Seeing that Ye Han finished absorbing the soul ring completely, Qian Renxue canceled her Martial Soul Possession and walked toward him step by step.
The pair of pristine white wings behind her transformed into countless fine specks of golden light that slowly dissipated, a faint smile lingering on her delicate and exquisite face.
"Congratulations."
Qian Renxue spoke, her voice clear and melodious. "It looks like the absorption went very smoothly. Such a top-quality soul ring must have brought you a quite formidable soul skill, right?"
Ye Han stood up from the ground, casually brushed the dust off his hem, and nodded lightly.
Just as Qian Renxue said, the improvement this soul ring brought to the Fire Qilin was immense.
Solar True Flame belonged to a purely offensive soul skill, primarily fire-attribute with some added light-attribute damage, possessing monstrously tyrannical destructive power.
According to Ye Han's own sensation, even if the Fire Qilin did not activate amplification soul skills like Qilin's Breath to enhance its state, simply casting Solar True Flame would allow the burst of power to already touch the upper-middle standard of a Soul Saint.
It was bona fide violent output.
"It feels very good." Ye Han turned to look at Qian Renxue, his tone extremely sincere. "This soul ring has a very high compatibility with my martial soul, and my soul power also rose quite a bit after the absorption."
He paused slightly and continued, "As for the soul skill... the Fire Qilin's newly acquired fifth soul skill is named Solar True Flame, a purely offensive soul skill."
Curiosity arose in Qian Renxue's golden eyes. "Can you display it for me to see?"
Ye Han did not refuse. With a thought in his mind, the Fire Qilin beside him let out a low roar and took a step forward.
The pitch-black soul ring it had just obtained at its feet instantly lit up.
The Fire Qilin opened its huge mouth, its chest rising and falling slightly as blazing golden-red light rapidly converged deep within its throat.
The next instant, an extremely dense golden-red beam of light suddenly erupted outward!
The beam of light looked only as thick as an arm, yet it carried a heart-palestating high temperature. The air along its path was scorched until it distorted, continuously emitting faint sizzling sounds.
The golden-red beam of light plunged straight into the magma lake ahead.
There was no earth-shaking roar, nor was there any magma splashing about.
The instant the beam of light sank into the magma, that patch of crimson liquid was as if directly evaporated by a formless force, a large area vanishing out of thin air to reveal the charred rock wall beneath.
A huge hollow appeared on the surface of the magma lake, and after maintaining it for several seconds, the surrounding magma slowly flowed over to fill the hollow once again.
Even though the Fire Qilin deliberately restrained a portion of its power, the might of this strike still touched the Soul Saint tier.
Qian Renxue quietly gazed at the scene before her, a trace of uncontainable envy flashing across the depths of her eyes.
The strength the Fire Qilin displayed at this moment, after acquiring the fifth soul ring, had already steadily surpassed her.
She even pondered inwardly whether she could contend with Ye Han's Fire Qilin even if she obtained her sixth soul ring and her strength elevated once more.
Moreover, she was clear in her heart that the Fire Qilin right before her had not activated that set of soul skill amplifications from earlier at all, growing this strong on its own innate power alone.
Once all the amplification effects were stacked to the maximum, the strength would probably become even more terrifying.
"A soul skill with very strong might." Qian Renxue softly sighed with emotion. "Speaking solely of offensive explosive power, it already approaches the all-out strike of quite a few Soul Saints."
Ye Han nodded slightly, looking at Qian Renxue with a serious expression.
"Being able to smoothly obtain this soul ring this time is thanks to Sister Snow's kindness."
His tone was earnest. "If you hadn't ceded this Six-Winged Scarlet Flame Insect King to me, it would have been very difficult for me to find a soul beast with such high compatibility in a short time, let alone obtain such a formidable soul skill."
This expression of gratitude from Ye Han came from the bottom of his heart.
Qian Renxue gently waved her hand, offering the same rationale as before.
"Meeting is a matter of fate." Her tone was calm. "Having this soul beast's soul ring absorbed by you can also be considered presenting a fine sword to a hero."
"It is much better than me hunting it by force to obtain a soul ring whose compatibility with myself is not quite perfect."
As for what the Six-Winged Scarlet Flame Insect King thought in its heart, that fell outside the scope of her consideration.
Ye Han nodded and stopped dwelling on this topic. "Sister Snow, since I have already successfully absorbed the soul ring, I should set off to find my companions, or else they will worry."
Hearing this, Qian Renxue looked at Ye Han with a half-smile and posed a rhetorical question, "Didn't you claim earlier that you were a rogue cultivator?"
Embarrassment instantly surged onto Ye Han's face. He raised a hand to scratch the back of his head, gave two dry laughs, and did not explain further.
Watching Ye Han look like this, a ripple of a smile stirred in the depths of Qian Renxue's eyes, and she did not continue to pursue the matter.
She raised a hand to signal that Ye Han could leave.
"Go." Qian Renxue spoke. "I must also set off to search for my sixth soul ring. The Star Dou Great Forest is vast in territory, and wanting to find a soul beast suited for my sixth soul ring will likely still consume quite a bit of effort."
The instant Qian Renxue's voice fell, Ye Han could clearly sense that the oppression which had secretly locked onto him moments ago like needles pricking his back abruptly dissipated.
That sharp aura belonging to a Titled Douluo quietly faded away.
The stone hanging in the depths of Ye Han's heart finally landed.
He no longer hesitated, thanked Qian Renxue once more, vaulted upward, and landed back on the Fire Qilin's broad spine.
The Fire Qilin let out a low murmur, its massive body taking to the air as strong air currents whipped up the dust on the ground.
"Sister Snow, until we meet again." Ye Han cupped his fists toward Qian Renxue and said solemnly, "I, Ye Han, will keep today's favor in my heart. If we have the affinity to reunite another day, I will definitely repay it."
Qian Renxue nodded slightly, her long golden hair fluttering softly in the air current.
The Fire Qilin's massive body soared straight into the firmament, transforming into an orange-red stream of light that galloped away toward the direction it had come from.
Ye Han knew clearly in his heart that Qian Renxue perhaps wanted to recruit him, which was why she bore no hostility toward him.
However, the feeling of being secretly watched by a Titled Douluo was truly unpleasant, and leaving as early as possible was the superior strategy.
The Fire Qilin flew at extremely high speed, flying out of this valley not long after.
Qian Renxue stayed in place, raising her head to gaze into the direction where Ye Han disappeared, standing still for a long time.
Until that crimson stream of light completely vanished at the horizon's end, she slowly withdrew her gaze, the smile on her face fading to return to the cold and detached appearance of ordinary days.
"She Long," she called out in a low voice.
A blurry human figure silently appeared by her side, precisely the Snake Lance Douluo, She Long.
"Young mistress." She Long slightly bowed in salute.
"Let's go." Qian Renxue pulled back her thoughts and turned to gaze into the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest. "It's time to go find my sixth soul ring."
On the other side,
Ye Han rode on the Fire Qilin's back, hurrying toward the location he had agreed upon with Dugu Yan and the others.
Ye Han's expression was relaxed, carrying a rare trace of joy as he inspected the Fire Qilin's state.
Right in the middle of flight, the Fire Qilin suddenly let out a low roar and, relying on the soul connection between the two, transmitted a vague sense to Ye Han.
It perceived that down in the forest below were a few auras that Ye Han had once come into contact with.
Ye Han was slightly startled, his mind thinking rapidly.
At this time point, appearing in this region of the Star Dou Great Forest and still capable of being recognized as familiar auras by the Fire Qilin... that could only be that group of people.
Pondering briefly, he raised a hand to pat the Fire Qilin's neck.
"Change direction, let's go down and take a look."
The Fire Qilin gave a low response, its massive body carving an arc in the air as it swooped downward toward the position where it sensed the auras.
On the ground, the Shrek crowd was surrounding Tang San, who had just finished his cultivation.
Tang San let out a long breath of turbid air, a sharp glint flashing past the depths of his eyes as the soul power fluctuations around his body grew noticeably stronger, officially stepping into the Soul Elder realm.
Before Zhao Wuji could even have the time to open his mouth and inquire about the details, a fierce wind pressure violently surged over from above everyone's heads, carrying scorching heat waves.
"Defend!" Zhao Wuji reacted the fastest, shouting in a stern voice as he completed his Martial Soul Possession at the very first moment. Seven soul rings instantly rose, shielding the Shrek crowd behind him.
The expressions of the rest of the group changed abruptly, and they successively released their martial souls, raising their heads to look toward the sky in tension.
Only to see a crimson, towering figure break through the tree canopy and crash heavily onto the ground.
A scorching heat wave rushed over their faces, causing people's breathing to involuntarily stall.
Following closely, a figure lightly leaped down from the Qilin's back and landed in front of the crowd.
It was precisely Ye Han.
The gazes of everyone from Shrek subconsciously swept over the majestic Qilin standing beside Ye Han, as well as the five soul rings slowly revolving at its feet...
The surroundings seemed to freeze instantly.
Two yellow, one purple, two black.
"F-Five soul rings?" The sausage in Oscar's hand dropped to the ground with a pat, yet he remained utterly unaware, merely opening his mouth wide with his eyes staring round and full.
The others also stared with wide eyes, looking in sheer disbelief as if they suspected they were seeing things!
The muscles on Zhao Wuji's face violently twitched a few times, staring fixedly at those five soul rings at the Qilin's feet with a dry throat, unable to utter a single word.
This Ye Han... just what kind of monster was he?!
Before you continue