Dominating Domain! Heavenly Soul Zhang Family!

Because Xu Tianchen had already absorbed the Golden-maned Lion Mastiff's Spirit Ring before. As the saying went, practice made perfect. Absorbing this External Soul Bone from the Golden-maned Lion Mastiff now came exceptionally easily to him.

Before long, he had fully absorbed the External Soul Bone that came from the Golden-maned Lion Mastiff's left palm bone.

"Phew~~"

Xu Tianchen opened his eyes. As a flash of golden light passed through them, an overbearing aura much like that of the Golden-maned Lion Mastiff spread outward. It was as though a young giant dragon had awakened from its slumber within Xu Tianchen, domineeringly radiating its presence in every direction.

"How did it feel? Did you gain the Golden-maned Lion Mastiff's Dominating Domain?"

Seeing that Xu Tianchen had finished absorbing it, Long Xiaoyao hurriedly rose to his feet and stored the book in his soul tool before looking at Xu Tianchen and asking.

He no longer cared about whether Xu Tianchen was a Child of Destiny. Whether he was or not, Xu Tianchen was still his one and only good disciple.

Hearing this, Xu Tianchen clenched his left hand. A golden-black halo emerged from it, followed by the faint appearance of something like a ghostly shadow seeping into his body through the halo. The halo then descended from his left hand while expanding in all directions.

Dominating Domain, activate!

At once, Xu Tianchen's attack and defense attributes surged dramatically. His sense of pain was eliminated, and the power of every ability he possessed increased by fifty percent.

Furthermore, the mental resistance he had gained from absorbing Spirit Rings was strengthened as well. Not only was he immune to bloodline suppression now, but unless it was a spiritual attack at the Title Douluo level, it would be utterly useless against Xu Tianchen.

Xu Tianchen clenched his left fist and threw a powerful punch forward.

A black-gold fist shadow shot out from his left fist, smashing fiercely ahead in the direction of his punch. Not only was the projected fist larger than his actual fist, but as the fist wind swept out, a terrifying sonic wave centered on the fist shadow instantly dealt an area-wide blow to everything within a hundred meters.

This was not a spiritual attack, but a sonic attack—a kind of soundwave vibration and another application of the Dominating Domain.

"Alright, now that you've finished absorbing it, let's go."

After witnessing the power of the Dominating Domain, Long Xiaoyao nodded and dragged the still-relishing Xu Tianchen toward the outskirts of Star Dou Forest.

At the same time, at the boundary between the outskirts and the mixed zone of Star Dou Forest—

Two human figures were fleeing through the forest in a miserable state.

Though they appeared to be two people at first glance, there were actually three. One of them was simply carrying a nine-year-old girl on his back.

Leading the way was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties. His robe was a mess of mud and bloodstains, but from the few relatively clean areas, it was clear that it had originally been a white robe made of expensive silk.

The little girl on his back looked only nine years old. Her clothes were still fairly clean, though her face was smeared with dirt. Even so, it could not conceal her cuteness. She was clearly a natural beauty, destined to grow into a breathtakingly beautiful woman.

Yet her condition was far from good. Her eyes were tightly shut, her eyelashes resting against her face, while her delicate little face was deathly pale. Even her breathing was extremely faint. She gave off a fragile, broken feeling that made people want to protect her.

Bringing up the rear was an elder around sixty years old. The eight Spirit Rings shining around him were proof of his Soul Douluo cultivation.

However, he was in no better condition. He was covered in wounds, and his left arm was gone. The severed stump bore obvious marks of having been torn off by a savage beast, while a black aura filled with evil soul power lingered around the wound.

"Father, how are you? Can you still hold on?"

The middle-aged man looked back at the battered elder behind him, his voice filled with worry.

"I'm fine, I—"

"Roar~~"

Before the elder could answer, a Wind Tiger of around forty thousand years suddenly emerged ahead, accurately blocking their path.

The two hurriedly stopped. As the elder looked at the Wind Tiger glaring fixedly at the three of them, a wave of sorrow rose in his heart. He turned to the middle-aged man, then looked at the little girl on his back. His gaze gradually became resolute as he made a decision.

"Yue Bai, leave first. I'll hold this beast back."

"No, Dad, you go. Your injuries are worse—you need to leave. If you stay behind, that beast might drag you down until you die."

The man called Yue Bai by the elder immediately rejected his proposal.

"Zhang Yue Bai, listen to me. You have to go. I'm badly injured now, and I've even lost my left arm. Even if I survive today, my cultivation will be unable to advance another step in the future. But you're different. You've already reached Soul Sage cultivation. Given enough time, you can become a Title Douluo. This old man can die, but nothing can happen to you."

"Dad!" Zhang Yue Bai still wanted to persuade his elderly father, but he was directly interrupted.

"Enough. Even if you won't think of yourself, you should think of Le Xuan. This child lost her mother the moment she was born. She can't lose her father too!"

With his father putting it that way, Zhang Yue Bai could only forcibly circulate his soul power and flee at top speed with tears in his eyes. He knew that without help, his father might never return.

The elder who remained behind stared at the Wind Tiger watching him intently. His soul power surged, and a bright moon appeared above his head as he shouted, "Come on, beast! Do you think I'm afraid of you? Under normal circumstances, I'd kill you in just a few moves!"

The forty-thousand-year Wind Tiger already possessed considerable intelligence. It knew that devouring the elder before it would bring it enormous benefits, perhaps even allowing it to break through directly to sixty thousand years. But it also knew that if the elder had not been severely injured and weakened by his loss of blood and vitality, it might have died at the elder's hands instead.

Even now, it had to remain cautious. It circled around the elder again and again, until it finally found an opening. With a roar, it lunged forward.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yue Bai fled through Star Dou Forest with the unconscious Zhang Le Xuan on his back. Listening to the Wind Tiger's roars behind him, he forcibly suppressed the grief in his heart and raced toward the outskirts, hoping to find some powerful senior hunting soul beasts nearby who could lend a hand and rescue his father.

Was it heaven's blessing, or something else?

Not long after sprinting onward, Zhang Yue Bai spotted an old man and a young man ahead of him, heading out of Star Dou Forest.

They were none other than Long Xiaoyao and Xu Tianchen, master and disciple, who had successfully completed their soul beast hunt and were preparing to return.

When Zhang Yue Bai discovered that even with his Soul Sage cultivation, he could not see through Long Xiaoyao's strength, a flame called hope immediately reignited in his heart. He hurriedly shouted toward Long Xiaoyao ahead of him.

"Senior! Senior, this junior is Zhang Yue Bai, head of the Heavenly Soul Zhang Family. I beg you, please wait!"