Bright Winged Dragon, Sixth Soul Ring!

At the edge of the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Qian Shengyuan hovered in midair, his gaze fixed on the faint golden streak at the entrance to the canyon ahead.

He had tracked it for three days, following the trails of soul beasts through dense forests and across mountain ridges, only to come up empty-handed twice along the way.

The first time, he had tracked it to a cave, only to find that the target had already moved. The second time, he lost its scent beside a mountain stream.

It was not until this morning that he caught that pure aura of light again at the canyon entrance.

Qian Yaoting stood on a boulder behind him. His Level 60 Soul Power remained restrained, but his palms were already lightly sweating.

Three days of long-distance tracking had taken no small toll on his stamina and focus, yet all his attention was now fixed on the faint pressure emanating from deep within the canyon.

"It's in there." Qian Shengyuan spoke softly without turning around. "Wait here. I'll go test it first."

Qian Yaoting nodded.

He knew full well that his current strength was nowhere near enough to face a soul beast over twenty thousand years old. Rashly entering would only cause trouble for his father.

Qian Shengyuan's figure silently glided down from the air into the canyon.

As he entered, his six wings fully spread. The golden radiance dimmed to its lowest level beneath the morning light. He flew low along the inner side of the rock wall, suppressing his Soul Power fluctuations to nearly nothing. Only at close range could the naked eye discern the golden outline almost blended into the cliff face.

The canyon stretched several miles deep, its cliffs on both sides steep as if carved by blades. At the bottom lay a dried riverbed littered with broken stones.

When Qian Shengyuan reached the middle of the canyon, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

At the deepest point, the canyon widened into a circular basin. At its center stood a massive white boulder, atop which rested an enormous golden figure.

A dragon.

The Bright Winged Dragon was about forty feet long, with a wingspan that would likely exceed sixty feet when spread. Its body was covered in pale golden scales, each the size of a palm, their edges glittering with tiny flecks of light.

Its head was sleek and streamlined, with a short, sharp golden horn atop its brow. It was currently resting with its head lowered and eyes closed. Each breath stirred the air into small whirlwinds across the basin.

Qian Shengyuan halted against the rock wall at the edge of the basin, his gaze swiftly sweeping over the winged dragon's body.

Its size, the color of its scales, the length of its horn, the rhythm of its breathing.

He rapidly assessed it in his mind: around twenty-five thousand years old, female, with an exceptionally pure light attribute and extremely high compatibility with the Six-Winged Angel martial soul.

Its age fell between twenty thousand and thirty thousand years, precisely within the ideal absorption range for a sixth soul ring.

"This is the one."

Qian Shengyuan did not hesitate. The moment he confirmed the target, he attacked.

Golden light burst from his six wings. In an instant, he sprang from the cliff wall, a golden blade of light forming in his right palm as his entire body became a streak of radiance plunging toward the Bright Winged Dragon.

He was so fast that even the air had no time to crack.

The instant Qian Shengyuan attacked, the Bright Winged Dragon snapped its eyes open.

A rapidly approaching golden figure was reflected in its dark golden vertical pupils. It let out a deafening roar, its wings abruptly spreading as its enormous body rose from the white boulder.

Golden radiance erupted from the scales all over its body, forming a shield of light before it.

A dull boom rang out as Qian Shengyuan's golden light blade struck the shield.

Several deep cracks split across the shield's surface, but it did not shatter immediately.

The Bright Winged Dragon was knocked back several yards by the force of the strike. It beat its wings fiercely to steady itself, then opened its jaws and spewed a golden beam as thick as an arm at Qian Shengyuan.

"Trifling trick."

Qian Shengyuan shifted aside. The beam grazed past his shoulder and blasted a bottomless black hole into the rock wall behind him, its edges melted into flowing magma by the intense heat.

Riding the momentum of his evasion, Qian Shengyuan flipped halfway through the air and slashed out with his golden light blade again. This time, the angle was more vicious, striking precisely at the joint connecting the winged dragon's left wing.

The sound of scales shattering was crisp and brief.

The Bright Winged Dragon let out a pained shriek, and the movement of its left wing visibly slowed.

Its eyes grew even more violent. A tangible golden flame ignited within its dark golden vertical pupils, while light began gathering around the horn on its brow. This was a more powerful form of attack.

Qian Shengyuan was faster.

During the gap while the winged dragon gathered power, he slipped into the blind spot beneath its chest and abdomen. The golden light blade slashed out three times in succession.

The first slash tore through the scales protecting its chest and abdomen. The second cut beneath its hide. The third precisely controlled its force, passing along the edges of vital organs and limiting the wound to grievous rather than fatal.

Blood gushed from the wound. The pale golden dragon blood gave off a scorching aura of light in the air.

The Bright Winged Dragon's charging was interrupted. It swayed as it fell to the floor of the basin, its wings hanging limply at its sides while the light in its dark golden pupils rapidly faded.

It struggled to stand again, but every movement caused it to lose more life force through the wound in its chest and abdomen.

Qian Shengyuan landed on the ground, standing ten paces from the winged dragon without attacking further.

He confirmed that it had entered a dying state. The last trace of light lingering in those dark golden vertical pupils was fading away bit by bit.

He turned toward the canyon entrance and sent his voice out wrapped in Soul Power. "Yaoting, come in and deliver the final blow."

Qian Yaoting rushed into the center of the basin within a few breaths.

When he saw the dying winged dragon on the ground, his steps paused.

Even on the verge of death, the pressure emanating from that enormous creature made him feel instinctively oppressed.

A twenty-five-thousand-year soul beast was on an entirely different level from every thousand-year and ten-thousand-year soul beast he had encountered before.

"Pierce its skull with your martial soul," Qian Shengyuan said. "The faster, the better."

Qian Yaoting took a deep breath. A golden longsword condensed in his right hand as he stepped forward.

He aimed the blade at the center of the winged dragon's forehead and thrust.

The golden longsword pierced through the hardest part of its skull. The winged dragon's enormous body suddenly stiffened, and its dark golden vertical pupils completely lost their luster as the light died deep within them.

A black soul ring slowly rose from the corpse. Its deep black radiance spread through the basin, several orders of magnitude denser than the six-thousand-five-hundred-year purple soul ring Li Long had absorbed.

The halo of the twenty-five-thousand-year soul ring dyed the entire basin in a dark golden-black hue.

The instant the soul ring rose, Qian Yaoting sat cross-legged where he stood. He laid the golden longsword across his knees, closed his eyes, and began guiding the soul ring into his body.

The instant the black soul ring came into contact with his martial soul, a surge of Soul Power far more violent than he had imagined exploded within him.

His body jolted violently. Veins instantly bulged across his forehead, and his clenched teeth ground together with a creak.

Qian Shengyuan stood nearby, poised to intervene and interrupt him at any moment.

His gaze remained fixed on Qian Yaoting, watching every breath and every slight change in expression.

A soul ring of this age still carried considerable risk for a Soul Emperor who had only just broken through Level 60. However, Qian Yaoting's physical foundation and affinity with the angel martial soul kept the chances of success relatively high.

The basin fell silent. Only the golden blood flowing continuously from the winged dragon's corpse and the faint hum produced by the Soul Power collision remained.

One incense stick's worth of time passed, then two. Qian Yaoting's expression gradually shifted from twisted agony to calm, while the black soul ring's light settled from a violent vortex into an even rotation.

When the third incense stick burned out, Qian Yaoting abruptly opened his eyes.

The moment a black soul ring rose from beneath his feet, his aura climbed at a rate visible to the naked eye.

He rose directly from Level 60 to Level 61.

Qian Yaoting looked down at his hands, then up at Qian Shengyuan, who had remained standing beside him all this time. His lips moved, but in the end, he said only one sentence. "Level 61."

Qian Shengyuan nodded lightly.

The motion was slight, but the satisfaction deep in his eyes could not be concealed.

"A twenty-five-thousand-year Bright Winged Dragon is highly compatible with your angel martial soul. The effect of your sixth soul skill should be quite good," Qian Shengyuan said. "Get up and move around. Confirm the soul skill's details."

Qian Yaoting stood up and closed his eyes, sensing the information conveyed by the sixth soul ring. A moment later, he opened them and spoke softly. "Sixth soul skill, Angel Sanctuary."

"After activation, it unfolds a domain of light with a diameter of one hundred feet centered on me. Within the domain, the Soul Power recovery speed of all allies doubles, while enemies have their speed and perception suppressed by thirty percent. At the same time, within the domain, I can ignore obstacles to lock onto any target and launch one guaranteed piercing attack. If facing evil creatures, as long as their Soul Power Level is not far higher than mine, it has a sure-kill annihilation effect!"

"Combined with Angel Domain, it's extremely powerful."

Qian Shengyuan nodded after listening. "Not bad."

He turned and added as he walked away, "Let's go. We'll consolidate it after we return."

Qian Yaoting gave the winged dragon's corpse on the ground one last look. People from Spirit Hall would come later to transport it back and handle it. They did not need to concern themselves with it.

Such matters were not their responsibility.

He then turned and followed his father's footsteps. The two figures flew out of the canyon one after the other, streaking toward Spirit City.

A Level 61 Soul Emperor, with his sixth soul ring secured.

After returning, the first thing he wanted to do was spar with that junior brother again.

This time, he was confident that iron rod would not be able to break his sword.