He lowered his head to look at his right forearm. The itching grew increasingly intense, as if something were writhing deep inside his bones, trying to break through the earth and emerge.
Luo Chen took a deep breath and immediately mobilized his Soul Power.
Crack, crack, crack...
A series of faint sounds came from his right forearm. At the same time, a dark green glow rose across the panel's surface.
The next second, an enormous scorpion pincer slowly emerged from the bones of his right forearm.
The entire pincer was as black as ink jade, gleaming with a cold, ghostly luster. Luo Chen moved his arm and discovered that the pincer did not hinder his movements. He tried opening and closing his hand as well. This time, the jaws of the pincer opened and closed with cracking sounds, their power seemingly capable of crushing anything.
The pincer also had another form. With a thought from Luo Chen, it rapidly shrank into a pitch-black bracer with a faint, ghostly green glow flowing across it, tightly encasing his right forearm.
Looking at the bracer on his arm, Luo Chen could not help smiling. "My Second Soul Ring gave me another External Soul Bone. How can I be this lucky?"
Ultimately, the reason Luo Chen had obtained External Soul Bones twice in a row was the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor.
It commanded the power of fate and could freely pluck the threads of Luo Chen's destiny, steering his fate in different directions. He had obtained External Soul Bones during his first two Soul Ring absorptions because it had adjusted his fate.
At the same time, however, its own location would be completely exposed across the continent. Only once Luo Chen's altered fate had fully become reality would the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's exposed location become concealed again.
"Try the Soul Bone Skills," the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's voice rang out in Luo Chen's mind.
At those words, Luo Chen closed his eyes and extended his Soul Power into the bracer on his right forearm, sensing this External Soul Bone's abilities.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, which were filled with delighted surprise.
The External Soul Bone on his arm had only two abilities, but each was extremely powerful.
The first ability was an ultimate attack called Scorpion Claw Hammer Strike.
Its effect could manifest an enormous scorpion pincer that descended from the sky to smash into an enemy. Moreover, this Scorpion Pincer Hammer Strike was guaranteed to hit and inflicted a fixed three-second stun.
No matter how the enemy dodged, the scorpion pincer would strike with perfect accuracy. Once hit, the enemy had to remain stunned for three seconds.
A three-second stun might not seem long, but in battle, it was enough to decide life and death.
Especially for a Soul Master like Luo Chen, who possessed 100% penetration and deadly venom, three seconds was enough for him to pierce an enemy's defenses with his scorpion tail and inject deadly venom hundreds of times.
The second ability was called Dark Concealment.
This Soul Skill's effect defied the heavens. Once Luo Chen activated Netherworld Concealment, his presence would be completely shrouded by the netherworld. Only spiritual power beyond the level of a deity could detect his presence.
Even an existence as powerful as Di Tian had his strength trapped at the demigod level for his entire life because of the restriction the Dragon God had imposed, preventing Soul Beasts from becoming gods. No matter how much he cultivated his spiritual power, it would never reach beyond the level of a deity.
It could be said that, at this point in the timeline, apart from the gravely injured Silver Dragon King at the Lake of Life, who could find Luo Chen while he used Dark Concealment, no one else could find him.
Of course, a Soul Skill that defied the heavens to this degree was bound to have major limitations. With Luo Chen's current Soul Power reserves, he could sustain it for only three minutes at most before his Soul Power was completely exhausted.
"These really are two heaven-defying Soul Skills!" Excitement shone in Luo Chen's eyes. "Now I lack nothing!"
To celebrate obtaining another Soul Bone, Luo Chen named the External Soul Bone on his arm
Just as he was immersed in his joy, the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's urgent voice suddenly rang out in his mind:
"Luo Chen, run!"
"I've sensed an exceptionally powerful dragon approaching us at incredible speed!"
At those words, Luo Chen's smile instantly froze.
"A dragon?"
Apart from Di Tian and Zi JI of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, there didn't seem to be any other exceptionally powerful dragons in the Star Dou Great Forest, did there?
"What level of dragon?" Luo Chen asked urgently.
"I can't tell." A trace of apprehension colored the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's voice. "But its presence is incomparably powerful. If it gets here, you will undoubtedly die!"
Without another word, Luo Chen hooked a branch with the scorpion tail behind him, used it to launch himself into the air, and raced toward the exit of the Star Dou Great Forest!
As he fled for his life, Luo Chen threw himself into a desperate, all-out frenzy.
He pushed his speed to the limit, his figure flashing through the dense forest like a bolt of dark green lightning. Even so, his heart remained filled with unease.
That powerful dragon couldn't be Di Tian, could it?! Could he be hunting me down because I dug out the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's heart and lungs?!
You've gone mad, haven't you? Luo Chen reassured himself inwardly. Di Tian lives in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest. How could he possibly know what you did?
"Stop thinking so much." Luo Chen gritted his teeth and ran desperately. "Get out first!"
One day later.
In a dark area on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The figure of a middle-aged man suddenly appeared at the spot where Luo Chen had absorbed his Second Soul Ring.
He was tall, with resolute features and black hair falling loosely over his shoulders. His eyes were as deep as the starry sky, with a faint golden light flowing within them.
He was Di Tian, guardian of the Star Dou Great Forest, foremost of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, and the Black Dragon King.
With eight hundred thousand years of cultivation, he could be called the absolute sovereign of the Soul Beast Realm.
At that moment, he stood where Luo Chen had absorbed his Soul Ring, his gaze resting on the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's corpse, which Luo Chen had hollowed into an empty shell.
"A human..." Di Tian's voice was low, filled with irrepressible fury. "This is a human's presence!"
"To drain a Netherworld Stinger Scorpion Soul Beast into this state..." A cold darkness flashed through Di Tian's eyes. "Such cruel methods. This human must not be allowed to live!"
With that, an incomparably terrifying pressure spread from beneath his feet.
The ancient trees around him trembled beneath that pressure, their branches and leaves falling in showers!
"Human!" Di Tian threw back his head and roared, his thunderous voice resounding throughout the entire dark area. "I will tear you into ten thousand pieces to avenge the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's death!"
Boom!
In an instant, Di Tian's presence erupted, and a terrifying draconic might swept in every direction. The next second, his figure became a streak of black light as he pursued the traces of Luo Chen's lingering presence.
Meanwhile, as Luo Chen fled with all his strength, he suddenly heard the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's voice. "The one pursuing us is the guardian of the Star Dou Great Forest-Di Tian."
Hearing this, Luo Chen stopped abruptly.
His pupils contracted sharply, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.
"Di Tian?!"
"Isn't he the second-strongest existence in the Star Dou Great Forest in the original story?"
"His cultivation is said to be as high as eight hundred thousand years. He's an existence comparable to a demigod, and he possesses the space attribute, allowing him to teleport."
"If it really is Di Tian chasing me..." Luo Chen's mind raced, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead. "There's absolutely no way I can escape. If I compete with him in speed, I'll definitely die."
"If I want to survive... I can only outwit him."