The Choice of the Third Soul Ring? An Encounter with the Imperial Dou Team?

"What am I truly lacking right now?" Gu Ling pondered as he walked. He slowed his pace and began carefully sorting through his current combat abilities.

First was defense, but he did not need to consider that at all. After activating his Bone Dragon Martial Soul, a suit of bone armor naturally formed over his body.

As his soul power had increased and his Soul Rings had continuously strengthened his body, his defensive capabilities were already exceptional among Soul Masters of the same rank. There was no need to waste his third Soul Ring continuing to stack defense.

As for speed and explosive power, his second soul skill, Void Dragon Assault, already made up for them. At range, he had Spatial Rift Bone Spikes, which could alter their attack position through space.

Whether in close combat or at range, Gu Ling already possessed formidable offensive methods.

At first glance, he seemed to have no obvious weaknesses left.

But after thinking carefully for a while, Gu Ling shook his head and muttered to himself, "No. What I lack most right now isn't offensive power, but a way to stop enemies from escaping."

At that thought, Gu Ling's gaze narrowed slightly.

He suddenly realized that his current two soul skills were both purely about attacking enemies.

But the problem was... no matter how strong his attack power was, he still had to hit the target!

Although the attack trajectory of Spatial Rift Bone Spikes was incredibly unpredictable and could suddenly shift through space to strike enemies, if the enemy was fast enough or possessed powerful evasion abilities, then as long as they kept moving, he would have to consume more soul power to control the bone spikes in pursuit.

Although Void Dragon Assault allowed him to traverse space for close-range assaults, that soul skill was more suited to instant bursts of power. It was no problem for chasing enemies within a short distance.

But if the other side also had movement-type soul skills or had already opened up the distance in advance, the two sides would likely fall into a constant chase.

What was more, the enemies he would face in the future could not always be just one person.

Once he was surrounded by multiple opponents,

he would need a soul skill capable of restricting the movements of nearby enemies even more.

"If that's the case, then what I truly lack right now should be control."

At that thought, Gu Ling's eyes suddenly lit up.

Of course, the control he meant was not the kind Tang San's Blue Silver Grass used, simply relying on Entangling to restrict an enemy's movements. After all, the Bone Dragon Martial Soul had always followed the path of a powerful assault-type martial soul.

If his third soul skill merely trapped enemies without much killing power,

then it would not fit his cultivation plans for the Bone Dragon Martial Soul either.

What Gu Ling needed was a soul skill that fused control and attack into one—or, more precisely, one that achieved control through the purpose of attacking!

At that moment, an image surfaced in his mind. He could inject soul power into the ground, and in the next instant, massive bone spikes several meters long would burst directly from beneath the enemy's feet!

If the enemy failed to react in time, their body would be pierced through by the gigantic bone spikes on the spot.

Even if they managed to dodge by luck,

the bone spikes could continue rising at slanted, intersecting angles, instantly sealing off the space available for the enemy to evade.

In the end,

the enemy would either be pierced through by the bone spikes or completely trapped within them!

At that thought, the corners of Gu Ling's lips slowly curved upward as he said in a deep voice,

"This should be the third soul skill best suited for me. It would possess wide-range killing power while also allowing me to alter the battlefield environment through bone spikes and seal off the enemy's space for evasion."

"Even if the spikes don't hit the enemy, as long as I can force them to dodge in the direction I want, then this soul skill will have already achieved its purpose."

Because once that happened,

his other two soul skills would receive a tremendous boost as well!

For instance, when facing an agility-type Soul Master with incredible speed, he could first create a large number of bone spikes beneath the opponent's feet, continuously compressing the space in which they could move.

If the enemy dodged left, bone spikes would emerge from the ground on the left. If they evaded right, bone spikes would likewise erupt from the ground on the right.

In the end, only one position would be left for them to dodge into.

Then, he could activate his first soul skill—Spatial Rift Bone Spikes!

The originally difficult-to-predict spatial attack would directly appear at the enemy's only possible foothold, leaving them nowhere to escape! Gu Ling could even use his third soul skill to deliberately force enemies toward the direction he anticipated. Then his second Soul Ring would light up as he activated Void Dragon Assault, instantly crossing space and appearing ahead of their escape route before ending it with one claw!

At that thought, Gu Ling's ideas for his third Soul Ring became completely clear.

"It seems that I temporarily don't need another soul skill that simply increases my offensive power. What I need is a soul skill that can help me create opportunities to attack!"

"It should preferably be wide-range control combined with powerful assault—something that can kill, trap enemies, and even alter the terrain to restrict their movements."

"Looking at it that way..."

Gu Ling rubbed his chin, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"The type of soul beast I need to search for as my third Soul Ring has become clear as well."

"It should have powerful assault attributes, preferably earth attributes as well, and the ability to attack through the ground—for example, suddenly thrusting bone spikes up from underground. Or perhaps a soul beast capable of creating wide-range attacks such as ground spikes or forests of bone, preferably one that also possesses some ability to control its prey."

Once he found such a soul beast, it was highly possible that he would obtain the third soul skill he wanted.

But thinking about it was one thing; finding a soul beast that could truly provide such an ability was not easy. Gu Ling continued deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest while observing the traces left behind by soul beasts around him.

Before he knew it, he had already spent more than half a day inside the Star Dou Great Forest.

Along the way, Gu Ling had naturally encountered quite a few soul beasts: ten-year soul beasts, hundred-year soul beasts, and even two soul beasts whose cultivation had reached the thousand-year level.

Unfortunately, none of their abilities met his requirements.

If he merely wanted to obtain any third Soul Ring, then with Gu Ling's current strength, he could easily find an ordinary thousand-year soul beast and kill it.

But he obviously would not do that.

His first two Soul Rings had already laid an excellent foundation for his combat system.

If he casually chose a soul beast for the sake of convenience and absorbed its Soul Ring, it might instead ruin the cultivation path he had planned before.

So Gu Ling was not in a hurry. He would rather spend more time than fail to find a soul beast truly suited to him. Thus, he continued thinking as he searched.

By the time Gu Ling came back to himself, the surroundings were already noticeably different from when he had first entered the forest. The trees here were taller, and the dense canopy nearly completely blocked out the sky.

Thick shrubs covered the area, and from time to time, he could even sense auras that clearly belonged to thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year soul beasts.

Gu Ling took out his map and briefly checked his position before saying in a deep voice,

"It looks like I'm about to leave the outermost region of the forest. If I go any farther in, the frequency of thousand-year soul beasts appearing should increase significantly."

This was already considered the deepest part of the Star Dou Great Forest's outer region.

Continuing forward would rapidly increase the danger. For an ordinary two-ring Great Soul Master, reaching this place alone was already an extremely risky act.

Yet Gu Ling was not overly concerned. Although he had not yet obtained his third Soul Ring, the soul power he had accumulated had long surpassed level thirty. Combined with his bizarre Bone Dragon Martial Soul, one yellow and one purple Soul Ring that exceeded normal age limits, and two spatial soul skills,

if he truly encountered a thousand-year soul beast he could not handle, he might not be able to defeat it, but escaping would not be much of a problem.

Especially Void Dragon Assault. He had become extremely proficient with that soul skill by now. Unless he encountered a soul beast vastly stronger than himself, it would generally be difficult for anything to truly keep him there.

Gu Ling put away the map in his hand and was just about to continue onward when—

"Awooo—!"

An incomparably shrill soul beast's scream suddenly came from ahead. The trees shook violently, and countless startled birds burst into the sky from the distant canopy.

"Someone's hunting a soul beast?"

Watching the scene before him, Gu Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. Although this place was already fairly deep within the outer region, it was not yet a truly dangerous area. It was not strange for a team of Soul Masters to be hunting soul beasts here.

Gu Ling had not intended to meddle.

But immediately afterward, a clear shout came from the distance:

"Tian Heng, Yan Zi, I'll hold this soul beast back! Protect Ling Ling! She's absorbing her third Soul Ring and must not be disturbed!"