Version Prodigies Gather, but the Eras Are Misaligned

Di Tian had originally planned to leave it alone for a while longer, but upon learning that Bai Chen had completed his research into the Soul Spirit Ritual, he directly ordered Myriad Demon King to beat it to the brink of death and bring it to the Great Beast Land.

Its life force had now been almost entirely devoured by Myriad Demon King. Without any 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 the very least, that gave it a chance to survive.

Under the Silver Dragon King's watchful gaze, Bai Chen drew a formation in the clearing while explaining as he worked.

"This is the formation needed to establish a Soul Spirit Ritual. If my cultivation were high enough, I actually wouldn't need to draw it on the ground beforehand. I could simply condense it 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 beast to stand within the formation, then began chanting softly.

The Soul Spirit was a technique founded by Skydream Iceworm, pioneered by Elex, and improved by Huo Yuhao. It was therefore especially friendly toward those with light and spiritual attributes.

By coincidence, Bai Chen of this era possessed exceptional talent in both attributes.

As the chant continued, faint golden motes drifted from the formation and slowly merged into the bodies of the man and beast.

The initial stage of the Soul Spirit Ritual was to use the power of light to provide the ritual participants with a layer of protection.

This process was not particularly important to other Spirit Pagoda Masters. After ten thousand years of development, Soul Spirit technology had undergone countless improvements. Compared to when it was first created, the safety of Douluo III Era Soul Spirit technology was clearly much higher, making it nearly impossible for the ritual to harm the participating humans or Soul Beasts.

However, this step was absolutely necessary for Bai Chen, who was currently only a Soul Scholar. This was his debut in this era, so he had to do it perfectly.

Soothed by the power of light, the expressions of both the man and beast within the formation relaxed considerably.

What came next was the true beginning.

Bai Chen lightly tapped the edge of the formation with his foot. At once, a pillar of light several meters tall rose up and enveloped the Scorpion Tiger.

"—"

The Scorpion Tiger looked rather 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 quite miserable.

Just as it was about to do something, it felt a gaze upon it. Its entire body trembled, and it shakily looked toward the owner of that gaze—the black-clad young man.

Di Tian's golden eyes were incomparably cold. Even without saying anything, the Scorpion Tiger could read his meaning.

Move recklessly, and I'll kill you.

"..."

The Scorpion Tiger felt like crying without tears. It turned its head back around and no longer dared make any movements.

Thanks to Di Tian's intimidation, Bai Chen encountered almost no resistance from the Soul Beast 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 frantically. The Scorpion Tiger's body shuddered sharply before collapsing to the ground, while a phantom nearly identical to its true 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 himself who had learned the Soul Spirit Ritual was the one from the Douluo III Era, the one at level twenty-three.

His Douluo I Era self did not even possess half of level twenty-three's soul power. If not for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's formidable spiritual power, he would have collapsed 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 requirements on the Spirit Pagoda Master.

Fortunately, the Soul Spirit Ritual had now reached its final stage.

The Scorpion Tiger's soul gradually merged into the man's body. Though terror covered the man's face, under Di Tian's pressure, he did not dare do anything.

Finally, with a burst of dazzling golden light, the formation that had been shining brilliantly suddenly went dark. All the golden motes floating in the air entered the man's body. He dropped to his knees, and six Soul Rings slowly appeared around him. The sixth Soul Ring was shockingly deep black.

Then, accompanied by an excited roar, the Scorpion Tiger, which had just turned to ash, leaped out from his body, looking incomparably exhilarated.

There was no longer the slightest trace of its previous aged appearance. Powerful energy surged from its body, declaring how perfect its current condition was.

Seeing this, Di Tian and the Silver Dragon King instinctively exchanged glances.

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, it was enough to prove that the Soul Spirit characteristics described by Bai Chen and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion were real.

Million-Year Soul Beast

After confirming this, Di Tian coldly said to the man,

"Have your Soul Spirit unleash 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 was slightly stunned before realizing that the Soul Spirit Di Tian mentioned referred to the Scorpion Tiger that had become his sixth Soul Ring. With a thought, he hurriedly issued the Scorpion Tiger an order.

The Scorpion Tiger nodded, opened its huge mouth, and fired a black beam of light straight ahead. It extended a full hundred meters, leaving a long trail on the ground.

Its power was absolutely not weak for a Soul Emperor. It could even be considered strong.

Di Tian let out a breath of relief.

Then he raised his hand. A black torrent descended, instantly swallowing the man and the Scorpion Tiger alike, leaving not even scraps behind.

From the very 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 selecting the human and Soul Beast to participate in the experimental ritual, he had chosen the scum of both races—to make use of waste.

Now that their value had been thoroughly exhausted, they were naturally 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 person 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 Skydream Iceworm here."

"Yes!"

Di Tian lowered his head. The next moment, without any visible action from him, black light flashed, and Skydream Iceworm was summoned to his side.

Skydream Iceworm had been sleeping when he suddenly sensed spatial fluctuations. He instinctively opened his eyes, only to meet the Silver Dragon King's gaze.

"Uh... h-hello?"

He greeted her in a slightly trembling voice.

The Silver Dragon King ignored him and closed her eyes. Countless green motes rose from the Lake of Life. Like raindrops amid a violent storm, they surged toward Skydream Iceworm.

As one of the regions with the most abundant life force on Douluo Continent, the most direct method of rapidly increasing a Soul Beast's cultivation in the Great Beast Land was naturally 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.

But Skydream Iceworm had no potential left to begin with, so it did not matter whether his potential declined further.

Those with no room to fall were invincible.

Under the infusion of life force, the somewhat dim golden patterns on Skydream Iceworm's body rapidly brightened. Not only that, but his enormous body also showed faint signs of continuing to grow.

Finally, as if unable to endure it any longer, his entire body began to tremble.

The Silver Dragon King stopped the infusion at that moment and silently dove into the Lake of Life.

Her reason for doing so revealed itself in the very next instant.

Layer upon layer of dark clouds gathered over the Star Dou Great Forest. A bolt of lightning descended from within them, striking straight toward Skydream Iceworm.

Skydream Iceworm had successfully evaded his previous heavenly tribulation with the Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice Marrow, but at the million-year threshold, he could no longer avoid it.

Fortunately, he was not alone here.

Di Tian took a step through the air and instantly appeared above Skydream Iceworm. He extended a hand and blocked the descending lightning.

A deafening boom rang out, yet it could not move Di Tian in the slightest.

Different Soul Beasts faced heavenly punishments of different difficulties. The heavenly punishment faced by the Douluo II Era Skydream Iceworm could not even erase both his body and soul, showing that the punishment for his million-year breakthrough was not actually so 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 sent down bolt after bolt of lightning. It lasted a full two hours before gradually stopping.

Di Tian shook his slightly charred hand and softly sighed.

This heavenly punishment had grown increasingly powerful. By the end, it had even been able to injure him.

And as the heavenly punishment ended, the final golden pattern finally formed upon Skydream Iceworm's body. He officially became 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 power descended from the plane itself and was extremely sensitive to God Level beings.

If she had intervened, the heavenly punishment's power would instantly have increased to an absurd degree. In her current heavily injured state, she had no chance of resisting it.

Therefore, Di Tian was the most suitable one to help Skydream Iceworm overcome his tribulation.

Meanwhile, Skydream Iceworm, the person involved, was already so ecstatic that he had forgotten everything else.

"Hehehe... I'm a Million-Year Soul Beast... the first Million-Year Soul Beast in the history of Douluo Continent..."

"Brother Skydream."

Bai Chen helplessly walked over to him and called out.

Skydream Iceworm wriggled slightly and looked at him, surprise in his eyes.

"Huh? It's you, kid. Why are you... Wait."

As he spoke, he seemed to suddenly understand something.

"I get it. Don't tell me you were the one who helped me become a Million-Year Soul Beast?"

Skydream Iceworm was simple, but not stupid. The fact that he had developed 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 and said,

"Yes. And Brother Skydream, I've already learned the technique similar to the Wisdom Soul Ring that I promised you before. Come, I'll teach it to you now."

Skydream Iceworm looked deeply at Bai Chen and nodded heavily.

"Alright. I understand."

Precisely because his mind was simple, Skydream Iceworm could better distinguish who truly treated him well.

The great Ferocious Beasts had absorbed his energy for so many years. There was no way he would forgive them just because of what had happened today.

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 realm, but had even brought him hope of escaping the Star Dou Great Forest.

In his heart at that moment, Bai Chen was his absolute savior. Calling him a reborn parent would not be an exaggeration.

Thus, Bai Chen's little Soul Spirit class began.

Skydream Iceworm was not the only Soul Beast attending this little class. Before it began, Di Tian had specifically summoned all the Ferocious Beasts and made them learn together.

According to Skydream Iceworm, he could reverse-engineer the Wisdom Soul Ring using the Soul Spirit Ritual in as little as three months or as long as half a year.

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 Bai Chen of the Douluo I Era handed the Soul Spirit Ritual over to the Soul Beast race and helped Skydream Iceworm successfully advance to the million-year level, his Douluo III Era self finally came ashore.

Not long after getting off the ship, they found Bai Jiaming, who had come to receive them.

Bai Chen and the others got into the car. Only after entering did they discover that aside from Bai Jiaming, there was also a white-haired old man seated inside.

Though the old man's face was aged, he looked exceptionally vigorous, without the slightest trace of senility. Instead, he exuded the air of a man in his prime.

An aura of authority naturally emanated from him. One glance was enough to tell 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, the president of the Tianhai Blacksmith Association."