Taotie Divine Bull

"More importantly, this Taotie Divine Bull's soul ring will provide an enormous boost for you."

Huang Fei looked toward the Taotie Divine Bull. "Although the Taotie Divine Bull is primarily earth-aspected, with devouring as a secondary attribute, its attributes are indeed not the best match for you. After all, the Black Dragon King's strongest traits are darkness and corrosion.

But the key lies in its divine dragon bloodline.

When choosing soul rings, soul masters must consider not only the soul beast's attributes but also its bloodline.

Although the divine dragon blood in this Taotie Divine Bull is thin, once it becomes your soul ring, it can directly nourish your Black Dragon King martial soul and cause it to undergo a transformation."

Lu Mingfei nodded as if he half understood. "So attributes are just bonus points, while bloodline is the base score!

It's like applying to college: bloodline is your household registration location, and attributes are extra points for special talents!"

"What kind of terrible analogy is that? Forget it..."

Huang Fei could not be bothered to correct him. "In any case, we have to take down this Taotie Divine Bull."

Lu Mingfei did not object either. Huang Fei had no idea just how many attributes the Black Dragon King possessed.

The Black Dragon King was the supreme existence among dragonkind.

The White King's spiritual power, as well as the elemental powers of the Bronze and Fire Dragon King, Dragon King of Earth and Mountains, Dragon King of Sky and Wind, and Dragon King of Ocean and Water—the powers of all four great monarchs had been bestowed by the Black Dragon King.

The Black Dragon King itself controlled the spiritual element, the four basic elements of earth, water, wind, and fire, and even the powers of time and space.

And you were telling him the attributes did not match?

Just then, the Taotie Divine Bull at the valley entrance suddenly stopped eating.

The two dark-green eyes beneath its armpits locked precisely onto them. It let out a low roar that made the surrounding rubble tremble and rattle.

"It found us."

Lu Mingfei hurriedly took a step back.

"No shit. You were yapping away for ages just now, loud as someone haggling at a wet market. It would have to be deaf not to hear you."

Huang Fei rolled her eyes at him, then stepped forward. Brilliant purple light erupted around her.

Purple flames ignited out of thin air, surging from her body and forming the phantom of a massive phoenix behind her, its wings spread wide.

The purple-fire phoenix had a wingspan of more than ten zhang. Every feather was condensed from dancing violet flames, radiating a scorching heat that made one's heart pound.

At the same time, seven soul rings rose in spirals from beneath her feet.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black—seven soul rings appeared.

"Lady Huang Fei, go easy on it! Don't smash it to pieces—I still need to absorb its soul ring!" Lu Mingfei shouted from behind her.

"Quit talking nonsense!" Huang Fei did not even turn around. "Do I need you to tell me how to fight a soul beast?"

The purple flames around her burned fiercer and fiercer.

In her martial soul possession state, Huang Fei's already stunning features gained an even more bewitching beauty. Her purple hair flew like a waterfall, and the dazzling radiance around her made her look like a valkyrie descended from myth.

She did not even need to use a ten-thousand-year soul skill. With a casual lift of her hand, her second hundred-year soul ring lit up.

"Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike!"

As she cried out, the purple flames across her body rapidly gathered in her palm, compressing and spinning until they formed a purple fireball more than two feet across.

Scorching energy churned inside the fireball, while the flames around its edge flickered with strange patterns. It was so hot that even the air warped around it.

Then the fireball abruptly changed shape, becoming a small purple-fire phoenix with a wingspan of only one meter. Trailing a long tail of flame, it shot toward the Taotie Divine Bull like a meteor.

Lu Mingfei stared wide-eyed at the scene.

Though the purple-fire phoenix was small, it was incredibly fast, and its trajectory carried an erratic drifting motion, like an eye-guided missile.

The Taotie Divine Bull clearly sensed the danger as well. It abruptly opened its mouth full of tiger-like teeth, and dark-yellow earth-aspected soul power surged from its throat as it tried to form a defense. But it was still half a beat too slow.

The purple-fire phoenix struck precisely at the base of the horn beside its head.

Boom!

Amid the violent explosion, flames scattered everywhere. The Taotie Divine Bull's enormous body swayed twice, the eyes beneath its armpits instantly bloodshot as it let out a brief, mournful cry.

Then... with a bang, it crashed to the ground.

Lu Mingfei was dumbfounded. "Just one hit?"

"What else did you expect?"

Huang Fei withdrew her soul power, and the purple flames slowly extinguished as she returned to normal. "It's only a little over a thousand years old. I'm a rank seventy-nine Soul Sage. If I couldn't even take it down, I might as well smash my head into a block of tofu."

"But... you said it has divine dragon blood and combat power comparable to a two-thousand-year soul beast..."

"So I suppressed half my soul power." Huang Fei spoke as casually as if it were nothing. "Otherwise, I was afraid I'd really smash it to pieces."

Lu Mingfei: "..."

He started to feel a little sorry for the Taotie Divine Bull.

It was, after all, a descendant of divine dragons, with noble blood and a powerful body. Yet before Huang Fei, it had not even endured a single hundred-year soul skill before passing out cold.

What was that like again?

It was like a mixed-blood fighting a kindergarten kid, yet having to deliberately hold back so they would not hurt the kid.

Huang Fei took out a longsword from the soul tool at her waist. Its blade was slender and gleamed with a cold light; it looked to be of excellent quality.

She casually tossed it to Lu Mingfei. "Catch."

Lu Mingfei caught the sword in a fluster, looked down at it, then looked back up at Huang Fei. "Wait... don't people usually use daggers when hunting soul beasts?

The final blow has to strike a vital point precisely, right? A dagger would be more nimble!

You gave me a sword. Stabbing this thing in will be like poking a watermelon..."

"As long as it works."

Huang Fei waved a hand impatiently. "Who cares if it's a sword or a dagger? A weapon that can stab the target to death is a good weapon.

If you don't like it, go find yourself a dagger. I'll wait."

Lu Mingfei looked down at the sword in his hand, then at the unconscious Taotie Divine Bull lying on the ground, and suddenly felt a deep sense of absurdity.

He remembered the novels he had read before, where protagonists hunting soul beasts always held gleaming daggers, delivering a clean, decisive cut to the throat. It was full of ritual and elegance.

But when it came to him, damn, they were going straight for a sword.

This was not the right vibe! Where was the promised elegance?

Where was the promised grace?

He was holding a sword, about to stab an unconscious bull. If those guys from Cassel saw this, they would probably laugh their teeth out.

"Lady Huang Fei."

Lu Mingfei weighed the sword in his hand. "Are you sure you're not doing this on purpose to make a joke out of me? If word gets out that I stabbed a soul beast with a sword, how am I supposed to make a name for myself in the soul master world?"

"You don't have a name in the soul master world to begin with."

Huang Fei said coldly, "Once you become famous, people will only say, 'Oh, that Lu Mingfei? He once stabbed a Taotie Divine Bull to death with a sword. How badass.'"

"How is that badass?!"

"Stop dawdling. If you wait any longer, it'll wake up."