Exorcism Golden Scale Lion Beyond Its Limits

Lin Hao was dumbfounded.

The metal-attributed Soul Beast Shui Ruohan had dragged over resembled a lion, though it was far more robust. Its entire body was covered in hexagonal golden scales, and a pair of feathered wings grew from its back.

A sharp metallic horn protruded from its head, metallic spines lined its back, and metallic wire-like hairs trailed from the tip of its tail. Its limbs bore sharp claws, while faint metal-attributed Soul Power swirled around its body, radiating ferocity.

It was an Exorcism Golden Scale Lion.

It looked like a lion, yet possessed scales that only dragons had.

At the hundred-year level, its scales were thin and pale gold, with a soft sheen, as though it had been coated in a thin layer of gold. Ordinary sharp weapons found it difficult to leave a scratch.

For every additional hundred years of cultivation, the golden flames on its body would grow by one centimeter. Once they reached ten centimeters at the thousand-year level, they would stop growing.

At the thousand-year level, the metallic horn on its head became thick and elongated, while patterns began to appear along its spiral ridges. Once the divine patterns reached ten, its cultivation would reach ten thousand years, and the number of divine patterns would no longer change thereafter.

At the ten-thousand-year level, the changes were concentrated in its eyes.

Its eyes turned deep purple, with metallic luster flowing through its pupils. Its intelligence rose significantly, and it no longer possessed only pure savagery. It gained holiness and composure, allowing it to deal with enemies more flexibly. It was extremely troublesome to handle.

Qin Ming blurted out, "An Exorcism Golden Scale Lion, a sacred beast. Obtain one, and all evil will retreat! Lin Hao, this is a top-grade Soul Beast!"

Shui Ruohan smiled. "No matter how good a Soul Beast is, it still needs to meet the right Spirit Master!"

"Dad, you're hurt?" Shui Bing'er, who had walked over to Shui Ruohan's side, noticed that part of his sleeve had been burned away and that there were scald marks on his arm.

"It's nothing." Shui Ruohan glanced at the burn on his arm and said casually, "Just a minor injury. Lin Hao, kill it and obtain your Spirit Ring!"

Though he called it a minor injury, an area the size of a palm had clearly been badly burned by flames.

Lin Hao nodded.

He could see through Shui Ruohan's intentions. The latter wanted Lin Hao to owe him a favor, laying the groundwork for Lin Hao joining the Water Family later or for Shui Ruohan to ask Lin Hao for help in the future.

Despite his young age, Lin Hao had already reached level thirty. Moreover, he could perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Shui Bing'er.

If the Water Family ever faced a catastrophe, then if Lin Hao were willing to help—especially by performing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Shui Bing'er—it would bring the Water Family nothing but benefits.

After discovering this Exorcism Golden Scale Lion, Shui Ruohan could have returned to the group and had everyone kill it together.

But he had not done so.

Instead, he had severely injured it by himself and then brought it directly to Lin Hao.

Lin Hao took out a dagger and ended the Exorcism Golden Scale Lion's life. A black Spirit Ring rose from the lion's corpse.

He raised his right hand, and the Realm Profound Talisman in his palm emitted a gray glow.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Hao called out to the Exorcism Golden Scale Lion's Spirit Ring.

As though it had been waiting for this moment and had finally found an outlet, the black glow of the Spirit Ring surged toward Lin Hao the instant it sensed his Martial Soul.

When the dense black light instantly engulfed Lin Hao, Qin Ming, Shui Ruohan, and Shui Bing'er could not help but be secretly alarmed.

Lin Hao, the one absorbing the Spirit Ring, felt an immense surge of heat abruptly rush into his body.

Before Lin Hao could react, the heat began scorching his body like molten lava.

The Exorcism Golden Scale Lion's power was inherently overbearing. The moment it forcefully entered Lin Hao's body, it began forcibly transforming him.

Although the Spirit Ring had no consciousness at this moment and was not under Lin Hao's control, under the violent fluctuations of Soul Power, Lin Hao felt as though his body was about to burst apart.

"Pfft!"

Lin Hao spat out a mouthful of blood.

Shui Bing'er's expression changed drastically. "Lin Hao, what's wrong?"

Agitated, Shui Bing'er took a step toward Lin Hao, intending to go forward and help him.

Shui Ruohan and Qin Ming simultaneously reached out in time, stopping Shui Bing'er from stepping forward.

"Bing'er, don't be rash!"

"No. He is absorbing the Spirit Ring right now. A Spirit Master cannot rely on any outside assistance while absorbing a Spirit Ring, or it will only produce the opposite effect."

Hearing this, Shui Bing'er asked worriedly, "Then what should we do?"

After coughing up blood, Lin Hao continued sitting cross-legged as he absorbed the Spirit Ring.

It was not that Shui Bing'er did not understand Qin Ming's reasoning.

After spending several days with Lin Hao, Shui Bing'er had formed a very good impression of him. She had already regarded him as a friend.

In her heart, although she knew she could not help, she still wanted to do something.

Qin Ming said, "We can only trust him and let him rely on himself. None of us can help him now!"

As time passed, Lin Hao's body began trembling abnormally.

Fine beads of blood began seeping from the surface of Lin Hao's skin. Blood mixed with sweat, and as Soul Power steamed into the air, it turned into a faint reddish mist.

Lin Hao's brows were tightly furrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line.

One could imagine the immense agony Lin Hao was enduring at this moment.

Within the mist, faint crackling sounds of bones rang out in waves.

In truth, Lin Hao had not misjudged the strength of his body.

Xiao Wu's third Spirit Ring had been a self-condensed ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring.

With Lin Hao's help, she had completed a physical transformation and obtained a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring that exceeded the standard.

Compared with Xiao Wu, aside from undergoing her set of body-tempering procedures, Lin Hao had also consumed marrow-cleansing pills from the Battle Through the Heavens Plane. His body was stronger than Xiao Wu's.

From this, it could be inferred that if Xiao Wu could obtain a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring as her third Spirit Ring, then Lin Hao would certainly be able to absorb a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring as well.

And the Exorcism Golden Scale Lion's cultivation had not exceeded twenty thousand years, so it was within Lin Hao's endurance limit.

However, Lin Hao had overlooked one thing.

The Exorcism Golden Scale Lion was not an ordinary Soul Beast.

The higher a Soul Beast's rank, the more overbearing the energy of its Spirit Ring would be. The Spirit Ring of a top-grade Soul Beast could not be compared to that of an ordinary Soul Beast.

Lin Hao had now fallen into a crisis.

For him, there was no other way. Once the Spirit Ring absorption process began, if he interrupted it midway, then even if he succeeded, the Spirit Ring's energy would cause irreversible damage to his body.

Lin Hao's cultivation would never be able to advance again in the future.

For Lin Hao, there were only two possible outcomes now. Either his body would fail to withstand the impact of the Exorcism Golden Scale Lion's power and he would explode to death, or he would successfully obtain this Spirit Ring.

"Dad..." Shui Bing'er softly called to Shui Ruohan, hoping he could come up with a solution.

Shui Ruohan shook his head. "By normal reasoning, Lin Hao probably cannot absorb this Soul Beast's Spirit Ring right now. But some things cannot be calculated, such as willpower and conviction. When a person's will becomes firm enough, or when they possess incomparably unwavering faith, miracles often happen. We can only hope that a miracle appears now!"

Shui Ruohan frowned slightly. His original intention had been to help Lin Hao and make him owe a favor. He had not expected that he might instead end up harming Lin Hao.