Yi Chen smiled. "Oh, you actually learned a Spatial Soul Skill? Hmm, no, that doesn't seem right. Some kind of dark art, perhaps?"
Yi Chen pressed both hands against the Fallen One's body. Wisps of frost seeped between his fingers, and a ring of crystalline chill spread along the Fallen One's body and into him.
The Fallen One's eyes widened in terror. "Impossible! How could my Soul Power be sealed? Damn it, I can only unleash one ten-thousandth of its power! This is power bestowed upon me by a deity... damn it..."
Yi Chen withdrew his hands with a grin and said lightly, "So what if it was a deity? You're nothing but an ant. Who are you to even speak of deities?"
The Fallen One's body rapidly shriveled, and a plume of black smoke rose from him.
Yi Chen thrust both hands forward. A violet-blue ball of lightning flew from his hands and struck the Fallen One, bursting into countless lightning serpents with a crack. The Fallen One let out a deafening scream, and his charred body fell into the mire.
A fresh fragrance drifted over. More than a dozen small grasses sprouted from the sludge and happily began feeding on the Fallen One's corpse, devouring strand after strand of pure soul essence. In the blink of an eye, their colors grew more vivid, more refined, and more vibrant.
Yi Chen shook his head and sighed. "What a waste... such a fine tonic, wasted just like that..."
Yi Chen approached the Fallen One step by step and lightly punched his head. The powerful force of the blow reverberated through the Fallen One's skull, shattering it to pieces.
Yi Chen caught a fist-sized, dark-gold bead in his palm. Thick liquid flowed inside it, as though the bead were made of molten metal.
Threads of Soul Power as fine as gossamer slowly seeped toward him. Yi Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing the vast amount of information contained within. This was the Soul Crystal of a high-ranking member of the fallen race.
Yi Chen smiled faintly and turned his wrist. The bead instantly crumbled into powder and dispersed into the air.
"Still not dead? You think playing dead can fool me? Looks like I'll have to be careful, or you might kill me one day before I even know what happened... Hmm, no. I'd better finish you off now. The longer the night, the more dreams it brings."
Yi Chen bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. His eyes lit up as he activated a sheet of Green Talisman Paper in his hand. A blue-green and crimson glow slowly rose, accompanied by low curses. The green talisman in his hand transformed into a hideous ghost face with a pair of wings sprouting from its back. It opened its mouth and spat a beam of scarlet bloodlight that plunged straight into the Fallen One's body. Then the ghost face abruptly withdrew into the talisman paper, turning into a streak of light that sank between Yi Chen's brows.
The Fallen One howled miserably. His body rapidly withered until only a skeleton remained. Together with his armor and weapons, it slowly fused into a fist-sized sphere that still shimmered with a faint silver light.
Yi Chen grinned. "Good stuff. It's only an ordinary Soul Crystal, but it's still better than painstakingly condensing one myself. Hmm, I think I understand why you hate humans so much... humans have incomparably pure souls, don't they?"
With a wretched howl, the Fallen One's bones suddenly collapsed. Tiny green ghost flames floated in the air, then rapidly ignited. In an instant, they turned to ashes and scattered on the wind. The Fallen One vanished without a trace, leaving only the small dark-gold sphere behind.
Yi Chen scooped up the little bead and tucked it into his robe with satisfaction, muttering, "A fine treasure indeed. It'll come in handy later."
Taking a deep breath, Yi Chen raised his head to look at the sky. Dark clouds filled it, shrouding the heavens like slabs of lead a foot thick. Streaks of dazzling lightning darted through the dense clouds, and a faint thunderous boom rolled through the air, shaking the trees in the nearby forest.
A gentle breeze swept past, and leaves fluttered down from the forest trees to the ground.
A shaft of sunlight pierced the thick black clouds. Yi Chen looked up at it and murmured, "Hmm, it's been too long since I last basked in the sun... hmm, should I change my clothes?"
Yi Chen leaped to the top of a towering tree fully a thousand feet tall, stretching his limbs as he bathed in the sunlight.
A massive dragon of lightning struck down viciously from the sky. Yi Chen laughed heartily, shattered the ground beneath his foot, and launched himself toward the lightning.
A bolt struck Yi Chen's chest. As though nothing had happened, he bulged his muscles and took it head-on, then blasted the lightning dragon apart with a punch, sending countless arcs flying in every direction.
With a hum, wisps of bloody mist sprayed from every pore on Yi Chen's body. Every sinew and bone crackled sharply. His muscles gradually swelled and tightened, then smoothed out again, as though he had never been injured.
Yi Chen closed his eyes slightly and examined himself. An inexplicable feeling came over him, as though... he were a sharp sword.
Of course, not a "sword" with an extraordinarily keen edge, but...
As he pictured his current state, his eyes suddenly snapped open. A mouthful of blood surged up his throat. Yi Chen hurriedly swallowed it, then gave a muffled grunt and dashed forward like a wisp of smoke.
Yi Chen sat cross-legged on a hill, quietly sensing the surging Soul Power within his body. Everything was normal.
"Heh, it really worked... but at this rate, I'm afraid my Soul Power won't be enough... forcing a breakthrough to Titled Douluo without a Soul Ring really is pushing it. I'd better marry Ah Yin soon and complete the system mission!"
Yi Chen muttered to himself, "And I have to find some Heavenly Treasures, or something will go wrong sooner or later."
With a soft hum, the ring hanging over Yi Chen's palm stirred lightly. Then a gentle silver glow enveloped him. Everything around him dissolved into nothingness, and Yi Chen vanished without a trace.
He contemplated the essence of his body, the fluctuations of his soul, and his will-it was an extraordinarily peculiar feeling, one that intoxicated and enthralled him, as though he had been born to fight and lived for battle.
He suddenly felt that what he needed was a thoroughly exhilarating clash, a battle in which he could fight to his heart's content. Only then could he obtain everything he wanted.
He opened his eyes. Icy beams of light tore through the void, and a bolt of lightning blasted toward two Fallen Ones desperately fleeing in the distance.
A dark figure flashed past. A burly man blocked the way in front of the two Fallen Ones, swinging a massive hammer and smashing it forward with savage force.