Death, Insect!

Gulp!

Li Ren's throat bobbed as he swallowed with difficulty. Cold sweat continuously seeped from his forehead, only to be evaporated by the scorching heat in the air and drift away as wisps of vapor.

At that moment, he recalled the terror of being dominated by the strong!

Yang Ming's small figure had long vanished from before his eyes. The child Li Ren had looked down on moments ago had become, like the fury in his chest, a colossal being shrouded in blue flames.

Over ten meters tall, with a skull-shaped head within the blue fire and exaggerated horns growing from either side of its forehead, its body had long since lost all flesh and blood. It had been reforged entirely from the Green Lotus Earth-Core Flame, constantly radiating astonishing heat.

The fallen leaves carpeting the ground beneath its feet had already been burned away, exposing the scorched earth below and filling the air with the pungent smell of burnt soil.

"Die, insect!"

As Yang Ming's shout fell, a huge palm like a canopy descended from the sky, carrying heat of thousands of degrees. It swore to incinerate every person and object standing in its way, reducing all things to their origin!

Before Yang Ming's enormous flaming palm, Li Ren had nowhere to run. Besides, he was not an agility-type Great Spirit Master. He could not have escaped even if he tried.

Facing the crisis of life and death, Li Ren suddenly raised his head. He was terrified, grief-stricken, and unwilling to accept it. In the end, those emotions drove him to try and stop a cart with a mantis's arms!

Yellow light blazed from Li Ren's body as he transformed into rocky armor once more, covering himself from head to toe as though making one final struggle.

However,

Yang Ming proved with his actions that it was all futile!

When the flaming giant palm came down, it was as effortless as swatting a mosquito. It met no resistance whatsoever, and Li Ren's body, clad in stone armor, was burned alive by the heat of thousands of degrees!

When the palm lifted, it left behind a handprint three meters long, two meters wide, and one meter deep.

Li Ren was nowhere to be seen in the pit. Only a heap of crystals formed under the extreme heat remained.

"Hah!"

Yang Ming withdrew his soul skill and returned to his original size, then collapsed onto the scorching ground in exhaustion.

Since the clothes on his body had long been burned to ash by the flames, it was fortunate that he had bought spare clothing in the city earlier. Yang Ming hurriedly took out a change of clothes from the Nethersea Ring and put them on.

Wiping away the sweat that had slid down to his chin, Yang Ming still felt lingering fear.

Soul Ring levels were divided as follows: ten-year Soul Rings were white, hundred-year Soul Rings were yellow, thousand-year Soul Rings were purple, Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings were black, and hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings were red.

A black Soul Ring!

After absorbing Flame Demon King Ragnaros, Yang Ming had obtained a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring!

Logically speaking, Flame Demon King Ragnaros had lived for more than a hundred thousand years, so Yang Ming should have received a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring. However, Yang Ming guessed that this change might have occurred because the worlds were different.

Just like the skills Yang Ming had obtained before, they underwent slight adjustments after arriving in this world so they could better fit the Douluo World.

And the line Yang Ming had just said, "Die, insect," was also a line of the Flame Demon King. Yet this time, he had not received a lottery opportunity.

Perhaps it was because Yang Ming had already drawn the Flame Demon King himself, so he had lost the chance to keep exploiting it.

Feeling the soul power in his body run dry once again, Yang Ming gave a bitter smile. His soul skill was powerful, but with his current soul power, he could only sustain it for three seconds.

The so-called three-second real man.

Dragging his exhausted body, Yang Ming made his way over to Tang San.

Covered in wounds and poisoned by the Thorns that had bound him earlier, Tang San's complexion was frighteningly awful. Any acquaintance who saw him now would have failed to recognize him.

"Third Brother, I avenged you. I killed both of the bastards who injured you this badly."

As though he had heard Yang Ming's voice, Tang San's will to survive was stirred. His eyelids trembled slightly, and his lips parted as he weakly called out:

"Water... water..."

Yang Ming hurriedly took out a waterskin from the Nethersea Ring and removed the cap. Having no experience caring for others, he directly shoved the opening into Tang San's mouth and poured water down his throat.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Yang Ming's operation was as fierce as a tiger's, making Tang San choke until tears and snot flowed out, while fresh water spilled from the corners of his mouth.

Tang San struggled to raise his eyelids and shot Yang Ming an annoyed glare before weakly saying:

"Yang Ming, can't you be a little gentler? I almost choked to death because of you."

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Yang Ming's face. He then pretended to take the waterskin away and said:

"You should be grateful I'm even giving you water, and you still have so many complaints. Believe it or not, I won't let you drink any."

Though he said that, Yang Ming did not take the waterskin away. Now that he had some experience, his movements were not quite as rough. Still, he poured water just as crudely as before, making Tang San roll his eyes in anger as he frantically complained inwardly:

Are you really pouring water into me like some webnovel protagonist?

After much effort, Tang San's thirst was finally somewhat satisfied. However, the injuries on his body and the toxins accumulated within him had already pushed him to the brink of death.

Yang Ming did not mind Tang San's injuries. He carried him onto his back and took out a rope from the Nethersea Ring to secure Tang San in place.

"It's getting late. We have to find Master and leave the Spirit Hunting Forest first. If we delay any longer, your injuries may be beyond saving."

As Yang Ming spoke, he chose a direction and left.

Tang San gave no reply from Yang Ming's back. He had already slipped into a state between consciousness and unconsciousness, and he was running a high fever. If not for the Mysterious Heaven Skill protecting him, he would likely have died long ago.

It was worth mentioning that although the Mysterious Jade Hand could resist poison, that ability was limited to the hands. Tang San's body was currently covered in bloody holes left by the Thorns, far beyond the Mysterious Jade Hand's effective range.

Yang Ming had only copied Tang San's skills with the Sharingan; he had not learned the Tang Sect's detoxification methods. Otherwise, Tang San would have been feeling somewhat better now.

The sky gradually darkened, and faint mist began to spread through the forest.

Yang Ming suddenly stopped. The scent of blood and charred flesh from the previous battle seemed to have attracted nearby Soul Beasts. Deep in the forest ahead, more than ten oily green points of light could be seen approaching them.

Netherwolves!

A type of Soul Beast extremely common in the Spirit Hunting Forest, they specialized in hunting prey in packs.

As they gradually drew closer, Yang Ming's Three-Tomoe Sharingan clearly made out their forms.

There were six Netherwolves in total. Each one was as large as an adult when standing upright, its entire body iron-gray, with faint ghostly light gleaming in its eyes and disgusting saliva dripping through the gaps between its sharp teeth.

Sensing that Yang Ming had stopped, Tang San slightly opened his eyes. A hint of purple flashed through the slits, and he too saw the Soul Beasts clearly.

"Yang Ming, you've already exhausted your soul power. Put me down. I don't want to be a burden to you."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Yang Ming chuckled without turning his head. "I won't abandon you. After all, you're my foolish little brother, aren't you?"

(Three updates)

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