Ten-Thousand-Year Titan Giant Ape!

Yue Guan frowned slightly, withdrawing his gaze from the Titan Giant Ape and turning it to Yang Jian.

Two thousand five hundred years—no.

He carefully studied the child before him, his heart roiling with shock.

Three months of physical transformation.

And now he could actually support such ambition.

He had originally thought Yang Jian would choose to absorb a soul ring of around a thousand years.

He had never expected him to look down even on a two-thousand-five-hundred-year soul ring.

"Then we'll keep looking."

Yue Guan nodded without saying much and turned to continue deeper in.

He led the way, but thoughts he could not calm churned within him.

At six years old, his physical strength rivaled that of a Soul King. Could this really be an effect brought solely by the Three-Point Double-Edged Saber martial soul?

If that was true, its quality was not merely no weaker than the Clear Sky Hammer—it surpassed it by far.

Yue Guan recalled Bibi Dong's assessment from back then.

At the time, he had thought the words "no weaker than" were already high praise.

Now, it seemed that Her Majesty the Pope had still underestimated it.

Hu Liena followed behind, glancing at Yue Guan and then Yang Jian, her face full of frustration.

Why were Elder Chrysanthemum and her junior brother both talking in riddles?

Why couldn't they just say it outright?

She bit her lip, and her gaze toward Yang Jian became more complicated.

When this sallow, skinny little runt had first come to Spirit Hall three months ago, she had thought he was merely a lucky commoner child.

But now...

She was determined to find out just what this guy was up to.

He was clearly only six years old with level-ten soul power. Could he really absorb a thousand-year soul ring beyond his limit?

The three continued their search for one day, two days, then three days.

Soul beasts at the level of Titan Giant Apes were not something one could find everywhere.

They wandered through the middle region for several days and encountered a few, but their cultivation was too low—not even a thousand years.

On the fifth day, Yue Guan stopped, leaped onto a towering tree, and gazed toward the denser sea of forest in the distance.

"We can't waste any more time on the outskirts." He jumped down from the canopy. "We need to go deeper, closer to the core region."

Hu Liena's expression changed slightly.

The core region.

She knew better than anyone what those words meant in the world of soul masters.

Hundred-thousand-year soul beasts lived there.

For an ordinary soul master, entering the core region was no different from courting death.

"Stay close. Don't go more than ten paces away from me."

Yue Guan's tone became unusually solemn. "The soul beasts living in the core region are nothing like those hundred-year, thousand-year, or ten-thousand-year creatures outside."

"Some of them are beings that even I cannot defeat."

Yang Jian silently nodded, but his mind raced.

If he remembered correctly—

The Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape lived near the Lake of Life in the core region.

One was a hundred thousand years old.

The other was about to break through to two hundred thousand years.

Beyond them, Di Tian, Bi Ji, the Myriad Demon King, and many other ferocious beasts dwelled even deeper within.

Yue Guan was indeed a level-ninety-five Titled Douluo, but the Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum was not a martial soul known for its offensive power.

If they really fought, he likely could not even beat that hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape.

After all, the Titan Giant Ape race was extraordinarily gifted. With ten thousand years of cultivation, they could contend with ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.

They had to be careful.

If they made too much noise and drew those beings over, forget obtaining a soul ring—whether they could leave alive would be a question.

They searched for another day.

At noon the following day, Yue Guan suddenly raised a hand, signaling the two to stop.

He looked toward a valley in the northwest, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes.

"Found them."

He lowered his voice, and there was a hint of surprise in his tone.

The three approached soundlessly and looked down from above a cliff.

At the center of the valley—

Two enormous Titan Giant Apes were devouring the corpse of a soul beast that had been dead for quite some time.

One male and one female.

The male was larger and more powerfully built, its dark golden fur thick and gleaming. Crouched there, it resembled a small mountain.

The female was somewhat smaller, but it was still a full size larger than the two-thousand-five-hundred-year Titan Giant Ape they had seen earlier.

Yue Guan observed them closely for a moment, discreetly extending his soul power senses.

"The male is roughly ten thousand years old."

"The female is eight thousand years old."

Hu Liena sucked in a sharp breath.

A ten-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape!

How could something like this appear at the boundary between the middle region and the core region?

Yue Guan ignored her shock. His gaze moved back and forth between the two Titan Giant Apes before finally settling on the eight-thousand-year female ape.

"An eight-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape should theoretically suit you." He looked at Yang Jian, his tone thoughtful. "But Titan Giant Apes are much stronger than ordinary soul beasts. Whether you can absorb it is hard to say."

As for the ten-thousand-year one, he did not even mention it.

Between a ten-thousand-year soul ring and a thousand-year soul ring lay more than just a difference in age.

After a ten-thousand-year soul beast died, it would release a spiritual shock. This was a test of a soul master's soul.

Yang Jian's physical strength truly rivaled that of a Soul King, but that did not mean his soul strength had reached the same level.

If his soul strength was insufficient and the spiritual shock shattered his consciousness during the absorption of a ten-thousand-year soul ring, even if he was saved, he would become an idiot.

Yue Guan pondered for a moment before ultimately deciding to leave the choice to Yang Jian.

"Yang Jian, an eight-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape. What do you think..."

"Uncle Yue." Yang Jian interrupted him. "Let's cripple these two Titan Giant Apes first."

Yue Guan was slightly stunned, then nodded.

In his view, Yang Jian had already decided on the eight-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape.

That made sense. Though the child was ambitious, he should not be foolish enough to challenge a ten-thousand-year soul ring.

"Step back."

Yue Guan rose to his feet, and nine soul rings rose beneath him.

Two yellow, two purple, five black.

A powerful surge of soul power spread in all directions like a tide. The low-level soul beasts in the valley sensed the pressure and fled in every direction.

The two Titan Giant Apes at the valley's center stopped eating at once and raised their heads toward the cliff.

They sensed the threat.

The male ape threw back its head and roared, pounding its chest with both fists and producing a dull, thunderous boom.

The female ape stood guard beside it, every strand of dark golden fur bristling.

Yue Guan flashed forward and swept straight down from the cliff.

Hu Liena and Yang Jian saw only a purple afterimage streak past. The next moment, Yue Guan had appeared above the two Titan Giant Apes.

"Sixth Soul Skill, Golden Petals Scattering Rosy Radiance."

Golden petals drifted down from the sky. Every petal was sharp as a blade, yet light as a feather.

The petals landed on the two Titan Giant Apes without leaving obvious wounds, but their movements instantly became sluggish.

The male ape roared and swung its thick arm, trying to grab Yue Guan in the air. Yet under the cover of the golden petals, its movement was a beat too slow, and Yue Guan easily evaded it.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar."

Yue Guan's body merged with his martial soul, and a gigantic golden chrysanthemum bloomed in the air.

The battle lasted a quarter of an hour.

At last, Yue Guan crippled the two Titan Giant Apes. They lay on the ground howling in agony, with only half their lives remaining.