Soul Bone Skills, Taking Whale Rubber, Battle Against the Mountain-Shaking Heavy-Armored Rhino!

He grabbed the Sky-Piercing Spear floating before him. Its edge had become sharper, the glow around it more pronounced, and it carried an even stronger spear intent than before.

First Soul Bone Skill, Treading Blades, Soaring Sky: Spear-shaped Soul Power surged from both legs, allowing high-speed flight. While treading the air, gravity-infused blade energy surrounded the body, increasing the power of all downward cleaves and sweeping spear techniques by thirty percent. Soul Power consumption was reduced while flying, and it was unaffected by terrain or airflow restrictions.

The second Soul Bone Skill, Thousand Blades Regeneration, accelerated wound healing after injury. Its effect was no slower than the Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone, and while repairing wounds, it condensed metallic blade force to stack temporary attack bonuses.

"This Soul Bone Skill is insanely powerful. It isn't affected by flight restrictions—doesn't that mean I can just attack from above?"

This Soul Bone Skill was quite interesting, and Yun Tian's face was full of smiles.

"Come to think of it, quite some time has passed. It's time to hunt for my second Soul Ring."

Over the past few months, Yun Tian had bought some books related to Soul Beasts. He had read through nearly all of them, after all, a Martial Soul like the Sky-Piercing Spear had not originally existed in Soul Land I.

As a result, there were very few records of Soul Beasts compatible with it.

He took out the books and flipped through them briefly, looking to see whether he could find a suitable Soul Beast.

After a short while, the name Mountain-Shaking Heavy-Armored Rhino entered his sight.

True to its name, since it crawled about on four legs, it naturally had no way to deal with enemies in the sky. Besides, Yun Tian's Soul Bone Skill would not be affected by abnormal conditions.

"Mountain-Shaking Heavy-Armored Rhino? This Soul Beast is really not bad. But before that, I should take the last of the Whale Rubber first."

Having made up his mind, he got up and tidied the room before preparing a bucket of warm purified water.

After stripping naked and jumping into the bucket, he took out the Whale Rubber he had prepared long ago. It had the clear texture of golden amber, and because it was of excellent quality, it did not look particularly unpleasant. Instead, it gleamed with flowing light.

The moment he took it out, a faint fishy scent of seawater rushed into Yun Tian's nose.

If consumed directly, it was a highly poisonous substance. Yet no one knew that after being processed, it could become a divine treasure that would make the entire continent green with envy. (Those few words are inconvenient to type, so I wrote highly poisonous instead. Those who know, know.)

After consuming it, it could strengthen one's physique and physical constitution, thereby raising the age limit for absorbing one's first two Soul Rings.

Thus, Gangzi's already laughable Soul Ring theory, precise down to individual years, was utterly shattered before Whale Rubber.

The processing method was also very simple: use Soul Power or an open flame to roast away the impurities within.

After some work, a piece of smooth, round gel paste appeared in Yun Tian's hand. The fishy sea smell had completely vanished, replaced by a mild and refreshing fragrance that was gentle rather than pungent.

He swallowed the entire piece at once. Yun Tian's skin quickly turned red, and heat began to surge through his limbs. Without hesitation, he rapidly mobilized the Soul Power within his body to refine the Whale Rubber.

In an instant, the bones and meridians in his body continuously expanded, while a layer of sticky black impurities seeped out of him.

About two and a half hours later, Yun Tian slowly opened his eyes. The water in the bucket was now full of grime, all of which had come from his body.

"The effect of Whale Rubber really isn't bad. My physical constitution has improved quite a bit. I should have no problem with two-thousand-year or even three-thousand-year Soul Rings!"

Feeling the changes in his body, Yun Tian could clearly sense that his physical constitution was far stronger than before.

After putting on all his clothes, he pushed open the door and prepared to enter the Star Dou Forest.

Since several days had already passed, it was probably around noon. Yun Tian ate the dry rations he had brought while heading deeper into the forest.

A hundred-year Mountain-Shaking Heavy-Armored Rhino would be too weak. As for a ten-thousand-year one, leaving aside whether Yun Tian could defeat it, he would not even be able to absorb its Soul Ring due to its age. Therefore, a thousand-year one was naturally the best choice. So far, he had not seen a Soul Beast more compatible with him in the books.

Within the Star Dou Forest.

Countless towering ancient trees grew here, their dense leaves blocking out even the sunlight. The air was filled with the fresh scent of earth.

Yun Tian walked through the forest, occasionally hearing the roars of Soul Beasts from all around him.

The Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Forest were distributed in distinct layers: hundred-year, thousand-year, and ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts occupied different regions. The thousand-year zone lay somewhat deeper within.

Before long, broken ancient trees began to appear nearby. Judging from the fractured sections, they seemed to have been snapped directly by something crashing into them.

"Looking at this, it really seems like they were broken by horns. It looks like I should be able to find one nearby."

After a brief analysis, Yun Tian continued inward. Along the way, he tried his best not to expose himself in open areas.

After all, the more open an area was, the more easily those Soul Beasts would notice him.

"Roar!!"

Suddenly, an enraged roar rang out. Yun Tian's eyes narrowed, gray light flashed beneath his feet, and he flew toward the nearest tree.

Not long after, a Soul Beast nearly five meters long and almost three meters tall charged out. Its body was covered in layered pale-gray rock armor plates with faint patterns, and a half-meter-long spiral horn stood atop its head.

Its eyes were blood-red, and white mist burst from its nostrils with every breath.

"Roar!!"

It charged toward a large tree not far away. With only one hit, the tree was snapped in half.

"With that kind of power and such thick armor, it's a Mountain-Shaking Heavy-Armored Rhino. And judging from its traits, it seems to be more than twenty-four hundred years old. Perfect, you'll do!"

The Sky-Piercing Spear appeared in Yun Tian's hand, and a yellow Soul Ring floated beneath his feet.

His Soul Bone Skill activated, sending him soaring into the air. In a short moment, a faint gray glow covered Yun Tian's body. This was the appearance of the buff taking effect.

"First Soul Skill, Clouds Hang Low!"

Gray and cyan airwaves mixed with spear energy shot straight toward the Mountain-Shaking Heavy-Armored Rhino.

"Bang!!"

As expected, the spear energy only left a deep mark on its heavy armor. It did not injure its flesh at all.

"Roar, roar!"

Enraged by Yun Tian's sudden attack, the Mountain-Shaking Heavy-Armored Rhino's eyes became even redder as it charged toward him. Every step made the ground tremble.

After smashing through another large tree, Yun Tian watched it from midair, momentarily at a loss.

The defining trait of the Mountain-Shaking Heavy-Armored Rhino was its incredibly strong defense. Although his Sky-Piercing Spear was powerful, he only possessed level-twenty Soul Power after all.

"Destiny's Eye!"

He activated Destiny's Eye, hoping to see whether his opponent had any weaknesses.

[Gold: Earth Force Bearing Blade], [Purple: Unbreakable Defense], [Purple: Heavy and Difficult to Turn], [Blue: Weak Abdominal Armor]

[Gold: Earth Force Bearing Blade: Its attributes and Soul Ring provide special bonuses to certain assault-type Martial Souls or defense-type Martial Souls.]

[Purple: Unbreakable Defense: Its defense is extremely high. Without a highly penetrating Soul Skill, it is difficult to break through its defenses.]

[Purple: Heavy and Difficult to Turn: Its enormous, cumbersome body makes it difficult to attack high-speed targets.]

[Blue: Weak Abdominal Armor: Its abdomen lacks heavy armor protection and is easily threatened.]