Nine-Thousand-Year Mutated Life Tree Soul Ring

"So, you deliberately lured these Evil Soul Masters into this forest?"

Qiu'er looked at Wan Demon King, whose face was filled with utter despair, with her beautiful golden eyes.

"That's right. I happened to discover this group of humans. There were originally twenty of them, and they had come to the Star Dou Great Forest together to hunt soul beasts."

"After I found them, I initially wanted to kill them outright. Later, I realized that they were quite compatible with the attributes of the Black Thorn Forest. Dying here would greatly enrich the sinister aura and allow more dark-attributed plant soul beasts to be born."

"These humans were very vigilant, so I deliberately used my mental power to create a ghostly maze. I first lured in five weaker two-ring and three-ring Soul Masters, killed them all here, and used them to nourish the trees."

"I could tell at a glance that those two-ring and three-ring Soul Masters were the key members of this group, probably disciples being groomed as their core."

"After they disappeared, humans would definitely come to investigate. Sure enough, those idiots came one after another."

Lin En still couldn't suppress his urge to complain. He raised his hand like a well-behaved child and asked, "Um, well, I'm a little curious. Just curious, nothing else."

"Why not directly use mental power to control them and force them here to kill them? Why use such an inefficient method as a ghostly maze?"

Wan Demon King silently looked at Lin En. He truly wanted to slap this invasive foreign species across the face. Why did he talk so much? He had no sense of boundaries at all. Unfortunately, the Auspicious Beast and Di Tian were protecting him.

"I felt like it. What does it have to do with you?"

"If you have an opinion, keep it to yourself. It's my mental power. Do I need you to teach me how to use it?"

Throughout the entire Star Dou Great Forest, which beast king didn't know that Wan Demon King loved playing with his prey? Directly controlling them with mental power was far too boring.

What he liked most was driving his prey into despair, then giving them hope, repeating the process over and over. It was best if their loved ones were nearby, so they could sink into love and despair. That kind of death was the most perfect art.

Lin En awkwardly lowered his hand. This ferocious beast brother seemed a little hot-tempered. Hadn't he merely messed with his Blue Silver Grass territory?

He had heard that the Blue Silver King and Blue Silver Emperor were among the most beautiful plant soul beasts, much like Di Tian and Bi Ji among animal soul beasts. Could this guy be in love across species? A furry enthusiast in the Soul Master world?

Lin En regarded him with solemn respect.

Wan Demon King silently stared at him and said coldly, "You seem to be thinking some very disrespectful thoughts."

"Let me remind you: you'd best not provoke me. Even if I can't kill you, I still have ten thousand ways to make sure you never enter the Star Dou Great Forest again."

"Auspicious Beast, should these people be executed now?"

The black roots binding Zhongli and his two brothers slowly tightened, while the vines pierced into their flesh greedily sucked their blood and meat.

The sinister aura within their bodies was the most perfect nourishment here. Their howls rang out. They had only ever inflicted this pain of flesh being stripped away on others, but now that they were experiencing it themselves, they could not endure it.

Qiu'er couldn't make up her mind and looked up at Lin En. Lin En tried to negotiate with Wan Demon King. "Boss, can you extract their memories?"

Wan Demon King rolled his eyes. He had just been about to refuse this fake beast. What was this thing, daring to order Wan Demon King around? But the Auspicious Beast was also staring at him with her bright, watery eyes.

He could only force the words of refusal back down his throat. What did it feel like to use the emperor to command the kings? Wan Demon King now understood how those kings felt. He was truly furious inside, yet had to hold it in.

"Got it."

"You should go to the Core Zone and obtain the Soul Rings you want first."

"Completely extracting memories is delicate work. I'll send you a Mental Power Manifestation."

Dense roots began to writhe like giant serpents. The earth was easily overturned, and the terrain was altered within several breaths.

The gloomy forest automatically opened a passage for one human and one beast. This route led straight to that Mutated Life Tree.

Within the forest, Wan Demon King was the absolute ruler. Perhaps his raw strength was inferior to Bear Lord's, but if they truly fought, it was hard to say who would suffer.

And the Mental Power Manifestation Wan Demon King mentioned was the hallmark of Spirit Domain Realm mental power. In other words, Wan Demon King had long since reached the Spirit Domain Realm, while not a single human had yet attained that level.

"Lin En! Let's go!"

The Golden British Shorthair happily carried Lin En on her back. After Psychic Synchronization, she once again activated Word Spirit: Moment.

The soul beasts in the forest only saw a streak of golden light flash past. It was so fast that they thought it was an illusion.

The passage arranged by Wan Demon King was the shortest route. Thus, within a few breaths, one human and one beast arrived before the Mutated Life Tree.

The first thing that caught their eyes was the countless black vines hanging down. The vines were incredibly thick, each as wide as three adults linking arms around it.

The texture of these vines did not resemble plants, but stone, making the place resemble a forest of rocky spikes in a desert.

Many thorns grew on the vines, their tips gleaming coldly. Dark golden claws extended from Lin En's fingers. With a light swipe, he left a scratch on one vine, and dark purple fluid seeped out.

Little Sage immediately analyzed the liquid's components and issued a warning. "Special hemolytic lethal poison. A single drop of venom is sufficient to poison fifty Soul Elders to death."

But Lin En was not afraid of this venom. He was not only immune to fire, but also immune to poison.

If the Tang God-King next door saw this, he would probably drool.

To put it bluntly, dragon blood itself was the strongest poison in this world. The dragon blood shed by a single giant dragon was enough to create an entire dragon-blood ecosystem.

"Pitch-black, carrying the scent of ominous life force, and it's even siphoning life force from the surrounding environment. It really is a Mutated Life Tree. A true Life Tree doesn't look like this at all."

Suppressing the disgust in her heart, Qiu'er examined the enormous tree before her.

Of course, she had seen a real Life Tree before. Not far from the Lake of Life stood a fifty-thousand-year Life Tree.

Its trunk stood thirty meters tall, its verdant leaves always carrying sweet dew. Its powerful life force made even the surrounding elements ripple with emerald-green waves.

That was the favorite place of the Emerald Swans. Large numbers of Emerald Swans lived in the embrace of this Life Tree, and the two maintained a symbiotic relationship.

Outside the Core Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, there was simply no trace of Life Trees. Their life force was too powerful, and without protection, the moment one was born, countless soul beasts would compete to devour it.

This Mutated Life Tree had survived until now only because of its advantageous location and Wan Demon King's deliberate cultivation.

It was far more difficult for plants to cultivate into soul beasts than animals. This Devouring Life Ancient Tree soul beast was likely the sole surviving specimen in the world.

Fortunately, this world had no laws protecting rare soul beasts. Otherwise, Uncle Lin En would be spending eight lifetimes in prison.

Scorching flames suddenly illuminated the surroundings. Lin En controlled thick crimson flames as they spread over the giant tree before him.

Flames nearly ten meters high surged from the black canopy. The branches crackled as they burned. The giant tree tried to struggle, and the countless hanging black stone vines churned like Medusa's hair in myth.

An invisible will suppressed the giant tree's struggle. It was Wan Demon King's will. If the Auspicious Beast wanted it dead, then it could not resist.

Fire was still the nemesis of plant soul beasts, unless they possessed fire immunity. After burning for a full hour, a deep purple Soul Ring quietly shone in the sky.

The Soul Ring's color was extremely deep, not far from that of a true Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. This did not look like an eight-thousand-year Soul Ring at all. It had to be at least nine thousand years old.

More than that, after the giant tree died, the core of the entire Black Thorn Forest began to wither. Large numbers of trees died and turned into dry wood chips. Even the earth cracked and shattered.

The entire core of the Black Thorn Forest had clearly been assimilated by this Devouring Life Ancient Tree. Apart from the giant tree at the center, the other trees were actually all its roots.

"..."

"I haven't observed it in ten years. I didn't expect this tree to cultivate much faster than I had imagined."

"It seems it hid quite a few Dark Demon Evil God Tiger remains back then. Kid, can you absorb an extra thousand years? This Soul Ring's power may contain sinister energy. If you die here, I won't be responsible."

Wan Demon King's face emerged from a surviving tree in the distance, then he tossed out three gleaming white spheres.

Various scenes flickered within the spheres. They were the manifestations of the memories stripped from the minds of Zhongli and his two brothers.

A nine-thousand-year Soul Ring naturally posed no difficulty for Lin En. Even a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was within the limits of what his body could endure. As for the residual will of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, it could not stand against the will of the Dragon Clan at all.

Lin En sat cross-legged beneath the dead tree. The flames were still burning. Guided by the Immune System Martial Soul, the purple Soul Ring floated above his head and began to slowly merge with him.

Qiu'er crouched beside Lin En. The aura of the Imperial Auspicious Beast formed a barrier around him, ensuring the stability of his absorption environment.