All-Out Strike!

Dusk gradually deepened in the valley, and the last trace of daylight withdrew from the western ridgeline.

Qian Shengyuan took ten steps back and came to a stop, his hands clasped behind his back. There was no obvious sign of protective soul power gathering around him.

But Li Long knew that this Super Douluo's protective soul power had never needed to be gathered. Like a thin film pressed close to the body, it constantly covered his skin, only revealing its form and strength when attacked.

"Come." Qian Shengyuan said, "Use your strongest state. Activate all three soul skills at once. Don't hold back."

Li Long took a deep breath.

The soul power within him surged faster through his meridians. He stepped back with one foot, lowered his center of gravity, and gripped the middle of the iron rod with both hands.

The instant he drew up the soul power from the depths of his dantian, his second soul ring lit up first.

Purple light covered his entire body, and both his strength and speed rose threefold.

His body seemed to grow somewhat lighter, while a layer of flowing cyan wind pressure clung to the surface of the iron rod.

Immediately afterward, his first soul ring lit up.

Golden light enveloped the rod and his arms, doubling both his strength and defense.

The golden radiance around the iron rod intertwined with the cyan wind pressure, forming a visible halo that flowed around it.

The two soul skills had been stacked.

But this was not the end.

Li Long closed his eyes and fiercely drew up the last layer of soul power from the depths of his dantian.

The instant his third soul ring lit up, dark purple light exploded from beneath his feet. Soul power fluctuations several times stronger than the first two rings combined erupted around him.

The golden and cyan light on the iron rod was swallowed by a heavy purple glow, and the rod rapidly expanded under the influx of soul power.

From one and a half meters to two zhang, then nearly three zhang. The rod, as thick as a water bucket, was covered in flowing purple-gold patterns. Its grip had become so thick that he could barely hold it even with both arms wrapped around it.

The iron rod's weight surged in tandem.

The three-zhang rod weighed more than ten times its original weight. Simply lifting it caused the ground beneath Li Long's feet to sink slightly.

The muscles in his arms swelled, veins bulged, and the sweat on his forehead evaporated into white mist before it could fall, seared away by the scorching soul power.

"Titan Force! Activate!"

The instant all three soul skills stacked together, the power flooding Li Long's body nearly burst through his flesh.

The three layers of enhancement piled atop one another, ultimately converging in the hands gripping the rod.

At that moment, his gaze became extraordinarily focused. Every sound, light, and movement of wind around him blurred away, leaving only the figure standing ten steps ahead with his hands behind his back.

He took the first step.

The ground shattered with a boom. His footprint sank deep into the stone, and fragments of rock sprayed outward.

When he took the second step, his speed suddenly surged. The three-zhang giant rod trailed a purple-gold afterimage through his hands, tearing through the air with a piercing explosive shriek.

The third step was the final one. He had already charged before Qian Shengyuan, drawing all the power in his body from the soles of his feet up his spine into a single force. It passed through his waist and hips, shoulders and back, arms and wrists, before finally converging at the middle of the rod.

He brought it down with all his might.

Wrapped in three layered glows, the iron rod crashed down. The air along its path warped into visible ripples, while even the ground was forced open in advance by a thin crack.

The force of that strike had already surpassed what a three-ring Soul Elder should have been capable of. It had even crossed the threshold of four rings, approaching the destructive power of a five-ring Soul King's full-force blow.

Qian Shengyuan did not move.

No matter what, he was a Super Douluo.

He had to maintain his dignity.

This was a crushing gap in levels.

But the invisible layer of protective soul power around him abruptly appeared the instant the three-zhang giant rod neared him.

A pale golden film rose from his skin, solid as glazed glass and roughly half a finger thick.

Fine soul power patterns flowed across its surface. This was the unique defensive form of the Six-Winged Angel martial soul.

The instant the iron rod struck the light film, an incomparably muffled boom exploded through the valley.

A shockwave swept outward from the point of impact in all directions, blowing away every fragment of stone and speck of dust on the ground, creating a circular vacuum around the two of them.

Crack.

A fissure appeared across the surface of the light film.

One, two, three.

Spiderweb-like cracks spread outward from the point of impact, covering an area about half the size of a palm.

The cracks were not deep and had not penetrated the film, but the layer of golden material on its surface could clearly be seen curling slightly at their edges, like the surface of glazed glass struck by a heavy hammer.

Qian Shengyuan's body did not budge in the slightest, his feet as firmly rooted as nails driven into the ground.

Yet as he looked at the ten-and-a-half-year-old boy before him, carrying the three-zhang giant rod on his shoulder, chest heaving violently and sweat steaming into white mist all over his body, an exceptionally bright glint flashed through his eyes.

The cracks in the protective soul power rapidly healed under the replenishment of soul power, returning to normal after half a breath.

Qian Shengyuan looked at Li Long in silence for three breaths before saying, "Even though your master has seen countless geniuses over the years, none have ever managed to crack my shield while still at three rings."

Li Long withdrew his soul power.

The three-zhang iron rod rapidly shrank back to its usual length of one and a half meters. Once the three layers of enhancement faded, his legs weakened slightly, and his knees buckled for a moment before he steadied himself again.

That strike had drained nearly seventy percent of the soul power in his body. Every muscle now ached and throbbed, while his arms shook so badly that even gripping the rod had become difficult.

But he had heard those words.

Cracking a Super Douluo's shield as a three-ring Soul Elder—this achievement alone had made it worthwhile.

"The enhancement from the third soul skill is terrifying." Li Long panted, his voice slightly dry. "But the consumption is huge too. My current total soul power is only enough to use it at full strength once. After that, I'm spent."

Qian Shengyuan nodded. "That's normal. You're currently at level thirty-four soul power, with three rings. The total soul power in your body still cannot sustain an explosive burst of this intensity for long. Once you reach four rings and become a Soul Ancestor, your total soul power will double, and your endurance will improve considerably. At your current stage, the third soul skill can only be used as a trump card. Don't activate it casually unless it's a critical moment."

He paused, his gaze falling on Li Long's hands.

There was a shallow bloody mark on the web between his thumb and forefinger, split open by the recoil from gripping the rod with full force earlier.

Qian Shengyuan took out a small bottle of pale green medicine from his storage pouch and handed it over. "Apply this to your hand. It promotes blood circulation and reduces bruising."

Li Long accepted the medicine, unscrewed the cap, poured some out, and applied it to the wound.

The cool liquid seeped into his skin, and the soreness immediately eased considerably.

"Once we return, you have two things to do." Qian Shengyuan spoke after watching him finish applying the ointment. "First, test your soul power. Once your level thirty-four result is confirmed, it will be entered into the records. Second—"

His gaze fell on Li Long's face, and his tone grew heavier than before. "I'll have people prepare the ceremony to appoint you as the Holy Son within three days. Once this news spreads, the entire continent will know the name Li Long. Be ready."

Li Long returned the medicine bottle to Qian Shengyuan, straightened up, took a deep breath, and nodded. "I'm ready."

Qian Shengyuan turned around, and his six wings spread open once more.

In the twilight, golden feathers sliced through the sky. The two rose into the air again and flew toward Spirit City.

From high in the air, Li Long looked down at the valley beneath his feet and felt even greater anticipation for his future.

Not long after he left, some other Spirit Hall members who had been lying in wait at a distance quickly arrived and dissected the soul beast's corpse before taking it away.

This was good material. It could not be wasted.

Unfortunately, this subspecies had not produced a soul bone.

But that was normal. After all, it had only been a thousand-year soul beast.

Even ten-thousand-year soul beasts had a very low chance of producing soul bones, much less thousand-year ones.