About half an hour later, Liu Lin took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.
Feeling the First Soul Skill granted to him by the Earth Fire Lizard Dragon, he smiled with delight.
After absorbing the Soul Ring, his Soul Power Level was already close to level 12. He would break through in five days at most, and the Earth Fire Lizard Dragon had also given him a pretty good Soul Skill.
Crimson Radiance Burning Heaven Dragon's First Soul Skill, Burning Abyss: an area-of-effect Soul Skill with the ability to clear an area. The more Soul Power poured into it, the larger its range.
As soon as Liu Lin stood up, a pink handkerchief appeared in front of him.
"Here, take it. Wipe the sweat off your forehead."
Seeing Xu Jiujiu's haughty expression, Liu Lin felt like teasing her. He took the handkerchief, wiped his sweat, and deliberately said to her, "Thanks, my dear Jiujiu."
"W-Who's your dear!?" When Xu Jiujiu heard what Liu Lin said, her face instantly turned scarlet. Her blue eyes widened, and even her words came out in a stammer.
"Then do you still want this handkerchief?" After wiping his forehead, Liu Lin waved the handkerchief in his hand at Xu Jiujiu.
Xu Jiujiu frowned and glared at him before huffing, "It's yours!"
With that, Xu Jiujiu darted into the carriage.
Seeing this, Liu Lin's smile grew even brighter. He suddenly felt that living like this wasn't so bad.
The several guards standing nearby all turned around of their own accord, unanimously pretending they hadn't seen a thing.
Elder Lin, who had been standing nearby to protect Liu Lin while he absorbed the Soul Ring, saw Xu Jiujiu leave and formed a protective barrier around himself with Soul Power.
Then he walked over to Liu Lin and asked what kind of Soul Skill he had obtained.
Hearing Elder Lin's question, Liu Lin told him about his First Soul Skill. When Elder Lin heard what it could do, he was extremely surprised.
He told Liu Lin to use his First Soul Skill and attack him with all his strength.
Liu Lin nodded and released his Martial Soul. A deep yellow Soul Ring appeared beneath his feet. His black pupils turned crimson gold, and the temperature around him rose.
Then the First Soul Ring lit up. The ground within ten meters of Liu Lin instantly turned to lava, and, under his control, a crimson-gold pillar of fire erupted beneath Elder Lin.
Elder Lin formed a protective barrier with Soul Power. Feeling the power of this hundred-year Soul Skill, he couldn't help but be astonished.
This hundred-year Soul Skill was powerful enough to rival a thousand-year Soul Skill, combining control and offense.
Seeing his pillar of fire dispelled, Liu Lin conjured several more in succession. After about thirty seconds, he felt that he had almost no Soul Power left, so he withdrew his Soul Skill.
"Your Soul Skill is very powerful. It can rival a Soul Elder's Third Soul Skill, though it does consume quite a lot."
Liu Lin nodded in agreement. His First Soul Skill was an area attack, yet he'd only managed to sustain it for thirty seconds while targeting a single person. If he'd attacked everything indiscriminately within ten meters, he probably wouldn't have lasted even five seconds.
After Liu Lin finished demonstrating his Soul Skill, the convoy continued toward the depths of Star Dou Forest, searching for a suitable Soul Ring for the Soul Master who was about to break through to Soul Emperor.
Before they left, Old Wang and his underlings collected all the valuable materials from the roughly seven-hundred-year-old Earth Fire Lizard Dragon, then headed deeper into Star Dou Forest.
Over the next few days, everyone searched Star Dou Forest for a suitable Soul Ring for the Soul King.
The main reason Old Wang's team had come to Star Dou Forest was to hunt a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast for Sun Heng—the man about to break through to Soul Emperor—to use as his Sixth Soul Ring.
Helping Liu Lin hunt for a Soul Ring had been an assignment from their superior, Count Su.
On about the third day after they entered the depths of Star Dou Forest, Old Wang and his teammates finally hunted a roughly twenty-thousand-year-old Golden Armored Turtle for Sun Heng's Sixth Soul Ring.
About two hours later, Sun Heng successfully absorbed his Sixth Soul Ring.
After absorbing the Soul Ring, Sun Heng went over to his brothers to show off the Sixth Soul Skill he'd obtained.
Meanwhile, deep in Star Dou Forest.
Inside a cave, a Soul Beast covered in golden fur lay on a bed made of straw.
The Soul Beast was about one meter long, with a lion-like body and a dragon-like head. Most striking of all was the golden vertical eye on its forehead.
She was the Emperor Auspicious Beast of Star Dou Forest, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Suddenly, the vertical eye on the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's forehead blazed with blood-red light. While she was sleeping, she was pulled into an illusion.
After feeling the world spin around her, the sleeping Three-Eyed Golden Lion finally made out her surroundings.
She saw a black-haired man carrying a gravely injured woman as he fled from the pursuit of countless Titled Douluo.
The woman in the black-haired man's arms had a face of breathtaking beauty, golden hair, and crimson eyes. But she was barely breathing, as though she might die at any moment.
"Liu Lin, go. Don't worry about me."
"Why hasn't Di Tian come yet? Is he really going to watch you die?"
"It's no use. He won't come. I can sense an immensely powerful force sealing off the aura here.
"And Liu Lin, don't say foolish things. I won't survive. You have to live well for me." The girl gently shook her head and spoke to Liu Lin weakly.
As soon as she finished speaking, crimson-gold flames ignited around her.
"Kill them both quickly! That Soul Beast is going to sacrifice herself for her companion!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who had been dragged there to watch the drama unfold, saw the golden-haired, crimson-eyed girl turn into someone who looked just like her and sacrifice herself for the man.
"Is that me?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion stared at her own self-sacrifice before her and fell silent.
"No! I can definitely get you out of here. Trust me." Seeing the girl sacrifice herself, Liu Lin could no longer hide the panic in his eyes.
"No. If it weren't for me, they wouldn't be hunting you. Let me put an end to this chaos."
"Then I'll ask you one last time: do you love me, Liu Lin?" Before she vanished, the golden-haired, crimson-eyed girl asked her final question.
"I love you, Qiu'er. Don't go... Qiu'er!"
The dozen or so Titled Douluo pursuing them had already been immobilized when the woman sacrificed herself.
A crimson-gold dragon's phantom appeared behind the black-haired man, and six black and two red Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet.
The crimson-gold Soul Ring formed from the woman fused with Liu Lin almost instantly, without the slightest resistance.
After fusing with the Soul Ring, Liu Lin didn't choose to flee. Instead, he picked up his twin blades again and charged at a Titled Douluo.
"You're all going to die today. You'll go down there and keep her company."
Fear appeared in the eyes of the dozen or so Titled Douluo frozen in place. They struggled with all their might to circulate their Soul Power, but none could break free.
When only six Titled Douluo remained, the force immobilizing them vanished. The six exchanged glances, then attacked Liu Lin together.
The scene shifted. The black-haired man was kneeling amid the ruins, holding a jade pendant engraved with the character "秋." His eyes were filled with confusion.
Seeing this, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes before she even realized it.