Soul King

The Star Dou Great Forest was vast and sprawling, containing all kinds of terrain.

Shi An stood atop a barren mountain, gazing into the distance.

As far as the eye could see, dense treetops stretched out like a verdant ocean.

A day had already passed, yet he still had not found any trace of the Earth Wyvern.

By now, he had already considered giving up and looking for another target.

But when he arrived atop this barren mountain, he sensed a fierce aura and dense earth-element fluctuations emanating from within it.

Shi An did not know what kind of Soul Beast dwelled within this barren mountain, but it was certainly very suitable for him.

Buzz, buzz, buzz~~~

The entire barren mountain seemed to come alive, trembling violently as gravel and dirt rustled down. A massive crack split straight through the mountain.

"Roar!!!"

A howl came from within the barren mountain, filled with anger and dissatisfaction.

It was as if Shi An had interrupted something it was doing.

Thud, thud, thud~~~

Heavy footsteps echoed from within the crack. The entire barren mountain seemed to tremble faintly, as though subdued by its imposing presence.

From the darkness, a ferocious head emerged. Pale golden vertical pupils, savage twisted horns, and a long, menacing face all made it clear that it was not to be trifled with.

The moment Shi An saw that head, his eyes lit up.

"I was wondering why I couldn't find you after searching for so long. So you were hiding here."

"What a lucky find."

The creature within the barren mountain was precisely the Earth Wyvern Shi An had been searching for.

Its pale golden vertical pupils fixed on Shi An, who stood atop the Puppet Snake's head, its gaze filled with violence and murderous intent.

Scorching breath blasted from its nostrils, stirring up a gust of sand and dust.

"Roar!!!"

The Earth Wyvern roared, smashing through the walls on both sides of the fissure. Amid a shower of rubble, it charged fiercely toward Shi An.

Its huge bloody maw opened wide, and a foul stench washed over him. It intended to swallow Shi An whole in one bite.

"How long has it been since you brushed your teeth? One breath nearly knocked me out."

Shi An revealed a trace of disgust. "Let me brush them for you!"

"Earthflow Spear!"

A thick, sharp stone pillar shot up from the ground, stabbing directly toward the Earth Wyvern's open mouth.

Then, the Soul Rings beneath his feet emerged one after another. Yellow, yellow, purple, and black—four Soul Rings lit up in sequence.

"First Soul Skill: Hardening!"

"Second Soul Skill: Shattered Stone Armor Puppet!"

"Third Soul Skill: Mountain Collapse!"

"Fourth Soul Skill: Meteor Descent!"

The Earthflow Spear instantly flashed with brown light, becoming even harder and sharper.

The Puppet Snake sank underground. The next moment, the ground beneath the Earth Wyvern split apart, and a pair of enormous stone hands seized its two hind legs.

When the Earth Wyvern saw the Earthflow Spear, it tried to close its gaping mouth.

The Earthflow Spear slammed into its teeth, then shattered instantly. Its terrifying force struck the Earth Wyvern's head in full, knocking it backward.

However, its hind legs were tightly gripped by the stone giant. Carried by the backward momentum, its body rolled over once and landed on the ground belly-up.

At that moment, a massive stone sword over ten meters long descended from the sky, plunging straight toward its unarmored belly.

The Earth Wyvern desperately tried to turn over, but the stone giant still had its hind legs locked tight. Though it struggled violently, it only managed to shift its position slightly.

Boom~~~

"Roar!!!"

Pulled by the force of its descent, the stone sword fell faster and faster, its power reaching a terrifying level.

The stone sword crashed down, shaking the earth and mountains.

Dust billowed up like a sandstorm, and a ring of shockwaves spread outward. Spiderweb-like cracks split across the ground.

The Earth Wyvern's roars and screams rang out from within the dust cloud, incomparably miserable.

Shi An clenched his right hand, and all the dust swirling in midair instantly gathered into a ball of earth, which he casually tossed onto the ground.

In the clearing before the barren mountain, a deep pit had appeared. Cracks covered its surroundings, and a stone sword was embedded at its center. The Earth Wyvern beneath it had been pierced through, nearly cut in half at the waist.

Dark red blood gushed out, staining the pit crimson before long.

The scent of blood drifted through the air, sharp and pungent.

Shi An held two fingers together like a sword and gently raised his hand. The massive stone sword slowly pulled free from the ground.

He looked at the Earth Wyvern's terrified pale golden vertical pupils, his own gaze as calm as still water.

Boom~~~

The stone sword fell. The Earth Wyvern's head rolled to one side, and a black Soul Ring floated out, emitting a profound glow.

"An Earth Wyvern over thirty thousand years old. I wonder what kind of Soul Skill it will bring me."

Shi An muttered to himself as Earth Power continuously flowed from beneath his feet into every limb and bone, replenishing his depleted Soul Power.

The ground restored itself, becoming level and smooth, while a circular wall rose to enclose the barren mountain.

Shi An sat cross-legged on the ground. The Origin Stone appeared in his right hand, and with his thoughts, he drew the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring hovering above his head.

The Soul Ring descended, enveloping Shi An's figure. The black, ghostly glow it emitted gave off an incomparably mysterious feeling.

The Soul Power carried by the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring poured into Shi An's body.

It washed over his limbs, bones, and the Origin Stone, gradually breaking through the level-fifty bottleneck.

Shi An did not feel the same pain he had experienced when absorbing a Soul Ring for the first time.

After being enhanced by high-quality Whale Rubber and tempered by Earth Power, his physical constitution had become exceptionally strong.

If his spiritual power had not been lacking, Shi An would have considered absorbing a Soul Ring of even greater age.

Time passed bit by bit, and the process of absorbing the Soul Ring was nearing its end.

Yet at that moment, an enormous phantom emerged within Shi An's sea of consciousness.

It was the Earth Wyvern he had just killed. Its eyes were bloodshot, its expression filled with hatred and resentment.

It let out a silent roar at Shi An's soul. His sea of consciousness churned violently, waves of invisible force rising within it.

Shi An felt a needle-like pain pierce his head, and even his soul trembled.

This pain did not affect his body, yet it was several times more intense than physical pain.

Shi An gritted his teeth. Bloodshot veins surfaced in his tightly shut eyes, fine sweat seeped from his forehead, and his face turned pale.

Within his sea of consciousness, the Earth Wyvern looked unwillingly at Shi An's soul. Then its body shattered and dissipated, transforming into fragments of light that nourished his spirit and merged into his sea of consciousness.

The waves subsided. Beneath Shi An, five Soul Rings quietly floated and revolved.

Soul Power fluctuations spread from his body, sweeping outward in all directions.

Shi An slowly opened his eyes. A trace of exhaustion showed in them, but his expression was extremely excited.

"Just short of level fifty-two. I'll be able to break through after cultivating for another half month."

"As for the Soul Skill... hehe, searching for you for so long was not in vain."