Soul King

The Star Dou Great Forest was vast and expansive, containing all manner of terrain.

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

As far as the eye could see, dense canopies stretched out like a sea of emerald green.

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

By now, he had decided to give up and look for another target.

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

Shi An did not know what kind of soul beast lived within this barren mountain, but it was certainly well suited to him.

Buzzzzzz~~~

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

"Roar!!!"

A bellow came from within the barren mountain, laced with anger and displeasure.

It was as though Shi An had interrupted something important.

Thud, thud, thud~~~

Heavy footsteps echoed from within the fissure, and the entire barren mountain seemed to tremble faintly, as though cowed by its imposing presence.

Out of the darkness emerged a ferocious head. Pale golden vertical pupils, twisted and savage 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.

"So that's why I couldn't find you after searching for so long. You were hiding here."

"Talk about finding it without any effort."

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 eyes filled with brutality and murderous intent.

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

"Roar!!!"

The Earth Wyvern roared, smashing through the walls on either side of the fissure as it charged fiercely at Shi An amid a shower of rocks.

Its gaping maw opened wide, and a foul stench rushed at him. It intended to swallow Shi An whole.

"When was the last time you brushed your teeth? You nearly fumigated me just by opening your mouth."

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

"Earthflow Spear!"

A thick, sharp stone pillar burst from the ground, stabbing straight toward the mouth of the Earth Wyvern charging at him with its jaws wide open.

Then, the soul rings beneath his feet emerged one after another. Four soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, and black—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 glowed brown, 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 giant rock hands seized its two hind legs.

The moment the Earth Wyvern saw the Earthflow Spear, it tried to close its open mouth.

The Earthflow Spear struck its teeth, then shattered instantly. Its terrifying force crashed entirely against the Earth Wyvern's head, forcing it to rear back.

However, its hind legs were firmly held by the rock giant. Driven by the force of its backward recoil, its body rolled over once and landed on the ground belly-up.

At that moment, a gigantic stone sword over a dozen meters long descended from the sky, falling directly toward its unscaled belly.

The Earth Wyvern tried in horror to turn over, but its hind legs were still locked tightly in the rock giant's grip. Though it struggled violently, it shifted only slightly.

Boom~~~

"Roar!!!"

Drawn downward, the stone sword fell faster and faster, its power reaching a terrifying level.

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

Dust surged up like a sandstorm, a ring of air spread outward, and spiderweb-like cracks split across the ground.

The Earth Wyvern's roars and agonized cries rang out from within the dust cloud, incomparably shrill.

Shi An clenched his right hand, and all the dust flying through the air instantly gathered into an earthen ball, which he casually tossed to the ground.

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

Dark red blood gushed out, soon dyeing the pit crimson.

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

Shi An held his right hand with two fingers together like a sword and gently raised it. The gigantic sword slowly pulled free from the ground.

He looked at the Earth Wyvern's terrified pale golden vertical pupils, his own eyes 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, radiating a profound glow.

"An Earth Wyvern over thirty thousand years old. I wonder what kind of soul skill it'll bring me."

Shi An muttered to himself. The power of the earth streamed continuously through the soles of his feet and into his limbs, replenishing the soul power he had expended.

The ground restored itself, becoming flat and smooth, while a ring of earthen walls rose up around the barren mountain.

Shi An sat cross-legged on the ground. The Origin Stone appeared in his right hand, and his will drew down the ten-thousand-year soul ring floating above his head.

The soul ring descended and enveloped Shi An's figure. The black, ghostly radiance it emitted gave off an incomparably profound and mysterious feeling.

The soul power contained within the ten-thousand-year soul ring poured into Shi An's body.

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

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

Enhanced by high-quality whale glue and tempered by the power of the earth, his physical constitution had already become incredibly formidable.

If his spiritual power had been sufficient, Shi An would have considered absorbing a soul ring of even greater age.

Time passed second by second, and the soul ring absorption process was nearing its end.

However, at that moment, a massive phantom emerged within Shi An's spiritual sea.

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

It let out a soundless roar at Shi An's soul. His spiritual sea churned violently, setting off wave after invisible wave.

Shi An felt a needle-like pain in his head, as though even his soul were trembling.

This pain did not affect his flesh, yet it was several times worse than physical pain.

Shi An gritted his teeth. Blood vessels surfaced in his tightly shut eyelids, fine sweat seeped from his forehead, and his face turned pale.

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

The waves subsided. Five soul rings floated quietly around Shi An.

Soul power fluctuations spread from his body and swept outward in every direction.

Shi An slowly opened his eyes. A hint of fatigue showed in them, but his expression was exceedingly excited.

"Just short of level fifty-two. Another half month of cultivation and I'll break through."

"My soul skill... Heh, all that time I spent looking for you wasn't wasted."