Prospects of life and destruction

As Lin Yao's claw seized the core of the Thunder Hellvine, the entire vine trembled violently.

Lin Yao showed no mercy. He instantly tore out the core, then clenched it hard. With a burst of Soul Power, he crushed the Thunder Hellvine's core to pieces.

The Thunder Hellvine crashed to the ground, and a black soul ring floated before it.

At the same time, that divine voice sounded in Lin Yao's ears.

"God of Destruction's First Trial completed. Reward: 10% perception of the Power of Destruction. Reward: one God-Given Life Soul Ring."

At the same time, a stone covered in green runes appeared out of thin air before Lin Yao. That voice said, "Shatter this stone to obtain the Life Soul Ring. You may choose to attach it to any of your Martial Souls."

"The Life Soul Ring's age will increase along with your level. Consider your choice carefully."

After saying that, the voice faded away. Lin Yao looked at his hands, where a faint, almost imperceptible purple aura lingered around his fingertips.

Meanwhile, in the God Realm, the God of Destruction looked at the Goddess of Life and said, "Xiao Lu, you actually gave that kid one of the leaves from your true body during the very first trial. Can he handle it?"

The Goddess of Life smiled, then said to the God of Destruction, "His dragon-type Martial Soul merely has a very high compatibility with your Power of Destruction. But for me, the upper limit of the energy contained within his special apple Martial Soul is already no weaker than my true body. The life energy contained in a single leaf is entirely within his capacity to bear.

"Moreover, I placed a seal on it. The soul ring's age will adjust according to the progress of his Soul Power and changes in his ability to withstand it.

"And I believe he will understand when this soul ring should be attached."

The God of Destruction nodded, then said to the Goddess of Life with some emotion, "Truly, one day in the God Realm is one year in the Douluo Realm. We've only been watching this child for a few days, yet he already has the ability to complete my first trial."

The Goddess of Life smiled and said to the God of Destruction, "You did go somewhat easy on the quality of your first trial. Still, taken as a whole, his talent truly is exceptional."

"I just wonder whether he and that little girl Wutong will get along."

The God of Destruction snorted softly, then said to the Goddess of Life, "They'd better not get along. Tang San is far too stingy with his own daughter. When he sent her down to the lower realm for training, he only gave her the life essence of the Butterfly God, who had already perished many years ago. In the future, he will most likely only let his daughter inherit the Butterfly God's position. It's simply laughable. That thing is only at the level of a second-class god. How could it possibly be worthy of Lin Yao, who possesses the positions of two God Kings?!

"If the two really take a liking to each other, we'll have to find him a suitable second divine position."

At that, the Goddess of Life frowned slightly. Clearly, she too disapproved of Tang San's stinginess. She softly muttered to herself, "Perhaps Tang San is too occupied with the affairs of the God Realm to pay attention to this."

The God of Destruction rolled his eyes and said to the Goddess of Life, "He was so occupied with the affairs of the God Realm that his own wife became pregnant with their second child. What exactly he has been occupied with, I needn't say more."

The Goddess of Life covered her mouth and laughed, then said to the God of Destruction, "Xiao Zi, I think you're jealous, aren't you?"

The God of Destruction fell silent for a moment. Then, with an almost imperceptible sigh, he said to the Goddess of Life, "It's just a pity that we do not have such good fortune. We cannot have children."

The Goddess of Life comforted him. "That may not necessarily be so. Once Lin Yao inherits your and my divine positions, I can transfer my true body, the Tree of Life, to him and use divine power to condense a new body for myself. Perhaps then we may be able to bear children."

That prospect instantly woke the God King of Destruction right up. Turning to the Goddess of Life, he gently took her hand and said, "Xiao Lu, that would be too great a sacrifice for you."

The Goddess of Life smiled and replied, "Xiao Zi, for you, everything is worth it."

The God of Destruction nodded, then raised his hand and projected his divine power toward the lower realm. "Next, we can prepare to arrange his second divine trial."

Naturally, Lin Yao knew nothing of the two God Kings' hopes for the future. He merely stared at the Life Soul Ring before him in silence for a moment, then stored it in his storage Soul Tool.

Although this God-Given Soul Ring could grow, meaning that theoretically it made no difference when he absorbed it, Lin Yao understood his Enchanted Golden Apple Martial Soul too well.

The Enchanted Golden Apple already possessed healing abilities, so the Life Soul Ring could only add icing to the cake. Under such circumstances, it would be more suitable to place it in the position of his seventh soul ring.

Having made his decision, he looked at the black soul ring left behind by the Thunder Hellvine. Then he sat cross-legged and guided the soul ring onto his Ender Dragon Martial Soul.

The Thunder Hellvine had possessed intelligence from birth, and the strength of its soul attack was far greater than that of the ten-thousand-year subdragon soul beast from before.

However, before the Ender Dragon Martial Soul, which could withstand divine pressure, such a soul attack held little meaning. After absorbing it for an entire day and night, Lin Yao opened his eyes.

The effect of the fifth soul ring could be said to have gathered together all of the gains from this journey related to the God of Destruction.

The soul skill he obtained was called Thunder Annihilation Myriad Shadow Shock. Its effect was to gather Ender energy imbued with lightning and destruction attributes, then release it in all directions.

This move could simultaneously imitate three kinds of attacks: lightning descending from the heavens, the Ender Dragon's breath blasting out in a straight line, and the Power of Destruction erupting from the earth.

Not only could this attack ignore defenses, it could also dissolve the opponent's Soul Power. At the same time, it possessed absolute tracking properties. Once it locked onto an enemy, no matter how they tried to shake it off, they could not escape it. It would not stop until it struck them.

Lin Yao tested it and found that even if the target suddenly ascended or came to a halt in midair, they could not shake it off. It could keenly predict possible obstacles based on the target's movements and adjust accordingly.

Furthermore, after studying these attacks, Lin Yao discovered that their form could be changed freely. They could scatter outward, concentrate on a single point for an explosive burst, or surge in every direction like a shockwave.

For a fifth soul skill, it was downright insidious.

Lin Yao merely sighed softly. By now, he had acquired most of the Ender Dragon's abilities: flight, dragon breath, night vision, and powerful target-locking. Yet its ability to pass through walls and the power of End Crystals had not been incorporated into soul skills. It seemed his sixth soul skill would need to focus on those two aspects.

The seventh soul skill was the Martial Soul Avatar, while the eighth and ninth soul skills were, in most situations, trump cards that could not be used casually.