A Thousand-Year-Old Skyrazor Ant; Su Yuan Unleashes His Power; Terrifying Strength

The crackling flames painted the faces of the four people around the campfire red.

An iron pot had already been set over the fire. Water boiled inside it, along with a skinned Soft Bone Rabbit.

A faint aroma of meat gradually wafted from the pot.

Su Yuntao swallowed instinctively, but still turned to Tang Shan beside him with some hesitation.

"Little brother, will this boiled Soft Bone Rabbit really taste good?"

Tang Shan took some seasonings out of his storage Soul Tool Ring and waved them proudly.

"Once the rabbit is cooked, we'll sprinkle these in. If it doesn't taste good then, you can come after me."

"I never knew Shanzi had a knack for this."

Su Yuan, sitting opposite him, sounded impressed.

Over this time, Su Yuan had gradually grown familiar with Tang Shan and simply started calling him "Shanzi," just as Su Haichao did.

Since they were both his elders, Tang Shan had never minded how they addressed him, provided they didn't suddenly call him "Little Shan" like a certain Gangzi.

"This kid trains every day so he can absorb older Soul Rings, and that takes plenty of nourishing food."

Su Haichao spread his hands helplessly.

"My cooking skills—no, I don't have any to begin with. Anyway, Shanzi thought my food tasted awful, so he started figuring it out himself. Over time, he actually got somewhere."

Rustle, rustle!

The faint sound of limbs brushing against vegetation reached Su Haichao's ears. His gaze shifted slightly, and he hurried to warn the others.

"Something seems to be coming. Stay alert."

As he spoke, he looked toward the sound.

The other three reacted immediately. Tang Shan and Su Yuntao ducked straight behind Su Haichao, while Su Yuan darted over to stand beside him.

Rustle, rustle!

A pitch-black creature gradually emerged from the distant grass, though in the dim light, they could only make out a dark silhouette.

It approached the burning campfire little by little. Upon catching the drifting aroma, it sped up noticeably. Clearly, the Soft Bone Rabbit in the pot had drawn it here.

The flickering firelight revealed its true appearance.

It was only about seventy centimeters long, with a black shell covering its entire body like heavy armor. Its six legs were short but extremely steady.

Two long antennae extended from its head, swaying as they carefully sensed its surroundings.

"It's a Thousand Jun Ant. It looks fairly old."

"Over a thousand years."

Tang Shan studied it carefully and soon estimated its age.

"Little brother, how can you tell?" Su Yuntao asked curiously.

"Whether they're a hundred or a thousand years old, Thousand Jun Ants are generally less than a meter long. To determine their age, you don't look at their length, but at the bumps on their backs."

Lowering his voice, Tang Shan pointed at the Thousand Jun Ant's back.

"A hundred-year Thousand Jun Ant usually has a smooth back, and there are other ways to determine its exact age. A bump on its back means it's a Thousand-Year Qianjun Ant. Every additional bump means another thousand years. This one has one obvious bump, while another has started to form, so it's probably between thirteen hundred and fifteen hundred years old."

"Then is it suitable for your martial soul, Shanzi?"

Su Yuan went straight to the key question.

"Extremely suitable."

Tang Shan answered without hesitation.

Su Yuan and Su Haichao exchanged a glance.

"I'll handle the attack. You watch out for any other soul beasts."

That was Su Yuan's proposal.

Su Haichao nodded in agreement, instinctively expanding his perception and heightening his vigilance toward their surroundings.

"Martial Soul Possession."

Powerful soul power fluctuations erupted from Su Yuan, finally catching the Thousand-Year Qianjun Ant's attention.

It turned, glanced at Su Yuan, then continued crawling toward the iron pot as though nothing had happened.

Faced with its disregard, Su Yuan displayed a temper completely at odds with his usual refined, easygoing manner.

"You little thing! How dare you look down on me!"

With his Firebird possessing his body, four Soul Rings—two yellow and two purple—rose and fell around Su Yuan in a steady rhythm.

Scale-like feathers emerged one after another from his exposed skin.

First Soul Skill, Flame Burst: increased his fire attribute by 50%.

As he surged forward, enormous wings spread from his back, and his second Soul Ring flashed.

Second Soul Skill, Wings of Fire: spread wings from his back, granting flight and increasing all attributes by 15%.

Scorching flames enveloped his body, and a powerful beat of his enormous wings whipped up a gale.

Whoosh!

Su Yuan spat out a mass of flame. It rapidly expanded, engulfing the entire Thousand Jun Ant.

This wasn't a Soul Ring skill, merely the most basic application he had developed for his martial soul.

The searing flames not only engulfed the black ant but also ignited the surrounding trees.

Watching the fire begin to spread, Tang Shan grew worried.

"Dad, won't this start a forest fire?"

Su Haichao wasn't paying attention to the spreading flames. Instead, he watched the battle between man and soul beast while keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Even when he heard Tang Shan's question, he remained unconcerned.

"Shanzi, don't underestimate plant-type soul beasts. Even though they have little intelligence and can't move, ordinary flames can't set them alight. In fact, they might even extinguish these flames."

So that was it.

Only after looking closely did Tang Shan notice that the burning vegetation went out almost immediately. Around those plants stood others that were relatively tall or distinctive.

Presumably, those were plant-type soul beasts. Blended in among ordinary plants, they were indeed easy to overlook.

At that moment, the battle changed again.

Su Yuan's flames seemed to have truly enraged the Thousand Jun Ant. A dull impact rang out—bang!

A black shadow launched straight off the ground, broke through the flames, and hurtled toward Su Yuan.

Whoosh!

With a powerful beat of his flaming wings, Su Yuan twisted through the air to dodge. The black shadow shot past him, its rushing wind whipping up his hair—a clear indication of the tremendous force behind the Thousand Jun Ant's charge.

Boom!

The black ant slammed into the ground unharmed. Even after flames had swept over its entire body, its shell remained completely unscathed.

Such high defense. This Thousand Jun Ant's strength was fairly normal, but wasn't its defense a little excessive?

Beating his wings high in the sky, Su Yuan couldn't help frowning. No one knew better than he did how powerful his flames were when combined with two enhancement skills. Yet they hadn't inflicted the slightest injury on this soul beast. Its defense was truly absurd.

"Su, hurry it up. You're making quite a racket."

Hearing Su Haichao urge him on, Su Yuan decided to stop drawing out the fight.

"I wanted to save some soul power, but that doesn't seem possible now."

A purple glow radiated from his third Soul Ring. Scorching flames surged from Su Yuan like a flood released through a dam, swiftly gathering before him.

A fist-sized ball of fire began to swell rapidly as the flames poured into it.

At first, it only grew to the size of a coconut, then expanded to the size of a basketball.

As he poured soul power into it at a furious rate, an enormous ball of fire half a meter across finally appeared before them.

Third Soul Skill, Fireball: gathered flames in front of him into a massive fireball, which expanded before being compressed and detonated, possessing terrifying offensive power.

Bang!

The Thousand Jun Ant slammed its forelegs into the ground again. Tremendous force poured into the earth beneath it, launching its black body skyward once more.

What awaited it, however, was a white fireball compressed back down to the size of a fist, its heat warping the surrounding air.

Boom!

A violent explosion echoed through the area. Waves of heat erupted overhead, and Tang Shan and the others distinctly felt the surrounding temperature rise.

The flames expanded into a sphere of light that engulfed the Thousand Jun Ant, illuminating the surrounding night as brightly as day.

Was this really the power a Soul Ancestor should possess?

Tang Shan's mouth hung slightly open. His shock was beyond words.

"Shanzi, snap out of it. Get ready to finish it off. Su hit it pretty hard this time. Wait any longer, and that ant might die."

Watching the black ant crash to the ground, Su Haichao hurriedly reminded Tang Shan beside him.

"Okay!"

Tang Shan took a deep breath and pulled an enormous iron hammer from his storage ring. Led by Su Haichao, he hurried toward the Thousand Jun Ant.

The Thousand Jun Ant was already on its last breath. It lay on its back, its slowly waving limbs betraying its dire condition.

Without hesitation, Tang Shan leaned forward, raised his hammer high, and brought it down on the ant's head.

Crack!

Cracks spread across its shell, but it still didn't shatter immediately.

Again.

He swung the iron hammer up and slammed it down with all his might.

The shell shattered, and the head caved in.

The dead Thousand Jun Ant's limbs twitched instinctively a few times, then fell still.

Specks of purple light gradually gathered above the corpse, finally forming a pale purple Soul Ring.

"Let's take this soul beast away first. That made quite a commotion, and plenty of nocturnal soul beasts are probably heading here. We'll find somewhere else for your breakthrough."

Su Haichao lifted the Thousand Jun Ant's corpse with one hand, motioned for the three to follow, then headed toward the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest.

The three hurried after him without a word.

After traveling for about fifteen minutes and confirming they had left the area around their previous campsite, they finally stopped.

"Shanzi, go ahead."

Su Haichao put the soul beast down, and Tang Shan walked over and sat cross-legged beside it.

Su Yuan watched intently, ready to witness this historic moment: a thousand-year first ring. He couldn't say no one would ever achieve it again, but he was almost certain no one had done it before.

Su Yuntao was also a little nervous. He would most likely be absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring himself, so he wanted to watch his little brother absorb one first, hoping to gain some useful experience.

Su Haichao stood silently to one side, his gaze slightly unfocused, as though he had returned in a dream to that deserted alley several years ago.

"Since you already have a name, child, you'll be Tang Shan from now on. May your future be as brilliant and glorious as the Clear Sky Twin Stars who have just made their names across the continent."

"Shanzi, is reaching the heights of the Clear Sky Douluo truly your limit?"

That heartfelt blessing from the past seemed to be coming true step by step, perhaps even surpassing his original hopes.

A trace of tenderness appeared on Su Haichao's face.

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