Douluo: The Chosen Ones Gather, but the Eras Are Misaligned Chapter 15

Even if the White Family was wealthy and did not lack this little money, Bai Chen's wasteful behavior was still inadvisable.

"Uncle Xue, just watch. You'll understand soon enough."

Bai Chen looked at the Soul Guide Device in his hand, his heartbeat gradually quickening.

One of his guesses was about to be verified.

Innate Level Twenty Soul Power

Bai Chen activated the Soul Guide Device and released the first Soul Ring within it.

The yellow Soul Ring slowly floated out. Unlike an ordinary hundred-year Soul Ring, its color appeared much dimmer, and a nearly imperceptible layer of black mist drifted across its surface, making it seem exceptionally ominous.

Bai Chen did not feel afraid. On the contrary, the instant the Soul Ring appeared, a feeling of yearning rose from the depths of his heart, making his body tremble involuntarily.

Black wings and a hooked tail emerged from behind him at the same time. The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger Martial Soul instantly possessed him. With a mere thought, the Soul Ring floated toward him.

He closed his eyes and began absorbing the Soul Ring.

This was his second time absorbing a Soul Ring, but the sensation was completely different from the first time.

Unlike the tyrannical, blazing energy of the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear, the Evil Tiger Shark's Soul Ring felt exceptionally cold and sinister, like a venomous snake that sent chills down one's spine.

Yet for some reason, as he felt that sinister aura, Bai Chen instead felt even greater delight within his heart. It was an almost bloodthirsty joy that made his emotions surge uncontrollably.

Black-red energy roiled, but it did not come from the Evil Tiger Shark. Rather, Bai Chen had instinctively activated his evil attribute, instantly suppressing the Evil Tiger Shark's energy.

If the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's suppression of the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's bloodline aura was primarily a matter of overwhelming it head-on with strength, then the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's suppression of the Evil Tiger Shark in terms of evil attributes was a difference in level.

Just as Ultimate Ice absolutely crushed ordinary ice elements, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's evil attribute was likewise beyond comparison with ordinary evil attributes.

The original Douluo I Era described it as the "Ultimate Evil Power." As an existence that had inherited the Evil God's evil intent, it had never been in the same realm as other creatures with evil attributes.

The energy contained within the Evil Tiger Shark's Soul Ring seemed to want to resist, but it was futile. Before the power of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, it could only be devoured and absorbed without the slightest ability to resist.

Soon, a yellow Soul Ring rose around Bai Chen. Strangely, it was wrapped in a circle of black patterns.

At that moment, the bottleneck limiting him finally broke through, and his soul power underwent a tremendous leap.

"Th-that's impossible?!"

Xue E could not help crying out.

As a Soul Emperor-level powerhouse, he could clearly sense just how terrifying Bai Chen's improvement this time was.

One level, two levels, or perhaps three?

None of those were right. Bai Chen's increase was nowhere near that mild.

The instant he revealed his Soul Ring, he had already left level eleven far behind. His current soul power level was level twenty!

Yes, after just absorbing one Soul Ring, he could immediately begin absorbing a second Soul Ring.

Bai Chen opened his eyes and let out a satisfied breath.

Just as expected.

Back when he awakened his Martial Soul at the Spirit Pagoda and tested his innate soul power, that "ten" had seemed rather strange. It had shone far more brightly than usual.

At the time, he had guessed whether his Dark Demon Evil God Tiger Martial Soul, like the Seraphic Angel Martial Soul, possessed Innate Level Twenty Soul Power.

The Seraphic Angel could achieve Innate Level Twenty not because that Martial Soul truly deserved twenty levels of innate soul power. It was actually a benefit the Angel God had left for later generations, an advantage possessed only by God-Blessed Martial Souls.

Bai Chen's Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was the same as the Seraphic Angel: both were God-Blessed Martial Souls. Moreover, his had been bestowed by the Evil God King, so it was not strange for it to possess Innate Level Twenty Soul Power as well.

"Young Master, th-this..."

He could accept it naturally enough, but others might not.

Sure enough, Xue E was now so shocked that he could barely speak.

Rising directly to level twenty after absorbing a single Soul Ring was something that simply could not exist within his understanding.

"Shh."

Bai Chen helplessly raised a finger to his lips and shushed him.

He did not want to make a huge fuss over his Innate Level Twenty Soul Power.

Only after seeing that gesture did Xue E come back to his senses. He hurriedly covered his mouth, looked around, and only sighed in relief after confirming that no one had noticed them.

Meanwhile, Bai Chen did not pause at all and had already begun absorbing the next Soul Ring.

The second Soul Ring was clearly much stronger than the first, but under the absolute suppression of attributes, it likewise failed to cause Bai Chen any trouble. Before long, it had been completely devoured by him.

What Bai Chen found somewhat frightening was that, despite absorbing the energy of two Soul Rings, the evil attribute within his body was not satisfied at all. Instead, it conveyed an agitated sensation akin to hunger.

He forcibly suppressed the feeling, opened his eyes, and stood up.

Two yellow Soul Rings pulsed around him. Before his Douluo I Era self had even obtained a Soul Ring, his Douluo III Era self had already become a Great Soul Master first.

"Level twenty-two... Young Master, what exactly is going on with you?"

After sensing Bai Chen's current soul power level, Xue E asked softly in confusion.

It was not just him. Xu Xiaoyu and Xu Xiaoyan also looked at Bai Chen with puzzled expressions.

They had not understood why Xue E had been making such a fuss earlier, but when they saw Bai Chen start absorbing a second Soul Ring immediately after absorbing the first—and succeed at it—they understood.

Innate Full Soul Power was already the mark of a genius among geniuses. Then what could Innate Level Twenty Soul Power be called?

Left with no choice, Bai Chen could only make something up.

"When I awakened my Martial Soul, I vaguely felt that my innate soul power was far beyond level ten. Just like how I sensed Na'er's existence back then, it was an inexplicable intuition. That's why I directly asked for two Soul Rings this time."

"I-is that so..."

Xue E was left speechless.

Could something like that really happen?

His common sense told him Bai Chen was making it up, yet Bai Chen truly did possess Innate Level Twenty Soul Power.

Since something that sounded made up had become reality, could things that sounded made up also actually be true?

He felt rather confused.

Bai Chen did not want to linger on the subject and asked, "Uncle Xue, how far have we traveled while I was absorbing the Soul Rings?"

Xue E forcibly suppressed the confusion and bewilderment filling his heart and answered seriously, "Young Master, we're about to reach the area where ice-attribute Soul Beasts gather."

"Oh?"

Bai Chen's eyes immediately lit up at those words.

"Does that mean Brother Xiaoyu and Xiaoyan will be getting off the ship to fight as well?"

"Yes, that's right."

After all, Soul Guide Shells could not be used indiscriminately. Battles that Soul Masters could resolve themselves should be handled by Soul Masters.

Therefore, if they wanted to obtain a Soul Ring in the next battle, Xu Xiaoyan would have to deliver the final blow to the Soul Beast.

Bai Chen asked eagerly, "Then, Uncle Xue, I want to go down and fight too. I want to test my new Soul Skill."

The Evil Power stirred up by the Evil Tiger Shark's energy had become so ravenous that he could barely suppress it.

The Side Effects of the Evil Attribute

"Young Master, you want to fight?"

"Yes!"

"This..."

To be honest, Xue E really wanted to refuse.

Bai Chen was still so young. He was only six years old. Children from other families at his age ought to be acting spoiled in their parents' arms.

Yet Bai Chen was going to fight powerful, terrifying Soul Beasts. Honestly, Xue E was extremely worried.

Soul Beasts were not humans. Unless human Soul Masters harbored deep grudges against one another, they generally would not strike to kill. But if one carelessly exposed a weakness to a Soul Beast, one might truly end up dying without even a burial place.

Yet faced with Bai Chen's serious gaze, Xue E found that he could not bring himself to refuse.

He had always been like this. Whenever his young master made a sincere request, his heart would soften.

"Sigh, fine. But when you fight later, you absolutely cannot stray too far from me. Understand?"

"Understood!"

Bai Chen nodded heavily, feeling slightly relieved inside.

He silently clenched his fists tightly and bit down hard on his lower lip.

Endure a little longer. Soon, I can start killing...

When Bai Chen had read Heavenly Jewel Transformation, Zhou Weiqing had gained the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's power and at most experienced stronger desires. Thus, Bai Chen had subconsciously believed that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's evil attribute had no real side effects.

But now, it seemed he had been too naïve.

After devouring the Evil Tiger Shark's evil attribute, the Evil Power within his body gradually began to lose control. The whispers that had appeared during his Martial Soul awakening began ringing in his ears again, tempting him to begin a massacre immediately and swallow the lives of everyone around him.

Thinking carefully, Zhou Weiqing had only absorbed the energy within the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger Core.

Furthermore, a portion of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's power had dissipated upon its death. After its death, it had been divided into the core and the Soul Ring, and when the core crossed over into the world of Heavenly Jewel Transformation, it had lost another portion of its energy.

In other words, what Zhou Weiqing had absorbed was actually the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's power after being weakened three times. Less than one-tenth of it remained.

The fact that he had not received a preview of a Divine Trial like Bai Chen after absorbing the core was proof enough.

As the awakener of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger Martial Soul, Bai Chen naturally obtained far more power than Zhou Weiqing. Correspondingly, however, the negative effects of the evil attribute had multiplied as well.

In the future, I need to be more careful when absorbing Soul Rings with evil attributes, Bai Chen secretly thought.

It did not matter if a Soul Ring's power was a little weaker. If he fell into becoming an Evil Soul Master because of absorbing Soul Rings, that would be utterly ridiculous.

Finally, another five minutes later, the soul-hunting ship reached its destination.

This time, more passengers stepped forward than at any point so far.

That was only natural. As the saying went, one region nurtured one kind of people. As a coastal city, Skysea City had the greatest number of Soul Masters with water and ice attributes.

At the same time, Sea Soul Beasts were clearly more suitable for Soul Masters of those two attributes. Their willingness to participate in such an operation was much greater than that of Soul Masters with other attributes. At the very least, fire-attribute Soul Masters would almost never seek Soul Rings by hunting Sea Soul Beasts.

The huge base of potential participants, combined with their preference, meant that nearly half the Soul Masters participating in this operation possessed water- or ice-attribute Martial Souls.

As the white-robed Soul Saint activated his Martial Soul once again and froze the sea's surface, the largest battle of the operation began.

After numerous Soul Masters leaped from the ship, Bai Chen's group also arrived on the ice.

By then, Soul Masters from all sides had already become locked in battle with the Soul Beasts.

Although the white-robed Soul Saint's solid ice was present, its main purpose was actually to provide the Soul Masters with a platform to fight on. The Sea Soul Beasts still hid in the seawater, so it was not easy for the Soul Masters to swiftly harvest their lives.

Bai Chen's group soon encountered their opponents.

As a dense series of cracking sounds rang out, Xue E frowned and shouted, "Watch your footing!"

At his warning, Bai Chen and the others hurriedly reacted.

Bai Chen scooped up Na'er beside him and held her in his arms. At the same time, the wings on his back spread open, and the two of them flew directly into the air, evading the sudden attack.

Xu Xiaoyu stretched out his hand, and a completely snow-white staff appeared in his grasp. As he struck the staff against the ground, layers of ice crystals surrounded him and Xu Xiaoyan, blocking the aftershock of the attack.

A beam of golden light shot directly from beneath the ice, instantly piercing through the thick solid ice and reaching the surface.

The attack had targeted Bai Chen, but thanks to his excellent reaction, it did not harm him in the slightest.

After the attack ended, the attacker's true appearance was revealed as well.

It was a golden fish, its snout extending outward like a spike. At a glance, it was clearly its most useful weapon. Just now, it had attempted to use that spike to pierce through Bai Chen's body.

Xue E narrowed his eyes and raised a hand, preparing to take its life.

But before he could act, Bai Chen moved first.

After evading the attack, not only did he fail to widen the distance from the fish, he instead rapidly beat his wings and arrived beside it in an instant.

A Sea Soul Beast was, as the name suggested, a Soul Beast that primarily inhabited the ocean.