First Battle: Seven Hundred Years Ice Armor Dragon! Tragic and Majestic

The next day.

At high noon, the sun was blazing.

In a dense jungle, several heads were peeking out sneakily in a row, their gazes locked onto the ice-blue giant dragon ahead.

It was none other than Lin Yan and his group, led by Zhao Wuji.

The group had been crouching there for quite a while, finally finding a dragon with a suitable age among the many giants.

Before long, Zhao Wuji turned his gaze toward Lin Yan, a smile playing on his lips as if he were prepared to watch a good show.

"A seven-hundred-year Ice Armor Dragon! How about it?"

Lin Yan nodded.

"No problem, it's very suitable for the senior sister."

That's right, the giant dragon before them was the final target of this soul-hunting operation, and also the object Lin Yan was about to conquer.

"Fatty, help me out. I don't think I can win against it on my own."

Lin Yan took a deep breath and turned to speak to Ma Hongjun.

Ma Hongjun wore a bitter expression upon hearing this. "Ah? Me?"

Lin Yan nodded. "Yes! You help me distract it. Isn't your first soul skill a long-range attack?"

He then looked at Wen Ruan. "Senior sister, try your best to restrict its speed. Leave the rest to me."

Wen Ruan was not as timid as Ma Hongjun; she immediately nodded in earnest.

"Alright!"

With a few words, Lin Yan had already arranged the tactics.

He took one last look at Zhao Wuji, and seeing the look of appreciation the man cast his way, the anxiety in his heart subsided slightly.

If I encounter danger, this guy will definitely step in.

Lin Yan curled his lips nonchalantly. Truth be told, this was his first time encountering a soul beast, and he was afraid too.

Afraid of danger, afraid of just dropping dead right here.

But there was no choice; he had to push through!

Because the path of a soul master was just like this. True enemies would not show sympathy just because you were weak. At the very least, Zhao Wuji was here to back him up. If he didn't test his strength now, he wouldn't have such a good opportunity later.

Lin Yan stared at the Ice Armor Dragon not far away, took a deep breath, and said to Ma Hongjun and Wen Ruan.

"Get ready, I'm going in."

Ma Hongjun involuntarily shrank his neck, while Wen Ruan puffed out her chest.

The next second.

[Evil Fire Demon Dragon, Soul Avatar!]

A purple-red giant dragon phantom soared into the sky before crashing into Lin Yan's body.

[First Soul Skill: Fire Demon God Spear!]

In an instant, Lin Yan charged out, brandishing his long spear.

A 700-year Ice Armor Dragon was neither particularly strong nor weak; calculated by human soul master cultivation, it was at least equivalent to a level 25 or 26 Great Soul Master.

For Lin Yan, who was currently level 15, this was an absolute challenge.

One had to remember that even at level 29, Gangzi was timid when facing a 400-year Datura Snake.

Of course, the two were not in the same league. Luo Sanpao and the Evil Fire Demon Dragon were not in the same weight class, and two hundred-year farting soul skills were not equivalent to a thousand-year weapon-type soul skill.

In the bushes, Zhao Wuji stood still, watching the two figures already locked in combat not far away, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"This is what it means to be a true little monster."

"High-spirited, doing what others cannot!"

In Lin Yan, he saw his own shadow from the past.

The Immovable Bright King, the one who fought his way out of encirclements even when facing several experts of the same or higher level.

At this moment, Zhao Wuji had the thought of taking on a disciple, just like Flender—to take a personal disciple to carry on his legacy and inherit his will.

It was just a pity he didn't know if a genius like Lin Yan would be willing.

On the other side.

Lin Yan was locked in battle with the Ice Armor Dragon. With Wen Ruan restricting its speed, he did not fall into a disadvantage quickly.

However, the physical strength of a soul beast was far greater than that of a soul master. Even with its speed restricted, the Ice Armor Dragon continued to launch dense attacks based on its raw physical power.

Lin Yan could parry for a while, but he would inevitably be defeated if it dragged on.

"Fatty! Don't let it keep attacking me, distract it!"

"With the senior sister restricting its speed, what are you afraid of?"

Lin Yan shouted at his back during a brief gap in the fighting, his tone laced with irritation and anxiety.

He hadn't expected that after all this time, Ma Hongjun still wasn't ready to commit to the fight, just standing there foolishly after summoning his martial soul.

This guy was truly too pathetic.

Out on the clearing, Ma Hongjun finally snapped out of his fear when he saw that Lin Yan was getting angry with him.

"Oh, oh, right!"

He hurriedly circulated the soul power within his body and instinctively spat it out toward the battlefield.

[First Soul Skill: Phoenix Fire Line!]

A bright red flame formed a straight line, shooting directly toward the man and the dragon.

Lin Yan, who was currently engaged with the Ice Armor Dragon, instinctively sensed a crisis. He looked back and saw that the Phoenix Fire Line was actually hurtling straight toward his own back.

In that critical moment, he didn't care if the Ice Armor Dragon's incoming attack would be too heavy to withstand; he simply held his long spear horizontally across his chest and braced himself to take the dragon's tail swipe head-on.

Bang!

As the dragon's tail made contact with the spear, Lin Yan used the force of the recoil to propel himself out of the Phoenix Fire Line's range.

Only then did he narrowly escape disaster.

Immediately afterward, Ma Hongjun's flame attack landed on the empty ground nearby, blasting out a large crater.

Taking it all in, Lin Yan felt a surge of anger beneath his relief.

"Watch where the hell you're aiming!"

Indeed, Ma Hongjun had missed again; his [First Soul Skill: Phoenix Fire Line] had nearly struck Lin Yan right in the back.

Fortunately, as a fellow fire-attribute martial soul user, he was extremely sensitive to the temperature of flames; otherwise, had that strike landed, Lin Yan reckoned he would have been left either dead or crippled.

"S-sorry, I'm not very skilled with my soul skills yet."

Ma Hongjun stammered his apology, his figure unable to stop retreating, looking utterly panicked.

Lin Yan didn't press the matter further, because... the Ice Armor Dragon was attacking again.

"Sigh."

"Flender, why on earth do you have a soft spot for this little fatty, Ma Hongjun?"

Zhao Wuji sighed softly, shaking his head at Ma Hongjun in disappointment.

In truth, by normal standards, Ma Hongjun's performance was perfectly reasonable; he was just a child from an ordinary family, and it was understandable to be afraid of a soul beast.

If anyone was to blame, it was Lin Yan for being too exceptional—more so than any other child facing a soul beast for the first time.

It was Lin Yan's performance that was the anomaly...

The battle lasted for a long time.

A seven-hundred-year soul beast was by no means something a Great Soul Master could defeat, but in the end, Lin Yan still won.

He won with Wen Ruan's support, Ma Hongjun's interference, and his own hard work.

Covered in blood and gasping for breath, he stood before the Ice Armor Dragon, one hand propping himself up with his spear while the other hung limply at his side—a sight both tragic and imposing.

"Senior sister, hurry over, it's looking to die ahead of schedule."

Wen Ruan snapped out of her shock and hurriedly replied.

"Oh, coming!"

"Hurry up, or this soul ring will be mine."