"Brother Lu Guan! I'm here to see you!"
The clear voice echoed through the empty underground training hall, brimming with irrepressible excitement.
A girl in a pale purple mini dress bounded down the steps.
Three years had passed, and Na'er had grown quite a bit.
Her long silver hair hung loose down her back, her features had become even more striking, and her skin was fair. The beginnings of a beauty that could topple cities and kingdoms were already visible.
For three years, Na'er had come to Heaven Dou City to see Lu Guan every weekend, without fail.
Today was no exception.
Just then, a hand as large as a palm-leaf fan suddenly reached out and caught Na'er by the arm.
"Na'er, keep your voice down."
A man built like a black tower lowered his voice and said gruffly, "Junior Brother Lu Guan is making a breakthrough."
Startled, Na'er hurriedly raised both hands to cover her mouth, leaving only her purple eyes visible as they darted about.
Her adorably innocent reaction was utterly endearing.
Seeing this, the man scratched his bald head in embarrassment.
"Na'er, I only meant you shouldn't disturb Lu Guan. You can still talk normally. No need to cover your mouth."
This tower-like man was none other than A Ruheng.
He was the eldest disciple of the Body Sect and possessed a top-tier body martial soul.
He was huge and powerful, but not particularly sharp. Most of the time, he was rather dim-witted.
Three years ago, he had still been out gaining experience, so he and Lu Guan had not met when Lu Guan first arrived.
Na'er lowered her hands and drew out an "Oh." "Brother Lu Guan is already breaking through to Soul Elder?"
After receiving confirmation, Na'er pouted. "Hmph! He's actually doing it without me."
A Ruheng was speechless. Was this something you could arrange to do together?
Na'er did not expect A Ruheng to say anything. She walked over to the nearby rest area, pulled out a chair, and sat down, propping her chin in her hands with her elbows on the table.
"Then I'll wait for him here." Na'er swung her fair little legs, staring unblinkingly at Lu Guan's room.
A Ruheng left her alone. He merely turned to look at the tightly shut door, his lips unconsciously pushing into a pout.
Mu Ye had adopted A Ruheng when he was young, keeping him by his side and teaching him with great care.
Later, he had even endured the Body Sect's most brutal Innate Secret Method medicinal baths, gritting his teeth and surviving them.
Before meeting Lu Guan, A Ruheng had firmly believed that he was one of the greatest geniuses on the entire continent.
His master, Mu Ye, had praised him in exactly those terms.
Then, three years ago, his master had brought this Little Monster back from Eastsea City, along with an even more outrageous Na'er.
Lu Guan went without saying. As for Na'er, after awakening her martial soul, the Silver Dragon Spear, two and a half years ago, she had trained under Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu and was now already a rank-27 Soul Grandmaster.
At their age, A Ruheng had been nowhere near either of them.
Sometimes, he genuinely wondered whether those two were cheating.
Meanwhile.
Inside Lu Guan's room.
Lu Guan sat cross-legged on his bed.
His upper body was bare, and his nine-year-old physique already showed the beginnings of sleek muscle definition.
His skin carried a faint sheen.
The high concentration of soul power gathering around him caused waves of distortion in the air, visible to the naked eye.
Lu Guan's eyes were tightly shut, his breathing long and steady.
With every inhale, the surrounding soul power surged madly into his mouth and nose.
With every exhale, a faint trace of impure air escaped his body.
Over those three years, his soul power had also reached the rank-30 bottleneck.
With his talent and resources, he should actually have broken through long ago.
But Mu Ye had forcibly held him back, making him build a rock-solid foundation.
After all, soul power was not only about quantity, but also purity.
And the Body Sect certainly had authority when it came to tempering soul power.
It's about time.
Lu Guan silently repeated the words to himself.
His eyes snapped open.
His once clearly defined black-and-white eyes instantly turned dark red.
Boom-
A savage aura of malice erupted outward with him at its center.
The room's metal walls gave a deep, muffled hum.
The muscles beneath Lu Guan's ribs writhed.
Four thick arms burst out of his body.
At the center of his forehead, those two shadowy eyes snapped open.
War Lord Demon Body!
All six hands clenched into fists at once, his knuckles cracking like beans popping in a pan.
The soul power within him circulated madly along the pathways of the Innate Secret Method, finally converging in his dantian.
Before that savage force, the rank-30 barrier did not hold for even a second. Cracks instantly spread across it before it shattered with a thunderous crash.
Like floodwaters bursting through a dam, soul power surged and roared through his meridians.
He had broken through.
A three-ring Soul Elder.
But Lu Guan did not stop.
Breaking through rank 30 meant he needed to obtain his third soul ring.
Lu Guan's consciousness followed his meridians and sank directly into the space within his body.
Something lay dormant there.
The Nightmare Darkwing Tiger!
Ever since this ferocious beast had been subdued, it had remained inside Lu Guan's body without stirring for a long time.
It had been flawed to begin with, and its battle with Lu Guan had left it gravely wounded.
As a result, it had barely made its presence felt.
Even when Lu Guan integrated his second soul skill two years ago, it had remained quiet.
Over these three years, however, every time Lu Guan activated his War Lord Demon Body, that savage aura of malice had continually washed over its battered form.
The War Lord Demon Body's malicious aura was a deadly poison to ordinary soul beasts, but to a being of utmost darkness like the Nightmare Darkwing Tiger, it was the finest nourishment.
After three years of nurturing, its damaged form had gradually mended.
The Nightmare Darkwing Tiger's age had risen to a thousand years as well.
Lu Guan's consciousness took shape within that inner space.
All around him was a chaotic expanse of dark red.
He raised his head and looked into the depths of the space.
There, a mass of ink-black mist churned violently.
A low tiger's roar drifted faintly from within the mist. It was quiet, yet carried a pressure that struck straight at the soul.
Awake? Lu Guan made no sound, conveying the thought through his consciousness alone.
The black mist abruptly froze.
Then it rolled violently to either side.
An enormous tiger's head emerged from the mist.
Its entire body was pitch-black, with dark purple patterns flowing across its fur.
The character for "king" on its forehead was an eerie blood-red.
Most striking of all were the wings on its back.
Though still insubstantial, their general outline was already visible, bearing some resemblance to the bone wings of Lu Guan's War Lord Demon Body.
The Nightmare Darkwing Tiger opened its eyes.
They had no pupils at all, only endless abysses.
Human and tiger stared at each other within that chaotic space.
The Nightmare Darkwing Tiger looked at the human before it. Three years ago, it had been unwilling to become his soul spirit. But after three years of nourishment from his martial soul, it had now recovered its thousand-year level of strength.
Both that debt of gratitude and the oppressive might of the War Lord Demon Body left it no choice but to submit.
Now, the Nightmare Darkwing Tiger spoke. "Master, do you wish to wield the power of nightmares?"
The Nightmare Darkwing Tiger carried a thin trace of the ancient ferocious beast Nightmare's bloodline and possessed nightmare abilities.
Neither of Lu Guan's first two soul skills had anything to do with nightmares. Surely the third ought to be their turn.
Lu Guan nodded firmly.
"Then comprehend nightmares, and make His bloodline submit to you!"
The moment those words fell, Lu Guan's vision went black, and heaven and earth spun around him.
When Lu Guan opened his eyes again, everything around him was pitch-black.
There was no light, no boundary.
He lowered his head and examined his hands.
His body was solid, and the sensation of touch was almost too real.
A few steps ahead, red light flickered.
Two figures slowly peeled themselves out of the darkness.
Their height, build, features, and even the way they stood were identical to Lu Guan's.
The only difference was that these two "Lu Guans" were an eerie blood-red from head to toe.
Their skin, hair, and pupils were all a glaring red.
"Holy inner demons..."
Before you continue