"Little Xu, won't you give it some more thought?"
"Relax, old man. After absorbing those chunks of ten-thousand-year whale glue, I'm terrifyingly strong now!"
Watching Lou Xu thump his chest in assurance, Lou Gao knitted his grizzled brows.
"Being strong enough to kill a soul beast and being able to absorb its soul ring are two different things!"
"How are they different? My innate soul power is level twenty. With soul power protecting my body, whale rubber strengthening me, and the power of the first flame helping me, why couldn't I absorb a thousand-year ring as my first soul ring?!"
His tone was unwavering.
A soul ring's age was closely tied to mental power and physical strength.
After transmigrating, his mental power had already surpassed that of ordinary people. With so many enhancements to his physical strength as well, a thousand-year first ring hardly counted as a reckless gamble for him.
Choosing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring wasn't some groundless, arrogant fantasy. It rested on years of nourishment from soul beast meat, muscles and bones tempered through countless forging sessions, and a powerful physique honed by whale rubber and the Primal Fire.
His talent and his stats were what gave him confidence.
Lou Gao stared at him for a long while before putting his pipe back between his lips.
"I'm still worried."
Lou Gao took a hard drag on his pipe.
"Once we find a soul beast, if you realize you can't withstand it, you'd better choose a younger first ring. Do you hear me?"
"As if I'd gamble with my own life. Trust me, old man."
Lou Xu met his gaze, his eyes resolute.
After they stared at each other for a moment, Lou Gao finally sighed.
"You little brat. You've had a mind of your own since you were tiny. I won't try to persuade you anymore." With that, he turned and continued clearing a path.
"Hehe, isn't that hereditary?"
"Enough of your cheek."
Grandfather and grandson passed through the dense woods, heading deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.
Lou Gao had originally picked out several soul beast species for him.
But when he asked Lou Xu how old a soul ring he wanted, Lou Xu immediately said a thousand years!
A thousand years?!
Upon hearing that, Lou Gao stopped walking and even stopped smoking, insisting that Lou Xu reconsider.
An ordinary person's first soul ring could be around four hundred years old at most. A thousand years?
That was enough to burst Lou Xu's veins and damage his martial soul five times over, and then some!
After all, the difference between a hundred-year soul ring and a Thousand-Year Soul Ring wasn't merely a quantitative increase in age. It was a qualitative transformation in soul power intensity!
In his sixty-odd years, Lou Gao had seen plenty of soul masters stuck at the threshold of level twenty-nine, unable to advance an inch. But he had never seen anyone's genius absorb what should have been someone else's third soul ring as their first!
Sigh...
Lou Gao's feelings were complicated.
His grandson had been mature and sensible since childhood. Confidence was a good thing, but he feared that behind it lay the rash arrogance of a fledgling leaving the nest.
Only... after their soul hunting trip, he would have to send the boy to the Heaven Dou Branch to escape trouble. The Star Luo Empire was watching like a tiger eyeing its prey. If his grandson really could have two soul rings beyond the normal age limit to protect himself, wouldn't that put Lou Gao's mind more at ease, too?
They spent the entire afternoon searching without finding a suitable soul beast.
Seeing that darkness was approaching, the two retreated to the outskirts to rest for the night.
Whoosh!
Lou Xu summoned his martial soul, and the Star-Iron Furnace Anvil appeared in his hands. As hammer struck anvil, he stirred the power of the first flame, sending it onto the pile of wood and kindling a fire.
The campfire ignited by the Primal Fire stood out vividly in the forest as the curtain of night fell.
Deep within the forest, a tightly shut pair of dragon eyes snapped open, surprise showing in their dark-purple vertical pupils...
Grandfather and grandson remained unaware of the approaching danger.
After dinner, Lou Gao kept watch while Lou Xu returned to the tent to rest first.
Watching Lou Xu's retreating back, Lou Gao slowly smoked his pipe, his gaze deep.
The eldest prince had failed to recruit the boy and certainly wouldn't let the matter rest. After this soul hunting trip, it would likely be several years before grandfather and grandson met again.
Lou Xu, nestled beneath his blankets, still knew nothing of the old man's plans for him.
Silence surrounded him. Fresh air carrying the scent of earth slipped through the tent curtains and brushed his forehead, coaxing him into sleep.
Lou Xu had a rare dream. In it, his body grew unimaginably huge. He held Douluo Star, no larger than a millstone, in his hand, while a silver-white dragon glowing with rainbow light circled his shoulders.
At midnight, the chill of the night breeze abruptly made Lou Xu curl up and shiver.
He groped for his blanket, mumbling in his sleep.
"Stop stealing my blanket..."
"Little Xu!!!"
"Mmm... I'm sleeping..."
"Wake up!!! There's an enemy!!!"
"?!"
Lou Gao's roar rang out beside his ears.
At the mention of an enemy, Lou Xu's drowsiness vanished. He sprang upright, only to discover that his blanket and tent had somehow been overturned and tossed aside.
Beside him, Lou Gao gripped his martial soul, the Sacred Forging Pen, in a tense confrontation with a tall man standing with his hands behind his back.
"Who are you? What exactly do you want?"
Sweat slid down Lou Gao's temples, soaking his grizzled hair and beard.
Strong!
Unfathomably strong!
The intruder had arrived without a sound. By the time Lou Gao noticed him, the figure had already overturned the tent and appeared over Lou Xu, looking down to examine him.
Lou Gao had unleashed his soul skill with all his strength, yet failed to shake the intruder in the slightest. He could only scoop Lou Xu off the ground and retreat at speed.
Now, he dared not make any rash moves. One hand clenched the Sacred Forging Pen while the other kept Lou Xu firmly protected behind him.
The clouds overhead quietly parted. Moonlight spilled onto the ground, a soft beam illuminating the intruder's handsome, resolute face.
Only then did Lou Xu see what the man looked like.
A single glance sent a sudden chill climbing up his spine.
The intruder was actually...
Di Tian!!!
The leader of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts ten thousand years from now, the eight-hundred-and-thirty-thousand-year-old Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King!!!
Weren't they supposed to be sucking on Tian Meng jelly together right now?!
Why had he come to the outskirts?!
How had the old man ended up facing him?
Lou Xu was full of questions, inwardly cursing his rotten luck.
Seeing grandfather and grandson braced as though facing a formidable enemy, Di Tian frowned slightly, displeasure showing in his eyes.
"This is the divine aura my lord sent me to investigate?"
As the standoff continued, Di Tian's patience gradually ran out.
He casually swept out a hand. His sharp claws carried vast soul power, tearing through the night in an instant.
"!!!"
No dodging it!
No blocking it!
Lou Xu reached that conclusion in a split second.
The claws filled his vision. Deep furrows tore through the ground along their path as the unstoppable attack hurtled straight toward grandfather and grandson.
Lou Gao hurriedly mustered his soul power and violently shoved Lou Xu away before the blow landed.
Bam!
The single strike sent Lou Gao reeling backward uncontrollably. Its tremendous force slammed him into a thick tree trunk nearby before he finally stopped.
"Little Xu..."
His vision gradually blurred. His lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
Lou Gao reached out, trying to grasp something, but his body was slowly dragged into darkness, and he lost consciousness.
"..."
"Old man!"
At the last instant before impact, the shove had carried Lou Xu clear of the attack. Yet he had watched Lou Gao take the Dragon God Claw and collapse beneath the tree, his fate unknown.
He had died suddenly and unexpectedly in his previous life. In the six years since he had transmigrated to the Douluo Continent, Lou Gao, with whom he had depended on for survival, had become his own grandfather.
His only family!
Tremendous fury surged through his chest!
"Bastard!"
Gripping the Star-Iron Furnace Anvil, Lou Xu charged at Di Tian without fear of death, flame patterns blazing across the pitch-black hammer and anvil.
Even if I die today, I'll tear off a mouthful of flesh!
Thwack!
A knife-hand struck the back of his neck. Lou Xu's vision went black, and he collapsed unconscious.
Di Tian looked expressionlessly at the unconscious Lou Xu.
Dealing with a level-seventy-two Soul Saint and a level-twenty Soul Scholar was as easy as turning over his hand.
He had assumed an enemy from the Divine Realm had arrived and prepared himself for probing exchanges, maneuvering, fierce clashes, flanking, a bitter struggle, and even retreat in defeat.
Compared with his tens of thousands of years spent sleeping and cultivating, this tiny bit of activity burned scarcely more energy than a yawn.
Looking at Lou Xu lying on the ground, Di Tian considered for a moment.
"I'll take him back and let my lord decide."
Enormous wings spread behind him. He picked up Lou Xu, beat his dragon wings, and vanished.
Silence returned to the surroundings. The evening breeze skimmed the furrows in the ground and passed the unconscious Lou Gao, carrying his deep concern toward the heart of the forest.
Before you continue