Heavenfire Judgment

As Xu Tianming pondered, another mental fluctuation emanated from the Radiant Flame Dragon. It was extremely weak, like a candle flickering in the wind, yet its intent was very clear.

It could not hold on any longer.

The Rift Realm Core was devouring the last trace of its sanity. Soon, it would completely become a lord of the Rift Realm, lose all consciousness, and turn into an empty shell driven only by the desire to destroy.

Rather than die to the corrosion, it would be better to offer everything it had left to the being before it.

Great Sovereign.

The dragon bloodline told it that this human youth before it was the supreme king of their dragon race.

The Radiant Flame Dragon opened its intact golden vertical pupil and looked at Xu Tianming, slowly nodding once. The beastly ferocity had vanished from its eyes, leaving only respect and obedience.

Xu Tianming fell silent for a moment.

"Since you are so sincere."

His voice was exceptionally calm when he spoke.

"How could I bear to refuse?"

"When I ascend to the pinnacle, I will remember your contribution."

After saying that, Xu Tianming muttered inwardly, Well, damn. So this was where my first Soul Ring had been waiting for me.

That damn wish-fulfillment mechanism of the Stellaron had ultimately gotten the job done. The process had just been a little dangerous and troublesome. If he had not possessed the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core, and if Karna had not been standing behind him to protect him, the Stellaron would probably have gotten him killed here today.

But then again, a dragon-type soul beast nearing one hundred thousand years that had willingly offered itself as a sacrifice, coupled with the power of a Rift Realm Core—this setup was already absurdly overpowered. Though it still could not compare to Huo Yuhao's Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Electrolux.

Xu Tianming no longer hesitated. After taking two steps back, he sat cross-legged on the ground.

The Sun Martial Soul appeared above his head. The golden sun wheel slowly began to turn, illuminating the surrounding Rift Realm.

The Radiant Flame Dragon let out a low roar. There was no pain in that roar, only relief.

Its enormous body gradually came apart. The dark-purple Star Crystal shell fell away as well, revealing brilliant golden dragon scales beneath. The scales then transformed into specks of light, and the gold and purple merged together like a meteor shower flowing upstream, all of it pouring into Xu Tianming's body.

Xu Tianming began circulating the Sun Moon Meditation Method.

Violent energy surged through his meridians like boiling magma. An ordinary Soul Engineer would have already been blown apart, but the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core guarded his chest, while the Golden Dragon Blood suppressed all dragon-type power.

The Soul Power of the Radiant Flame Dragon did not rebel. Instead, it was neatly subdued by the Divine Core.

As for Rift Realm energy, there was even less to fear. The Rift Realm itself had been born under the Stellaron's influence. He was a Star Core Spirit—could energy produced by his own family possibly harm him?

What utter nonsense.

Golden and purple radiance enveloped him.

Karna stood outside the sphere of light, his emerald eyes sweeping the surroundings as the Golden Spear gave off a faint glow.

Farther away, the disturbances caused by Jing Hongchen, Shangguan Weier, and another powerful opponent's battle were still present, but they soon gradually subsided.

An hour passed.

The Radiant Flame Dragon's thirty-meter-tall body had completely vanished. All that remained was a puddle of dark-purple Star Crystal fragments.

As golden-red light erupted, a Soul Ring rose from beneath Xu Tianming's feet.

The Soul Ring's color was exceptionally unusual. Its main body was a blazing golden-red, wrapped in dark-purple star patterns. The two colors intertwined and fluctuated, radiating pressure far greater than that of an ordinary Soul Ring.

It was neither a hundred-year Soul Ring, nor a thousand-year one, nor even a hundred-thousand-year one. It was a special Soul Ring whose initial strength had already reached the hundred-thousand-year level and could continue growing.

The Radiant Flame Dragon had been a soul beast, and it had fused with the Rift Realm Core. After its sacrifice, it had undergone a mutation.

A Rift Realm Lord would not leave behind a Soul Ring after being killed. The Radiant Flame Dragon's situation had only arisen through the combined effects of timing, location, and circumstance.

After opening his eyes, Xu Tianming stood and clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within his body.

His Soul Power had risen from level ten to level thirteen.

"Three levels... just right."

He was not greedy for more. Raising it too much would only give him a bigger headache.

The energy gained from absorbing a Soul Ring was not as pure as the Soul Power he cultivated himself. If it increased too much at once, it would definitely affect the quality of his Soul Power.

Those Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire who relied on pills were cautionary examples. They used external means to rapidly raise their levels, leaving their foundations unstable. When breaking through to Titled Douluo, every one of them got stuck so badly it was unbearable.

Even if they were lucky enough to break through to Titled Douluo, they would still be trapped at the bottleneck of level ninety-four, unable to advance even a single step. At present, nearly all of the Sun Moon Empire's top Ninth-Rank Soul Engineers were stuck there.

With his current identity and status, along with Karna protecting him, he would not encounter danger at all. Nor was he short on time. His foundation had to be solid.

Moreover, if he absorbed all that energy, his current body would not be able to withstand it. He could only rely on the Divine Core's power to organize and suppress it.

The excess Soul Ring energy was mainly used to condense his Soul Skill and nourish that growth-type Soul Ring, while another portion was absorbed by the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core as nourishment.

Though for the Divine Core, that tiny amount of energy brought no improvement whatsoever.

"Heavenfire Judgment."

Xu Tianming gave a soft shout. The golden-red Soul Ring within him instantly lit up, its radiance gathering toward his hands.

Two handguns appeared out of thin air.

The guns were primarily forged from strange black-and-white metal, their lines cold and sleek. Fine crimson light patterns ran along the gilded barrels. At the safety catches where the two guns met sat a diamond-shaped scarlet core. It seemed to contain a flame compressed to its absolute limit, ready to burst forth at any moment.

The grips were wrapped in dark-gold anti-slip patterns that fit his palms perfectly and felt icy to the touch.

Xu Tianming picked up the two guns. After pouring Soul Power into them, the scarlet cores lit up. He raised them and aimed at the crystallized forest a hundred meters away.

Bang!

After the deafening blast, the ground trembled slightly.

A blazing streak of fire tore through the dark-purple sky at tremendous speed. Wherever it passed, the air warped faintly.

The fire streak pierced through three crystallized trees in succession. Their trunks exploded from the heat, fragments scattering everywhere as three charred holes smoking white were left behind.

Even from a hundred meters away, its power had not weakened in the slightest.

Xu Tianming weighed the twin guns in his hands with satisfaction. This was his first Soul Skill, Heavenfire Judgment.

On the surface, it was one Soul Skill, but in truth, it was divided into three stages.

The first stage was the twin-gun mode: long-range shooting that condensed bullets from Soul Power of different attributes. Its range exceeded one hundred meters, and its power was immense.

The second stage was called Heavenly Fire Drawn.

The two guns connected and transformed into a greatsword. The blade was forged from pure heavenly fire, greatly increasing its lethality, but also significantly increasing the burden on his body.

The third stage was called Heavenly Fire Calamity Annihilation.

This was the fully unleashed Calamity Annihilation mode. Its power was at its greatest, and its destructive force could rival divine punishment. But if he forcibly used it with his current physical condition, he would most likely burn himself half to death.