Target: Golden Tortoiseshell!

Time passed.

After once again seeing off his little wife Meng Hongchen to Sun Moon Imperial Academy, Xia Yu found himself with some free time.

With nothing to do, he thought of his second martial soul, the Velvet Sky-Piercing Chrysanthemum, which had yet to gain any new soul rings.

It was time to consider adding soul rings to the Velvet Sky-Piercing Chrysanthemum.

The soul beast Xia Yu had fortunately chosen as his target was the Golden Tortoiseshell from the original work, located in the Star Dou Great Forest and harboring Gold of Life within its body.

Speaking of this Golden Tortoiseshell, it was quite a legend.

No one knew what method it had used, but it had somehow secretly absorbed a great deal of Skydream Iceworm's life essence right under the noses of Di Tian and the other ferocious beasts.

And that was not all. After absorbing Skydream Iceworm's life essence, the Golden Tortoiseshell still had not been satisfied and had actually set its sights on the Gold of Life beneath the Lake of Life.

The key was that it had actually succeeded.

Not only had it concealed itself from Di Tian and the other powerful ferocious beasts, it had also bitten off nearly one-fifth of the Gold of Life in one go.

No matter how he looked at that trajectory, it was absurd. Absurd beyond absurd, absurd all the way home.

If the Golden Tortoiseshell had not ultimately suffered a backlash from the Gold of Life, leaving it in unbearable agony and half-dead,

Its cultivation would not have plummeted directly from 190,000 years to 30,000 years.

It would probably have reached the pinnacle of beast life in one leap, becoming the first 200,000-year beast king in the history of the Golden Tortoiseshell race.

"Gold of Life... a supreme metal condensed from pure life force, a treasure rare enough to be called priceless. I wonder how much it could help me?"

Thinking of the Gold of Life hidden within the Golden Tortoiseshell, a trace of greed and longing flickered in Xia Yu's eyes.

In the original work, the help this Gold of Life had provided Huo Yuhao was simply too vast to count.

The Eye of Life, the Second Sea of Consciousness, and that unparalleled recovery ability...

Each and every one of them had laid an incomparably solid foundation for Huo Yuhao's growth.

And at many critical moments, its terrifying life force had turned the tide and saved Huo Yuhao from danger.

It could be said that the Gold of Life was an indispensable cornerstone on Huo Yuhao's path of growth.

To a certain extent, it had made Huo Yuhao who he was.

And now, Xia Yu was about to possess such a supreme treasure as well.

Without the slightest hesitation, once he had made up his mind, he immediately set off for the Star Dou Great Forest.

Thanks to the assistance of his flying soul tool, coupled with Xia Yu's own proficiency in speed, it did not take him long to reach the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.

"So this is the Star Dou Great Forest? It truly feels ancient and weathered!"

With just one glance, Xia Yu could see the ancient aura of the Star Dou Great Forest, tempered by the passage of time.

At the same time, he could sense faint, almost imperceptible traces of danger within that endless sea of trees.

If nothing unexpected happened, it was likely the subconscious threat brought about by knowing of Di Tian and the other ferocious beasts.

"I'm still no match for Di Tian and the others, so I must be careful when searching for the Golden Tortoiseshell's trail. I absolutely cannot make a big show of it."

After covertly glancing in the direction of the Lake of Life, the faint aura around Xia Yu became even more concealed.

So long as he did not run into them head-on, no one would be able to detect his presence.

Once he was prepared, Xia Yu plunged headfirst into the Star Dou Great Forest.

Considering that the Golden Tortoiseshell's cultivation had fallen, he did not head straight for the core region where 100,000-year soul ring soul beasts resided.

Instead, he began searching from the outer region and gradually worked his way inward.

As it turned out, Xia Yu had guessed correctly.

In less than three days, he found that Golden Tortoiseshell in an underwater cavern at the border between the outer and mixed regions.

"Tsk. A legendary soul beast powerhouse that had once been 190,000 years old and close to 200,000 years, reduced to this state... How lamentable."

Looking at the cautious, sickly Golden Tortoiseshell huddled within the underground cavern, Xia Yu did not know what to say.

It had accomplished many unbelievable things.

Yet in the end, its own greed had reduced it to such a miserable state.

All he could say was that life was unpredictable.

Without enough strength to settle everything, insatiable greed would eventually bring ruin upon oneself.

"Forget it. No more thinking. It's hunting time!"

Shaking his head and casting away the stray thoughts in his mind, Xia Yu began to act.

Two-colored radiant light surged forth again, and he opened with his strongest Self-Martial-Soul Fusion Technique, Two Extremes Divine Transformation.

"Two Extremes Stillness Domain!"

With a thought from Xia Yu, a domain capable of freezing and halting everything instantly descended upon the Golden Tortoiseshell.

Having learned from last time's lesson, Xia Yu did not completely spread the domain out this time.

Instead, he concentrated all of the domain's power upon the Golden Tortoiseshell.

This way, it would be utterly impossible for the Golden Tortoiseshell to burn its life force and break through the domain's suppression like Ghost Fox had.

And indeed, things unfolded exactly as Xia Yu had expected.

After discovering that the Two Extremes Stillness Domain had suppressed it so thoroughly that it could not move, the Golden Tortoiseshell began struggling furiously without restraint.

But unfortunately, its struggles were destined to be futile.

As for Xia Yu, he ignored the Golden Tortoiseshell's struggles and calmly took out a barrier-type soul tool, unfolding a barrier that completely isolated the entire cavern.

"Done. I can begin absorbing the soul ring now!"

After confirming that the barrier he had set up had fully isolated the cavern from the outside world, Xia Yu took out a gauntlet-type soul tool and walked toward the Golden Tortoiseshell as he put it on.

"I know your Golden Tortoiseshell race possesses the innate ability known as the Invincible Barrier, and its defenses are very strong."

"But I advise you to think carefully. Do you want me to break this so-called Invincible Barrier, torment you for a while, and let you die in agony?"

"Or will you lower the barrier, obediently await death, and earn yourself a quick end?"

With that, Xia Yu activated the Ninth-Level Soul Tool on his hand.

At once, an extremely terrifying energy fluctuation erupted, sweeping through the entire underground cavern.

If not for the barrier blocking it, it would likely have spread outside.

"Human, don't even think about it. Even if I die, I will never let you succeed. You will get neither my soul ring nor my Soul Bone."

After hearing Xia Yu's words, the Golden Tortoiseshell grew even angrier.

After laboriously conveying its thoughts through spiritual intent, it completely went all out.

Regardless of the cost, it began burning its own life force.

Boom!!!

A terrifying aura rose from the Golden Tortoiseshell, and its body began expanding at high speed.

After its previous futile struggle, the Golden Tortoiseshell had realized that no matter what it did, it could not overcome the Two Extremes Stillness Domain suppressing it.

This filled it with grief, which turned into fury.

Back then, it had been a being that ran rampant through one region of the Star Dou Great Forest. Now, it had fallen to the point of awaiting death at the hands of a human.

Did a beast-king-level Golden Tortoiseshell not have any pride?

So it decided to self-destruct. Even in death, it could not let this human soul master benefit.

If possible, it even wanted to drag this detestable human soul master down with it.