Remnant Soul Backlash?

He seemed to be standing in a sea of molten fire, lava churning as scorching waves soared into the sky.

A giant bird engulfed in crimson flames hovered above the fiery sea. Its blood-red eyes were locked onto him, and it let out an enraged shriek.

"Screech—!"

It was the lingering spiritual imprint of the Blazing Flame Phoenix. Faced with a human trying to absorb its Soul Ring, it instinctively launched its final resistance.

A violent mental shock surged toward him like a tidal wave. Ye Feng felt as if his head had been struck by a hammer, sparks flashing before his eyes.

"Oh? Still refusing to submit after death?"

Ye Feng steadied his mind, extending his spiritual power like chains as he tried to suppress the remnant soul.

The Blazing Flame Phoenix's remnant soul beat its wings, sending flaming feathers raining down like a storm. Each one carried a searing mental shock, battering Ye Feng's mental barrier until it hummed.

Ye Feng frowned slightly.

This beast could still put up such a fight even after dying.

Though his spiritual power had been tempered by the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew and far surpassed that of Soul Masters at the same rank, the foundation of a twenty-thousand-year Soul Beast's remnant soul was indeed formidable. For a moment, he could not fully suppress it.

"Fine, you've got guts, huh?"

Ye Feng grinned, a trace of ruthlessness flashing through his eyes.

With a thought, a cluster of crimson-gold flames quietly ignited in the depths of his sea of consciousness.

It was not Soul Power flame, but Karma Fire.

Karma Fire lit purely by spiritual power.

The moment that flame appeared, the entire mental space fell silent.

The Blazing Flame Phoenix remnant soul's cry abruptly stopped. For the first time, fear surfaced in those crimson bird eyes.

It wanted to retreat, but it could not.

Ye Feng's spiritual power had already locked it down completely.

"Weren't you acting tough just now?"

Ye Feng rose to his feet, holding the cluster of crimson-gold flame in his palm as he slowly approached the Blazing Flame Phoenix remnant soul. "Come on, let me see how many more seconds you can last."

The Blazing Flame Phoenix remnant soul let out a miserable wail and violently flapped its wings, trying to break free from the restraints of his spiritual power.

But the Karma Fire had already spread along the mental chains, wrapping around it layer by layer like a vast golden net.

"Screech—!"

Amid its anguished cry, the crimson-gold flames suddenly surged, completely swallowing the Blazing Flame Phoenix remnant soul.

The remnant soul struggled and writhed violently within the Karma Fire before finally dissolving into streams of pure spiritual power. They flowed back along the Karma Fire and poured into Ye Feng's sea of consciousness.

Ye Feng felt his mind clear. His slightly swollen, aching spiritual power instantly recovered and even seemed to grow a little stronger.

He opened his eyes and rolled his neck, his bones cracking sharply.

"Feels great."

When Shui Bing'er saw him open his eyes, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Did it work?"

"It worked."

Ye Feng stood up, dusted off his rear, and said with a grin, "That beast wanted to hit me with mental backlash, so I roasted it instead."

Zhu Zhuqing stood nearby, looking at the brand-new black Soul Ring on Ye Feng's body. Her dark eyes flickered as she wondered about something.

Unable to hold back any longer, Shui Bing'er asked, "What is your fourth Soul Skill? Is it a buff-type skill or an attack-type skill?"

Ye Feng grinned without bothering to hide it from Zhu Zhuqing. With a thought, his fourth Soul Ring suddenly lit up.

Black as ink, it shimmered with a deep, shadowy gleam against the crimson-gold flames.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Karma Fire Phoenix Transformation."

Before his words had even faded, crimson-gold flames erupted around Ye Feng with a boom.

These flames were entirely different from the ones before.

They were condensed and blazing, their edges flowing with dark-gold light as they leaped and curled around his body like living things.

The next second, his originally fiery-red long hair seemed to ignite. Starting from the roots, it rapidly transformed into pure gold-red, dazzling like flowing lava.

"Holy shit?"

Even Ye Feng was stunned. He reached up and grabbed a strand of gold-red hair. "This Soul Skill can dye hair too?"

Shui Bing'er: "..."

Zhu Zhuqing: "..."

After a brief silence, Shui Bing'er's mouth twitched. "...This is your fourth Soul Skill?"

Ye Feng gave a mysterious smile and withdrew the gold-red flames around him. His long hair returned to its original crimson color.

Rubbing his hands together, he swept his gaze across the two girls. "Don't rush. That's just one effect of this Soul Skill."

Shui Bing'er grew curious. "What about the other effect?"

Ye Feng smiled faintly as his fourth Soul Ring lit up again.

This time, the crimson-gold flames did not burn within him. Instead, they spread outward like a tide, forming a golden halo that enveloped all three of them.

Shui Bing'er felt a warm force flood through her limbs and bones. Her somewhat exhausted Soul Power immediately surged, and even her ice-blue eyes brightened.

She could feel that all her attributes had instantly risen by fifty percent!

Zhu Zhuqing's entire body trembled.

She could clearly feel her Soul Power soar by at least thirty percent in just a few breaths. Even the injuries she had suffered earlier tingled with a warm, numb sensation.

"This..."

She lowered her head to look at her hands, her dark eyes filled with shock.

Ye Feng proudly lifted his chin. "Well?"

Feeling the power surging through her body, Shui Bing'er nodded lightly. "It really is impressive. How long does it last?"

"It mainly depends on the Soul Power in my body."

Ye Feng withdrew his Soul Skill. "For people at my level or below, the Soul Power consumed by the buff is roughly one-fifth."

"As for people of a higher rank, I haven't tried it yet. I imagine it'll consume much more Soul Power."

Shui Bing'er's cherry lips parted slightly. "You're saying that your fourth Soul Skill can not only buff you alone, but also buff a group, with no rank restriction?"

Ye Feng nodded. "So far, that seems to be the case."

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Aren't you afraid I'll reveal it?"

Ye Feng looked at her with a smile. "Would you?"

Zhu Zhuqing met those crimson-gold eyes, then inexplicably looked away. "...No, I wouldn't."

"Then that's fine."

Ye Feng turned and jerked his chin toward the Blazing Flame Phoenix's corpse. "Come on, roasted chicken wings. My treat."

After saying that, he ignored their reactions and walked over to the Blazing Flame Phoenix's corpse, squatting down to inspect it.

"A Blazing Flame Phoenix with twenty thousand years of cultivation. The meat should be pretty good."

He rubbed his hands together, flicking out a wisp of crimson-gold flame from his fingertips and precisely slicing off one wing.

Shui Bing'er asked, "Are we really going to eat it?"

"Of course."

Without looking back, Ye Feng dragged the enormous wing onto a flat rock. "This thing is valuable from head to toe. The feathers can be sold, the blood can be used in medicine, and the meat can be eaten. I, Ye Feng, have always believed in making full use of everything."

Standing several steps away, Zhu Zhuqing watched Ye Feng skillfully begin preparing the massive wing, her expression complicated.

She opened her mouth, but in the end only managed to ask, "Do you... often do this sort of thing?"

"It's my first time roasting chicken."

Ye Feng grinned, condensing the crimson-gold flames in his palm into a flaming blade. "But I've watched other people do it. It shouldn't be hard."

As he spoke, he swung the blade down.

"Crack—"

The wing split apart at once. The cut was smooth, and barely any blood flowed out.

As Zhu Zhuqing watched Ye Feng place that massive wing over the flames, an absurd feeling inexplicably rose in her heart.

She had just escaped death, been saved by a stranger, then watched that young man kill a twenty-thousand-year Soul Beast right in front of her, absorb its ten-thousand-year Soul Ring, and now he was going to roast it and eat it?

Just what kind of person was he?