Di Tian had originally intended to let it fend for itself for a while longer. But after learning that Bai Chen had completed his research into the Soul Spirit Ritual, he directly ordered the Myriad Demon King to beat it to within an inch of its life and bring it to the Great Beast Land.
Most of its life force had now been devoured by the Myriad Demon King. Without some other means of prolonging its life, it would grow old and die within ten days.
Therefore, it had no choice but to "willingly" become the Soul Spirit of the man before it. At least that gave it a chance to survive.
Under the Silver Dragon King's watchful gaze, Bai Chen drew a formation on the clearing as he explained.
"This is the formation needed to construct a Soul Spirit Ritual. If my cultivation were high enough, I wouldn't need to draw it on the ground beforehand. I could simply condense it directly with Soul Power. But I'm only level ten right now, so I need the formation's assistance to complete the Soul Spirit Ritual."
As he finished speaking, the formation was completed as well.
He directed the man and the beast to stand within the formation, then began chanting softly.
Soul Spirits were a technique founded by the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, pioneered by Electrolux, and improved by Huo Yuhao. Thus, they were especially friendly toward those with the Light Attribute and Mental Attribute.
By coincidence, Bai Chen of this era possessed extraordinary talent in both attributes.
As the chant continued, faint golden motes drifted out from the formation and slowly merged into the bodies of the man and beast.
At the beginning of a Soul Spirit Ritual, the first step was to use the power of light to place a layer of protection upon the ritual participants.
This process was not particularly important to other Spirit Pagoda Masters. After ten thousand years of evolution, Soul Spirit technology had undergone countless improvements. Compared with when it had first been created, the Soul Spirit technology of the Douluo III Era was clearly far safer, making it nearly impossible for ritual participants or Soul Beasts to be harmed.
But for Bai Chen, who was currently only a Soul Scholar, this process was absolutely necessary. This was his debut in this era, so he had to make it perfect no matter what.
Soothed by the power of light, the expressions of both the man and the beast inside the formation relaxed considerably.
Then came the true beginning.
Bai Chen lightly tapped the edge of the formation with his foot. Instantly, a pillar of light several meters tall rose up and engulfed the Scorpion Tiger.
"—"
The Scorpion Tiger looked distinctly uncomfortable. Its primary attribute was darkness. A small amount of light element could indeed soothe the mind, but such dense Ultimate Light made it feel rather miserable.
Just as it was about to do something, it sensed a gaze upon itself. Its entire body shuddered, and it tremblingly looked toward the owner of that gaze—the black-clad young man.
Di Tian's golden eyes were incomparably cold. Though he said nothing, the Scorpion Tiger could read his meaning.
Move, and I'll kill you.
"..."
The Scorpion Tiger nearly burst into tears. It turned its head back around and no longer dared make any movement.
Thanks to Di Tian's intimidation, Bai Chen encountered almost no obstruction from the Soul Beast's side and easily completed the second step.
At the end of the second step, he suddenly crouched down and slapped both hands against the ground. The spiritual power within his Spiritual Sea poured out wildly. The Scorpion Tiger's body abruptly trembled before collapsing onto the ground, and a phantom nearly identical to its original body floated out from its corpse.
Under Bai Chen's control, the phantom slowly moved toward the man.
"Drip, drip..."
Drops of sweat ran down Bai Chen's face as the world before his eyes began to blur.
The version of him who had learned the Soul Spirit Ritual was the Bai Chen of the Douluo III Era, the one at level twenty-three.
The Bai Chen of the Douluo I Era did not even possess half of that Soul Power. If not for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's exceptional spiritual power, he would have been unable to hold on long ago.
This was a ten-thousand-year-level Soul Spirit Ritual. It not only demanded spiritual power from the Soul Master, but also placed considerable demands upon the Spirit Pagoda Master.
Fortunately, the Soul Spirit Ritual had reached its final stage.
The Scorpion Tiger's soul gradually merged into the man's body. Though terror showed on his face, under Di Tian's pressure, he did not dare do anything.
Finally, accompanied by a dazzling golden flash, the formation that had been radiating brilliant light suddenly went dark. All the golden motes floating in the air poured into the man's body. He dropped to his knees, and six Soul Rings slowly appeared around him. The sixth Soul Ring was shockingly a deep black.
Immediately afterward, an excited roar sounded out. The Scorpion Tiger, which had just turned to ash, leaped from his body, looking incomparably thrilled.
There was no trace left of its previous aged appearance. Powerful energy surged from its body, declaring that it was now in perfect condition.
Seeing this, Di Tian and the Silver Dragon King instinctively exchanged a glance.
At this point, the Soul Spirit Ritual could basically be considered a success.
With the man's level-sixty cultivation, it should have been impossible for him to smoothly absorb a fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring. Yet through the Soul Spirit Ritual, he had successfully accomplished this previously impossible feat.
And judging from the Scorpion Tiger's vigorous state, the Soul Spirit traits described by Bai Chen and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion were clearly genuine.
Million-Year Soul Beast
After confirming this, Di Tian coldly said to the man, "Have your Soul Spirit release its sixth Soul Skill."
After "absorbing beyond one's level" and "remaining alive after becoming a Soul Ring," he wanted to conduct one final verification.
That was to confirm the Soul Ring's power.
The man froze briefly before realizing that the Soul Spirit Di Tian referred to was the Scorpion Tiger that had become his sixth Soul Ring. With a thought, he hurriedly issued an order to the Scorpion Tiger.
The Scorpion Tiger nodded and opened its jaws. A black beam shot straight out, extending for a full hundred meters and leaving a long trail across the ground.
Its power was absolutely not weak at the Soul Emperor level. It could even be considered strong.
Di Tian let out a breath of relief.
Then he raised his hand. A black torrent descended and instantly swallowed both the man and the Scorpion Tiger, leaving not even scraps behind.
From the beginning, he had never intended to let the man live.
The Soul Spirit Ritual was currently the Star Dou Great Forest's greatest secret. How could they leave behind a living witness?
That was why, when choosing the human and Soul Beast to participate in the experimental ritual, he had selected scum from both races—for the sake of putting waste to use.
Now that their value had been completely exhausted, they naturally had to be executed on the spot.
"Not bad."
Only at this moment did the Silver Dragon King, who had been standing by with folded arms, speak again.
"It truly is an interesting technique. The one who developed it was indeed a genius."
"Then can the conditions we agreed upon earlier be fulfilled?"
"Of course."
The Silver Dragon King nodded and said to Di Tian, "Di Tian, bring the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm here."
"Yes!"
Di Tian lowered his head. In the next moment, without any visible movement from him, black light flashed, and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was summoned to his side.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had been sleeping when he suddenly sensed fluctuations of Spatial Power. He instinctively opened his eyes, only to meet the Silver Dragon King's gaze.
"Uh... h-hello?"
He greeted her in a somewhat trembling voice.
The Silver Dragon King ignored him. Instead, she closed her eyes, and countless green motes rose from the Lake of Life. Like rain in a raging storm, they surged toward the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
As one of the regions with the most abundant life force on Douluo Continent, the most direct way for the Great Beast Land to rapidly increase a Soul Beast's cultivation was naturally through the infusion of life force.
The drawback of this method was that it consumed a Soul Beast's potential, causing its future cultivation to slow down.
But the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had no potential to speak of anyway, so it did not matter whether his potential declined further.
Someone with no room left to fall was invincible.
Under the infusion of life force, the somewhat dim Golden Veins on the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body rapidly lit up. Not only that, his enormous body showed faint signs of continuing to grow.
Finally, as though he could no longer endure it, his entire body began to tremble.
At that moment, the Silver Dragon King stopped the infusion and silently plunged into the Lake of Life.
Her reason for doing so was revealed in the next instant.
Layers of dark clouds gathered above the Star Dou Great Forest. A bolt of Thunder descended from within them, striking directly toward the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had successfully avoided his previous Heavenly Tribulation through the Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice Marrow. But at the million-year threshold, he could finally no longer evade it.
Fortunately, he was not alone here.
Di Tian stepped through the void and instantly appeared above the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. He stretched out a hand and blocked the descending Thunder.
A violent boom rang out, yet it could not shake Di Tian in the slightest.
Different Soul Beasts faced different levels of Heavenly Punishment. The Heavenly Punishment faced by the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in the Douluo II Era could not even erase his body and soul, showing that the power of his million-year Heavenly Punishment was not actually that terrifying.
At least to Di Tian, an attack of this level was something he could block with only a little effort.
As if unwilling to accept this, the Heavenly Punishment fell again and again, continuing for a full two hours before gradually ceasing.
Di Tian shook his somewhat charred hand and sighed softly.
This Heavenly Punishment had grown increasingly stronger. By the end, it had even managed to injure him.
As the Heavenly Punishment ended, the final Golden Vein finally formed upon the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body. He had officially become the first Million-Year Soul Beast in the history of Douluo Continent.
Only then did the Silver Dragon King emerge from the Lake of Life once more.
Heavenly Punishment was a force descended from the plane itself and was extremely sensitive to God Level beings.
If she had intervened, the power of the Heavenly Punishment would have instantly risen to an outrageous level. In her current severely injured state, she had no possibility of withstanding it.
Therefore, having Di Tian help the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm overcome the tribulation had been the most suitable arrangement.
Meanwhile, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm himself had become so exhilarated that he no longer knew up from down.
"Hehehe... I'm a Million-Year Soul Beast... the first Million-Year Soul Beast in the history of Douluo Continent..."
"Brother Sky Dream."
Bai Chen helplessly walked over and called out to him.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wriggled his body and looked at him, surprise filling his eyes.
"Huh? It's you, kid. Why are you here... Wait."
As he spoke, he seemed to suddenly understand something.
"I get it. Could it be that you were the one who helped me become a Million-Year Soul Beast?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was merely simple-minded, not stupid. The fact that he could develop the Wisdom Soul Ring by himself showed that he was actually quite intelligent.
Seeing Bai Chen now, his recent experiences immediately connected in his mind, and he instantly understood many things.
Bai Chen smiled faintly. "Yes. And Brother Sky Dream, I've already learned the technique similar to the Wisdom Soul Ring that I promised you before. Come, I'll teach it to you right now."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm looked deeply at Bai Chen, then nodded heavily.
"Alright. I understand."
It was precisely because he was simple-minded that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could better distinguish who truly treated him well.
The various Ferocious Beasts had absorbed his energy for so many years. It was impossible for him to forgive them because of what had just happened.
In comparison, Bai Chen had not only found a way to persuade the Ferocious Beasts and help him successfully break through to the million-year level, but had even brought him hope of escaping the Star Dou Great Forest.
At this moment, Bai Chen was his absolute savior. Calling him a second parent would not be an exaggeration.
And so, Bai Chen's little Soul Spirit class began.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was not the only Soul Beast attending this little class. Before the lesson began, Di Tian specifically summoned all the Ferocious Beasts and had them learn together.
According to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, in as little as three months or as long as half a year, he would be able to reverse-engineer the Wisdom Soul Ring using the Soul Spirit Ritual.
When that time came, Bai Chen would become the first human in the history of Douluo Continent to possess a true Million-Year Soul Ring.
Saint Artisan
While the Bai Chen of the Douluo I Era handed the Soul Spirit Ritual over to the Soul Beast race and helped the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm successfully advance to the million-year level, the Bai Chen on the Douluo III Era side finally came ashore.
Not long after disembarking, they found Bai Jiaming, who had come to receive them.
Bai Chen and the others got into the car. Only after getting in did they discover that besides Bai Jiaming, there was also a white-haired elderly man seated inside.
Though the old man's face was aged, he appeared exceptionally spirited, without the slightest trace of frailty. Instead, he gave off the air of a man in his prime.
An aura of authority naturally emanated from him. At a glance, it was clear that he was someone of extraordinary status.
After everyone had gotten into the car, Bai Jiaming took the initiative to introduce him. "Xiao Chen, this is Duan Xuan, president of the Tianhai Blacksmith Association."
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