Song Feng

Star Dou Great Forest, Demon Valley.

Inside a cave, Lu Mingzi accidentally opened an underground passage. It was narrow and dark, and he had no idea where it led.

The passage was pitch-black. As he entered, a bone-piercing chill seeped into him, and the air carried an unpleasant musty smell.

"Demonic Thought..."

He was about to call out when Demonic Thought interrupted him from within his Spiritual Sea.

"Don't withdraw your Martial Soul. Otherwise, that successor will kill you. No—what he left behind will kill you."

Demonic Thought's tone was unusually grave, and Lu Mingzi realized this was no joke. He immediately went on guard.

After advancing to Soul Elder, Lu Mingzi felt the black markings spreading across his skin. Before, they had covered only his arms and abdomen.

Now the markings covered his arms completely, while those on his abdomen had spread across almost his entire torso, creeping slightly up to his jaw.

If not for his human face, passersby might have mistaken Lu Mingzi for a demon on the street.

"Ugly, aren't they..." he said, mocking himself.

Before long, the narrow passage suddenly widened. Lu Mingzi realized he had reached another area.

He opened his palm, and a ball of flame sprang to life, illuminating his surroundings.

Although he could not use Soul Skills, he could still use Soul Power to produce a flame.

"Writing?"

Startled, he looked at a wall where a passage of text had been carved.

"My name is Song Feng. I was a successor of the Demonic Angel, gifted from childhood, and achieved the title of Douluo in nine years."

"I did not want to inherit the Angel God's power by following the prescribed path, so I sought the Asura God's inheritance instead."

"To me, a First-Level God was merely a stepping stone to becoming a God King. Pursuing ultimate strength was my lifelong ambition!"

"Yet my Demonic Thought was corrupted by Rakshasa. That bastard interfered with my divine trial and drove me to attack the Azure Divine Dragon."

"The divine dragon rivaled a true god, and its fighting strength crushed ours. I was no match and ultimately fell."

"Junior, if you have reached this place, your future must be boundless. If you wish to accept my inheritance, take one step forward."

"That's all it says." Lu Mingzi sank into thought.

"So this passage contains a trial Song Feng set up?"

"No wonder Demonic Thought told me not to withdraw my Martial Soul. So this is what he left here."

Lu Mingzi smiled faintly. Since he had come this far, he had to obtain the inheritance.

Now that he was here, how could he leave empty-handed?

He took one step forward and stood firmly on the floor.

Rumble!

The entire ground shook violently. Countless tiny stones fell, kicking up clouds of dust.

Lu Mingzi remained unmoved, standing quietly. No one could make him budge.

Just then, the stone wall before him rose, revealing an enormous stone chamber.

As the chamber opened, a dusty smell rushed out. The space inside was vast enough to hold ten adult Titan Giant Apes.

A stone coffin stood upright in the center of the chamber.

Bang!

The coffin lid fell away and slammed heavily onto the floor.

Inside lay a strikingly handsome man.

"Been a long time since I moved," the man murmured to himself.

"So strong."

Lu Mingzi's heart clenched. The man's aura was terrifyingly powerful, pressing down on him like a massive mountain.

The man seemed to notice Lu Mingzi and glanced at him in surprise. The pressure intensified.

Boom!

The mountain-heavy pressure left Lu Mingzi struggling to breathe, his body trembling.

"I didn't expect a Soul Elder brat. Hm... Is that the Demonic Angel?"

The man withdrew the pressure and vanished in a blur, appearing before Lu Mingzi in an instant.

Lu Mingzi's pupils contracted, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Don't worry, kid. At your level, you only made it here with Demonic Thought's help, didn't you?" the man said.

"I asked you a question. Stop staring!"

He slapped the back of Lu Mingzi's head.

"Yes."

Lu Mingzi rubbed the back of his head and nodded.

"That's Song Feng," Demonic Thought said.

"I am Lu Mingzi. It's an honor to meet you, Senior Song Feng."

Lu Mingzi looked at the former successor, his eyes shining with admiration.

"Senior, are you still alive?"

Seeing how full of life Song Feng looked, he could not help asking.

"I died long ago."

Song Feng shook his head helplessly and spoke calmly.

"For a special reason, I can't move more than half a meter from the stone chamber. If I leave, I'll vanish from this world. I've remained here only to wait for the right person—and that's you."

Lu Mingzi grew solemn and listened intently.

"You opened this chamber, which means you want my inheritance. I can't disappoint you, can I..."

With a wicked grin, Song Feng walked up to Lu Mingzi and pressed a palm against his torso.

In an instant, a vast, chilling energy poured into Lu Mingzi's body like a surging tide.

"That's... Divine Yin Power!" Demonic Thought cried.

Song Feng was pouring his own Divine Yin Power into Lu Mingzi, rapidly raising his Soul Power.

"Ah..."

Lu Mingzi's face twisted. The violent Divine Yin Power charged through every part of his body like a rampaging bull.

The energy was so powerful and savage that pain tore through him. His whole body felt as though it had been smashed to pieces.

The agony was several times worse than when he had advanced his Soul Ring.

"That should be enough."

After a while, Song Feng withdrew his hand. Lu Mingzi had collapsed to the floor in pain.

Though Song Feng had stopped transferring Divine Yin Power, Lu Mingzi's suffering did not end. The energy was still ravaging his body.

"There's too much energy. It's going to burst me apart."

Lu Mingzi struggled to his feet. After receiving that energy, his Soul Power had soared wildly.

It had shot straight from level thirty-two to level forty.

And it still had not stopped!

"If you want my inheritance, you'll need to show some ability."

"I'll give you five minutes to hunt down and absorb two Soul Rings and advance to Soul King. Otherwise, I'll detonate this energy and let it blow you apart."

Song Feng gave a cold laugh.

"Five minutes..."

Lu Mingzi gritted his teeth against the pain. If not for the limits imposed by his level, the vast Divine Yin Power inside him would have been enough to propel him straight to Soul King.

That meant he needed two Soul Rings to break through those limits.

Otherwise, when the five minutes were up, his body would explode, leaving him without even a place to be buried.

"Go. These five minutes are yours. I have no other inheritance to give."

Song Feng sighed, slowly stepped back into the stone coffin, and closed his eyes.

Bang!

The coffin lid sprang upright from the floor and sealed the coffin.

Lu Mingzi turned and left the chamber. The moment he stepped outside, the stone wall descended and sealed the entrance tight.

Everything seemed to have returned to the way it had been.

He had no time to dwell on it. Hunting two Soul Beasts and absorbing their Soul Rings within five minutes would be exceedingly difficult.

If he exceeded five minutes, he would certainly die.

The outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest.

Qian Renxue had followed Lu Mingzi's scent all the way here.

"Come out."

Her eyes turned cold. She tilted her head slightly and called toward the dense grass behind her.

"Still couldn't hide from you, Young Master."

The grass rustled, and a stout figure emerged. It was Ci Xue.

"Why are you following me? Didn't I tell you to go to the imperial palace first?"

"Ah, Young Master, it's not that I don't want to. I can't. The Great Enshrined ordered me to protect you. I can't let you go off alone."

Ci Xue sighed helplessly. If anything happened while the Young Master was acting alone, he could never bear the responsibility.

"Lu Mingzi went this way."

Qian Renxue crouched and used her Soul Power to examine the traces he had left, determining which way he had gone.

"Let's go."