"Come on," Huang Fei urged. "I don't want to fight it a second time and waste more Soul Power."
Lu Mingfei took a deep breath and walked over to the Godly Taotie Bull.
Up close, the beast looked even more enormous. Scorch marks from the purple flames still marred its dark-gold fur, giving off a burnt smell.
The eyes beneath its forelegs were closed, and its breathing was steady and heavy. Huang Fei had measured her strike perfectly: she had knocked it unconscious without killing it...
Lu Mingfei raised his sword and aimed for a vital spot beneath the Godly Taotie Bull's throat.
The sword tip hung in the air. Suddenly, Lu Mingfei felt dazed.
Dragon slaying.
The words flashed through his mind.
He remembered his days at Cassel College, the girl standing amid the flames, and Lu Mingze's knowing smile.
He had once ended a dragon's life with his own hands. Back then, he hadn't even blinked.
Now he was facing nothing more than a Soul Beast with a trace of Dragon Blood. What was there to hesitate over?
"Hey." Huang Fei's voice came from behind him. "Don't tell me you're going soft."
"As if." Lu Mingfei turned and grinned at her. "I've slain a dragon. What's one bull?"
"There you go boasting again!" Huang Fei scoffed with a laugh. "I bet you'd struggle to kill a chicken."
Lu Mingfei stopped hesitating. With a flick of his wrist, he drove the sword straight into the Godly Taotie Bull's throat.
Schluck.
Dark-gold blood gushed out. The Godly Taotie Bull twitched twice, then went completely still.
Lu Mingfei pulled out his sword and took two steps back. Looking at the massive corpse, he felt strangely calm.
Compared with the grandeur of slaying a dragon, this had been as mundane as gutting a fish in the kitchen.
"That's it?" Lu Mingfei muttered. "Feels like it needed more ceremony..."
"What kind of ceremony do you want? Should I beat a drum for you?" Huang Fei came over and gave him a pat.
"Just wait. The Soul Ring's about to appear."
Sure enough, a moment later, a purple Soul Ring began to form above the Godly Taotie Bull's body.
It rotated slowly, radiating a rich, steady presence with a hint of ancient wilderness. There was even a faint, sweetly metallic scent...
The distinctive scent of divine dragon blood.
"A Millennium Soul Ring." Huang Fei nodded in satisfaction. "Good quality, too. It bears the imprint of divine dragon blood. Once you absorb it, your Black Dragon King Martial Soul will definitely resonate with it."
Lu Mingfei stared at the slowly turning purple Soul Ring. A question suddenly popped into his head. "Lady Huang Fei, would you say this Godly Taotie Bull is Taotie's son or grandson?"
"If I absorb its Soul Ring, will Taotie have a problem with it?"
Huang Fei froze for a moment, then rolled her eyes.
"Keep talking nonsense, and I'll scatter its Soul Ring and leave your Martial Soul without one."
"No, no, I was joking!" Lu Mingfei waved his hands hastily. "I'll sit down and absorb it right now!"
He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and slowly released his Black Dragon King Martial Soul.
A black dragon's shadow flickered behind him, and a deep, majestic dragon's roar echoed through the air.
Drawn toward him, the purple Soul Ring drifted over and settled upon him, merging into the flow of his Soul Power.
Huang Fei stood guard nearby. Watching Lu Mingfei quietly absorb the Soul Ring, she smiled faintly.
The kid talked too much, scared too easily, and never held back a snide remark... but when it mattered, he came through.
And she could feel it. The moment Lu Mingfei released his Black Dragon King Martial Soul, the pressure that filled the air came from deep within his bloodline. It was real and pure.
That was the presence of an emperor-tier Martial Soul, at the very least.
It was still faint, but one day it would grow powerful enough to shake heaven and earth.
Huang Fei looked away and swept a wary gaze over their surroundings.
They were nearing the boundary between the outer and middle sections of Dragon Valley. Stronger Soul Beasts might appear from here on.
Lu Mingfei's first Soul Ring absorption was crucial. She had to make sure nothing went wrong.
Meanwhile, Lu Mingfei sat cross-legged on the ground, immersed in a strange sensation.
A vast surge of Soul Power poured into him, warm and dense with the essence of the earth.
At the same time, a trace of divine dragon blood, vanishingly thin yet incomparably pure, began to resonate with his Black Dragon King Martial Soul.
He could feel his Martial Soul trembling, exulting, greedily absorbing that gift of blood from the ancient Dragon Clan.
This is... actually pretty good.
The corners of Lu Mingfei's mouth lifted without him realizing it.
Next time I should ask Huang Fei if I can use a dagger when we hunt a Soul Beast.
Stabbing it with a sword really looked stupid...
By the time Lu Mingfei finished grumbling to himself, he had nearly finished absorbing the Soul Ring's energy.
He quickly closed his eyes and felt the Soul Power flowing through him.
The Godly Taotie Bull's energy had fully merged with his bloodline. The heavy solidity of its earth attribute settled into his bones, while the supple force of its devouring attribute wound through his meridians.
And that trace of pure divine dragon blood was like starlight falling into a deep pool, stirring silent ripples in the deepest reaches of his Black Dragon King Martial Soul.
Just as he was about to stand and stretch, a strange sensation came from the back of his right hand.
The warmth was no longer the hot, throbbing pulse he had felt before. This pulse was deeper.
Lu Mingfei instinctively looked down...
The small black dragon tattoo coiled on the back of his hand was growing blurry. Its lines faded bit by bit, as though something were drawing it away from the surface of his skin.
"Huh?"
Lu Mingfei's eyes widened.
The Black Dragon King tattoo was a mark that had appeared when his Martial Soul awakened.
From Holy Soul Village to Spirit Hall and then Dragon Valley, it had rested quietly on the back of his hand, never changing.
Now it was disappearing. The black lines slowly faded from the edges, like ink bleeding into water, sinking layer by layer beneath his skin.
"Lady Huang Fei, look at my hand!"
Lu Mingfei hurriedly called her over.
Huang Fei strode over. When she saw the black dragon tattoo vanishing from the back of Lu Mingfei's hand, her pupils contracted sharply.
She was about to ask him what was happening when Lu Mingfei's body suddenly went rigid.
He felt an unprecedented power awakening deep within his soul.
What was that?
It was as though an irresistible force seized Lu Mingfei's consciousness and dragged him down into an endless dark void.
Deep darkness surrounded him. No stars, no light, no sound—only an absolute, deathly still void.
He floated at its center, like someone abandoned at the end of the universe.
Then he saw light.
It rose from the deepest reaches of the void.
Before you continue