The Goal: Become a God?

Huang Tieyi returned from deep in the woods. The wild, cruel look had vanished from his face, replaced by exhaustion.

"A Yi, where's that lecher?" Ling Yuan Douluo asked.

"Dead. I killed him." Huang Tieyi yawned. "It's late. I'm going to sleep—"

Before he could finish, blood burst from his mouth.

"A Yi, what's wrong?" Lei Zhenyun rushed forward and caught him as he started to fall.

"It's nothing. I absorbed all of a Titled Douluo's Soul Power, and my body can't quite handle it." Huang Tieyi fought to contain the Soul Power running wild inside him. "I just need to release some..."

His Fifth Soul Ring lit up. He held his palms facing each other, and a Big Ball Rasengan gradually formed between them. Raising both hands toward the sky, he let it grow until he could no longer hold it, then hurled it upward. It burst apart in an instant, falling back to earth as a heavy shower.

"Not enough. Again..." Huang Tieyi resorted to the legendary Prince's Battle Tactic, sending one Big Ball Rasengan after another into the sky. Rain poured down without pause. Only when the rampaging Soul Power inside him began to settle did he stop.

"A Yi, you can make it rain too? You could pass yourself off as a holy man someday. Just don't make it rain on us again..." The sudden downpour had drenched Lei Zhenyun and the others like drowned rats.

"Don't worry. It won't happen again." Huang Tieyi dried his clothes in an instant with Soul Power and said awkwardly, "I didn't want this either!"

"A Yi, what cultivation art are you practicing? You can actually absorb someone else's Soul Power. A power that overbearing couldn't come from a Soul Skill, could it?" Lei Zhenyun asked curiously.

"I got it during an operation to hunt down Evil Soul Masters. Practicing it lets me absorb other people's Soul Power for my own use. It's an overbearing art," Huang Tieyi explained. "After that, I focused on it. Whenever I went out on a mission, I absorbed my enemies' Soul Power. When I hunted for Soul Rings, I absorbed Soul Beasts' Soul Power.

"Because my Martial Soul is the Golden Sacred Body, the side effects this art causes in Evil Soul Masters don't affect me at all. Without it, I never could have gotten this far."

"Heh, so that's how it is. I wondered how you improved so fast. Turns out you've been practicing an Evil Soul Master's art. You really are something, kid!" Lei Zhenyun exclaimed.

"Grandpa Yun, Worshipper Ling Yuan, I'm sleepy. I'm going to bed." Huang Tieyi yawned again.

"Don't sleep yet, A Yi. What happened to that lecher?" Lei Zhenyun asked.

"Grandpa Yun, if you want to know, go see for yourself. All I'll say is that he died horribly. I'm not saying anything else." Huang Tieyi leaned against a tree trunk and promptly fell asleep.

Huang Tieyi's refusal to say more only made Lei Zhenyun more curious. He went to look and soon came back.

Ling Yuan Douluo saw his pale face and unsteady steps. "How horrible was it?"

"I don't know how horrible his death was at the time. By the time I got there, Soul Beasts had torn his corpse apart and eaten it. Blood was everywhere, mixed with the astonishing amount of seed those Soul Beasts had left behind. It was as disgusting as anything could be. That's all I can say. I can't bring myself to describe it any further."

Huang Tieyi had fallen asleep late the night before and slept soundly. When he woke, he felt his body bouncing up and down. "Grandpa, why are you carrying me?"

"My precious grandson, I heard what happened last night. You did well. Letting a villain die in an instant would be cruel to his victims. But don't do that again. Those screams nearly made me suffer cultivation deviation." Huang Batian set Huang Tieyi down and patted his shoulder, his expression stern.

"I know, Grandpa. I'll be careful next time." Huang Tieyi smiled, plainly unconcerned.

"Big Brother, what's the fuss? A Yi insisted on handling it himself. If I'd done it, that lecher would've died even more horribly." Lei Zhenyun wore a cruel smile. "A Yi, what you did to his eggs wasn't that cruel. If you'd lured ants in there, that would have been cruel..."

"Shut up. Why do you have to describe it in such detail?" Huang Batian snapped.

Bibi Dong stared blankly at Lei Zhenyun. She had no idea what he was talking about!

Ling Yuan Douluo understood him perfectly. She felt as if she had been given a lesson and wished she had a little notebook to write it down, so she could try it herself the next time she encountered a lecher. Huang Tieyi had avenged her last night, in a way, but some things had to be done with her own hands before the shadow they left in her heart would fade.

"Grandpa, what level are you now?" Huang Tieyi asked.

"My Soul Power has reached level 95. Unfortunately, I couldn't get past it. Then I'd be a Super Douluo." Huang Batian looked thoroughly pleased with himself.

"Big Brother, could you stop rubbing it in? I'm only level 92. You gained two levels just by absorbing a Soul Bone, and that's infuriating enough. Did you have to bring up becoming a Super Douluo too?" Lei Zhenyun grumbled.

"I haven't reached level 96, have I? Little brother, you still have a good chance of catching up. Keep at it!" Huang Batian said with a laugh.

"Big Brother, if you don't know how to comfort someone, don't try. You're making me feel worse," Lei Zhenyun said plaintively.

"Getting from level 95 to 96 takes more than simply accumulating a great deal of Soul Power. You really do still have a chance to catch up," Ling Yuan Douluo offered.

"Worshipper Ling Yuan, your comfort makes that day feel impossibly far away," Lei Zhenyun said sourly. "My big brother absorbed a Soul Bone. That's like taking a shortcut. Who knows how many years it'll take me to catch up on my own?"

"Grandpa Yun, come along next time someone needs a Seventh Soul Ring or higher," Huang Tieyi said evenly. "That hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast in human form should be a speed type. Absorb her Soul Bone, and you'll have taken a shortcut too."

"That makes sense, A Yi, but it'll probably be a long time before anyone else needs a Soul Ring. By then, your grandpa will have entered the Worship Hall." Expectation crept into Lei Zhenyun's voice. "You'd better work hard, kid. You might even reach your Eighth Soul Ring before any of them."

"Grandpa Yun, you think too highly of me. Once we get back, I'll probably go into seclusion for a while, then return to Slaughter City to train," Huang Tieyi said. "Who knows how long it'll take me to get out of Slaughter City?"

"Slaughter City? They say it's the place where the Asura God left his inheritance on Douluo Continent. Grandson, you're only a Soul Saint, and you're already aiming to become a God?" Huang Batian asked, his face full of shock.