Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf

That day, Li Changqing was in the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain his Seventh Soul Ring.

After six years of cultivation, his Soul Power had reached Level 70.

Six years to rise from Level 22 to Level 70 was astonishingly fast. If he told anyone, they probably wouldn't believe him. They would think he was bragging.

Yet for Li Changqing, who had the Kunpeng Method at his disposal, that pace felt a little slow.

His cultivation might have progressed slowly by his standards, but his Soul Power reserves were extraordinarily deep. Even a Super Douluo might not have as much as he did.

On the Douluo Continent, Soul Master levels ran from one to ninety-nine.

Soul Master titles were divided by Soul Power Level, from lowest to highest:

Soul Scholar (levels one to nine), Soul Master (levels eleven to twenty), Soul Grandmaster (levels twenty-one to thirty), Soul Elder (levels thirty-one to forty), Soul Ancestor (levels forty-one to fifty), Soul King (levels fifty-one to sixty), Soul Emperor (levels sixty-one to seventy), Soul Saint (levels seventy-one to eighty), Soul Douluo (levels eighty-one to ninety), and Titled Douluo (levels ninety-one to ninety-nine).

Those below Level 94 were ordinary Titled Douluo. Those between levels ninety-five and ninety-eight could be called Super Douluo. The limit for a mortal Soul Master was Level 99, known as a Limit Douluo or Peerless Douluo—infinitely close to godhood. To advance any further, a Soul Master at that level could only seek a Godhood Inheritance or create a Self-Created Godhood, becoming a god at level one hundred.

That showed just how staggering Li Changqing's Soul Power reserves were. Though he was only Level 70 and had just six Soul Rings, he was confident that even without using his Kunpeng Martial Soul, an ordinary Titled Douluo would be no match for him.

Li Changqing had high standards for his Seventh Soul Ring. It had to come from a Soul Beast at least seventy thousand years old.

By now, he had ventured deep into the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest.

A young man about six feet tall walked slowly through the forest. It was Li Changqing, here to hunt for a Soul Ring.

He wore practical black fighting clothes and kept his hair cropped short. He wasn't ugly, but he wasn't particularly handsome either. His was the sort of ordinary face that vanished into a crowd.

Li Changqing had tried growing his hair long. After all, the protagonists in the anime from his previous life mostly had long hair, and they looked handsome and dashing.

In the end, he had given up. It wouldn't have affected his fighting, but hair whipping back and forth had always felt uncomfortable to him.

Suddenly, a terrifying wave of black light shot at him from the side. The moment Li Changqing sensed it, he rolled forward.

The wave struck the ground with a boom, blasting dirt into the air and leaving a huge crater.

After dodging the surprise attack, Li Changqing summoned the Thunderblade Sword into his hand and sprang up. Six Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet—yellow, yellow, purple, black, black, black—as he watched the direction the attack had come from.

Anyone else who saw that arrangement would have been astonished. It defied everything the Soul Master World knew: a Ten Thousand Year Fourth Soul Ring!

To absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as his fourth, Li Changqing had to possess a powerful body. But that strength hadn't come from nourishment by Kunpeng True Blood. Spending something so precious on a body he would abandon sooner or later would have been a terrible waste.

As an Otherworlder, he naturally made use of what he knew ahead of everyone else. Soul Masters of this era believed Whale Rubber was only good for helping men and women enjoy themselves; they had no idea it could also strengthen a Soul Master's body.

Ever since Li Changqing had started a business helping others obtain Soul Rings, he had spent part of his earnings on Whale Rubber. With enough of it to strengthen his body, he could naturally absorb Soul Rings beyond his level.

A drawn-out howl sounded. Then a giant wolf as tall as a three-story building came slowly forward, its heavy footsteps thudding through the forest.

Its fur was pitch-black. Even its mouth and the teeth inside were black. Its eyes, however, were golden, a stark contrast to the rest of its body.

The pressure radiating from the giant black wolf was terrifying. Its cultivation was clearly formidable.

Li Changqing recognized it at once: a Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf, an exceptionally powerful Soul Beast. Judging by its enormous size and terrifying presence, its cultivation was probably approaching 90,000-Year. It would do nicely as the Thunderblade Sword's Seventh Soul Ring.

Li Changqing stared at the Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf with excitement.

With nearly ninety thousand years of cultivation, the Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf was far from mindless. It knew the human before it was only a Soul Emperor. Yet instead of fleeing, this mere Soul Emperor meant to hunt it. Disdain filled its golden eyes.

A Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf of that age was exceptionally powerful. Even an ordinary Titled Douluo might not be able to defeat it with certainty.

Li Changqing caught the disdain in its eyes and let a faint smile curl his lips. Without wasting a word, he lit the fifth Soul Ring beneath his feet. The Thunderblade Sword in his hand instantly split into thousands upon thousands of identical swords.

This was Li Changqing's fifth Soul Skill, Myriad Sword Transformation, somewhat similar to Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect.

But with the swords created by his Soul Skill, Li Changqing could control the direction of each one's attack.

"Go!" Li Changqing barked. The swords stabbed at the Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf from every angle, aiming for its eyes, neck, belly, and other weak points.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf growled. Black light rose across its body and formed a sturdy Soul Power Barrier.

The swords struck the Soul Power Barrier with a rapid clang, clang, clang.

Under cover of the countless swords, Li Changqing charged straight at the Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf.

Seeing him approach, the wolf gathered power in its mouth and spat another wave of black light.

Li Changqing had expected it. In a flash, he vanished and reappeared to the wolf's left. His First and Second Soul Rings lit up together, stacking Keen Edge with Thunder Transformation.

His speed surged again. Gripping his sword with both hands, he slashed at the Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf.

Li Changqing was too fast. By the time the wolf noticed the attack, it was too late to dodge; it could only shift slightly to the right.

With his first and second Soul Skills layered together, the Thunderblade Sword's sharpness and attack power rose dramatically. Driven by Li Changqing's strength, it broke through the wolf's Soul Power Barrier. Crack! The Barrier shattered inch by inch, and the blade carved a wound into the wolf's body. Black blood flowed from the cut.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf leaped away in pain, furious that a feeble human had wounded it. It fixed Li Changqing with a vicious stare.

Li Changqing smiled faintly. "Weren't you looking down on me just now? One exchange and you're already hurt. Can you even fight? If not, stop resisting and be a good wolf. Become my Soul Ring."

Despite his taunting, Li Changqing did not let down his guard. He knew he had landed that blow only because the Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf had underestimated him.