Battle the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear

"Just something I did in passing."

Hearing Wu Sidu's thanks, Gu You nodded and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Wu Sidu called out to stop him then, mustering her courage.

"I'm from Star Luo City—Star Luo City on Douluo Continent. If you ever go to Star Luo City in the future, you can come to the Wu Family and find me. Our family is fairly well-known locally. For what happened this time, it won't just be me—my family will thank you too."

"All right. I'll remember that the Wu Family owes me a favor."

Gu You looked back at Wu Sidu, then the Phoenix Wings on his back beat, and he flew away from the area.

Only after Wu Sidu watched Gu You fly off until he was out of sight did she withdraw her gaze, grit her teeth, clutch her arm, and go over to meditate and absorb the Blood Bear's spiritual power.

As he continued deeper into the Spirit Ascension Platform, the trees beneath him grew thicker and thicker, their lush branches blocking Gu You's view downward.

Left with no choice, he could no longer keep flying. He landed and continued on foot toward the depths of the forest.

As he walked, the light in the forest began to grow dimmer and dimmer.

"I should be close to the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform now. I just don't know when the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear, as the guardian of the elementary Spirit Ascension Platform, will come to stop and kill me."

Gu You murmured to himself, his voice low.

He knew very well what he was about to face.

A hundred-year Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear was worth taking seriously.

Although it was only at the hundred-year level, it could rival soul beasts of three or four thousand years. Even a Soul King would have difficulty fighting it.

On Douluo Continent, the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear was absolutely one of the most terrifying soul beasts. Possessing Behemoth bloodline, it had been an existence that had truly killed giant dragons in ancient times.

Gu You's steps began to slow. He released his spiritual power, perceiving everything around him.

It was here!

Suddenly sensing something, he raised his hand and sent six wind blades blasting into the quiet forest.

Clang! Clang!

After the wind blades plunged deep into the forest, a few seconds later, they seemed to collide with metal, producing sharp clanging sounds.

Immediately afterward, a golden figure flashed out from the direction where Gu You had fired the wind blades.

Seeing it, Gu You smiled, as though he had seen prey take the bait.

The Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear that appeared was over three meters tall, its entire body covered in dark-gold fur. Its arms were especially thick and powerful, and both front claws were dark-gold blades fully one meter long.

It spread its arms, and merely as those sharp claws swept through the air with them, they produced a hissing sound.

Their sharpness was unimaginable.

The Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's cold eyes fixed on Gu You, and red gradually surfaced in the depths of its pupils.

It walked toward Gu You step by step. With every step it took, a layer of brighter golden light flowed over the dark-gold fur on its body.

At that moment, inside the monitoring room.

"He's actually challenging the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear?!" The chief supervisor grew somewhat excited when he saw the surveillance image of Gu You facing the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

This Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear was the equivalent of an invincible existence in the elementary Spirit Ascension Platform. In the past several decades, none of the soul masters who had entered to challenge it had succeeded.

Because of this, the Spirit Transmission Pagoda had set an extremely generous challenge reward: a soul bone, and a Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear palm bone at that.

But even so, there still had not been a victor.

This time, Gu You was challenging it. As the top prodigy on the Youth Genius Ranking, if he won, he would break yet another record.

As the chief supervisor who had monitored the Spirit Ascension Platform for many years, of course he was excited.

"Creation Conversion, earth!"

Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, Gu You had already begun a fierce battle with the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

He converted to the earth element and pressed both hands toward the ground.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Accompanied by several rumbling booms, stone spikes continuously rose from the ground, charging straight toward the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

"Roar—!"

Seeing the stone spikes rushing in, the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear let out an angry roar. As its Terrorclaws swung, those hard stone spikes were easily sliced apart.

Shattered stone flew everywhere, and its figure flickered in and out of sight amid the dust, its bloodthirsty eyes locked onto Gu You.

Thick hide and tough flesh, plus those Terrorclaws. As expected of a Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear...

Gu You sighed inwardly as soul power surged within him.

He decided to go all out. It was only a hundred-year soul beast—how could it stop him?

In an instant, he converted to the lightning attribute. Lightning flashed around him, and Gu You vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already in front of the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

It was too fast. No one could have reacted in time, and the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear was no exception.

Thunder gathered in Gu You's palm, then turned into a streak of lightning that shot straight toward the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's eyes.

How could it react to the speed of thunder? The Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear instinctively closed its eyes. The lightning exploded against its eyelids, sending blood mist spraying as it roared in agony.

"Again!" Gu You seized the opening, condensed a lightning blade in one hand, aimed at the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's abdomen, and slashed hard at that relatively soft golden fur.

"Pfft—" The lightning blade cut in, tearing open a huge bloody gash.

"Awooo!!!"

A heart-rending roar of pain echoed through heaven and earth. The Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear felt the terrible agony, and its massive body twisted as it tried to fling out the lightning blade lodged in its flesh.

But Gu You gripped the lightning blade with all his might.

You should feel honored to die by my hand.

The Golden Pupils flickered.

"Blow up!"

Boom!

The instant Gu You shouted that word, the lightning blade exploded inside the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

For a moment, the power of thunder burst out through the wound in its abdomen, its mouth and nose, and even its pores.

The Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear slammed the ground wildly, its terrorclaws ripping the earth apart.

Yet this was nothing more than a death struggle. Half a minute later, the thunder had completely crushed its will and vitality.

Its body convulsed violently, the brutality in its pupils replaced by endless pain, until they finally dimmed.

"Thud!"

Its mountain-like body collapsed limply to the ground. The dark-gold sheen on the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's surface quickly faded, and then its body turned charred black, the smell of burning spreading through the air.

Afterward, specks of brilliant golden light began drifting out from its body, marking the fall of this guardian of the elementary Spirit Ascension Platform.

Instantly... he killed it instantly?

Outside, the director stared blankly at the dissipating beast's body on the surveillance screen, as well as the vigorous figure of the young man beside it.

And it was not just him. Every staff member around him was the same.

Gu You's strength had overturned their imagination.

"So this is the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's right arm palm bone?"

After the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear died, it left behind a cluster of spiritual power and an object resembling the bones of a human palm, with dark-gold cloud patterns on it. Overall, it looked like an exoskeletal hand forged from alloy.

Gu You examined it, then bent forward and picked it up.

He was not the kind of person to dawdle. The Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear Right Arm Palm Bone before him should be at the thousand-year level, and he believed he would have no problem fusing with it.

Sitting cross-legged on the spot, Gu You released his soul power to connect with the soul bone. Under the soul power connection, the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear palm bone emitted a golden light and slowly floated up.

At the same time, trails of white flowing light dragged behind it, signaling the beginning of the fusion.

As the fusion began, the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear Right Palm Bone gradually turned transparent...