"This is... a domain-type soul skill?"
Qian Renxue's delicate brows furrowed slightly, but she smoothed them out in the next instant and shook her head slowly. "No."
She possessed the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul and naturally carried the Angel Domain, making her an expert versed in domains.
Thus, she could tell at a glance that Ye Han's third soul skill looked very much like a domain, capable of altering the environment on a large scale and amplifying the user.
Yet, compared to a true domain, it still fell far short.
The most crucial point was that it did not distinguish between friend and foe.
Like her Angel Domain, it could clearly separate enemy and ally, strengthening her side while suppressing opponents.
However, Ye Han's soul skill merely altered the surrounding environment indiscriminately.
It lacked the ability to independently select targets for buffs or suppression.
"At best, it counts as a domain prototype, or rather... a pseudo-domain soul skill," Qian Renxue judged quickly.
Realizing this, the corners of Qian Renxue's exquisitely beautiful face could not help twitching slightly.
Giving buffs to the opponent as well?
He really was a nice guy!
Even the Six-Winged Crimson Flame Bug froze in place at that moment, evidently encountering an opponent that "helped strengthen the enemy" for the first time.
On the battlefield, although the Six-Winged Scarlet Flame Insect King's aura surged massively with the backing of Blazing Sun, it showed not the slightest bit of gratitude toward the Fire Qilin.
After a brief moment of shock, its three pairs of small golden crystalline eyes locked firmly onto the Fire Qilin. Its circular mouthparts opened abruptly, and a beam of golden-red light the thickness of an arm shot out directly, hurtling straight toward the Fire Qilin!
The Fire Qilin neither dodged nor parried. Its chest swelled, and it opened its mouth to spew a pure white pillar of fire, meeting the attack head-on!
Flamethrower!
The golden-red beam and the white pillar of fire collided fiercely in midair.
Under Qian Renxue's astonished gaze, that golden-red beam was like snow melting under a scorching sun, swiftly swallowed and exhausted by the white flame pillar!
The white flame pillar, having shattered the beam with its remaining momentum unspent, slammed heavily against the carapace on the Six-Winged Crimson Flame Bug's chest.
Screeech--!
The Six-Winged Crimson Flame Bug's crystal-hard shell actually began to melt.
It let out a sharp, agonized shriek, its massive body sent flying backward several meters by the impact of the flame pillar.
"This is..." Qian Renxue's golden pupils constricted slightly. "Attribute suppression?"
She saw it clearly. Both sides unleashed pure fire-attribute attacks, yet the Fire Qilin's flames formed a suppression that was near-absolute over the Six-Winged Crimson Flame Bug.
Among the same attribute, could there actually be suppression with such a stark disparity?
A trace of doubt arose in the depths of Qian Renxue's heart.
This was her first time witnessing such a situation with her own eyes.
Feeling the momentum of the Six-Winged Crimson Flame Bug continuously rising thanks to Blazing Sun, Ye Han felt quite helpless in his heart.
This was the shortcoming of Blazing Sun.
Not long after, the Fire Qilin dragged the three-thousand-year-old soul beast, whose aura had withered, to Ye Han's side.
The Six-Winged Scarlet Flame Insect King's circular mouth opened and closed weakly, spilling out faint whimpers. Its massive body collapsed limply onto the ground, not even leaving it the strength to struggle.
The Fire Qilin raised its right claw, the tips wreathed in green spiritual light, and the Qilin Claw slashed down without mercy.
Thwip--!
The sharp claw easily pierced the insect king's skull. The Six-Winged Scarlet Flame Insect King twitched violently a few times, then went completely rigid as its three pairs of small golden eyes rapidly dimmed to a lightless void.
A ten-thousand-year soul ring, dark and glossy as ink, rose slowly from the insect king's corpse, hovering quietly above the remains.
Qian Renxue hovered a dozen meters away, the pristine white wings behind her beating gently to steady her posture.
Her gaze swept back and forth between the youth and the two beasts, finally landing on Ye Han.
"Your martial soul... the skills you used when you just defeated the Six-Winged Scarlet Flame Insect King seemed to be more than four."
At this, Qian Renxue paused slightly, her gaze locking directly onto Ye Han. "Could you clear up my confusion?"
Ye Han's expression was calm, showing not the slightest hint of surprise. "Sister Snow is so observant. Most of the moves my martial soul just displayed were not soul skills bestowed by soul rings, but self-created soul skills it comprehended on its own."
"Self-created soul skills?" Qian Renxue raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed," Ye Han nodded. "My martial soul belongs to an external beast martial soul, which fundamentally sets me apart from ordinary soul masters. It can exist independently, act, think, and even cultivate on its own, possessing extraordinary talent in the fire attribute. Precisely because of this, it has relied on the fire it controls to comprehend quite a few practical self-created soul skills that lose nothing to soul ring skills."
Having just fought a fierce battle, the Fire Qilin was in high spirits and certainly didn't mind displaying some of its skills before Qian Renxue.
A crimson flame the size of a fist flared out of thin air with a pop; this was Ember.
Immediately following, the Fire Qilin spat out a swirling crimson line of fire that spiraled and expanded, instantly transforming into a rolling, churning Fire Spin.
This was Fire Spin.
Finally, the Fire Qilin's chest bulged, pure white radiance gathered in its throat once more, and a pillar of white fire surged forth explosively.
This was Flamethrower.
In the span of mere breaths, it successively unleashed three moves, employing three completely different ways to wield fire.
Qian Renxue watched quietly, the shock within her brilliant golden eyes hard to conceal.
In the dossier submitted to "Xue Qinghe" at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, she had indeed read records concerning Ye Han's martial soul mastering multiple self-created soul skills.
Yet written words on paper were completely different from the impact of seeing it with one's own eyes.
Amidst her fluctuating emotions, the curves of the court dress she wore shifted slightly.
Taking a deep breath, Qian Renxue suppressed the churning thoughts in her heart, regained her calm expression, and looked at Ye Han.
"I understand. In that case, hurry and take your time to absorb this soul ring. Although this place cannot be considered the deepest part of the Star Dou Great Forest, the commotion from our fight just now was not small and is very likely to attract the prying eyes of other soul masters or soul beasts."
"Since I said I was leaving the soul beast to you, I'll see it through to the end and help you guard the dharma here."
As her voice fell, her gaze dropped back to the pitch-black ten-thousand-year soul ring at the Fire Qilin's feet, her eyes narrowing slightly.
If it were anyone else attempting to absorb a thirty-thousand-year soul ring for their fifth soul ring, she would only scoff at their overestimation of their own capabilities and pure suicide.
Yet Ye Han and the Fire Qilin had already absorbed a ten-thousand-year soul ring back at their fourth soul ring, shattering conventional wisdom long ago.
Or rather, Ye Han's cultivation as a soul king at age twelve already overturned every definition of a "genius" she had held in the past.
Compared to this horrifying rate of cultivation, absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring for his fifth ring was hardly worth mentioning.
Hearing this, Ye Han dropped any further hesitation and bowed slightly toward Qian Renxue. "Then I'll have to trouble Sister Snow with this."
Without further ado, he sat cross-legged on the spot, quickly regulating his breathing to stabilize his condition.
The Fire Qilin followed suit, settling down close beside him.
The next moment, the Fire Qilin opened its mouth and inhaled sharply, swallowing that soul ring directly into its stomach.
For Ye Han and the Fire Qilin, the pressure of absorbing this thirty-thousand-year soul ring didn't even compare to when they absorbed their very first ten-thousand-year soul ring.
Over the past half-year, the continuous nourishment of the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone paired with the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum had elevated his physical body's toughness once more.
Beyond that, his body martial soul had newly awakened parts of its bones and meridians, giving his physical endurance a colossal leap forward compared to before!
Moments later, the mental shock manifested by the residual soul spirit within the soul ring was thoroughly shattered and dissolved, rendering it utterly incapable of threatening Ye Han and the Fire Qilin.
Absorbing the soul ring from here on out only required spending time; there was no longer any substantive danger.
Qian Renxue hovered in midair, her golden eyes fixed unblinkingly on the scene below.
This... was almost absurdly effortless.
The corners of Qian Renxue's mouth twitched ever so slightly.
That was a thirty-thousand-year soul ring!
The vast majority of soul masters wouldn't dare attempt this age bracket until they advanced to become a soul saint and acquired their seventh soul ring.
Yet what about Ye Han? His fifth soul ring was already challenging the thirty-thousand-year tier, yet the absorption process proceeded without a single hitch, and not even a hint of pain could be seen on his face.
What truly stirred her emotions, however, was the trust Ye Han displayed at this very moment.
This trust, demonstrated by willingly exposing his undefended back, caused a soft tremor in a hidden corner of Qian Renxue's heart amidst her surprise.
Had her initiative in ceding the soul beast won the youth a measure of goodwill? Or was this child's nature simply pure, unwilling to view others with malicious suspicion?
Qian Renxue had no way of knowing, but she quietly etched this trust into her heart.
The pristine white wings behind her unfolded slowly, and a gentle, sacred aura gradually radiated outward from her center, softly enshrouding the area where she and Ye Han resided.
The residual fire elements in the air and the bloody aura brought by the soul beast's death were slowly dispelled, creating a peaceful and tranquil sanctuary.
Time drifted by, and an hour later.
Ye Han's tightly shut eyelids fluttered slightly, and he exhaled a long, lingering breath of turbid air.
He opened his eyes immediately, a flash of fire seemingly darting across his dark pupils before rapidly returning to their usual profound depth.
Beside him, the Fire Qilin simultaneously opened its Qilin eyes, let out a low rumble, and stood up.
At its feet, the newly acquired fifth soul ring revolved in tandem with the other four rings.
Ye Han did not get up immediately. Concentrating to sense the Fire Qilin's status, a clear information panel floated into his field of vision, quickly locking onto the two lines he cared about most:
[Soul Power Level: Lv53] [Fifth Soul Skill: Solar True Flame]
His soul power had surged straight from the rank-fifty bottleneck to level fifty-three.
Although Ye Han felt a mild surprise, upon careful thought, it was entirely within reason.
He had been stuck at the rank-fifty bottleneck for quite some time, and the residual medicinal power of those two immortal herbs back then had only been thoroughly refined and digested after he broke through to rank fifty.
This three-level increase in soul power didn't stem solely from the soul ring; it was the result of the combined action of the immortal herb's lingering medicinal potency and the soul ring's power.
Before you continue