The ink-black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring transformed into a raging torrent of energy.
It surged madly into Lu Xuan's body.
In an instant, Lu Xuan grunted, his muscles convulsing violently.
The tearing pain instantly awakened his memories of absorbing a thousand-year first soul ring beyond his level several months earlier.
But this time, the torment was twofold.
Not only did his flesh feel as though countless heavy hammers were crushing it over and over.
Within his sea of consciousness, an enormous Unyielding Mad Lion was also roaring wildly, rampaging in every direction!
The resentment left behind after the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's death turned into Soul Shock, attempting to tear his mental world apart completely.
"Be suppressed!"
Lu Xuan clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
At the critical instant before the mad lion's remnant soul tore apart his sea of consciousness, a deep, eerie green light suddenly erupted from his head.
The eighty-thousand-year Medusa Skull was fully activated.
An immense beam of extremely cold energy shot out like a laser.
The Unyielding Mad Lion's lingering resentment was struck and turned into a stone statue, cracks spreading relentlessly across it.
The next moment, the entire statue shattered into chunks of stone.
The mental shock-the sole and deadliest threat in absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring-was instantly eradicated.
All that remained was the natural merging of energy, like water flowing into a channel.
Several hours slowly passed in the silent valley.
Finally, with a clear ring of the sword, the raging energy subsided completely.
Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes. Though his face was pale and his mind severely overtaxed, his gaze was exceptionally bright.
At his feet, three soul rings-two purple and one black-pulsed up and down around the dark red Asura God Sword, radiating a heart-pounding pressure.
This time, he had not passed out as he had the first time. He had gritted through it.
And after he successfully absorbed his third soul ring and lifted the restriction.
The vast soul power that had lain dormant, accumulated throughout his limbs and bones after he absorbed the million-year torso bone and the immortal herb, seemed to have found an outlet.
It surged wildly like an erupting volcano.
Level 31, level 34, level 37...
As Qian Daoliu watched with a look as though he had seen a ghost.
Lu Xuan's aura of soul power climbed steadily, finally forcing its way through the bottleneck and settling firmly at level 40!
"What a lad... you actually jumped straight across an entire major realm!"
Qian Daoliu drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his shock before inwardly counting himself fortunate.
Fortunately, he had possessed the foresight to select a target for the fourth soul ring as well back in the library, or he would have been scrambling helplessly now.
Considering how greatly Lu Xuan's mental strength had been depleted, Qian Daoliu decided to carve out a secluded cave nearby to rest for the night and fight again tomorrow.
Lu Xuan stood, walked over to the Unyielding Mad Lion's shriveled corpse, and searched it before shaking his head helplessly.
As always, there was no sign of a soul bone.
Who on earth adjusted the drop rate? These soul bones were ridiculously hard to get.
Was he really going to have to hit the hard pity limit?
Speaking of hard pity, how many soul beasts did he have to kill to guarantee a soul bone?
That was a question.
Beside the campfire, Qian Daoliu watched Lu Xuan regulating his breathing and could not help asking, "What's your third soul skill?"
An excited smile curled Lu Xuan's lips. This was precisely the divine skill he had dreamed of. "My third soul skill is called Unyielding!"
"Upon activation, all my attributes-including attack, speed, defense, and mental strength-are forcibly increased by 50% instantly!"
"Also, as long as my opponent's soul power level is lower than mine, or no more than 20 levels above mine, I can become immune to all their control-type skills!"
Hearing this description, even the widely experienced Peerless Douluo Qian Daoliu could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
An all-attribute boost coupled with near-absolute immunity to control-there was only one word for this soul skill: outrageous!
Early the next morning, deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.
An enormous beast over ten meters long, covered in dark purple scales and exuding a nauseating aura of blood and fear, was pinned immovably to the ground beneath Qian Daoliu's single hand.
This was a Fear Demon Dragon with forty-three thousand years of cultivation and extremely formidable strength.
It was accomplished in both mental strength and physical power.
Yet before Qian Daoliu, it had been beaten straight into a dying state without even getting the chance to release its fear aura.
"Kill it!"
Qian Daoliu spoke calmly.
Lu Xuan raised his sword and brought it down, successfully landing the finishing blow.
A black soul ring so deep it seemed capable of swallowing light slowly condensed.
Lu Xuan immediately sat cross-legged and drew the soul ring into his body.
With yesterday's experience and the Medusa Skull's protection, this absorption should have passed without a ripple.
Yet just as the soul ring was about to merge completely, Lu Xuan suddenly let out a piercing scream.
He clamped both hands over his eyes, crimson blood streaming down between his fingers.
"Xuan!"
Qian Daoliu paled with alarm. He was about to intervene when he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
Lu Xuan slowly lowered his hands and opened his eyes again.
His eyes, once clearly divided into black and white, were gone. In their place was a pair of cold dragon eyes with vertical pupils, radiating an uncanny purplish-red light!
An extremely pure draconic pressure spread from his eyes.
Qian Daoliu froze for a full three seconds, then suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
"An external soul bone! It's actually an extremely rare eye-type external soul bone!"
This was an enormous surprise. An external soul bone's value exceeded even that of certain Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones, because it could evolve as its soul master grew!
Lu Xuan sensed the strange power contained within his eyes and also checked the soul power inside his body.
After he finished absorbing this forty-three-thousand-year soul ring, the restriction on his soul power was lifted, and it soared again, reaching level 46 directly!
At this level, he had almost caught up to Qian Renxue, who was three years older than him.
"What's your fourth soul skill?" Qian Daoliu asked eagerly.
Lu Xuan stood and drove the Asura God Sword into the ground.
"Fourth soul skill-Slaughter Barrier!"
Hum-!
Centered on Lu Xuan, a blood-red hemispherical barrier with a radius of thirty meters burst outward, instantly enveloping the surrounding trees.
Within the barrier, the air became incredibly viscous. Countless tiny strands of blood-colored sword energy appeared out of thin air, madly shredding everything within range.
"Inside the barrier, all enemies have all their attributes forcibly suppressed by 15%. They're prohibited from flying and continuously subjected to the shredding sword energy."
"Meanwhile, my own movement speed and attack speed increase by 20%." Lu Xuan pulled out his sword, and the blood-colored barrier dissipated with it.
"This is equivalent to a pseudo-domain skill. Its only drawback is that once released, the barrier stays fixed in place and can't move with me."
Qian Daoliu looked at the fallen leaves scattered across the ground, shredded into fragments by the sword energy, his eyes full of admiration.
Though this soul skill had the drawback of being immovable, a pseudo-domain skill was still a coveted prize!
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