Preserving Some Douluo Settings

No sooner had he finished speaking than a heavy hand slapped Yu Xiaogang's shoulder. A burly figure emerged from behind Gangzi. A Jie, wearing black-rimmed glasses, adjusted them, licked his lips, and said, "Destroy Spirit Hall at all costs? So you're pretty brave, huh!"

Yu Xiaogang's maggot-like body shuddered as though jolted by electricity. He stared at A Jie in shock. "Y-you... who are you...?"

Slap. Another heavy hand landed on Yu Xiaogang's shoulder. Another bare-chested man with devilish muscles stepped out from behind him. Dragon Brother said, "Who we are isn't important. What matters is that we've been watching you all along, my adorable ginseng fruit."

Scar's hand hooked forcefully around Yu Xiaogang's neck from behind. His face, marked by a vicious centipede-like scar, leaned close and lightly sniffed Gangzi's tender, smooth cheek. "We've been watching you from the shadows."

A silver-white ice field covered the northern reaches of the continent. Fierce wind and snow raged here year-round, and ice-attributed soul beasts filled the region. This was humanity's forbidden zone—the Far North.

A great chase was underway.

A massive fat grub writhed madly through the snow and ice. Behind it, an emerald-green scorpion pursued it relentlessly.

"Tianmeng, stop right there and let me eat you!"

The fat grub frantically wriggled while twisting around to shout at the Ice Empress, "No! You already said you wanted to eat me. I'd be an idiot if I stopped!"

Suddenly, the blizzard-ravaged sky split open. The two soul beasts froze. A purple-gold spear tore through the snowstorm, descending from the heavens wrapped in an unrivaled purple-gold torrent of soul power, aimed straight at the Ice Empress.

The Ice Empress hastily gathered her soul power and condensed a green barrier around herself.

But it was useless. The spear pierced through her soul power barrier as if passing through layers of wax paper. Like a thumbtack, it nailed her hard shell into the Far North's white painting of snow and ice.

The fat grub wriggled twice, staring blankly at the Ice Empress pinned to the snow.

"Bing'er..." Tianmeng said with complicated emotions.

The next moment, a dazzling golden Soul Ring emerged from the Ice Empress's remains. The appearance of the Soul Ring signified the fall of this overlord of the Far North.

"Bing'er..." Tianmeng wept in agony.

Although the Ice Empress was his natural enemy, although she had just been hunting him, although she had declared that she would eat him, he could not hide the deep love he felt for her.

The beast pursuing him, the beast he adored, had died right before his eyes.

Yet before he could grieve, an overwhelming force of soul power directly suppressed Tianmeng.

Above Tianmeng hovered a purple-gold angel.

Qian Xunyi emerged from the blizzard and looked at the angel circling above Tianmeng.

It was one of his eighth soul skills, Overlord Angel Twin Bodies. It could create a clone possessing eighty percent of his combat strength. The clone could use his first six soul skills and would remain until Qian Xunyi recalled it on his own initiative or its soul power ran dry.

"Watch this worm and stand guard for me," Qian Xunyi ordered.

The angel nodded and intensified its all-encompassing, dead-angle-free suppression of Tianmeng.

Meanwhile, Qian Xunyi walked over to the Ice Empress's corpse and drew over her Soul Ring to absorb it.

Before long, Qian Xunyi had fully absorbed the Ice Empress's Soul Ring.

This Soul Ring unlocked one of the Overlord Body's nine Divine Forms, the Suanni Divine Form, as well as one of the Nine Secrets, the Nine Secrets: Lin, for Qian Xunyi!

The Ice Empress's Soul Ring circled around Qian Xunyi. It also carried a unique effect: the four positions on the Soul Ring each bore a single character—Line.

After absorbing this Soul Ring, his soul power level officially rose to Rank 92. Though it was only a single-rank increase, vast and boundless soul power surged across the Far North like an ocean...

This was an exponential improvement, with no possible comparison. Qian Xunyi could only compare his present self to who he had been not long ago.

The current him could crush his former self with a single punch. He had truly realized the difference of one heaven per rank among Title Douluo.

However—

The Suanni Divine Form was not like a soul skill. It was more like an awakening of talent, similar to the progression of the Holy Angel Martial Soul from two wings to four wings, then to six.

Divine Forms did not need to be activated through soul skills. They directly affected the Martial Soul and directly enhanced one's attributes. Some Divine Forms increased offensive power, some enhanced defense, and some boosted speed.

Once all nine Divine Forms were gathered, his Overlord Body would transform from a large hexagonal Martial Soul into a gigantic hexagonal Martial Soul.

As for soul skills? What soul skills did he need? Qian Xunyi's basic attacks were other people's ultimate moves.

Of course, Qian Xunyi secretly guessed that the dog author was probably too lazy to come up with more settings.

Once he mastered the Nine Secrets: Lin, Qian Xunji no longer needed to be like other soul masters, light up a Soul Ring, and roar, "First soul skill, Nine Secrets: Lin!"

He could activate it whenever he wanted. Even without activating the Overlord Body Martial Soul, he could use the Nine Secrets: Lin through his first Martial Soul, the Overlord Angel Martial Soul.

The Nine Secrets: Lin's effect was this: it activated the Divine Forbidden Domain, suppressing all domains. Within the domain, one was immune to all negative effects, invulnerable to all laws, and one's spiritual awareness spread throughout every part of the domain. Even without activating the Overlord Body Martial Soul, using this technique through another Martial Soul allowed one to become invincible across several major ranks.

In one word: ridiculously overpowered!

"But... Author, since the Suanni Divine Form doesn't need a Soul Ring to activate soul skills, and once I have the Nine Secrets: Lin, I don't need to rely on a Soul Ring to use it either, then what significance does this Soul Ring have for me?"

Quiet Apocalypse: "Although the settings of my Martial Soul go beyond the basic rules of Martial Souls in the Douluo world, and these hula hoops really are optional for your Overlord Body Martial Soul, I've decided to retain this setting. I think only by keeping this part will others feel that I'm writing a Douluo Martial Soul."

The ice silkworm beside him shrank its body, trying its best to reduce its presence. It could sense that this human's rank was actually quite low—Rank 92 truly was not high for a soul beast of its level—but why did facing him feel like facing an ancient beast god?

Once he was done, Qian Xunyi turned his gaze toward the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. "Now it's your turn. I'll take you with me to become a god."