Second Soul Skill—Concealed Edge!

"A thousand-year soul beast?"

"Xia Mu, are you sure you can handle it?"

Worried that Xia Mu would be unable to withstand the pressure brought by a thousand-year soul ring, Liu Yuer kindly tried to persuade him otherwise.

"With my current physique, I'm more than a match for an ordinary Soul Elder. If you don't believe me, check for yourself!"

Xia Mu possessed a top-tier body martial soul, and having consumed whale glue, his physique had long since surpassed that of ordinary people.

That was the confidence he had in absorbing a thousand-year second ring. A body martial soul truly was this formidable!

"Not bad, not bad!"

"This kid's body far surpasses that of ordinary people. He can rival a Soul Elder, and he's no weaker than you either!"

Xia Feng felt Xia Mu's bones and muscles, then glanced at Liu Yuer before speaking.

"Good!"

"Then this time, we'll hunt a thousand-year second ring for you. It's worth taking some risks for your future!"

Liu Yuer nodded. A thousand-year second ring was immensely significant to a soul master; this concerned his future.

Soul masters were people who lived with their lives on the blade's edge!

If one lacked a bit of courage, there was no need to become a soul master.

"You brat!"

"Is there any soul beast you have your eye on?"

Seeing Xia Mu's confident expression, Xia Feng immediately spoke and asked for Xia Mu's opinion.

"I want to hunt a thousand-year Shieldblade Monster!"

"This kind of soul beast can both attack and defend. It shares much in common with the Golden-Scaled Armored Beast, and more importantly, a Shieldblade Monster can strengthen the origin of my martial soul!"

Shieldblade Monsters were a special type of soul beast. They were born with a massive, thick sword-shield, while their other hand wielded a golden greatsword!

They were natural swordsmen among soul beasts, capable of switching between offense and defense and changing forms.

After hearing Xia Mu's words, the two fell into thought.

"A Shieldblade Monster?"

"That kind of soul beast won't be easy to hunt!"

"High attack, high defense—it's truly difficult to deal with!"

"And you want to hunt a thousand-year Shieldblade Monster. Its defense is absurdly strong. Even with the killing power of a compound bow, I'm afraid it'll be hard to injure it!"

Xia Feng found himself in a bind. With a heavy compound bow in hand, he could ignore the defenses of many thousand-year soul beasts.

But Shieldblade Monsters clearly were not among them!

The defense of this type of soul beast was enough to withstand attacks from Soul Kings and Soul Emperors, and it possessed an innate steel attribute!

"You don't need to worry about that!"

"I have a secret weapon to deal with it!"

Shieldblade Monsters possessed unparalleled defense, but Xia Mu had his own method of handling them. His secret weapon was gunpowder.

That was right—black powder!

One part sulfur, two parts saltpeter, three parts charcoal; add a little sugar and Big Ivan. This was a secret weapon passed down by the ancestors.

If not for the fact that gunpowder's destructive power was too outrageous and caused too much commotion, Xia Mu would have made it long ago.

Hunting soul beasts was no child's play!

If they made too great a spectacle and accidentally triggered a beast tide, then no number of soul masters would be enough.

"A Shieldblade Monster's defense is unmatched, but enough black powder can put it into a baby-like sleep!"

"Once it's been lulled to sleep, I'll strike. That way, we can catch it off guard and win!"

Xia Mu knew well how tenacious soul beasts were, so he had never considered using black powder to blow one to death.

As long as he could blast the soul beast unconscious, that would be enough. Then, he could simply reap the rewards!

"This is the secret weapon you were talking about?"

Looking at the bundle of explosives before him, Xia Feng curled his lip. Was this thing really as terrifying as Xia Mu claimed?

"This is a miniature explosive pack!"

Xia Mu took out a miniature explosive pack, lit it, and threw it onto an artificial hill within the estate.

"Boom!"

Blinding flames erupted, and a terrifying shockwave spread in all directions. The artificial hill was blasted into pieces.

"Gasp—"

"What terrifying destructive power!"

"That level of power rivals a Soul King's full-force strike. It's on par with many ten-thousand-year soul skills!"

"And this is only a miniature version!"

"If it had been that explosive pack from earlier, then... gasp..."

Xia Feng's mouth hung slightly open, unable to imagine it.

"As the saying goes, art is explosion, and yield is justice. This is where my confidence comes from!"

"If they really piss me off, I'll send them flying into the sky!"

"After taking a hit like this, even if the enemy doesn't die, they'll be crippled!"

"Even if the enemy is incredibly powerful, that terrifying shockwave would still leave them dizzy and disoriented!"

"Then, hehehe..."

Xia Mu chuckled. With such a divine tool in hand, he would dare to ambush even a Titled Douluo.

Before overwhelming yield, all beings were equal!

Xiling Mountains, Golden Valley.

In order to find Shieldblade Monsters, Xia Mu's family put their money to work and finally bought the intelligence after much difficulty.

"This information wasn't false!"

"Golden Valley really does have a Shieldblade Monster clan, led by two ten-thousand-year Shieldblade Monsters!"

"The largest Shieldblade Monster is thirty thousand years old. It should be the king of this group!"

"The ten-thousand-year Shieldblade Monster beside it should be its mate. It's only a little over ten thousand years old!"

Liu Yuer pointed at the Shieldblade Monsters in the valley. At the moment, the group was foraging within the valley.

This valley had once been rich in gold. Shieldblade Monsters fed on ore, and they especially loved gold veins.

"What are we waiting for, then?"

"Let me blow them to my heart's content!"

Xia Feng took out explosive packs, lit the fuses, and crazily hurled bomb after bomb into the valley below. Soon, small mushroom clouds rose from below one after another, and flames shot into the sky from within the valley!

After dropping more than ten large explosive packs in succession, the three approached only after the dust below had settled.

"Gasp—"

When the three saw the scene clearly, they could not help drawing in a sharp breath. These explosive packs were simply too brutal.

Soul beasts lay sprawled all over Golden Valley. More than a hundred soul beasts had been knocked unconscious.

"That Shieldblade Monster did not die in vain!"

"By itself, it withstood dozens of massive explosions. Even in death, it never took a single step back!"

"It protected its clan!"

A black soul ring rose into the air. The thirty-thousand-year Shieldblade Monster had long since lost all signs of life.

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

"Don't get sentimental. Before long, these Shieldblade Monsters will wake up!"

Liu Yuer urged them anxiously. Soul beasts and humans had always stood on opposing sides; she had no saintly compassion for them.

"Let's go!"

With a wave of his hand, Xia Mu stored a thousand-year Shieldblade Monster in his Wishful Hundred-Treasure Satchel. Just before leaving, a thought crossed his mind, and he collected the Shieldblade Monster leader as well!

The three moved swiftly, coming and going like the wind!

Everything was carried out in an orderly manner, taking no more than the time needed to drink a cup of tea.

"Buzz, buzz—"

Xia Mu brought his sword down, and a light-purple soul ring slowly emerged above the Shieldblade Monster's corpse.

"A twelve-hundred-year second ring!"

He released his martial soul and drew in the soul ring!

He closed his eyes, regulated his breathing, sat in meditation, and refined it!

Two hours later, Xia Mu opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. "It worked!"

Two soul rings rose beneath Xia Mu's feet, one yellow and one purple. His soul ring configuration was astonishing.

Xia Mu's soul power had also reached an incredible level twenty-three, rising by a full three levels!

"Second soul skill—Concealed Edge!"

Dazzling white light surrounded Xia Mu's body as countless streams of sword qi surged within him, greatly enhancing his strength.

"It's actually a boosting-type soul skill!"

"As long as my soul power doesn't run out, the sword qi won't run out. It's somewhat like an explosive burst, capable of boosting my attributes."

"But the boost is only forty percent!"

"My first soul skill is an enhancement-type soul skill, and it is closely tied to my base stats!"

"The higher my base stats, the stronger I become after enhancement. But base stats grow very slowly!"

"Boosting-type soul skills are different. Although it only offers a forty percent boost, this soul skill raises a soul master's base stats, thereby increasing combat power."

"This wave is basically my left foot stepping on my right foot!"

Enhancement-type soul skills had absurd mechanisms, while boosting-type soul skills had outrageous values. The two complemented each other, and once combined, the effects of his soul skills were truly somewhat heaven-defying.

"Xia Mu!"

"We've struck it rich this time!"

Before Xia Mu could celebrate for long, Liu Yuer slowly walked over and took out a ten-thousand-year soul bone.

"This is..."

Xia Mu was shocked and could not help asking.