Qian Renxue

Just as Su Qi stepped into the circle, Gui Mei had already caught up from over a hundred meters away. Like a ghost, he passed through tree after tree, relentlessly pursuing the Bloodshadow Mantis.

Fortunately, Su Qi's soul carried the medicinal effects of Autumn Water Dew, allowing him to see through all manner of strange objects.

Combined with spiritual detection comparable to Divine Sense, Su Qi's gaze could penetrate layer upon layer of obstacles, clearly witnessing the entire pursuit of the Bloodshadow Mantis by Gui Mei.

The Bloodshadow Mantis fled while devouring a meter-long strip of tail meat. After finishing it, crimson mist surged around its body.

Two identical blood-red figures split off to its left and right.

This was the Bloodshadow Mantis clan's unique innate ability: Blood Shadow Clone!

Both clones were physical bodies, lifelike and possessing ninety percent of the original body's combat strength.

Facing Gui Mei's pursuit, the Bloodshadow Mantis ordered its two Blood Shadow Clones to split up with its main body and flee in three directions, hoping to confuse its enemy.

"Cheap tricks."

Gui Mei snorted coldly, completely unruffled.

As the wielder of the Ghost Shadow martial soul, clone evasion techniques were what he excelled at most.

His first soul ring lit up as his First Soul Skill, Ghost Shadow, activated!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Gui Mei transformed, splitting into ninety Ghost Shadows that divided into three groups and frantically pursued the three Bloodshadow Mantises.

The dense mass of Ghost Shadows quickly sealed off every escape route.

With all retreat paths cut off, the Bloodshadow Mantis decided to make a desperate stand. It raised its mutated left claw and activated its mutation skill, Avatar Convergence!

In an instant, bloody red light burst from its left claw.

The two Blood Shadow Clones flew in at high speed from either side and collided with the main body.

Buzz!

Within the crimson glow, the Bloodshadow Mantis's body merged with its two Blood Shadow Clones. A surging aura exploded outward, sending withered branches and shattered stones flying from the ground.

When the red light faded, the Bloodshadow Mantis, originally three meters long, swelled like an inflated balloon to over six meters.

Its shell became tougher, the blades on its forelimbs sharper, and its cultivation surged severalfold.

Its overall combat strength had already approached that of a four-thousand-year soul beast!

Gui Mei was secretly startled by the sight.

A top-tier soul beast capable of using Avatar Convergence to double both its cultivation and size was something he had never seen before!

A sharp aura enveloped an area fifty meters wide. The six-meter Bloodshadow Mantis swept its claws, unleashing a massive blood-red slash at Gui Mei.

But the gap in realms was ultimately impossible to overcome.

The strength of a Titled Douluo crushed all thousand-year soul beasts!

Gui Mei merely raised a hand slightly. Countless Ghost Shadows wrapped around the Bloodshadow Mantis's forelimbs and body before condensing into a gigantic ghostly hand.

The blood-red slash was shattered by the ghostly hand, while the Bloodshadow Mantis's six-meter body was tightly gripped, unable to move.

Gui Mei clenched his hand, and the enormous ghostly hand crushed the Bloodshadow Mantis's body. Black-red blood burst from its palm like fireworks.

Screech—

As its agonized shriek faded away, the Bloodshadow Mantis was completely crippled.

The ghostly hand loosened, and it fell from midair to the ground. Its six-meter body shrank back to its original three meters, leaving it with only a final thread of life.

Gui Mei withdrew his skill and returned, bringing Su Qi over.

"Your Highness the Holy Son, this Bloodshadow Mantis originally possessed a cloning talent, and now it has mutated to gain Avatar Convergence."

"If you absorb its soul ring, you might obtain a soul skill such as Sword Clone or Sword Convergence. What do you think?"

After hearing Gui Mei's reminder, Su Qi stared at the Bloodshadow Mantis lying on the ground and fell into thought.

Sword Clone would mean splitting the Asura Demon Sword into two.

The effect of such a soul skill was somewhat similar to Blazing Sun Douluo's martial soul clone in the original story.

As for Sword Convergence, it seemed it could use the Asura Demon Sword to summon blades within range, merge them into one, and form a giant sword for a strike?

At that thought, Su Qi felt that either Sword Clone or Sword Convergence would be well suited as a soul skill for the Asura Demon Sword.

Even if he only gained a mutated enhancement-type soul skill that improved sharpness and attack speed, it would still be far from a loss!

"Alright, Ghost Elder. I'll take your advice. I'll choose this Bloodshadow Mantis as my second soul ring."

As he spoke, Su Qi gripped the Asura Demon Sword and walked to the Bloodshadow Mantis's body.

He thrust his sword down, piercing the dying Bloodshadow Mantis through the head and killing it.

A purple thousand-year soul ring slowly floated into the air.

"Holy Son, absorbing a thousand-year second soul ring beyond your level is unprecedented in the continent's history. You must be careful, proceed steadily, and never be too hasty!"

After giving his warning, Gui Mei retreated to one side and focused on guarding him.

Su Qi nodded, then sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes in meditation, and began guiding the soul ring into his body.

When the purple thousand-year soul ring produced by the Bloodshadow Mantis settled over Su Qi's body, tyrannical crimson soul power immediately poured into his limbs and bones, forcibly clogging every meridian.

Su Qi immediately felt a tearing force several times more violent than that of his first soul ring sweep through his entire body.

Excruciating pain surged into his mind and seeped deep into his bones.

Absorbing the Nine-Hundred-Year First Soul Ring before had been effortless.

This mutated two-thousand-year soul ring was now precisely at the limit of what his body could endure.

Fortunately, he had not misjudged the Bloodshadow Mantis's cultivation. Otherwise, if he made even one mistake, Su Qi was certain he would face the danger of exploding to death.

With his body strengthened by a large amount of Whale Gel and supported by the Nine-Hundred-Year First Soul Ring, though the pain remained unbearable, it was enough for him to safely absorb the soul ring!

His face gradually turned pale. Su Qi clenched his teeth, enduring the agony as he focused on subduing the soul ring energy rampaging through his body.

Gui Mei watched intently from the side, his heart filled with anxiety.

He feared that this Holy Son's body would shatter and that he would die miserably before his eyes.

As time passed second by second, Su Qi's complexion gradually improved, and the intense pain throughout his body slowly receded.

Seeing the violently spinning purple soul ring around him gradually settle down, Gui Mei secretly let out a long breath of relief.

Normally, this meant that the soul master had already claimed the soul ring's energy as his own.

All that remained was to completely absorb the soul ring energy and condense the soul ring!

At that moment, something miraculous happened.

As Su Qi absorbed his Thousand-Year Second Soul Ring, the soul ring energy that exceeded his body's limits accelerated his physical development.

All childishness had faded from his face, making him appear far more mature.

His height was increasing bit by bit, while his muscles, bones, meridians, and every other part of his body developed at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Gui Mei rubbed his eyes, thinking that his old vision had failed him.

How could anyone in the world develop at such an astonishing rate?

In less than two months, he had watched Su Qi grow from an innocent six-year-old child into a ten-year-old youth, then go through voice change.

Now, not only had all childishness vanished from him, but he had directly entered his body's second growth phase. He no longer looked like a ten-year-old youth, but more like a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old young man!

Was this the benefit of absorbing soul rings beyond one's level—having the physical strength of a young man at only six years old?

This Holy Son was undoubtedly the most astonishing surprise in Spirit Hall's history!

Just as Gui Mei marveled at Su Qi's growth, far away in the Core Area,

another genius with Innate Level-Twenty Full Soul Power was also absorbing a soul ring to advance.

This genius was a blonde young woman. Her silky golden hair fell to her waist, and she wore a golden court gown. She was already fifteen or sixteen years old, with a cold and gorgeous face that gave off a sacred aura that could not be profaned.

A moment later, the blonde woman slowly opened her beautiful eyes.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black.

Five soul rings in total rose and fell around her body. Surging golden light spread outward, making her shine as brilliantly as the sun.

"Congratulations, Young Mistress, on successfully advancing to a Five-Ring Soul King. The Grand Priest will certainly be delighted when he learns of this!" The slightly plump old man standing beside the blonde woman cupped his hands in congratulations.

The blonde woman was none other than Spirit Hall's young mistress, the granddaughter of Grand Priest Qian Daoliu, Qian Renxue.

She was not happy about breaking through to the Five-Ring Soul King realm.

With the cultivation talent of Innate Level-Twenty Full Soul Power, she believed that if she had not been carrying out the infiltration plan at Heaven Dou Palace, she would have broken through to become a Six-Ring Soul Emperor long ago.

Unfortunately, there were no what-ifs. Since she had chosen to carry out the infiltration plan, she could only present herself as Xue Qinghe and neglect her cultivation.

Breaking through to Five-Ring Soul King at fifteen was still acceptable compared to ordinary soul masters.

But compared to her teacher, Ye Fan, she was far inferior!

At the thought of her teacher's tragic death in Slaughter City six years ago, a trace of sorrow flashed through Qian Renxue's eyes, and memories of the past flooded her mind.