Through the Lake of Life.
Gu Yuena's gaze passed through countless obstacles and landed on Qin Jiuxiao, who was condensing his second Soul Ring.
"Condensing a Soul Ring on his own... could he be a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast reincarnated and cultivating anew?"
"But why can't I sense any Soul Beast aura from him?"
"How strange!"
"Even I feel frightened by something within this Lightning Tribulation. I wonder whether this little fellow can survive it."
Meanwhile, Qin Jiuxiao slowly opened his eyes.
Lightning flashed through his pupils.
A black Soul Ring circled around him.
The second Soul Ring of the Ten Fiends had finally fully condensed.
But before he could celebrate, the thunderclouds that had been brewing in the sky for so long let out a muffled boom.
A bolt of lightning as thick as an arm struck him head-on.
Pfft!
Qin Jiuxiao spat out a mouthful of blood, and the Soul Ring he had just condensed began flickering erratically.
"Young Master!/Master!"
Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuyun, and the others cried out in alarm from afar.
Qin Jiuxiao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave them a reassuring smile.
Then he looked up at the sky. Rather than dispersing, the gathered thunderclouds only grew more intense.
"Damn it, are they treating me like some vicious beast undergoing tribulation?"
"Ha!"
"Lightning Tribulation or whatever else you are, I am now the Thunder Emperor. All lightning must obey my command!"
"No one can make me submit!"
Qin Jiuxiao roared toward the heavens. The clothes on his upper body had already been burned away by the earlier Lightning Tribulation.
As though it had sensed Qin Jiuxiao's unyielding will, his second Soul Ring, which had just dimmed, bloomed with light once more.
Even the first Soul Ring seemed to roar in fury at the heavens alongside it.
As the two great Soul Rings shone brighter and brighter,
the phantom of a Heavenly Horned Ant and a humanoid lightning phantom appeared behind Qin Jiuxiao.
The two phantoms merged into Qin Jiuxiao's body, causing his physique to transform once more.
Golden veins could be seen coursing across the surface of his body.
His long hair whipped wildly in the wind as bolts of lightning surged out from within him.
He looked like Sikong Zhen after unleashing his ultimate.
"All lightning is mine to command!"
Qin Jiuxiao's voice echoed through the forest, and the thunderclouds overhead seemed to have been enraged.
An endless prison of lightning descended, yet it could not harm Qin Jiuxiao in the slightest. Instead, it made him look like an emperor reigning over thunder.
Realizing that it could do nothing to Qin Jiuxiao, the thunderclouds in the sky could only relent.
Lightning crackled at Qin Jiuxiao's fingertips, slowly condensing into a throne of thunder in midair.
He stepped upon lightning and sat on that throne. The low-level Soul Beasts around him all knelt in his direction.
[Host: Qin Jiuxiao] [Age: 12] [Martial Soul: Desolate Ten Fiends] [Soul Power: 30+ (Specific level will be displayed after awakening the third Soul Ring)] [First Soul Skill (Heavenly Horned Ant): Ultimate Power! (12,000 years, evolves with physical constitution)] [Second Soul Skill (Thunder Emperor): Thunder Domain: Heavenly Punishment! (12,000 years, evolves with physical constitution)] [Current Traits: "Fleshly Sanctification (Seven-Colored)", "Heaven-Defying Comprehension (Seven-Colored)", "White Moonlight (Gold)", "Gifted Talent (Gold)"...]
Qin Jiuxiao looked over his information. He had not expected his second Soul Ring to be twelve thousand years old.
What surprised him even more was that condensing the second Soul Ring had greatly enhanced his physical constitution, allowing him to withstand Soul Rings of greater age.
It had also raised the age of his first Soul Ring to match that of the second.
That was quite an unexpected gain.
Qin Jiuxiao raised a brow at his Soul Power Level of 30+.
It seemed the Soul Power he had gained from collecting Traits over the years had not gone to waste; it had been stored within his body all along.
He could now condense his third Soul Ring.
However, he currently only had two Seven-Colored Traits.
To condense the third Soul Ring, he still needed to obtain a third Seven-Colored Trait.
So there was no rush for now.
He slowly descended from the air and withdrew the two Soul Rings into his body.
His appearance also returned to normal.
Yan Shi and the others hurried over from afar, anxiously looking Qin Jiuxiao over from head to toe.
Wu Rong immediately summoned her Martial Soul and began treating Qin Jiuxiao.
"Second Soul Skill: Light of the Holy Lotus!"
Gentle Soul Power flowed into Qin Jiuxiao's body, rapidly repairing the injuries he had suffered.
"Young Master, are you all right?"
Yan Shi asked anxiously.
When that lightning bolt had descended, his heart had nearly stopped.
Even from so far away, he could sense the aura of death from that apocalyptic lightning.
He dared to say that even a Soul Emperor would have been reduced to ashes beneath that bolt.
Yet their young master had actually endured it, and he seemed to have even gained the power of lightning.
"Uncle Yan, don't worry. That little bit of lightning can't hurt me."
With shining eyes, Zhu Zhuyun moved close to Qin Jiuxiao and threw herself into his arms, speaking coquettishly.
"Master, I was terrified just now."
"And the way you looked surrounded by lightning... you were really handsome!"
Her cheek pressed against Qin Jiuxiao's chest as her fingertips slid across his firm pectorals and abs.
She wore an utterly blissful expression. Clearly, her intentions were not so innocent.
Zhu Zhuqing's face also flushed red at the sight. She turned her head away unconsciously, then turned back to sneak another glance before looking away again.
And so the cycle continued...
"You really are strong!"
"You have the best talent of anyone I've ever seen," Zhu Zhuqing admitted.
Qin Jiuxiao wore a teasing smile. "What? After seeing my heroic bearing, are you reluctant to leave now?"
"I'm not! I'm leaving right now!"
Zhu Zhuqing instinctively retorted, but her gaze still involuntarily fell upon his perfect physique.
Seeing her sister Zhu Zhuyun still taking advantage of him with a blissful expression, she gritted her teeth and pulled Zhu Zhuyun away.
Zhu Zhuyun shot her an annoyed glare, but she also put away her lovestruck demeanor.
"Alright. Since we've obtained the second Soul Ring, let's leave the Star Dou Forest first."
"The thunderclouds have only just dispersed, and those Soul Beasts are terrified. This is the best time to leave."
Yan Shi and the others exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
They could naturally tell that Qin Jiuxiao had his own secrets, but they would not pry into them.
And everything that had happened here today would remain buried in their hearts. They would never breathe a single word of it to anyone else.
After they left,
the gaze from the Lake of Life slowly withdrew.
Gu Yuena looked in the direction Qin Jiuxiao had departed, deep in thought.
"That person is definitely one of my Soul Beast clan. Otherwise, he could not possess such a powerful body. Even a pure-blooded Dragon Clan member would be no stronger."
"And that Lightning Tribulation just now was definitely the authority of the God Realm Hub, specifically meant to target my Soul Beast clan."
"I wonder which member of the Soul Beast clan he is. After taking human form and cultivating anew, he can actually withstand the power of heavenly tribulation and command heavenly lightning."
"Perhaps the rule that Soul Beasts cannot become gods will be broken through him."
Hope welled up in Gu Yuena's eyes as she issued an order toward the outside of the Lake of Life.
"Di Tian, come to the Lake of Life and see me at once!"
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