"That's right! A thousand-year Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine!"
Beside him, Chrysanthemum Douluo broke into a smile, his delicately handsome face brimming with pride.
"Didn't you say before that you wanted a suitable Thunder Attribute Soul Beast's Soul Ring for your second Soul Ring?"
"And since you're pursuing the Food System path, the Soul Beast that best meets your needs is undoubtedly an edible Thunder Attribute plant Soul Beast."
"Among those, the highest-quality and strongest is the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine!"
As he spoke, Chrysanthemum Douluo turned toward Ghost Douluo and said with deep feeling,
"After we decided to find a Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine and give you a surprise,"
"Old Ghost and I kept posting missions across the continent, asking people to help locate one. At last, we found this three-thousand-year Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine!"
"Although your cultivation is only at the Soul Master level right now, Hao,"
"I heard you could hold your own against that boy Yan even after his Martial Soul Possession. Your physical strength in your normal state must be at least on the level of a Soul Ancestor."
"You should have no trouble absorbing this three-thousand-year Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine's Soul Ring!"
"Teacher! Uncle Ghost! Thank you!"
Hearing this, Lin Hao felt an indescribable wave of gratitude surge through his heart.
A legendary divine plant Soul Beast like the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine was certainly not easy to find.
His teacher, Chrysanthemum Douluo, and Uncle Ghost, Ghost Douluo, must have spent considerable effort and resources on this.
"All right, Hao! I'll go seriously injure this Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine for you first. The rest will be up to you!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo patted Lin Hao's shoulder with a soft smile.
Then he turned to face the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine swaying amid the lightning in the valley.
As he approached, Chrysanthemum Douluo extended his right hand.
In an instant, amid a blaze of dazzling golden light, a brilliant golden singular velvet sky chrysanthemum emerged from his palm.
At the same time, nine Soul Rings-two yellow, two purple, and five black-rose around Chrysanthemum Douluo and slowly revolved around his body. A terrifying, suffocating pressure erupted in an instant!
"Fourth Soul Skill: Gathering of Cold Blossoms!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo let out a sharp, lilting shout.
As his fourth Soul Ring suddenly lit up, Chrysanthemum Douluo's aura surged.
Immediately afterward, golden energy blades formed in the air, each radiating an incomparably keen presence, as though it could slice through space itself.
Under Chrysanthemum Douluo's control, these energy blades swept toward the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine like a furious storm, intent on shredding it!
Faced with Chrysanthemum Douluo's attack,
the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine sensed mortal danger as well.
Its dark-purple vines thrashed wildly, instantly bursting with blinding dark-purple lightning. Countless bolts erupted, sweeping outward like lightning serpents and annihilating every energy blade of Gathering of Cold Blossoms!
At the sight, Lin Hao could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
His teacher, Chrysanthemum Douluo, was a Titled Douluo!
Even a Soul Saint would probably not dare take his fourth Soul Skill head-on.
Yet this Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine had only three thousand years of cultivation, and its lightning attack had actually destroyed his teacher's fourth Soul Skill.
It truly deserved its reputation as an immortal-grade divine plant Soul Beast!
"Not bad!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo merely smiled disdainfully, a playful gleam flashing through his eyes.
"But how much lightning can you unleash to destroy my flowers filling the sky?"
Before his words had faded, Chrysanthemum Douluo activated another Soul Skill.
"Fifth Soul Skill: Golden Stamens Streaming Rosy Clouds!"
In an instant, Chrysanthemum Douluo raised his brilliant golden singular velvet sky chrysanthemum Martial Soul.
Its countless golden petals abruptly unfurled, becoming razor-sharp, their edges glinting with a cold, metallic sheen.
Then the petals broke free of the singular velvet sky chrysanthemum Martial Soul, transforming into countless golden blades in midair. Like a meteor shower, they filled the sky and shot toward the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine!
Against this assault of flowers raining across the sky, the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine desperately unleashed lightning, destroying the incoming golden petal blades one after another.
But Chrysanthemum Douluo's golden petals seemed endless, appearing far faster than the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine could destroy them.
Soon, a mass of golden petals broke through the lightning's defenses and viciously sliced into the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine's body!
Slice! Slice! Slice!
Amid a dense flurry of cutting sounds,
the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine's aboveground vines were shredded into countless pieces, dark-purple sap splattering everywhere.
Only its buried roots and stem remained, faintly trembling. The entire Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine had been gravely wounded.
But Chrysanthemum Douluo did not stop there.
He feigned an approach, baiting the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine into exhausting its last remnants of Soul Power. Only after confirming that this divine plant Soul Beast could no longer resist did he turn to Lin Hao and say,
"Hao, it's ready! Come finish off this Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine and absorb its Soul Ring!"
"Yes, Teacher!"
Thrilled, Lin Hao immediately took out the Silver Dragon Spear and strode forward.
Reaching the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine's roots and stem, Lin Hao took a deep breath, aimed at the roots where its last trace of life remained, and drove the Silver Dragon Spear down hard!
Shhk!
The gleaming silver spearhead pierced the soil and struck the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine's rootstock with precision.
The Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine's remains shuddered violently several times before finally losing all signs of life.
A multitude of purple motes drifted from the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine's remains, gathering in midair into a deep-purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring!
Then Lin Hao took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed his excitement, and summoned his Martial Soul-the singular velvet sky chrysanthemum.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and began meditating, circulating the Soul Power within his body.
Soon, drawn by Lin Hao's Soul Power,
the purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring slowly floated over and slipped around his singular velvet sky chrysanthemum Martial Soul.
In that instant!
Lin Hao felt a searing, savage surge of Soul Power flood his body, rampaging through his meridians and coursing through every limb and bone, bringing wave after wave of tearing pain.
"Ngh!"
Lin Hao could not help letting out a muffled groan. Crackling lightning flashed all over his body, his hair stood on end, and fine arcs of electricity appeared across his skin.
But over the past year and more, Lin Hao had continually tempered his body with both the Spirit-Gathering Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and ten-thousand-year whale glue.
Though this Soul Power was violent, Lin Hao still endured it.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The dazzling light radiating from the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine's second Soul Ring finally began to dim.
But just as Lin Hao was about to successfully absorb this three-thousand-year second Soul Ring from the Thunderclap Hell Prison Vine,
something suddenly changed!
A mass of purple Soul Power resembling a ball of light abruptly burst from the second Soul Ring, surged into Lin Hao's body, and flowed toward the spine in his back.
Finally, it merged into his spine.
In an instant, crackling dark-purple lightning erupted along Lin Hao's spine. The area swelled, abruptly pushing his flesh and skin outward.
It rose high, like the sail on a spinosaurus's back.
Pain immediately crossed Lin Hao's face again, and he could not help bending forward.
Beside him, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo were both startled.
"Hao!"
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