Spiritual power as vast as an abyss instantly blanketed the outskirts and mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.
After only a few breaths, Qian Daoliu abruptly opened his eyes in midair. A glimmer of gold flashed through his deep pupils. He had found it.
His spiritual power had firmly locked onto a savage fighting spirit deep in the forest below.
It was an Armor-Breaking Tiger over ten meters long, its fur standing on end like steel needles.
Judging by the ferocious aura it naturally exuded and the dark golden sheen flowing over it,
its age was between precisely 1,180 and 1,250 years, perfectly meeting Lu Xuan's requirements.
With a low shout, Qian Daoliu brought Lu Xuan down into the Star Dou Great Forest.
When they were still a hundred meters above the ground, Qian Daoliu did not even circulate his Soul Power.
He merely snorted coldly, and a formidable spiritual pressure turned into an invisible giant leg, crashing down on the Armor-Breaking Tiger as it roared at the sky below.
Hissy tiger, you met Qian Daoliu and hissed instead of running? Your courage was positively plump!
"Roar-ow!"
The thousand-year-old Armor-Breaking Tiger had no room to resist. Its enormous body suddenly stiffened, blood poured from its seven orifices, and its eyes instantly rolled back.
Its massive body crashed to the ground, knocked completely unconscious by that spiritual power.
Qian Daoliu landed steadily with Lu Xuan. Looking at him, he said solemnly, "Do it. Deliver the finishing blow!"
Lu Xuan took a deep breath. This was his first time killing such a large creature, and he was a little nervous.
Lu Xuan's gaze turned cold.
He raised his right hand, and a dazzling dark red light suddenly erupted from his palm!
Amid a heart-quaking aura of slaughter, Lu Xuan gripped the sword in both hands and thrust viciously at the Armor-Breaking Tiger's vital spot!
Squelch!
As though slicing through tofu, it actually pierced the Armor-Breaking Tiger's skull with ease.
As its life was completely extinguished,
specks of purple light spilled from the tiger's corpse, rapidly gathering in midair into a deep purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
"Sit down, calm your mind, and draw it over!" Qian Daoliu looked solemn, golden light flickering around him as he stood guard over Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan obeyed, sitting cross-legged and gathering his Soul Power on the Asura God Sword.
A scarlet ray immediately shot from the Asura God Sword, enveloping the purple Soul Ring and pulling it over.
As the purple Soul Ring reached the space above Lu Xuan's head, it swiftly descended directly onto the Asura God Sword.
In an instant, the Thousand-Year Soul Ring's energy surged madly into every limb and bone like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
"Ugh...!"
Lu Xuan clenched his teeth tightly, a muffled groan of pain escaping his throat.
Just as Golden Crocodile Douluo had said, although Lu Xuan could absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, he would absolutely suffer torment.
Now, the violent energy instantly split Lu Xuan's meridians open, inflicting pain like being slashed by a thousand blades.
His once fair, tender face twisted with extreme pain.
Cold sweat poured out like a waterfall, soaking his clothes.
At one point, Lu Xuan's mind even came close to collapsing.
But at that critical moment, another power within Lu Xuan awakened.
Emerald-green Life Energy of the utmost richness flowed out like blessed rain.
It instantly enveloped the ruptured meridians, healing them at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Tearing, healing, tearing again, healing again.
It was simply like undergoing death by a thousand cuts.
Standing guard nearby, Qian Daoliu unconsciously clenched both hands into tight fists.
This Peerless Douluo, who would not change expression even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, was actually nervous for Lu Xuan now, even softening his breathing a little.
If Lu Xuan could not endure it, he would interrupt the absorption immediately. As long as Lu Xuan remained alive, there would still be hope, even if he suffered a backlash.
Seeing that Lu Xuan had actually endured it,
Qian Daoliu could not help feeling towering waves surge through his heart.
This was a thousand-year first Soul Ring!
If Lu Xuan truly made it through, he would be the first person in the history of the Douluo Continent to defy convention and create this miracle!
This record would surely be engraved forever in the annals of the Douluo Continent!
Time passed, second by second.
Finally, accompanied by a clear hum,
the Thousand-Year Soul Ring completely reined in its violent aura and settled steadily around the blade of the Asura God Sword.
It pulsed up and down...
Success!
However, the instant the Soul Ring finished merging, Lu Xuan's tightly stretched nerves finally snapped.
His eyes rolled back, and he fell backward, unconscious.
He was still a child, after all. Even though he had lived to eighteen in his previous life, the greatest pain he had endured was appendicitis.
Qian Daoliu's figure flashed, and he caught Lu Xuan instantly.
He immediately extended his Soul Power to examine Lu Xuan's body. The next second, Qian Daoliu sucked in a breath of cold air.
Absorbing a Soul Ring was, in essence, a process of breaking the shackles of the body and Martial Soul.
After the baptism of the Thousand-Year Soul Ring and repeated reconstruction by Life Energy, Lu Xuan's physical strength had now undergone a tremendous qualitative leap!
"This boy's body can now withstand the impact of a Soul Ring around five thousand years old!" Qian Daoliu's eyes were filled with disbelief.
"If we also account for his life attribute as a safety net, he could even take a gamble on six thousand years!"
However, although Lu Xuan's body had transformed, enduring inhuman torment through sheer willpower had taken an enormous toll on his mind.
Qian Daoliu set up a Soul Power barrier and let Lu Xuan rest for an entire day and night.
When Lu Xuan opened his eyes again, his exhaustion had vanished, replaced by an even keener edge.
What doesn't kill me will only make me stronger!
But the process of growing stronger still needed food as its foundation.
At that moment, Lu Xuan's stomach rumbled like thunder, making his little face redden.
"Hahaha!" Qian Daoliu could not help bursting into laughter.
Then he handed Lu Xuan the food he had prepared long before.
After a hearty meal,
"Come on, let's find your second Soul Ring!"
This time, Qian Daoliu set his sights directly on the range between five thousand and six thousand years.
Before long, a pack of Bloodthirsty Demon Wolves entered Qian Daoliu's perception.
Three of them were relatively suitable for Lu Xuan: one aged 4,800 years, one 5,500 years, and one 6,300 years.
Qian Daoliu locked onto those three and repeated his earlier method.
Spiritual pressure descended again, instantly knocking the three Bloodthirsty Demon Wolves unconscious.
Immediately afterward, Soul Power pressure swept out, frightening the remaining Bloodthirsty Demon Wolves into fleeing with their tails between their legs.
Qian Daoliu brought Lu Xuan over, looking at the three unconscious wolves on the ground.
Without hesitation, Lu Xuan went straight for the 6,300-year-old Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf, raising his hand and bringing his sword down.
He completed the kill cleanly and decisively.
Lu Xuan sat cross-legged and began absorbing.
Unexpectedly, this absorption process lacked the hellish torment of the first time.
While absorbing his first Soul Ring, Lu Xuan's body had improved enormously and could now better withstand the impact of this energy.
After two hours, the 6,300-year-old purple Soul Ring obediently settled around the Asura God Sword.
Lu Xuan stood up. The two purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings shone against each other, radiating suffocating pressure.
And the shackles within him were completely released after he successfully absorbed the second Soul Ring.
Nourished by these two Soul Rings, his Soul Power soared as though riding a rocket, breaking straight through the bottleneck and settling firmly at rank 27.
"Rank 27..."
Qian Daoliu looked at the boy before him, only six years old, with two purple Soul Rings beneath his feet and an aura surging like a rainbow.
He felt an unprecedented, tremendous shock.
He recalled Qian Renxue, who was in secluded cultivation at Spirit Hall, striving to reach rank 40.
He recalled his own approach to nurturing Qian Renxue.
Qian Daoliu let out a long sigh, a trace of deep regret and realization flashing through his eyes.
"A steady approach to nurturing may be good, but geniuses need an approach suited to geniuses. Only by breaking past the limits can they have a better future!"
The spirit of youth was something that could never be replenished!
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