Spirit Beast Magma Hound, Obtaining the Fourth Soul Ring

Douluo Continent, Star Dou Great Forest.

Woof woof woof~

A series of hurried dog barks echoed from all around.

Two red-robed men walking through the jungle suddenly stopped, cautiously observing their surroundings.

"Huo Lei, stay alert. It's a pack of canine spirit beasts. Judging by the sounds, there should be twenty or thirty of them. This is the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, so there are bound to be spirit beasts with a millennium of cultivation here."

The speaker was a middle-aged man around fifty years old, stalwart and tall, with well-developed muscles bulging like rocks, his clothes seeming fit to burst at any moment. A head of long red hair fluttered in the wind like burning flames; the middle-aged man had a resolute expression, a pair of eyes as red as blood, bright and sharp as if capable of seeing through everything hidden beneath the surface.

This person was none other than Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu's father, Huo Lei's adoptive father, and the head of Blazing Fire Academy—Huo Feng.

"Don't worry, Father, I'm already prepared for battle."

Huo Lei glanced at the surroundings and replied in a soft voice.

Huo Lei wore short red hair, possessed handsome facial features with delicate eyebrows, and had a pair of deep purple eyes resembling stars. His physique lacked the exaggerated muscles of his father Huo Feng, but he was well-proportioned and slender, which suited his image as a youth much better.

The vegetation in the bushes rustled.

Whoosh~

A canine spirit beast over two meters long rushed out of the bushes first, followed closely by more than twenty others of varying sizes appearing before their eyes.

"It's a Magma Hound!"

"Huo Lei, this is great! Judging by its size, this lead Magma Hound has already reached five thousand years of cultivation, just right for your fourth soul ring."

Huo Feng said, pleasantly surprised rather than alarmed.

At the same time, he activated his martial soul.

Two yellow, two purple, and three black, seven soul rings appeared at Huo Feng's feet, and behind him emerged the phantom of a fire dragon with a single horn on its head—which was precisely Huo Feng's martial soul, the Tyrant Horned Fire Dragon.

Following the release of Huo Feng's martial soul, Huo Lei instantly felt a wave of intense heat.

While sizing up the Magma Hound his father mentioned, Huo Lei did not dare to be negligent and directly activated his Flame Martial Soul. Two yellow and one purple, three soul rings slowly rose from his feet, constantly pulsating around his body.

At this moment, the leader of the Magma Hounds, whose fur was fiery all over, seemed to understand Huo Feng's words. Its ears stood tall, its red eyes opened wide in anger, and with a low roar, it launched an attack.

Awoo~

The remaining Magma Hounds seemed to have received an order and pounced toward the father and son.

Just in time!

"Fourth Soul Skill, Tyrant Roar!"

Huo Feng assumed a stance, his fourth soul ring lit up, and a tremendous roar burst from his mouth. Flame ripples diffused outward, directly striking the approaching pack of Magma Hounds.

The Magma Hound leader was affected first, taking the brunt of the frontal attack and plunging directly from midair to the ground.

The other Magma Hounds with weaker cultivation were either directly blasted flying or collapsed to the ground, twitching uncontrollably.

In just a single exchange, Huo Feng had resolved most of the Magma Hounds.

The Magma Hound leader struggled to crawl up from the ground, opened its blood-red maw, and spat out a huge fireball to attack Huo Feng.

At this moment, Huo Lei was facing the attacks of several Magma Hounds.

"Second Soul Skill, Flame Ring Bind!"

A huge ring of fire completely trapped the attacking Magma Hounds within it. At the same time, he controlled the fire ring to gradually shrink, gathering the Magma Hounds into one spot.

Right now!

"Third Soul Skill, Earthflame Eruption!"

Huo Lei's purple soul ring flashed, and a massive pillar of magma and fire erupted from beneath the ground, instantly launching all the Magma Hounds inside the fire ring high into the air.

The Magma Hounds wailed one by one in the sky, followed by pattering sounds as they all fell from the high altitude, while circles of white and yellow soul rings flew out from their bodies.

After dealing with the spirit beasts before him, Huo Lei immediately looked toward his father's side.

At this point, Huo Feng had already ended the battle and was looking at Huo Lei with a gratified expression.

"Not bad! That was crisp and decisive."

Huo Feng praised with a smile.

"Dad, compared to you, I still have a long way to go."

Huo Lei looked at the dozen or so Magma Hounds lying on the ground, his expression filled with admiration.

"Huo Lei, it's not safe here. You must hurry up and absorb the soul ring; I will stand guard for you on the side."

Huo Feng pointed at the dying Magma Hound leader on the ground and instructed.

Huo Lei nodded slightly and drew a gleaming short sword from the red storage ring on his right hand.

He came to the side of the Magma Hound leader, grasped the sword with both hands, and thrust it forcefully into the beast's neck.

The Magma Hound leader's body twitched slightly before it breathed its last.

Purple energy gathered in the air, and in the blink of an eye, a purple soul ring condensed and formed, constantly revolving above the Magma Hound's corpse.

Huo Lei stared at the bewitching purple soul ring, a trace of moisture unexpectedly welling up in his eye sockets.

Sixteen years ago, a flash of lightning on a rainy night brought him from Blue Star to Douluo Continent. He lost his biological parents right after birth and became an orphan, but fortunately gained the adoption and care of his current father.

At the age of six, with the help of his father Huo Feng, he awakened Twin Martial Souls of fire and lightning, along with Innate Full Soul Power. At that time, he was overjoyed because, being well-versed in Douluo knowledge, Twin Martial Souls meant a huge chance to become a god. Although he had no system, relying on effort and diligence, he achieved his current results. Now, he was about to become a Soul Ancestor, taking another step closer to the goal in his heart and gaining an extra bit of confidence for his upcoming plan.

"Huo Lei! What are you daydreaming for? Hurry up and absorb the soul ring."

Huo Feng's reminder interrupted his reverie.

Huo Lei collected his thoughts, immediately sat cross-legged, used his Soul Power to draw the soul ring onto himself, and then entered a meditative state to begin absorbing the energy of the soul ring.

Half an hour later, the purple soul ring was gradually absorbed. Four soul rings suddenly emerged on Huo Lei's body—two yellow and two purple—which then flashed and vanished into his body.

His eyes slowly opened, and he immediately sprang up from the ground, saying excitedly, "Dad, I succeeded."

Hahaha...

"Congratulations to my son for entering the Soul Ancestor realm."

Huo Feng walked over with a loud laugh and patted his son's shoulder with gratification.

Huo Lei looked at the Magma Hound carcasses all over the ground and asked, "Dad, how should we deal with so many soul beasts?"

"There are quite a few soul beasts this time. If we take all of them, our Storage Rings won't hold them. Let's leave the ten-year ones and just take those with a cultivation of a century or more."

Huo Feng pondered for a moment and voiced his thoughts.

"Dad, the space in my Storage Ring is rather small. You take this largest Magma Hound!"

Huo Lei raised his right hand, motioned toward his Storage Ring, and smiled awkwardly.

"Alright! You go over there and collect a few century-old ones!"

Huo Feng slightly raised his chin to indicate the direction.

Huo Lei walked aside, looked at the Magma Hounds lying crisscross on the ground in various postures, and began to distinguish their ages.

The cultivation age of Magma Hounds was relatively easy to tell. Ten-year cultivation ones had a body length of around 1.2 meters, while century-old ones had a body length of around 1.8 meters. Huo Lei specifically picked those with a body length of 1.8 meters or more to store.

The two of them, having clear targets, moved extremely quickly and soon packed away all the soul beasts they wanted to keep.

"Dad, I'm done over there, five in total."

He walked to his father's side, held up five fingers with an excited look, and gestured.

Boom!

A loud noise came from the distance, accompanied by a slight tremor of the ground.

Huo Lei steadied his footing and looked toward the source of the sound in surprise.

"Huo Lei, take cover quickly!"