Rouge Dragon

"Five thousand years?"

Su Yuan nodded, quite satisfied with that figure.

As long as he absorbed a five-thousand-year Soul Ring as his third, he would practically be guaranteed a black Soul Ring at the very least for his fourth.

Absorbing a Soul Ring inherently strengthened a Soul Master's body and mind to some degree. By absorbing a third Soul Ring of an age ordinary Soul Masters could only handle for their fourth, Su Yuan would naturally reap greater benefits.

He also had the [Never Bully a Poor Young Man] trait to assist him. As his soul power level increased, so would his spiritual power.

Once they returned, he only needed Wang Xian'er to get him some ingredients or medicine that nourished the mind, and a ten-thousand-year fourth ring would be a sure thing.

After absorbing the Soul Bone, Su Yuan spent another dozen or so days training in the Frozen Forest.

Throughout those days, Su Yuan fought all kinds of Soul Beasts in the Frozen Forest, honing his combat instincts and tempering his mental resolve. He fought at least three battles every day.

After obtaining the Ice Bear left palm bone, Su Yuan's combat strength increased dramatically.

The Soul Beasts he fought also grew steadily older.

With Heaven-Frost Palm, Su Yuan even killed a thousand-year Snow Fox single-handedly without suffering any serious injuries himself.

Defeating a thousand-year Soul Beast alone was the benchmark for a genius Soul Elder. Even at Shrek, Soul Elders capable of overcoming thousand-year Soul Beasts were dragons and phoenixes among men.

Normally, only a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor possessed the basic strength needed to kill a thousand-year Soul Beast alone.

Su Yuan's performance was ample proof of the terrifying boost a Soul Bone could provide. This Ice Bear left palm bone had brought about an enormous leap in his combat strength.

However, during those dozen or so days, Su Yuan never encountered a suitable Soul Beast.

The Frozen Forest was only on the outskirts of the Far North, after all. Though its harsh environment meant there were few weak Soul Beasts, there were likewise few particularly powerful ones roaming about.

The commonly encountered Soul Beasts were mostly between two hundred and two thousand years old.

Those over three thousand years old were extremely rare.

They finally encountered Soul Beasts approaching five thousand years old on a few occasions, but none were suitable for Su Yuan's third Soul Ring.

After another day of training ended, Su Yuan found a spot sheltered from the wind and sat before the fire Luo Shan had already built. As he drank the fragrant, warming meat broth, his taut nerves finally relaxed.

This training really was the genuine article. As long as his life was not in danger and there was no risk of serious injury, Wang Xian'er and the other two did not intervene at all.

For those dozen or so days, the three of them let Su Yuan run all over the Frozen Forest like a headless fly, offering neither help nor hints. They simply watched from afar.

Only once the day's training ended could Su Yuan sit down for some hot soup and enjoy a good night's rest.

During that entire period, he received Mo Yunxing's help only once.

A Snow Owl with thirty-six hundred years of cultivation had marked Su Yuan as prey and descended silently from the sky.

Su Yuan had been watching his surroundings the whole time, but he truly failed to notice the attack from above. With its slippery movements and flight as soundless as an owl's, that Snow Owl was simply impossible to guard against.

That was the only time Su Yuan had to be saved by outside assistance.

At all other times, even when he could not win, Su Yuan either avoided the danger beforehand or successfully escaped.

Still, with the three of them there to catch him if he fell, Su Yuan's training was indeed highly effective. By now, he had all but lost that inexperienced air of a pampered young master out on a spring excursion. His expression had become much more resolute, and his eyes openly gleamed with a keen edge.

The fierce, domineering presence of a Dragon Martial Soul Master was gradually taking shape.

Wang Xian'er also believed Su Yuan's training could now come to a close. Continuing would no longer produce results as good as before.

Thus, she planned to end the training and obtain his Soul Ring first.

"Little Yuan, you've already gotten excellent results from this training. I think we can stop here and take care of your Soul Ring first." Wang Xian'er still sought Su Yuan's opinion.

Su Yuan did not refuse. He also felt that continuing would merely mean repeating the process of wilderness survival.

"Then where are we going next?"

"The Frozen Forest lacks older Soul Beasts with powerful bloodlines. We need to leave it and head deeper into the Far North," Wang Xian'er said.

Just then, a streak of black light swept over from the distance, reaching the fire in the blink of an eye. It took the form of a blue-black Ghost Cloud Leopard more than ten meters long, with eight enormous Soul Rings circling him.

It was none other than Mo Yunxing's Ghost Cloud Leopard Avatar.

However, what drew their eyes at that moment was not Mo Yunxing's Martial Soul Avatar, but the Soul Beast he had forcibly brought back from outside, its neck clamped between his avatar's jaws.

It was a draconic Soul Beast resembling a Tyrant Dragon, but far slimmer and more elongated. Pink dragon scales covered its body, and a patch of pink, diamond-shaped crystals grew atop its head.

In the glow of the fire, the pink dragon Soul Beast seemed wreathed from head to toe in a hazy, dreamlike pink radiance.

Thud!!

Mo Yunxing opened his jaws and dropped it on the ground, then returned to human form himself.

"Elder Wang, Young Master, look at the Soul Beast I brought back!" Excitement showed on Mo Yunxing's face.

"A Rouge Dragon?" Wang Xian'er exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right, a Rouge Dragon!" Mo Yunxing grinned. "A forty-seven-hundred-year Rouge Dragon, right within the Young Master's absorption limit, so I captured it and brought it back!"

"I never expected such good luck. I only went out to hunt some game, but I ran into it along the way!"

Listening to their exchange, Su Yuan raised an eyebrow as memories long dead suddenly sprang up to attack him.

At first, he had thought this oddly shaped, macho pink dragon beast looked familiar, but he could not place it right away. Only when Wang Xian'er exclaimed "Rouge Dragon" in surprise did Su Yuan remember.

They had passed through Dragon City not long ago. Wasn't this Rouge Dragon the inherited Martial Soul of the Earth Dragon Sect-and Nan Qiuqiu's Martial Soul?

If it really was a Rouge Dragon, then Su Yuan's luck was indeed remarkably good.

"We're certainly fortunate. I never imagined there would be Rouge Dragons in the Far North." Wang Xian'er nodded with a sigh of wonder, then explained to Su Yuan, "Little Yuan, do you remember Dragon City, where we stopped before?"

"Dragon City has two fairly powerful sects. One is the Heavenly Dragon Sect, which passes down the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, hailed ten thousand years ago as the world's greatest Beast Martial Soul. The other is the Earth Dragon Sect, whose inherited Martial Soul is precisely the Rouge Dragon!"

"Its bloodline may not be pure or powerful enough, but its attribute is extremely unusual. It's called annihilation!"

"The annihilation attribute is a lesser form of the destruction attribute. Though it cannot match the destruction attribute's tremendous destructive power, it is still very troublesome to deal with, possessing the properties of disintegration and dissolution!"

Su Yuan needed a ranged attack for his third Soul Skill, and this Rouge Dragon happened to fit his requirements perfectly!