The Fifth Soul Ring, a Behemoth?

"If it weren't for the fact that I still need them..."

Xu Tianran murmured softly. Resentment, hatred, and countless other emotions churned in his eyes, only to be suppressed in an instant.

He had no choice. If Xu Tianran wanted to ascend the throne now, he had to rely on the Holy Spirit Cult. He also knew perfectly well what the Holy Spirit Cult was after.

They wanted to turn him into a puppet so that those evil soul masters could appear openly, perhaps even be established as the state religion.

Coupled with their blunt attitude just now, even though he habitually repressed his emotions, his expression was somewhat unsightly.

"Please quell your anger, Your Highness. It is only temporary forbearance."

Juzi spoke considerately.

"Has that Lin Yuan ever left before? Or had he ever displayed those two martial souls at the academy?"

In an instant, Xu Tianran seemed to have become a completely different person. He still wore that gentle, spring-breeze-like smile and spoke softly as usual.

Juzi tried her best to recall, but in the end, she could only shake her head and answer apologetically.

"My apologies, Your Highness. I had also kept an eye on that team before, but there truly was nothing. Juzi is incompetent."

Seeing this, Xu Tianran lightly furrowed his brow as though feigning displeasure.

"Juzi, I told you to break that habit."

"Then this is getting interesting. It seems Hall Master Hongchen has hidden quite a lot as well..."

Xu Tianran murmured to himself.

The reason he had received the news immediately, and why Zhongli Wu had not acted at once but instead chosen to wait and see his response—

Was precisely because of that incident outside Star Luo City.

Jing Hongchen had secretly contacted the Holy Spirit Cult. Although Zhongli Wu had not promised to act personally, he had dispatched Vice Cult Leader Feng Ling, as well as powerful consecrated elders such as the Scorpion Tiger Douluo.

Although Jing Hongchen had promised to provide the Holy Spirit Cult with conveniences, the Holy Spirit Cult's purpose at the time had naturally been to conveniently bring Lin Yuan back with them.

Yet in the end, all that remained was a ruin that looked like the aftermath of a world-shaking war.

Given Xuanzi's attitude at the time, he would absolutely have attacked Jing Hongchen and the people of the Sun Moon Empire.

Yet he had actually retreated just like that.

There had even been rumors that when Xuanzi returned to Shrek Academy afterward, he had been seriously injured.

That meant Lin Yuan needed to be reconsidered—or rather, investigated.

He clearly appeared to have depended on his brother for survival, so when had such a powerful background emerged behind him? When had his martial soul become Twin Martial Souls, while his original martial soul had vanished without a trace?

At the very least, that person had to be of the same rank as Xuanzi. Considering Xuanzi's strength, could Lin Yuan's mysterious powerhouse possibly be a Limit Douluo?

Trinity Martial Soul, mysterious background?

"This is becoming more and more interesting. If possible, perhaps he can even be used to keep those people in check."

Xu Tianran looked out the window, greed flashing through his eyes for a moment...

On the other side, Lin Yuan did not make a grand display by directly having Gu Yuena appear. Instead, he used a flying soul tool.

Flying at full speed, he reached the Jingyang Mountain Range in just a few days.

The moment he arrived at the Jingyang Mountain Range, he immediately summoned Gu Yuena.

What a joke. With such a powerhouse available, why would he walk in himself? His strength was indeed formidable, but what if something happened?

"Young Master, what age range do you need for your fifth soul ring this time?"

After sensing his condition for a moment in response to Gu Yuena's question, Lin Yuan spoke softly.

"At minimum, a powerful soul beast over sixty thousand years old with a special bloodline. The upper limit I can withstand should be below eighty thousand years."

Lin Yuan briefly assessed his current physical condition.

He possessed Twin Martial Souls that could be considered the absolute best.

But if he tried to forcibly absorb a hundred-thousand-year soul ring now—

There would still be some risk.

Besides, the Jingyang Mountain Range did not have any hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yuena nodded slightly.

Then, with a casual wave, she cast something like a gust of wind. Under Gu Yuena's spiritual power—

Unless one was a spiritual-type Titled Douluo above Rank 96 or 97, they would not even be able to sense their existence.

They arrived directly at the spider-like core region deep within the Jingyang Mountain Range.

If they wanted to find a soul beast suitable for Lin Yuan, this was the best place.

After arriving in the core region, the two remained close together while Gu Yuena used spiritual power that rivaled that of a Limit Douluo.

To search throughout the Jingyang Mountain Range.

"Young Master, from what I can see, there are three suitable soul beasts. One is a fifty-eight-thousand-year Silver Moon Wolf King, another is a seventy-eight-thousand-year Terrorclaw Bear, and the last is a seventy-thousand-year Golden Crocodile King."

As Gu Yuena reported, Lin Yuan lightly frowned and began calculating.

Although the Silver Moon Wolf King was powerful and could even control multiple attributes, making it seem well suited to him, he primarily needed a metal-attribute fifth soul ring, and its age was slightly too low.

The Terrorclaw Bear possessed the bloodline of a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. Though it could barely be considered a top-tier soul beast, it still fell somewhat short of his expectations.

The Golden Crocodile King could also be considered a super soul beast. Of course, that was excluding the disgraceful history of a certain martial soul owner being badly smashed by Tang Hao's hammer.

Considering everything, the Golden Crocodile King seemed to be the best choice.

"Have you searched the entire core region?"

As Lin Yuan confirmed this with Gu Yuena, she shook her head and answered honestly.

"I have covered roughly more than half of it, but I have not had time to sense everything carefully."

Lin Yuan nodded at her words.

"In that case, let's keep looking. It's not as if these soul beasts can grow legs and run away."

As dusk approached, Lin Yuan had originally intended to eat first when Gu Yuena spoke again, her voice carrying a hint of surprise.

"Young Master, I found something strange about these three soul beasts. They should have been the rulers of this area, but their habitats seem to have been forced outward by quite a distance."

"A new ruler should have appeared in the cave at the true center."

"Then let's go take a look."

Lin Yuan had not expected such a pleasant surprise to come so quickly.

At the same time, he was curious what kind of soul beast could force three beings that were practically overlords of the Jingyang Mountain Range to yield their territories, despite there being no hundred-thousand-year soul beasts here.

Soon, they arrived at the central mountain range of the Jingyang Mountain Range. After Gu Yuena casually condensed an elemental attack to probe the area—

The soul beast that had driven away the three overlords finally emerged from the cave entrance.

Was it a bear? It stood eight meters tall, yet its proportions resembled those of a burly giant ape. Hard scales with a dark golden sheen covered its flesh, its metallic shell glimmering with dark golden light. The muscles on its thick arms bulged powerfully.

Just halfway through observing it, one would already think of a super soul beast.

Upon closer inspection, its five enormous claws gleamed like bronze, their cold light biting. Two curved fangs thrust upward from its lower jaw, while its scarlet beast eyes blazed with ferocity.

Each step made the ground tremble. A dense, primordial beastly aura rushed toward them, its surging vitality displaying the brutal power of an ancient giant beast.

The moment he saw it clearly, Lin Yuan was both shocked and delighted. In an uncertain tone, he said,

"Behemoth?!"