The sudden roar instantly seized Liu Erlong's attention.
She flashed forward, reaching the stream's upper course in just a few breaths.
A rumble sounded in the distance, and a ball of fire exploded among the trees.
Several figures were hurled away by the flames and shockwave, crashing onto the gravel bank. They twitched twice, then lay still.
Liu Erlong took a closer look. Their uniforms seemed familiar—the Black Wolf Mercenary Group. She had seen them before.
Their leader was a fifty-five-level Battle Soul King, something of a figure in Heaven Dou City's mercenary circles.
But now the armor on the leader's body had shattered, and he was embedded in a massive boulder.
A huge hole had been torn through his chest. Blood mixed with entrails ran across the ground. He was already dead.
A fifty-five-level Battle Soul King, as if something had smashed straight through his body.
She raised her gaze. At the far end of the clearing stood a giant beast covered in dark golden scales, advancing with a low growl.
It was over six meters long, with limbs thick as iron pillars. Golden flames burned along the edges of every scale.
Each step left another charred pawprint in the earth.
Twenty thousand years old—the Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon.
In front of the dragon beast, a young woman was stumbling backward, her face full of terror.
Her dress had been torn up by the bushes, leaving her in a wretched state, but that face—
Jiang Ce let out a quiet huh in his mind.
Wasn't that Ye Lingling's face?
But at this point in time, Ye Lingling wasn't even an embryo yet.
He quickly ran through Douluo Continent's timeline and cast of characters, his brows lifting slightly.
Then it could only be her mother.
The Nine-Heart Begonia was passed down through a single line of the Ye Clan. It was said to be cursed by the gods, and that no more than two Martial Soul holders could exist in the same generation.
No matter how many Soul Rings this Martial Soul received, it only had one skill—
Area-wide group healing.
He already had super healing powers, so a healer seemed a little redundant.
But then he had another thought: this Martial Soul had a flaw.
What if the Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well could break that flaw?
It was like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, which could only ever receive seven Soul Rings and could never break through level seventy-nine.
After eating an Immortal Herb and evolving into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, its user could cultivate to Titled Douluo and receive nine Soul Rings.
If the Nine-Heart Begonia broke through its limits, could it unlock more skills too?
Anyway, he was going to cultivate Liu Erlong, and with his newly acquired splitting skill—
Wasn't that exactly why he wanted more mounts and to nurture more divine Inheritors?
The woman before him was just right to inherit the Goddess of Nine Colors' divine position.
He thought of Ning Rongrong and Oscar's fusion Soul Skill, resurrection, and another system immediately sprang to mind—
The female Crusader from DNF, who combined resurrection, purification, and multiple enhancement buffs.
If an evolved Nine-Heart Begonia could break through the single-skill limit and specialize in those precious percentage-based enhancement buffs, then Liu Erlong and his future female mounts could multiply their combat power several times over.
This healer wasn't going to be an ordinary healer.
At the same time, Ye Yingling stared in terror at the approaching Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon.
She had cultivated to level twenty and wanted to find a mercenary group to help her hunt a suitable Soul Beast for a Soul Ring. She had never imagined she would run into a monster like this.
The Black Wolf Mercenary Group had eight Soul Ancestors and one Soul King, yet they hadn't lasted three rounds against this twenty-thousand-year-old Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon.
The leader had thrown everything into an attack against the dragon beast's scales, but its layer of Golden Flame Scale Armor hadn't even been scratched. Instead, the scorching shockwave had sent the leader flying.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon took another step forward.
Its massive head lowered as it fixed its gaze on Ye Yingling. Golden flames gathered in its open mouth.
It was over. There was no escaping.
Ye Yingling was too terrified to move.
Suddenly, a shadow dropped from the sky.
Ye Yingling watched as a figure clad head to toe in black skintight clothing landed directly in front of the dragon beast.
A pair of dark red Dragon Wings snapped open behind the figure. Three Soul Rings—two yellow and one purple—
lit up beneath her feet. At the same time, dragon scales covered her right arm, and dark golden flames ignited around her fist.
Her first Soul Skill, Tyrant Dragon Possession, brought scales up beneath her skin to cover her entire body.
Her second Soul Skill, Dragon Arm, covered her entire right arm in dragon-scale armor, flames blazing around her fist.
Her third Soul Skill, Dragon Flame Blood Burn, doubled all her attributes.
Her External Soul Bone, the Red Flame Dragon Wings, simultaneously activated Dragon Wing Enhancement, doubling all her attributes once more.
Venom's constant fivefold enhancement stacked on top of the two Soul Skill multipliers.
The figure planted a foot on the ground and swung her right fist with all her might.
A terrifying boom exploded. The Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon seemed to be struck by something invisible, its entire head knocked to one side—
The dragon breath it had been gathering hadn't even had time to spew out before it was smashed back down its throat.
Flames burst from its nostrils and between its teeth. Its massive body lurched sideways three or four steps before it managed to regain its balance, gouging several charred trenches into the earth.
Ye Yingling's mouth fell open wide enough to fit an egg.
A twenty-thousand-year-old dragon beast had been knocked off course with a single punch?
She stared at the three Soul Rings—two yellow and one purple—beneath the black-clad figure's feet, unable to recover for a long time—
A three-ring Battle Soul Elder? How was that possible?
The figure in black didn't wait for the dragon beast to steady itself. A black blade materialized in her right hand. She leaped up and viciously thrust it into the dragon beast's eye.
With a wet smack, blood sprayed everywhere. The Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon let out a pained shriek and reared up on its hind legs, its front claws thrashing wildly in the air.
But the figure had already vanished.
The next second, an arm hooked around Ye Yingling's waist and lifted her up. Wind roared in her ears.
She was carried away from the spot and set down on a tall rock in the distance.
The girl in black let her go, tossed out a "Stay here and don't move," then beat her Dragon Wings and flew back.
The Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon had gone completely mad.
The agony of having its eye pierced had robbed it of all reason. Flames spewed wildly from both its nostrils and its mouth.
It caught the scent of the one who had stabbed it, lowered its head, and dug in all four hooves. Golden flames ignited along its horns.
Golden Flame Dragon Horn Thrust.
Its massive body charged like a burning dump truck. Every towering tree and boulder along its path was smashed to pieces.
Liu Erlong spread her Dragon Wings and darted aside, letting the dragon beast make its frenzied charge.
The instant the dragon beast rushed past her, she slammed a punch into its other, uninjured eye.
With a thunderous crash, the Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon roared in pain.
The punch knocked its whole body off balance. Unable to maintain its momentum, it pitched forward,
plowing a deep trench through the forest as rocks and dust flew in every direction.
On the rocky outcrop, Ye Yingling's mouth stretched open as far as it could.
A three-ring Soul Elder had just knocked a twenty-thousand-year-old dragon beast off balance.
Was this woman some kind of monster?
The Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon scrambled to its feet. Its remaining eye blinked repeatedly—thankfully, it hadn't been punched out, but the beast was even more furious.
It spun on the spot, its thick Dragon Tail blazing with golden flames as it swept viciously toward Liu Erlong.
Dragon Tail Spin Sweep.
Liu Erlong beat her wings and sprang into the air, dodging the tail lash before diving down from above.
Her right fist wrapped in dark golden flames, she unleashed a furious barrage of blows against the dragon beast's head.
Every punch landed solidly. Scales flew, and the dragon beast dropped to its knees, all four legs buckling. Clangs like striking iron rang through the forest.
Several dents were pounded into its hard skull armor, and blood ran from between its scales, pooling across the ground.
The Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon roared in fury and kicked off hard with its thick limbs.
Its whole body flipped backward, trying to crush Liu Erlong beneath it.
Liu Erlong leaped clear and landed nearby, her eyes gleaming with eagerness.
Ever since Jiang Ce's evolution, her physical strength had surged once more.
Ordinary Soul Beasts died in a single blow. She never got the thrill of clashing head-on with them using nothing but her body.
"Come on! Get over here! I'm right here, you beast—come on!"
She held out a hand and beckoned the Golden Armored Red Flame Dragon with a finger, her face full of disdain.
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