Terrifyingly Powerful!

In an instant, a dark golden current surged and roared through his meridians!

This was nothing like the careful guiding and assimilation an ordinary Soul Master went through when absorbing a Soul Ring. This was a king taking absolute control of his own domain!

"Boom!"

With a muffled rumble, Ling Xuqing felt as though a shackle in his mind had been smashed to pieces.

A Soul Ring radiating brilliant dark golden light slowly rose from beneath his feet.

It had neither the scarlet hue of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring nor the chaos of a Million-Year Soul Ring. Yet the interwoven divine and domineering pressure it gave off made the surrounding air wail beneath its unbearable weight.

"Golden Dragon King's divinely bestowed First Soul Ring, condense!"

At Ling Xuqing's thought, the Soul Ring abruptly contracted, transforming into a dark golden pattern that branded itself deep within his every bone and sinew.

At once, four completely different yet kindred divine powers erupted within him!

First Soul Skill—Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, activated instantly!

Ling Xuqing felt a warm current sweep through his entire body. A faint layer of golden dragon-scale light shimmered across his skin.

Without consuming any Soul Power, the layer of light became a permanent passive enhancement.

He could clearly feel his physical strength, physical defense, and raw power double in that instant!

Even more frightening, his senses had become astonishingly sharp. Before this layer of dragon-scale light, any negative effect that tried to pierce his armor or tear him apart would vanish like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

"What a domineering boost to my body!"

Ling Xuqing was secretly amazed. Then he shifted his thoughts and deliberately released a trace of Soul Power.

In an instant, a tangible golden dragon aura radiated from him, making the air within ten meters feel as thick as syrup.

If a hundred-year or Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had been here, it would likely have been forced to the ground by the pressure of his bloodline. Even a Soul Master of the same rank would have struggled to circulate Soul Power, with their attack and movement speeds greatly reduced. This was the very foundation of the Golden Dragon King's power!

Next, the insights for his Second Soul Skill, Destruction Dragon Claw Strike, flooded his mind.

Ling Xuqing raised his right hand. A heart-chilling dark golden edge flickered at his fingertips.

It was the embodiment of the Golden Dragon King's Destruction Divine Power, imbued with the supreme property of annihilating and tearing apart.

He had no doubt that a single swipe would rip through even the strongest defensive Soul Skill or armor of the same rank. The lingering power of the destructive dragon would then continue to dissolve the opponent's Soul Power shield.

His Third Soul Skill, Golden Scale Domain, gave him unrivaled control over the battlefield.

At Ling Xuqing's thought, a golden dragon-patterned aura rippled outward from him like waves on water.

Within ten meters, he seemed to become an absolute sovereign.

All hostile targets would be suppressed by his bloodline and thrown into disarray, unable to gather power for advanced charged skills. Meanwhile, he remained completely stable, immune to all knockback and stagger effects, and his Soul Skills activated fifty percent faster.

His Fourth Soul Skill, Instant Shadow Dragon Flash, pushed his mobility to the limit.

It was an ultra-short-range teleport wrapped in dragon-shaped currents of air, allowing him to flash to any location within fifteen meters with no windup or cooldown.

Even better, the half-second of intangibility after each flash let him evade any instant damage perfectly, and his next melee attack was guaranteed to be a critical hit. It was a divine skill for a close-combat dragon-style fighter!

"Four First Soul Skills, all divine in quality—and this is only my First Soul Ring..."

Ling Xuqing drew a deep breath, feeling the surging power within him, and a smile of astonishment curved his lips.

But this was only the beginning.

"Next, the External Soul Bone!"

Ling Xuqing clenched his teeth and guided the most violent power within him toward his back and hands.

"Crrk—"

Accompanied by a bone-grinding scrape, Ling Xuqing's back suddenly split open, and a pair of enormous dragon wings—gilded all over and covered in fine scale patterns—burst forth!

With a gentle flap, they sent the air shrieking as they tore through it.

External Soul Bone—Supreme Golden Dragon Wings, complete!

Ling Xuqing's thoughts shifted, and his body began to rise into the air of its own accord.

The Dragon Wing Sky Soar skill freed him entirely from gravity's grasp. His flight speed far surpassed that of any flying Martial Soul of the same rank.

He tried a flap of his wings, and countless golden feathers turned into a gale that swept in every direction—Thousand Feather Shattering Gale!

Where the gale passed, the surrounding trees were instantly sliced into countless fragments. At the same time, an indestructible golden barrier formed around him.

"What magnificent wings!" Ling Xuqing circled once in the air before landing steadily.

Next, both his hands began to transform.

Dark golden light gathered wildly in his palms. His fingers rapidly lengthened and thickened, while his nails became razor-sharp dragon claws.

External Soul Bone—Purgatory Golden Dragon Claw, complete!

Ling Xuqing slammed a claw into a huge boulder beside him.

There was no flashy Soul Skill light, only pure, crushing force taken to the extreme.

With a deafening boom, the hard boulder, nearly half a man's height, was smashed into dust by that single blow!

The absolute armor-breaking force and solid-body shattering effects of Dragon Shatters Mountains and Rivers were displayed to the fullest.

He raised his hand again, and golden binding patterns appeared across his dragon claws.

Dragon Lock Nirvana!

Once the dragon patterns locked onto a target of the same rank, they would completely restrain it, preventing movement and the use of Soul Power. They would even continuously drain its Soul Power and feed it back to him.

"Twelve Soul Skills..." Ling Xuqing looked at his hands, then at the dragon wings behind him, his eyes burning with fervor.

Finally, he focused his attention on his Martial Soul.

The Golden Overlord Spear slowly materialized in his palm.

The spear was even more solid than when it had first awakened. Four deep dark golden patterns flowed along its shaft, each one marking a unique skill of the Golden Dragon Spear.

Golden Dragon Piercing Heavens: a long-range piercing charge; its spear light carried a penetrating effect and could pierce multiple targets;

Dragon Emperor Suppressing Evil: summoned supreme dragon might to absolutely counter and purify Evil Soul Masters and those with dark attributes, while greatly increasing his own resistance;

Nirvana Dragon Spear Domain: used the spear as its formation core to create a thirty-meter domain that continuously cut into enemies and suppressed their Soul Power recovery, while increasing his own spear damage by fifty percent;

And most terrifying of all, Dragon God's Single Stab—after a brief charge, it concentrated the Golden Dragon King's innate power of destruction at the spear tip, unleashing a triple killing strike that broke gods, armor, and souls!

"Vooom—"

As the final trace of power completely fused with him, the Soul Power in Ling Xuqing's body surged wildly like floodwaters bursting through a breached dam!

Level ten, level eleven, level twelve... level fifteen!

His Soul Power finally stopped at the bottleneck of level fifteen, then slowly settled.

Ling Xuqing slowly opened his eyes. A terrifying gleam flashed through his dark golden pupils.

He felt the oceanic power surging within him, then looked at the Golden Dragon Claws in his hands, wreathed in an aura of destruction, and the pair of Golden Dragon Wings behind him, radiating divine pressure. The corners of his mouth curved into a smile of absolute confidence.

"As expected, the Golden Dragon King's bloodline essence is on another level."

Ling Xuqing clenched his fist, feeling the terrifying power capable of tearing anything apart, and murmured, "I feel terrifyingly strong right now! Forget opponents of the same rank—even against a Soul Elder or a Soul Ancestor, I can fight!"

His gaze pierced the valley's night and turned toward the distant stars. A complicated emotion flickered in his eyes.

"I wonder how Senior Dragon God is doing now... Perhaps he has already vanished completely."

Ling Xuqing sighed silently to himself.

That supreme creator god had burned away the last wisp of his remnant soul to clear the path for him.

"Once I become the new Dragon God and master the laws of the plane, when I return to Blue Star in the future..."

Ling Xuqing's eyes filled with unwavering resolve. "I'll make sure to erect a huge monument for him and pay my respects properly!"