After he finished feeding the Blue Silver Emperor his blood, her cultivation shot up to ten thousand years. Although she had already recovered to over nine thousand years of cultivation before this, there was no denying the tremendous effect Li Ye's blood, rich in ice and fire power, had on plant Soul Beasts within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
With her cultivation breaking through ten thousand years, Ah Yin recovered most of her consciousness. Looking at Li Ye sucking his finger beside her, she gently wound a vine around his hand. While healing his wound, she linked her mind to his.
"Why did you help me, and why did you deceive Xiao San?"
Hearing Ah Yin's voice, gentle as water, Li Ye was momentarily dazed. After coming back to his senses, he answered, "There's no particular reason. I wanted to help, so I did. As for deceiving Xiao San, I did no such thing. Watch out, or I'll sue you for slander! I just wanted Xiao San to awaken his Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline sooner. What did I do wrong?"
"But those things you said before-you clearly, clearly had improper intentions toward me!"
"Madam, you can eat carelessly, but you can't speak carelessly. If you don't want Xiao San to find out and be heartbroken, you'd better let those things rot in your belly."
"You-you're clearly not a bad person. Why do you have to say things like that?"
"All right, all right. It's not as though I'm insisting you repay me with yourself. I was only joking earlier."
With that, Li Ye slowly unwound the vine around his hand. Without waiting for Ah Yin to say anything else, he left the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
For Dugu Yan's fourth Soul Ring, absorbing one around five thousand years old should pose no problem given her strength. The difficulty lay in finding a suitable snake-type Soul Beast.
Surely her third Soul Ring being a Mandala Snake didn't mean they had to get another Mandala Snake for her Fourth Soul Ring.
The search for a Soul Beast was a long journey. At least, after roaming Sunset Forest for two days, the three of them had yet to encounter a suitable snake-type Soul Beast.
"What a scorching aura. There should be a fire-attribute Soul Beast over ten thousand years old up ahead. We've probably entered its territory."
Sensing the heat and vicious aura radiating from the distance, Dugu Bo immediately warned Li Ye and Dugu Yan.
"Grandpa Dugu, I'll take Yan Yan away from here first. Sorry for the trouble, but please investigate that Soul Beast's cultivation and species. I'll come help you shortly."
"Don't worry. An ordinary ten-thousand-year fire-attribute Soul Beast is no match for me. Take Yan Yan farther away first."
Although fire countered poison, Dugu Bo did not believe his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison would be countered by the flames of a mere ten-thousand-year fire-attribute Soul Beast.
However, after Li Ye had gone far away and he approached the Soul Beast alone, he regretted it.
What appeared before his eyes was actually a Six-Winged Fire Phoenix with six wings, blood-red flames blazing all over its body, and over fifty thousand years of cultivation!
Against a fire-attribute Soul Beast with such a superior bloodline, such overbearing flames, and considerable cultivation, even he had no absolute confidence in victory.
Had he known, he would have waited for Li Ye to arrive before getting this close. Although Li Ye's Soul Power was only rank fifty, his combat strength rivaled that of a capable Battle Soul Saint, and he had no fear of flames. With Li Ye holding the front line, dealing with this Six-Winged Fire Phoenix would be no trouble at all.
After all, as everyone knew, Dugu Bo was a long-range, area-of-effect mage. Close combat was what he was least skilled at.
Fortunately, the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix merely kept crying out at Dugu Bo without any intention of attacking. It seemed rather wary of his strength as well.
Noticing this, Dugu Bo immediately backed away, intending to wait until Li Ye arrived before fighting it.
But when the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix saw that Dugu Bo had not left outright, it flew into a rage. Beating its six wings, it soared into the sky and unleashed a blast of phoenix flames at him.
Seeing this, Dugu Bo immediately activated his Martial Soul and used his third Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Bewildering Miasma, obstructing the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix's vision while dodging its attacks.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Avatar!"
After being chased and attacked by the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix for a while, Dugu Bo's temper flared as well. He activated his Martial Soul Avatar and began fighting back.
The fierce snake venom collided with the overbearing phoenix flames, instantly producing a violent explosion. Because fire countered poison, even though Dugu Bo was stronger than the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix, he struggled to drive back its flames in a short time.
After remaining deadlocked for a while, Dugu Bo and the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix stopped at the same time, no longer wasting Soul Power on futile attacks.
In truth, if Dugu Bo really wanted to take down the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix, he had no need to exchange attacks with it. He could simply restrain it with his eighth Soul Skill combined with Medusa's Gaze, then strike it with his ninth Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison. Even if it survived, it would be half crippled.
However, Dugu Bo still did not know whether Li Ye wanted this Soul Ring, so naturally, he was in no hurry to use his full strength. If Li Ye suddenly declared it unsuitable after he finished fighting, wouldn't all that fighting have been for nothing?
Fortunately, Li Ye did not keep him waiting long. After settling Dugu Yan somewhere safe, he immediately hurried to Dugu Bo's side.
"Grandpa Dugu, this Soul Beast suits me perfectly. Don't wait any longer. Go all out and take its life!"
"Mm, those were the words I was waiting for!"
"Eighth Soul Skill, Time Freeze! Soul Bone Skill, Medusa's Gaze!"
Hearing Li Ye's voice, Dugu Bo unleashed his strongest control combination without another word.
Sensing danger, the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix immediately tried to evade, but before Dugu Bo, it had no chance to dodge at all.
Time around the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix instantly solidified like freshly made glass, forming an enclosed space that could neither be seen nor touched. Then white petrifying light shot from the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's eyes, adding a petrified outer shell to the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix.
Seeing this, Li Ye immediately activated Endless Spear Intent and Dark Gold Power without another word. He mobilized all his Soul Power, along with the Death Desolate Qi produced within him through cultivating the Seven Desolate-Breaking Techniques, and charged up the strongest strike he could currently unleash-Desolate-Breaking, Suppress and Slay the Gods!
The tremendous force whipped up fierce gales and clouds of dust, carrying the dark-gold flaming dragon spear toward the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix's heart at lightning speed.
Because Li Ye had spent years cultivating killing martial techniques such as the Seven Desolate-Breaking Techniques and the Nine Heaven-Slaying Swords, he could clearly sense the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix's faint heartbeat and pinpoint its heart even while it was petrified.
Although Soul Beasts were countless times stronger than ordinary livestock, they would still die if their hearts were pierced or their heads shattered.
As one of the outstanding ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts, the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix possessed immense strength, but its defenses were not particularly strong. Faced with Li Ye's fatal strike, powerful enough to kill the vast majority of Soul Saints, it could only fall into a pool of blood in the end, however unwilling it was.
Soul Masters hunted Soul Rings to advance, and Soul Beasts likewise hunted Soul Masters to increase their strength. There had never been any right or wrong between the two, only the law of the jungle, where the strong devoured the weak.
Relatively speaking, however, Soul Masters were more intelligent and understood teamwork. This was why Soul Beasts had always been at a disadvantage against humans, until they were driven into the great forests and certain fixed regions. Only some Soul Beasts that wandered unpredictably and were difficult to track could still roam sparsely populated places.
Watching the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix fall before him, Li Ye's expression did not change in the slightest. He merely thrust his spear out, smashing its head to pieces and making it as dead as could be.
As a cautious Soul Master, Li Ye knew very well how important it was to deliver a finishing blow.
Just as when he had killed those bandits who blocked the road to rob him, every time he brought one down, he would thrust his spear into their head once more, lest they suddenly spring back to life and escape.
It was fortunate that Li Ye had no fire-attribute Soul Skills. Otherwise, had he used one to finish off the Six-Winged Fire Phoenix, he would probably have triggered its passive skill, Phoenix Nirvana.
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