Flame Lord?
Time flies, and four months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Under his secluded cultivation, Lu Xuan's Soul Power steadily improved, and he had already firmly stepped into the forty-ninth level realm, only one step away from the threshold of the Level 50 Soul King. His foundation had become increasingly solid and robust.
At the same time, Dugu Yan's cultivation also experienced a breakthrough surge, successfully breaking through the shackles and entering the ranks of Level 40 Soul Ancestor.
During this period, Lu Xuan personally planned an extreme poison cultivation method for her, precisely controlling the rhythm of the medicine's effects in tempering her body and Soul Power, thus significantly increasing her cultivation speed.
To maximize the effectiveness of her cultivation, Dugu Yan would take specially made Poison at fixed times and in fixed quantities every day. She controlled her schedule and dosage with extreme strictness, as if she were a seriously ill patient taking her medicine on time and in the correct dosage. She never slacked off in the slightest.
Now, she has fully stabilized her Level 40 cultivation, and her physical body and Soul Power have reached their peak. She can activate the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower at any time and absorb them as her Fourth Soul Ring.
However, Dugu Yan ultimately suppressed the idea of immediately absorbing the Soul Ring. Lu Xuan's Peach-Bamboo God Imprisonment could only control non- spirit-type Soul Beast within 30,000 years of age to offer as sacrifices. The Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower in front of her were less than 20,000 years old. Using them as her Fourth Soul Ring would be a waste of potential, as their age was not compatible with her current realm.
It would be better to continue carefully cultivating this Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower and keep it as her Fifth Soul Ring.
As for the Fourth Soul Ring, the most suitable choice would be to find a five-poison Soul Beast of the Azure Phosphorus type with an age of about 30,000 years.
Ye Lingling continued to cultivate in the same way as before, sitting in meditation to stabilize her Soul Power while activating the Nine Heart Begonia Soul Skill to continuously heal and nourish the several spiritual plants.
As her own cultivation level steadily increased, the effectiveness of this healing Soul Skill also gradually grew stronger.
During this period, Lu Xuan also asked his master, Ye Renxin, to help heal the two plant-type Soul Beast. As they both possessed the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul, Ye Renxin's healing power was far superior to Ye Lingling's.
Within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the Tree of Life and the Blue Silver Emperor are thriving, their branches and leaves flourishing and full of vitality.
However, it will still be a very long way before either of them can grow to a suitable age for Ye Lingling to absorb them.
Just as everyone was focused on cultivation and nurturing spiritual plants, Dugu Bo and Zhao Yan, who had been away for a long time, returned together.
Zhao Yan not only successfully obtained a precious 100,000-year Ninth Soul Ring and broke through to the Titled Douluo realm, but also acquired an extremely rare 100,000-year Torso Soul Bone.
At this point, his Soul Bone configuration was completely perfected, and his foundation was completely transformed.
Although his current Soul Power Level is only level 95, with his Soul Bone and the powerful foundation of Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, his true combat strength has already broken through the level barrier, and he has the formidable strength to directly confront a level 97 Titled Douluo!
"Congratulations, Uncle Zhao, on reaching the Titled Douluo realm! Your cultivation has greatly improved!" Lu Xuan immediately stepped forward to offer his congratulations, then asked softly, "Did you encounter any unexpected setbacks on your mission to hunt for Soul Ring?"
Upon hearing Lu Xuan's question, Zhao Yan was about to answer when he said that his journey had been smooth and without any setbacks.
Unexpectedly, Dugu Bo beside him stiffened slightly, a hint of awkwardness in his eyes, and spoke first in a deep voice, "There's been an unexpected incident."
"Huh?" Lu Xuan was slightly taken aback. He had only asked casually, but he hadn't expected things to actually turn out this way.
Filled with doubt, he quickly asked, "What exactly happened? It was just about obtaining a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. With Grandpa Dugu personally overseeing and protecting us, how could an accident have occurred?"
"We've run into a Flame Lord!" Dugu Bo's expression darkened, his tone becoming increasingly grave. "Its strength far surpasses that of an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Most troublesome of all, its flames are a natural counter to my Azure Phosphorus Poison."
"I fought a fierce battle with that Soul Beast, but I couldn't gain the slightest advantage from beginning to end." Dugu Bo sighed softly and continued, "Fortunately, my nephew Zhao Yan successfully obtained the Ninth Soul Ring 100,000 years. If something had gone wrong, I would have had a hard time explaining it to everyone."
"The Flame Lord?" Lu Xuan's heart skipped a beat.
He knew that Dugu Bo and his companion's destination was a volcanic area within the Star Luo Empire. Encountering a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast there was to be expected, but he never imagined that an ancient beast like the Flame Lord would be hidden there.
"That's right, the Flame Lord, I recognize it." Dugu Bo nodded slightly and slowly recounted the events of his journey.
The situation wasn't complicated. Just as they were about to hunt down the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast they had planned to hunt, the Flame Lord suddenly appeared and immediately intended to kill them both.
Dugu Bo immediately engaged the strange beast in a fierce battle. After a series of exchanges, the two sides were deadlocked, and neither was able to gain the upper hand.
Aside from the unexpected encounter with this powerful beast that far surpasses ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, everything else went relatively smoothly.
At the same time, Lu Xuan pondered to himself.
This Flame Lord might be a mythical beast born from the heavens and earth, just like the Snow Empress.
However, its attributes are completely opposite to those of the Snow Empress, and its cultivation period is also vastly different.
However, relying on the power of the volcano as its home ground, it still possesses a strong ability to suppress Dugu Bo, who has just reached Level 98 and relies on poison in combat.
This Flame Lord is quite suitable as Soul Ring for my Second Martial Soul!
Lu Xuan never considered taking any action against the Ferocious Beast at the Lake of Life. Firstly, Di Tian's strength was too terrifying, and secondly, the Silver Dragon King was also there to guard it.
Before reaching god-level strength, it's best to leave each other alone and live in peace.
Aside from the Ferocious Beast at the Lake of Life, the only suitable options for Lu Xuan are the scattered Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and the beings in the water.
Snow Empress and Ice Empress are also options, but these two Ferocious Beast must be saved for the later stages of the game before we have a chance to deal with them.
On the contrary, Lu Xuan secretly planned that once he reached the Titled Douluo level, he could try to obtain the Flame Lord.
"I checked Xin'er's cultivation progress yesterday; she'll still have some time before reaching Level 90." Dugu Bo glanced at his granddaughter, who was diligently cultivating in the distance, then turned to ask, "How are you all progressing in your cultivation?"
"I'm level 49, and Yanyan and Lingling are already Level 40," Lu Xuan replied. "However, their physical constitutions are limited; they can only withstand the Soul Ring of Soul Beast that are at most 10,000 years old. If I use my Soul Bone Skill to control the sacrifice, I can stably control simple-minded plant-type Soul Beast for up to 30,000 years, and animal-type Soul Beast for around 20,000 years. Right now, we don't have any suitable targets around us."
"How about I take the three of you out to search?" Zhao Yan suggested. "Sunset Forest is vast; we might find a suitable Soul Beast."
"I dedicate more than an hour each day to exploring Sunset Forest." Lu Xuan shook his head helplessly, "Unfortunately, I haven't found a truly suitable target yet."