Making a Move, Life-Bound Soul Tool!

Outside the Heavenly Screen, Yu Xiaogang stood up again and pointed at it. "This is the strength Shrek Academy ought to have."

"Xiaogang, haven't they even started fighting yet?" Flender was well-traveled and knowledgeable. He could tell that Yin Hongye was a madman, with a streak of wildness in his bones.

"This man is a lunatic. Even if he fights, he won't gain anything from it."

Ning Fengzhi adjusted his monocle. "At such a young age, he carries such overwhelming killing intent. What he has experienced is beyond our comprehension."

Even now, his mind was elsewhere, still pondering the inheritance of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

Within the Heavenly Screen, Yin Hongye attacked Yun Ming directly, without the slightest hesitation.

The two spears collided, tip against tip. There were no flashy soul skills, only a pure clash of strength.

The shockwave exploded outward in rings, one after another. The clouds were torn apart and the air crushed to pieces. Mu Hongchen's Flying Soul Tool swayed a hundred meters away, and its golden light-wings had to beat frantically before stabilizing her.

"Hongye is really being reckless. He's two levels of Soul Power behind and separated by several realms, yet he still dares to act so rashly," Mu Hongchen said.

"What do you mean by several realms?" Qian Renxue asked in confusion. She could understand differences in Soul Power, but in her era, strength had not been divided so finely.

Everyone outside the Heavenly Screen wanted to know as well, especially Golden Crocodile Douluo. He was truly curious; if this could help him break through to Limit Douluo, that would be ideal.

There were so many Limit Douluo twenty thousand years later, and he himself possessed a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring. They surely had a simpler method for breaking through to Limit Douluo.

Mu Hongchen explained, "I only heard about it myself, but the Limit Douluo realm is divided into several stages. The difference in cultivation between those stages is also considerable."

"Those who have just entered the Limit Douluo realm and begun their transformation are called Quasi-Demigods, also known as Pseudo-Demigods. Once their transformation stabilizes, they can gradually enter the ranks of Demigods. The vast majority of Limit Douluo are at this level."

"However, some favored geniuses can make another breakthrough and enter another realm—the Quasi-God, or Pseudo-God level."

Quasi-Demigod, Demigod, Quasi-God!

Everyone outside the Heavenly Screen was filled with confusion upon hearing these terms. In the Worship Hall of Spirit City, all the worshippers turned their gazes toward their eldest brother, the Angel Worshipper Qian Daoliu.

"Big Brother, is that really true?" Golden Crocodile Douluo asked.

"Perhaps. I'm not entirely sure either." Qian Daoliu was slightly dazed as he recalled Tang Chen. Was this the difference between their realms?

On Sea God Island, Bo Saixi was asked the same question, and she was not entirely sure either.

However, Mu Hongchen's following explanation barely cleared up some of her doubts.

"According to the commander of the Central Legion, the difference between a Quasi-Demigod and a Demigod is roughly one to two, while the difference between a Quasi-God and a Demigod is roughly one to three."

Qian Renxue sucked in a breath. In her era, she knew of only three Peerless Douluo in total.

Her grandfather counted as one, the Sea God Douluo of Sea God Island counted as another, and then there was the missing Tang Chen.

A Quasi-God could actually equal three of them.

But in truth, it could not be calculated that way. Twenty thousand years ago, they could borrow divine power.

These words likewise astonished everyone outside the Heavenly Screen, but they had no time to ponder this so-called gap. They had already been drawn in by the battle within the screen.

Yin Hongye retreated half a step, and his body began to change. All kinds of weapons appeared in his hands.

A spear, a ring, a brick, twin swords, and crimson silk formed from killing intent.

Three heads and eight arms, each holding a different weapon—he resembled a killing god who had stepped out of myth.

Yun Ming was not surprised. He knew some of Yin Hongye's abilities.

Yin Hongye struck in an instant. All eight arms swung at once: spear thrusts, ring smashes, brick slaps, wheel slashes, silk entanglements. Attacks arrived from several directions at the same time.

Yun Ming raised his spear to block. The shaft hummed and shook violently.

He took one step back, then another, then a third.

Each step sent ripples through the air, as though he were stepping on invisible stairs.

"Sky-Cleaving Douluo!" Yin Hongye's three heads spoke at once, their voices overlapping like three people speaking together. "Your strength is indeed astonishing. If you truly force my hand, I won't mind activating the Blood Sea Domain."

"Have you forgotten how many innocent citizens died in half of Shrek City because of your domain two years ago?! Without Ya Li, the souls of those who died would have been swallowed by your Blood Sea! None of them could have been resurrected!"

Yun Ming roared. His Quasi-God strength contained no falsehood whatsoever. He still could not forget the Yin Hongye from two years ago, who had long since lost everything and cared about nothing.

His spear shaft shook, sending a surge of force down the weapon and knocking the Skybinding Silk away from his ankle. Then the spear tip swept upward to deflect the thrust, blocked the ring strike sideways, and he twisted away from the brick.

Eight arms, several weapons—the attacks came like a raging storm, without a single gap.

Yet Yun Ming's spear never fell into disorder. Every dodge was perfectly timed. Suddenly, he found an opening. Holding his spear like a staff, he brought it down from above with the weight of a mountain.

Boom!

The clouds were blasted apart, revealing the dark-red sky beyond.

Yin Hongye was sent flying and only barely managed to halt himself.

Yun Ming stood where he was, his spear tip pointing at the ground. The hem of his coat was swept up by the wind before falling again.

"Yin Hongye, stop. You are no match for me!"

Yin Hongye's three heads tilted at once. Their overlapping laughter sounded like wind passing through a gorge.

"So what? Since we've already fought, we have to decide a victor!"

His eight arms tightened around their weapons once more.

Outside the Heavenly Screen, Yu Xiaogang's mouth hung open.

"Without that armor that boosts his strength, how is he still this powerful?!"

"Who knows? Perhaps he still isn't going all out," Flender said calmly. No powerhouse sitting at the top of the world would use their full strength.

He was probably still trying to mediate.

Winning would bring him no benefit, while losing would make him a laughingstock.

Within the Heavenly Screen, Yin Hongye would not easily show weakness. He pressed his right hand against his chest, and a bell-shaped cover slid out of the void and landed in his palm. He shook it like a rattle. Dragon patterns coiled over its bronze surface like sleeping serpents.

"Although it lacks the crucial dragon souls, it's enough for now! I can make up for that later."

He curled his five fingers, and the bell cover let out a hum before flying from his hand.

It expanded in midair, swelling in an instant, as if someone had poured an entire mountain from their pocket.

In the blink of an eye, the bell cover blotted out the sky, its diameter stretching nearly a hundred zhang. The dragon patterns on its bronze surface came alive, and nine fire dragons burst from the markings, their bodies wreathed in Samadhi True Fire—red turning white, white glaringly bright.

The nine fire dragons emerged together, spiraling around the cover from top to bottom. Their roars were like thunder rolling across the clouds, making people's eardrums ache.

They breathed fire downward, their flames shooting straight as nine red-hot iron rods stabbing toward the earth. The ground scorched and smoked, flames erupted everywhere, and the air warped from the heat like a sheet of crumpled glass.

Yun Ming looked up. The shadow of the bell cover enveloped him.

"This is your Life-Bound Soul Tool!" His voice held surprise. He had not expected that, ten thousand years later, there would truly be a second person who had completed a level-ten Life-Bound Soul Tool.

"Congratulations, you got it right." Yin Hongye's three heads spoke at once. "Unfortunately, there's no reward!"

The bell cover crashed down.

Yun Ming raised his spear horizontally and tried to resist. The bell cover paused for an instant, then continued pressing down as the nine fire dragons' pillars of flame burned around him.

"What is that?" Qian Renxue blinked. It was another Soul Tool she had never seen before.

"After its inventor Kong Deming from ten thousand years ago, he is the second creator of a Life-Bound Soul Tool in ten thousand years."

Mu Hongchen was immensely proud. "Back then, Elder Kong relied on his Life-Bound Soul Tool to fight Xuan Zi, the Taotie Douluo and strongest expert of Shrek Academy at the time, despite only having level ninety-five strength. He completely dominated the battle and forced his opponent to retreat."

"That's right, Soul Tools are the primary productive force!" A student from Sun Moon Imperial Academy was the first to shout.

This was immediately followed by a tidal wave of voices echoing in support.

Outside the Heavenly Screen, the Star Luo Empire, the Heaven Dou Empire, and Spirit Hall all realized the importance of Soul Tools. A Super Douluo could actually suppress a Limit Douluo.

At that moment, Ning Fengzhi rose to his feet and asked Bone Douluo, "Uncle Gu, if you were given a Life-Bound Soul Tool suited to you, how many levels could you fight above your own?"

"Based on the effects shown here, I would conservatively estimate that fighting three levels above my own would not be a problem."

Bone Douluo Gu Rong pondered the matter, filled with longing for Soul Tools.

Tang San saw that Ning Fengzhi's thoughts about hidden weapons had begun to waver and immediately said, "Sect Master Ning, Soul Tools are merely a minor path. In the future, my Tang Sect will only sell everyday goods, which shows that Soul Tools have no real prospects for development."

"Only Tang Sect Hidden Weapons are better suited to the times."

The next moment, Yin Hongye showed Tang San exactly what true Soul Tool power meant!

With a single move, half of Sea God Lake was wiped out.