It Raged, It Roared, It Longed to Pounce

Du Busi smiled and continued, "At present, there are still three within the sect that have reached the fifty-thousand-year level. They are also the highest-grade Beast Spirits cultivated by the sect. These three Beast Spirits have regained a certain degree of intelligence and possess considerable strength."

"If we continued cultivating them, both their total energy and the strength of their residual souls would increase further. The sect was worried that even Titled Douluo would face risks when absorbing them, so we did not continue."

"Below that are the ten-thousand-year level, as well as the most numerous thousand-year level. After all, Gold-Grade Third Awakening can only be attempted after cultivating to the level of a Titled Douluo, so there is little need to cultivate many ten-thousand-year Beast Spirits. As a result, there is a clear gap in the strength of the Beast Spirits."

"Hui'er, you were bathed in the Light of Life bestowed by the Goddess of Life, and you have cultivated your family's Special Eye Technique. With your current Spiritual Power, defeating and absorbing thousand-year Soul Spirits will definitely not be a problem. The only thing to consider is how many Beast Spirits you can absorb."

"And how to allocate their energy."

"As for the grade of your martial soul awakening, that will depend on you. Still, I expect it will at least be Bronze-grade."

"After all, your Innate Soul Power is right there. The potential of your Body Martial Soul cannot be poor."

"Teacher, how do you think I should allocate the Beast Spirit energy to raise my soul ring ages?" Minghui asked.

"My suggestion is to prioritize raising the age of your Third Soul Ring. First, try to bring it to the ten-thousand-year level," Du Busi said.

"From a hundred-year soul ring to a thousand-year one, and from a thousand-year soul ring to a ten-thousand-year one, both are qualitative leaps. If the age of your Third Soul Ring can be raised to ten thousand years, I expect that not only will the restrictive effect of your soul skill be greatly enhanced, but its soul power consumption when used on groups will also be reduced. Considering that your Third Soul Skill can complement other spiritual soul skills, raising it to the ten-thousand-year level first should yield the greatest benefit."

"Beyond that, raising it by a few hundred or thousand years likely will not bring much improvement unless you can raise it another ten thousand years."

"So, if there is energy left, you can raise your First Soul Ring to a thousand years as well. It is only a few hundred years short, so the consumption will not be great. Trading a few hundred years of cultivation for a qualitative leap is a gamble I believe is worth taking. Even if it merely reduces soul power consumption, that would still be good."

"After all, your First Soul Skill normally aids cultivation, yet it can also produce remarkable effects in battle and needs to be used frequently."

"And if there is still energy left, use all of it to raise your Second Soul Ring."

"After all, it comes with a single-target offensive soul skill. The higher the soul ring age, the better the skill's effects will certainly be."

Raising the Second Soul Ring directly from three thousand years to ten thousand years meant a difference of seven thousand years. That really was a little difficult. Besides, even if it could be done, it would not be particularly worthwhile. They were both practical soul skills, and two qualitative leaps were more cost-effective than one. Minghui silently agreed and nodded.

"Teacher, I'll listen to you!"

After that, they spoke no more and continued deeper inside.

After some time, the terrain gradually flattened, and the view ahead began to open up. He could vaguely make out a stone door.

The two soon arrived before it.

Walking ahead, Du Busi took out a strange key from his Soul Tool, inserted it into a hole at the side, and gave it a slight twist. The stone door in the middle immediately began to rise slowly. A cool breeze blew out through the gap at its base, stirring up dust on the ground as a fierce aura rushed toward them.

Minghui felt it clearly. Every hair on his body stood on end beyond his control, as though some primordial beast were sleeping behind the door.

The answer was soon revealed.

As the stone door rose into the air, the scene within finally came into view.

Minghui looked surprised. The floor of the Cave was piled with numerous beast bones, most of them exceptionally massive.

"These are all the skeletal remains of soul beasts with cultivation bases above fifty thousand years. Soul beasts are still soul beasts. The sect did not want those residual souls to lose all their ferocity after being nourished by human soul power and transformed into Beast Spirits, so we brought back the corpses of every soul beast above fifty thousand years that we killed while obtaining soul rings."

"The flesh was used as food, while the bones were placed here, allowing the soul beast aura contained within their marrow to disperse freely."

Du Busi explained, "Under the influence of this aura, not only can the Beast Spirits retain their ferocity, but it can also provide better training for the disciples who come here."

"First, there is the practical combat training gained from fighting Beast Spirits. Second, there is the tempering of one's mentality brought by the soul beast aura."

"This is merely the outer perimeter, so the aura is not particularly intense."

"Once you reach the core area, you will directly face the powerful pressure unique to Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."

"And this can be considered an external factor that stimulates a Second Awakening of the martial soul."

"The sect has truly considered everything." No wonder it was a sect with thousands of years of accumulated research into Body Martial Souls. Minghui sighed inwardly.

"Of course!" Du Busi nodded slightly and led his disciple farther in.

The environment within the Cave was not damp at all. Instead, it was extremely dry. A cool breeze from some unknown source stirred up the dust, giving Minghui the feeling that this was an ancient, savage battlefield.

As time passed, the soul beast aura in the air grew increasingly dense. Its presence became more imposing, and its ferocity more intense.

When they reached an open area whose ground was riddled with pits and craters, more than a dozen enormous, unidentified soul beast skeletons stood around the clearing, all facing its center. Their skulls were savage, and some kind of lighting object had been placed in their eye sockets, continuously flashing with bright green light that dyed the entire plaza green.

Visibility in the surroundings was low, making the place seem especially dim and oppressive. It was terrifying, with the atmosphere pushed to the limit.

The pressure brought by the soul beast aura had also reached its peak, creating an inexplicable sense of suffocation.

The sect really knew how to set the mood. It would be a shame if they did not open a haunted house. Minghui drew a quiet breath to steady his emotions.

"Hui'er, go to the center," Du Busi said. "I will release the Beast Spirit."

With that, he decisively flashed away, vanishing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

"..." Minghui opened his mouth, then steeled himself and walked toward the center of the clearing, which was covered in signs of battle.

Along the way, he observed the area around the clearing. Soul beast claw marks and dried bloodstains could be seen everywhere, and the smell of blood was unmistakable.

It seemed defeating Beast Spirits would not be easy either, he thought inwardly.

As the thought crossed his mind, a series of low beastly roars suddenly sounded from nearby.

Minghui instinctively turned toward the base of one of the soul beast skeletons. In the blink of an eye, a giant Blood Tiger shot out from a passage formed by its rib cage.

A top-tier strength-type soul beast. Judging by its size, it was four meters long and around two thousand years old.

But judging by the stripes on its body, this Blood Tiger had definitely possessed ten-thousand-year cultivation while alive.

"Two thousand years right from the start?" Minghui's heart tightened.

Yet the Blood Tiger appeared somewhat impatient. It seemed to have been confined inside the Soul Bone for too long, and the moment it saw a person, it wanted to pounce. It charged straight at him.

Minghui did not hesitate. He immediately activated his Body Martial Soul, and the sight before his eyes instantly changed.

"It really is an energy body!"

He could not sense any Life Aura from the Blood Tiger. Its body was merely a single mass of scarlet light, nothing like a body of flesh and blood.

However, its spiritual fluctuations were intense. Without question, they originated from the residual soul of the soul beast within it.

"Third Soul Skill, Spiritual Weakness!"

Minghui did not hesitate and opened with his strongest move.

A strange spiritual fluctuation spread outward from his head. The charging Blood Tiger immediately faltered.

"Roar!" Instinctively, it sensed that the residual soul within its body had been suppressed. This weakened both its perception and the residual soul's control over its energy body, which in turn affected its movements.

It raged, it roared, and it continued its charge.

"First Soul Skill, Simulation!" As Minghui retreated, he activated another soul skill. In the blink of an eye, an identical Blood Tiger appeared before him, even possessing the exact same aura.