Effect

"The Taotie Divine Bull actually gave you a defensive soul skill! I didn't expect that...

It looks like you'll need to find a soul beast with strong offensive power for your second soul ring to make up for your weakness."

Lu Mingfei shook his head, a sly smile curling his lips. "It's not entirely defensive."

"What do you mean?"

With a thought from Lu Mingfei, the force field of the Dustless Domain abruptly contracted, shrinking from a range of thirty meters to less than three.

The rapidly flowing air currents became denser and fiercer, like a sharp cutting net surrounding his body.

He aimed the edge of the force field at a millstone-sized rock nearby.

The air currents along the force field's edge swept across the rock's surface like invisible blades, instantly shaving off a layer from the hard stone.

Stone fragments and powder were swept into the air by the high-speed currents, turning into a cloud of white mist.

"Though its main function is defense, I can also use the force field to crush opponents by force."

Lu Mingfei withdrew his soul skill and flexed his dragon claws. "As long as I trap someone inside the force field and compress its range, the high-speed air currents can grind them to pieces.

I can't do that yet, but once my soul power rises, this force field will become a mobile meat grinder."

Huang Fei was stunned for a moment after hearing this. Then, a flash of admiration passed through her violet eyes.

She circled Lu Mingfei once, examining the spot where the soul skill had just been withdrawn as though confirming something.

"Dustless Domain..."

She softly repeated the soul skill's name. "It combines defense and offense, can be used alone or on a group, allows brief levitation, and can even protect allies...

The effects of this first soul skill of yours are more well-rounded than many ten-thousand-year soul skills."

She paused, her voice carrying a trace of wonder. "The earth and devouring attributes of the Taotie Divine Bull were originally only meant to grant you defensive and restorative abilities.

But your Black Dragon King martial soul tempered, fused, and elevated those two powers, forcibly refining them into an exceptionally comprehensive soul skill.

Even I never anticipated such fortune."

Lu Mingfei stood where he was, looking down at his pitch-black dragon claws. The purple soul ring beneath his feet slowly pulsed, while the pale golden afterglow of the domain had yet to fully dissipate.

An unprecedented sense of security welled up inside him.

From this day on, Lu Mingfei had officially crossed the threshold into becoming a soul master.

His first soul ring: a thousand-year purple ring, the Dustless Domain.

Though the soul skill looked defensive at first glance, it could switch freely between offense and defense. It could advance to shred enemies or retreat to preserve his life, making it far more flexible than a purely offensive or defensive soul skill.

The Black Dragon King tattoo on the back of his right hand had completely vanished, replaced by a state in the depths of his soul where the two dragons coexisted and resonated...

The Black Dragon King had awakened by more than half, while the White Dragon King had fully awakened.

Two utterly different powers intertwined and balanced within him, circulating endlessly like yin and yang.

Lu Mingfei raised his head toward the sky over Dragon Valley, a faint curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

"Hui Liyi, I've taken another step closer."

Huang Fei patted his shoulder, revealing a rare, heartfelt smile. "Let's go. We'll obtain your second soul ring, then return to the Papal Palace. Once His Holiness learns of your soul skill's effects, he'll certainly be pleased as well."

Lu Mingfei nodded and withdrew his martial soul. His black dragon claws slowly returned to the appearance of ordinary hands.

"We're still going deeper?"

Lu Mingfei surveyed the increasingly dark valley path ahead. "I just absorbed my first soul ring. Shouldn't I take a break?"

Without looking back, Huang Fei said, "If we don't take this chance to find several suitable soul beasts while we're in Dragon Valley, we'll have to pay another thousand gold soul coins the next time we come."

"That's true... A thousand gold soul coins would pay for a long time of meals at the Spirit Hall cafeteria."

"That's all the ambition you have."

Huang Fei snorted, but she did not slow her pace.

At the boundary of Dragon Valley, dusk had already fallen.

Lu Mingfei followed behind Huang Fei as they continued inward along a winding stone path.

The newly acquired power within his body continued surging through his blood, leaving him in a strange state of excitement.

A moment later, Huang Fei's steps paused. Her violet eyes narrowed slightly as she looked toward the depths of Dragon Valley's core.

That place was shrouded year-round in thick gray mist that could not be dispelled.

Even with the eyesight of a Soul Sage, Huang Fei could not see through it.

Yet at this moment, the gray mist churned at an unprecedented frequency, as though some ancient beast that had slept for ten thousand years had turned over within it.

"Lady Huang Fei?" Seeing her stop, Lu Mingfei stopped as well. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Huang Fei withdrew her gaze and pondered for a moment. "It just feels a little wrong. The soul power fluctuations in the depths of Dragon Valley are too unstable, as if... something has awakened."

Lu Mingfei scratched his head.

The Black Dragon King and White Dragon King within him had just undergone a deep awakening. His senses were now far sharper than before.

Following Huang Fei's gaze toward the churning gray mist in the depths of Dragon Valley, he could vaguely sense an extremely ancient will awakening on the other side of the fog.

That will was vast and desolate, carrying a weight that did not belong to this era.

But he could not make it out clearly.

"Let's go."

Huang Fei turned around after all. "Before it gets completely dark, let's search around the boundary between the outer and middle valleys for a suitable target for your second soul ring.

The Taotie Divine Bull gave you a defensive soul skill. Your second soul ring should preferably make up for that with a powerful offensive ability."

Lu Mingfei nodded and followed her.

The two continued deeper along the valley path, the rocks beneath their feet gradually shifting from dark red to deep brown.

The dragon's might lingering in the air also grew increasingly dense, making each breath feel heavy.

What they did not notice was that, somewhere in the deepest part of Dragon Valley's core...

A gaze had silently locked onto them.

At the heart of Dragon Valley lay a hidden secret realm perpetually shrouded in grayish-white mist.

No soul beast dared set foot there.

Even tyrannosaurs, horned dragons, and rainbow dragons with cultivation exceeding seventy thousand years only dared wander around the outskirts of the secret realm.

It was as though some unseen taboo was warning them...

This was not a place for you.

At the center of the secret realm stood a small stone platform.

The entire platform had been carved from some kind of ancient dark-gray stone, its surface covered in densely packed runes.

The style of those runes was exceptionally ancient.

At the very center of the stone platform floated a piece of bone...

It was a strange, completely transparent bone.

Its surface possessed countless precise cross-sections. Every one of them was like a polished crystal mirror, refracting faint glimmers of light.

The light appeared weak, yet deep within the bone, it shone as brilliantly as a condensed river of stars.

This piece of bone had slept in the heart of Dragon Valley for an unknown number of ten-thousand-year eras.