get close, those water streams acted like sharp spikes, piercing straight through their bodies.

However, due to the delay caused by these two, a figure in the back suddenly turned and ran off to the side.

Chen Zhou's gaze swept toward that figure; it was a young girl, and a girl he was very familiar with:

"Senior Sister Mu Xi, why are you running?"

There was a hint of confusion in Chen Zhou's eyes. The golden-haired girl running behind him was indeed his senior sister, Mu Xi.

He hadn't been getting along well with this senior sister lately, but it was impossible for him to kill her inside the Riot Spirit Ascension Platform.

Seeing her run away the moment she saw him left Chen Zhou feeling somewhat bewildered.

However, he didn't pay much attention to her at the moment.

His primary purpose for coming here was to increase his cultivation, or rather, to increase the age of his soul rings.

Therefore, he had no intention of chasing Mu Xi, instead rapidly dashing toward other areas where soul beasts were present.

Chen Zhou didn't just focus on his own kills; he also found two century-level soul beasts and left them for Xie Xie and Na'er to handle respectively.

Na'er's combat techniques were quite good, and these basic century-level soul beasts were no match for her.

In contrast, Xie Xie kept making mistakes, but with Chen Zhou's assistance, he managed to slay a century-level soul beast, and his soul ring age increased.

Watching the soul power and soul ring ages of the two improve, Chen Zhou's expression remained calm as he scanned his surroundings.

Just as he prepared to lead the two of them away, a figure suddenly lunged out from the bushes.

The figure appeared so abruptly that Chen Zhou had no time to react at all.

By the time he caught sight of the figure, a sky full of vines and sharp ice shards were already raining down upon him.

Not only that, but three more figures—two men and one woman—emerged alongside the first.

The woman's palms were wreathed in a mass of vines.

As for the other two, one let out a roar toward the sky as a massive brown bear manifested behind him, while the other brandished a longsword in his hand.

The four of them split into two groups, charging at the trio from different directions.

This scene had unfolded suddenly, but within the Riot Spirit Ascension Platform, the difficulty of surrounding and killing soul beasts was clearly higher than that of targeting ordinary soul masters.

Therefore, some soul masters who entered in groups or organized teams would choose to hunt other soul masters instead.

Chen Zhou had encountered this situation before.

Without his third soul skill, facing an assault from multiple people—even with his explosive strength—made it difficult to guarantee he wouldn't be killed.

Or rather, it was difficult to remain unscathed without resorting to his Undying Body.

But things were different now; facing the three figures charging toward him, Chen Zhou's expression remained incredibly calm.

Beside him, Na'er slightly raised her hand, the Silver Dragon Spear held within the young girl's grasp.

Watching the sky full of coalescing vines rushing madly toward her, the girl's eyes were icy cold. She lifted her palm slightly, and flames ignited upon the long spear.

Facing the incoming vines, Na'er paused for a heartbeat before instantly darting forward.