Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, Sky-Splitting Wyvern

"Kill him?"

A smile curved Qian Renxue's lips, and she gently shook her head, her voice full of certainty. "Why would I kill him?"

"It would be far too wasteful to kill a genius who comes along only once in a thousand years. I want to win him over and make him serve me!"

Qian Renxue had always possessed absolute confidence in her own strength.

Even though the combat prowess Ye Han had displayed was already astonishing, her desire to bring him under her command had not faded in the slightest. She was still plotting how to recruit him.

She was Qian Renxue, bearer of the divine-grade martial soul, the Six-Winged Angel. Born with innate level 20 soul power, she was an unrivaled genius among the finest in the world.

Although she had squandered a great deal of cultivation time infiltrating the Heaven Dou Imperial Family disguised as Xue Qinghe,

her soul power had nevertheless steadily climbed to level fifty-nine!

"Furthermore, no one is to lay a hand on him."

Qian Renxue's voice abruptly turned cold as she lowered her gaze to Snake Lance Douluo, She Long. "For now, there is no need to inform that woman about Ye Han or our plans for dealing with him. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Young Master." She Long lowered his head slightly and accepted her command.

Inwardly, however, he felt a headache coming on. He knew perfectly well who the woman his young master referred to was—Bibi Dong, the current Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall.

As Qian Renxue's personal guard, he was well aware of the complicated relationship between her and Bibi Dong.

But their entanglement was a knot of intertwined roots and branches. Even as a Titled Douluo loyal to Qian Renxue's faction, he had no right to interfere, much less pass judgment lightly.

Elsewhere.

The Star Dou Great Forest.

Dugu Bo had led Ye Han deep into the forest, entering a region ordinary soul masters dared not approach recklessly.

Their destination was extremely dangerous, so they had not brought Dugu Yan or Ye Lingling along.

According to the divisions that would be used for the Star Dou Great Forest ten thousand years later, their current location lay deep within the mixed zone.

Hundred-year soul beasts were almost nowhere to be seen here. Most were thousand-year soul beasts, and occasionally, they even encountered traces of ten-thousand-year soul beasts.

Without Dugu Bo leading the way, Ye Han would never have dared venture this far alone.

Three days passed in a flash.

"Ye Han, what kind of soul beast are you planning to choose for your fourth soul ring?" Dugu Bo narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Ye Han before him.

"We've encountered plenty over these past three days. Whether top-quality dragon beasts or fire-attribute soul beasts, we've seen more than one of each!"

"Among all those soul beasts, not a single one caught your eye?"

At that, Dugu Bo instinctively glanced at the Fire Qilin beside Ye Han, who was putting on an innocent expression.

Ye Han gave a slightly embarrassed smile. "Let's keep looking. Those soul beasts were certainly good, but I still feel they were missing a little something."

"If we search another two or three days and still can't find a soul beast suited to the Fire Qilin, we'll have to settle for second best and hunt a fire-attribute soul beast for the Fire Qilin's fourth soul ring."

The two stayed in the Star Dou Great Forest for another day.

That afternoon, Ye Han finally found the soul beast he had been longing for, one that suited the Fire Qilin.

The soul beast had a slender body and a bizarre appearance, its entire frame covered in hard, spike-like protrusions.

Its body was roughly three meters long, and it stood upright on its hind legs. Every spike covering it was a deep, inky black.

Yet its eyes were a strange, brilliant silver, and the flesh beneath its black spikes shone with a metallic, silvery-white sheen.

A tail more than two meters long trailed behind it, swaying with remarkable flexibility. Including that tail, its total length exceeded five meters.

Its size and physical features alone made it clear that this dragon-type soul beast had only just reached the ten-thousand-year level.

That distinctive appearance let Ye Han recognize it at a glance—the Sky-Splitting Wyvern!

Although merely a wyvern, it possessed the exceedingly rare and immensely powerful spatial attribute.

Looking at the Sky-Splitting Wyvern before him, Ye Han was deeply satisfied.

As the old saying went, when time did not appear, space reigned supreme.

If he could obtain a spatial soul skill from this Sky-Splitting Wyvern, the Fire Qilin's combat power would take an enormous leap.

Ye Han immediately lowered his voice and told Dugu Bo beside him, "Senior, this is the one I want."

Dugu Bo swept his emerald serpent eyes over the Sky-Splitting Wyvern and nodded lightly. "Its aura is concentrated and stable. It has indeed just reached ten thousand years, and its attribute seems rather unusual."

Just as Dugu Bo was about to strike, Ye Han hurriedly warned him, "Senior, be careful. This soul beast possesses powerful spatial abilities and can escape extremely quickly. It's best to settle things in a single strike and give it no chance to react."

He did not name the Sky-Splitting Wyvern directly, lest he provoke too many questions from Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo scoffed. "Boy, you're being far too cautious. As a Titled Douluo, wouldn't capturing a soul beast that has only just reached ten thousand years be as easy as reaching out my hand? No matter how good it is at escaping, could it possibly slip out of my grasp?"

He waved a hand at Ye Han. "Summon your Fire Qilin and have him protect you off to the side. I'm going in."

Ye Han did as instructed. With a thought, the Fire Qilin appeared at his feet.

Man and beast immediately concealed their auras and hid in the thick bushes, quietly watching Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo flickered forward, silently approaching the Sky-Splitting Wyvern as it lowered its head to gnaw on silver ore.

Once he was close enough, emerald light flashed in his eyes. He opened with a killing move, sending a jade-green serpent-shaped streak of light straight at the Sky-Splitting Wyvern's vital point!

But Dugu Bo had never imagined that this seemingly certain strike would miss.

The instant before the attack landed, the Sky-Splitting Wyvern seemed to foresee the danger. Its silver eyes suddenly shone, and its body vanished into thin air, reappearing several meters to the side!

Hiss!

The attack that should have gravely wounded it merely grazed its body, leaving only a shallow cut across its skin.

"Hm?"

A flicker of astonishment crossed Dugu Bo's face.

The instant the attack missed, Ye Han distinctly sensed a change in their surroundings.

A sluggish resistance, accompanied by spatial fluctuations, enveloped this stretch of forest.

Ye Han lowered his gaze to the Sky-Splitting Wyvern and narrowed his eyes slightly. Was this... its innate ability?

It was trying to escape!

Spatial Prison was precisely the innate ability possessed by the Sky-Splitting Wyvern.

Within this domain, it could teleport repeatedly, while all its attributes received a slight boost.

Standing at the center of the domain, Dugu Bo felt its effects even more clearly.

His aged face instantly flushed red as embarrassed anger surged through him.

He, a dignified Titled Douluo, had actually failed to take down this ten-thousand-year soul beast in one move—and in front of Ye Han, no less. He could hardly save face!

"What a slippery beast!"

Dugu Bo snorted coldly and stopped holding back.

The seventh soul ring beneath his feet suddenly lit up, and emerald-green light erupted from his body.

Then he shouted in a deep voice:

"Martial Soul Avatar, Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor!"

With a low hiss, Dugu Bo's originally tall, lean body swelled and stretched within the emerald light, finally transforming into an enormous Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor!

At the same time, his eighth soul ring lit up.

"Eighth soul skill, Time Freeze!"

Inky radiance spread over his serpent body, staining its jade hue a dark green.

Dugu Bo opened his mouth and spat out a jade-green pearl.

The instant the pearl appeared, the space within a hundred-meter radius of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor seemed to freeze completely.

The Sky-Splitting Wyvern had just deployed Spatial Prison, silver light flickering around it as it prepared to teleport away again. Its body abruptly stiffened, forcibly fixed in place. Even the horrified silver gleam in its eyes froze.

Seizing that fleeting opportunity, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's thick, massive tail lashed down like a gigantic steel whip, striking the immobilized Sky-Splitting Wyvern with savage force!

Bang!

A deep, thunderous crash exploded through the forest.

The silver radiance covering the Sky-Splitting Wyvern instantly dimmed. The spatial power protecting its body shattered beneath the impact of overwhelming strength.

It let out a shrill, agonized howl as it was whipped through the air, smashing through several trees before crashing heavily to the ground and throwing up clouds of dust.

The Sky-Splitting Wyvern struggled to push itself upright, but blood mixed with fragments of internal organs kept pouring from its mouth and nostrils. It was gravely wounded and on the verge of death.

"Impressive, Senior!" Ye Han called out in praise, then emerged from the bushes with the Fire Qilin.

He looked at the fallen Sky-Splitting Wyvern and gave the Fire Qilin beside him a slight signal.

The Fire Qilin let out a low growl, his chest swelling as he unleashed a Dragon Pulse that struck the Sky-Splitting Wyvern squarely in the head.

Boom!

Already at death's door, the Sky-Splitting Wyvern lost its last spark of life beneath that blow.

A deep-black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring slowly emerged above its corpse.

Without hesitation, Ye Han sat cross-legged on the spot and brought himself into peak condition.

The Fire Qilin lay down beside him.

Opening his mouth, the Fire Qilin drew the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring toward him and swallowed it whole.

In an instant, energy far more violent and turbulent than that of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring exploded within the Fire Qilin. Through the bond between them, it surged madly into every meridian and every inch of Ye Han's flesh!

Ye Han's body trembled violently, and an unnatural flush rapidly spread across his skin.

Not only did his flesh and meridians endure the impact, but his mental sea also shook.

This was the soul assault unleashed by the lingering soul of a ten-thousand-year soul beast!

At this critical moment, a soul master with insufficient mental strength would, at best, suffer mental damage and become an idiot. At worst, their soul would scatter entirely.

Yet faced with this Soul Shock, Ye Han merely furrowed his brow slightly.

His mental power had long since been tempered and strengthened by the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew. With the further enormous increase brought by the awakening of his body martial soul, Spirit Eyes, he had more than enough strength to withstand this assault.

To his senses, the Soul Shock seemed ferocious, but after its initial impact, it could no longer shake him in the slightest.

Nothing more than this.

Ye Han's mind settled. Casting aside his concerns completely, he devoted himself to refining the vast energy pouring ceaselessly into his body.