"No!"
"I won't leave! No matter what, I can't abandon Er Ming here alone!"
Xiao Wu stood firm, moving to leap down from the tree and rush to the Titan Giant Ape's side.
But the next moment, pain shot through the back of her neck. Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
Behind her, Tang San caught her.
"Xiao Wu, I'm sorry. I can't let you throw your life away, and I certainly can't die alongside a beast. I still have too much to do."
"I'm sorry!"
Tang San spoke with an icy expression, slung the limp Xiao Wu over his shoulder, and ran toward the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, ignoring the Titan Giant Ape's despairing gaze.
He remembered Xiao Wu saying that a Sky Azure Bull Python named Da Ming lived deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, with over a hundred and fifty thousand years of cultivation.
With him there, Qin Xiao would surely die if he dared to come!
"Teacher Zhao, why hasn't Your Holiness come yet? Could something have happened?"
Elsewhere, among the Shrek group, Ning Rongrong asked worriedly.
At her words, a trace of gloom flashed through Oscar's eyes.
Zhao Wuji shook his head. "What could possibly happen? You all know how strong Your Holiness is. Even the Clear Sky Douluo couldn't do anything to him. This Titan Giant Ape is no threat to him."
"If Your Holiness wants to leave, the Titan Giant Ape couldn't possibly stop him."
As Zhao Wuji spoke, he waved a dismissive hand.
He acted as though he were Qin Xiao himself...
Still, his respect for Qin Xiao now came from the heart.
Both his strength and his character commanded admiration.
Of course, if he could act like a decent human being... bah, do a few more normal things, he would be even more perfect.
"Teacher Zhao, look!"
Zhu Zhuqing, who was keeping watch from the treetop, suddenly pointed in a direction and called out.
Everyone turned to look and received a terrible shock.
Lightning filling the sky gathered into a finger, which then pressed down with brutal force!
An aura of destruction washed over them.
"Your Holiness the Thunder Emperor is using a soul skill!"
"Gasp... this move feels even stronger than the soul skill he used against Tang Hao!"
Even from so far away, everyone could still feel that aura of destruction.
They were terrified.
At the same time, they could not imagine how desperate the Titan Giant Ape must have felt facing that thunderous strike.
Terror. Helplessness!
The Titan Giant Ape no longer knew how to withstand such an attack.
Or rather, he knew that nothing he did could withstand it.
He covered his head with both hands and curled up, protecting his vulnerable areas as best he could.
Of course.
That was all he could do.
Boom! Crack!
Thunder exploded.
The enormous lightning finger crushed down mercilessly.
Serpents of lightning danced wildly, instantly illuminating the area as brightly as day.
Rocks, grass, and trees were all blasted to pieces.
"Do you hate me?"
After a long while, the lightning faded.
Qin Xiao looked coldly at the Titan Giant Ape before him and asked.
The Titan Giant Ape was in a miserable state, without a single patch of unbroken skin.
Some wounds had been charred black by the lightning, giving off faint wafts of roasted meat.
He knelt on the ground, all his strength gone.
Yet his eyes were still filled with hatred as he looked at Qin Xiao.
Clearly, if he could, he would have torn the man before him to pieces immediately!
"Instead of hating me, you should hate yourself."
"Hate yourself for being so stupid."
As Qin Xiao spoke, he glanced into the distance.
Xiao Wu's and Tang San's presences were gone. Needless to say, they must have fled.
Then he looked back at the Titan Giant Ape and said mildly, "Remember, in your next life, don't let anyone use you as their weapon again."
"Roar!"
At last, terror appeared in the Titan Giant Ape's eyes.
He's going to kill me!
He really is going to kill me!
Qin Xiao's voice was calm, but the killing intent within it chilled the Titan Giant Ape to the bone.
Instinctively, he tried to retreat in terror.
But it was already too late.
At some point, Qin Xiao's index finger had come to rest between his brows.
A beam of lightning pierced his enormous skull.
Thud!
Just like that, he collapsed to the ground.
The Titan Giant Ape, an overlord among soul beasts, had fallen.
Immediately afterward, a crimson soul ring condensed above his body.
[Ding, mission complete.] [Ding, mission reward issued. Host, please confirm which soul ring you wish to fuse it with.]
"I only wanted a fifty-thousand-year soul ring, but I ended up getting a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring."
"Life really is full of surprises."
Qin Xiao shook his head with a sigh.
Still, he felt no guilt. Humans and soul beasts were enemies by nature. Either humans killed soul beasts, or soul beasts killed humans.
Besides, given his relationship with Tang Hao, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Tang Hao were destined to be his enemies.
Rather than leave the Titan Giant Ape alive to bolster his enemies, he was better off killing him in advance.
In fact, if his strength allowed it, he would have charged straight into the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest and killed the Sky Azure Bull Python as well.
Only then would he have cut off all future trouble at the root.
"Forget it. There's no rush to deal with the Sky Azure Bull Python. Since I received a mission to hunt for a soul ring once, I can receive another. Turning him into a soul ring then would maximize the benefits."
"I'll fuse the soul ring first and see how it turns out."
With that thought, Qin Xiao put aside his plans to deal with the Sky Azure Bull Python for the time being.
System, fuse the Titan Giant Ape's soul ring with my first soul ring.
He issued the command in his mind.
As though drawn by an invisible force, the soul ring that had condensed above the Titan Giant Ape rose over Qin Xiao's head, then merged completely into his body.
Surges of soul power flowed into him as well.
"The soul power feedback from a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring is actually this noticeable."
Qin Xiao was pleasantly surprised.
This was a substantial boost. Although it would not immediately make him a rank ninety-three Titled Douluo, it greatly shortened the journey.
[Ding, the host's original soul skill has been detected to be utter trash. Would the host like to replace it with new soul skills?]
Huh?
There's a bonus like that, too?
Qin Xiao froze. Did something like this even need to be discussed?
"Replace it!"
Qin Xiao responded immediately.
[Ding, replacement successful. New skills have been generated.]
Sure enough, Qin Xiao discovered that his first soul ring's original thousand-year skill was gone. In its place were two skills granted by the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
[Tai Tan Body: increases strength and defense by one hundred percent.]
After reading the first soul skill, Qin Xiao gently stroked his chin.
Is this pushing me down the path of a musclehead?
However.
Before he could give it much thought, the effects of the second soul skill appeared in his mind.
[Thunder Titan Soul: the soul ring manifests a physical Thunder Tai Tan with an age corresponding to the user's cultivation, which lunges directly at the target to strike.]
"Well, this..."
"Is it because I can control lightning? Did the Titan Giant Ape evolve?"
Qin Xiao silently speculated about the cause. He reckoned that was almost certainly the case, and the Thunder Tai Tan should be considerably stronger in combat than an ordinary Titan Giant Ape.
"With this soul skill, does that mean I won't have to lift a finger against ordinary Titled Douluos?"
"I can just shut the door and unleash Tai Tan..."
Qin Xiao smiled.
Very nice. His previous soul skill had come from a mere Hundred-Year Soul Beast, and given his current cultivation, the boost it provided was pitifully small.
The two soul skills the Titan Giant Ape had given him were much better than his previous skill.
The second soul skill, in particular, suited a lazy person like him perfectly.
Thinking of this, Qin Xiao smiled in satisfaction. He had to admit, this haul was excellent. He had hit the jackpot.
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