One Year Later

The entire process of absorbing the Soul Ring lasted three days and three nights.

Lin Ye opened his eyes again...

Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, red, red!

Seven dazzling Soul Rings flashed in succession beneath his feet.

"Unbelievable!"

Shui Bing'er had spent so long with Lin Ye, but seeing such an unconventional arrangement of Soul Rings still felt unreal.

It was too bizarre!

People might not believe it if she told them.

Her husband had two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.

And there was something even harder to believe.

Her husband had only just become a Soul Saint!

"Do I look handsome?"

Lin Ye laughed.

The Titan Snow Demon's Soul Ring had brought his Soul Power to level seventy-four.

The feeling of leveling up was simply wonderful.

"Where are we going next?"

Shui Bing'er asked.

Her answer was the same as before.

On this journey, she would let Lin Ye decide everything.

"Let's get out of here first."

They had already spent long enough in the Frozen Forest.

Next, they needed to find a town and replenish their supplies. They couldn't eat beast meat in the Frozen Forest every day.

More importantly...

He needed to find somewhere safe to absorb the Titan Snow Demon's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

"Mm!"

Shui Bing'er nodded.

The journey back wasn't difficult for either of them.

A year later.

In a Soul Beast Forest.

"Lin Ye!"

"Catch it!"

"Don't let it get away!"

"Don't worry."

"It won't escape."

"..."

Lin Ye leaped into the air.

At his command, the Mystic Ice True Dragon swooped down.

A fifty-thousand-year-old Rock-Splitting Mountain Bear fell stiffly to the forest floor.

Over the past year,

both of them had made considerable progress.

After a year of Dual Cultivation day and night, Shui Bing'er's Soul Power had reached level fifty-five.

Her already beautiful face had grown even more radiant, and her whole bearing was completely different from before.

Mm...

His devoted tending had played no small part in that.

As for Lin Ye,

just a few days earlier,

his Soul Power had successfully broken through to level seventy-nine.

Of course,

daily Dual Cultivation wasn't solely responsible.

The most important reason he had reached level seventy-nine within a year was the Titan Snow Demon's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

"Impressive!"

Shui Bing'er immediately cut open the Rock-Splitting Mountain Bear's carcass and took out its heart.

That was good stuff!

Eating it would give them a tremendous boost.

"Huh...?"

"Where are we?"

Shui Bing'er suddenly realized this wasn't the part of the Soul Beast Forest they had been in before.

Somehow...

they seemed to have entered an entirely new world.

"Death Canyon!"

Lin Ye had once read about Death Canyon in a textbook.

Death Canyon was also known as Maze Grand Canyon.

It lay in the wild borderlands between the Star Luo Empire and Spirit Hall.

Soul Beasts ran rampant, and poisonous miasma spread everywhere!

Danger lurked at every turn!

"Death Canyon?"

Shui Bing'er looked astonished.

But...

astonishment was all she felt.

Over the past year, they had traveled from the Frozen Forest to the Star Dou Great Forest and encountered plenty of powerful Soul Beasts.

So what if this was Death Canyon?

She wasn't scared!

"Someone's coming."

The moment Lin Ye said it,

Shui Bing'er's face filled with vigilance.

Mm...

She might not be scared,

but that didn't mean she would let her guard down in a Soul Beast Forest, not even a little.

Just then,

the "someone" Lin Ye had mentioned appeared.

"Spirit Hall?"

Lin Ye recognized them at a glance.

Approaching him was the Spirit Hall Golden Generation. Hu Liena, who had been named Saintess, led the way, with Yan and Xie Yue on either side.

What were the three of them doing here?

Could it be...

that after losing to him last time, they'd been sent to Death Canyon?

Lin Ye had guessed right!

That was exactly how the Spirit Hall Golden Generation had ended up in Death Canyon.

When Bibi Dong learned that the three of them together had failed to defeat Lin Ye, she flew into a rage and made two decisions in quick succession.

The first was to send the Spirit Hall Golden Generation to Death Canyon.

Hu Liena felt that punishment was far from enough and immediately proposed that no one from Spirit Hall be allowed to protect them in secret.

She believed a Soul Master could only unlock their true potential by facing trials of life and death.

Bibi Dong approved of the proposal!

Yue Guan and Gui Mei were freed from that duty, but at the same time, they received Bibi Dong's second assignment.

They were to go to Heaven Dou City and investigate Lin Ye's identity.

But...

by the time they arrived, Lin Ye had already left Heaven Dou Royal Academy. At the time, all they knew was that he was a Five-Ring Soul King.

"Lin Ye?!"

"What are you doing here?"

Hu Liena was stunned.

She had never imagined she would encounter the opponent who appeared even in her dreams here in Death Canyon.

Lin Ye asked in return, "Aren't you here too?"

"..."

For a moment, Hu Liena didn't know how to answer.

She had dreamed of meeting Lin Ye again in all sorts of places, but Death Canyon had never been one of them.

"Hmph—"

"Fancy running into you here!"

Unlike Hu Liena, Yan was anything but calm. Seeing Lin Ye again filled him with towering rage.

"Looks like you still can't accept your defeat."

Yan snorted coldly.

He was right!

The Spirit Hall Golden Generation would never submit.

"Lin Ye," Yan said coldly, "fight us again!"

All three of them wanted it.

Why had they endured this miserable ordeal in Death Canyon?

To grow strong enough to defeat Lin Ye and restore the Golden Generation's reputation.

And now,

they had encountered Lin Ye in Death Canyon.

It was an opportunity handed to them by the heavens.

"If I say no, you're not going to let me leave, are you?"

Yan and Xie Yue stepped forward together.

Hu Liena, though she stood at the center, was half a beat slower.

Their actions had already given him the clearest possible answer.

Even if Lin Ye didn't want to fight today, they would force him to.

The next instant,

all three stepped forward.

Their Martial Souls—the Moon Blade, Demon Fox, and Flame Lord—emerged one after another.

At the same time,

five Soul Rings flashed beneath each of their feet.

"You've become Soul Kings?!"

Lin Ye finally understood where their confidence came from.

But it made sense...

They were the Spirit Hall Golden Generation.

If a year of training in Death Canyon hadn't been enough for them to become Soul Kings, they would have been far too weak.

Just then,

Yan leaned forward, ready to charge.

He intended to strike like thunder and catch Lin Ye off guard.

Before he could move...

Hu Liena suddenly reached out and stopped him.

"Nana?!"

The anger in Yan's heart burned even hotter.

What was that supposed to mean?

Don't tell him Nana had fallen for Lin Ye!

"Lin Ye." Ignoring Yan, Hu Liena addressed Lin Ye directly. "Summon your Martial Soul."

"No need!"

Summon his Martial Soul against three Soul Kings?

What a joke!

Of course,

there was another reason he wouldn't summon it.

He didn't want Spirit Hall to learn his true strength, much less reveal the two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings he possessed.