Yu Yuanzhen watched the Gale Tiger retreat into the distance, then slowly walked over to Yu Tianming and clapped his broad palm heavily on his grandson's shoulder.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Yu Yuanzhen said "good" three times in a row, even the wrinkles on his face smoothing out. "That's my grandson!"
"To defeat a Thousand-Year Soul Beast barehanded with only rank-ten Soul Power-you couldn't find another talent like that anywhere on the continent!"
Yu Tianming smiled faintly. "You flatter me, Grandpa. This Gale Tiger was already injured."
"An injured Thousand-Year Soul Beast is still a Thousand-Year Soul Beast," Yu Yuanzhen said seriously.
"And you didn't even use your Martial Soul, relying purely on your physique and that special Dragon Energy. If you used your Valstrax Martial Soul, you might well defeat a thousand-year Gale Tiger in peak condition!"
He stroked his beard, a keen gleam flashing in his eyes.
"Before we came to the Star Dou Great Forest, I thought your First Soul Ring could be around two thousand years old at most. Now it seems..."
As he spoke,
Yu Yuanzhen laughed heartily. "Let's go!"
"Grandpa will take you to hunt a true dragon Soul Beast! With your current physical strength, absorbing the Soul Ring of a three- or four-thousand-year dragon Soul Beast will be no problem at all!"
Before his words had faded, astonishing fluctuations of Soul Power erupted from Yu Yuanzhen.
Nine Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black-their dazzling light illuminated the surrounding forest.
"Dragon Transformation!"
With a dragon's roar, Yu Yuanzhen's body began to swell and transform.
Blue-violet scales covered his entire body, and a pair of enormous dragon wings spread from his back. He became a humanoid Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon!
Dragon Transformation was an innate ability of Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Masters.
Ordinary Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Masters began awakening it at rank thirty, awakening one dragon-transformed body part with every Soul Ring they obtained.
Dragon claws, dragon legs, dragon horns, dragon armor, dragon wings-each additional transformed part granted an extra Soul Skill, called a Dragon Transformation Soul Skill.
Only a Titled Douluo could achieve dragon wings and full-body Dragon Transformation.
"Tianming, Grandpa will take you somewhere!" Yu Yuanzhen said in a deep voice, then gripped Yu Tianming's shoulder.
His dragon wings beat fiercely, whipping up violent air currents as he soared into the sky!
High in the air, Yu Yuanzhen said:
"We Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Masters must hunt dragon Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings. They should have taught you that in school."
"Do you know why?"
At his question,
Yu Tianming nodded in reply. "I do!"
"Because dragon Soul Beasts contain dragon blood, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Masters can obtain Soul Rings compatible with their own Martial Souls by hunting them."
"On the other hand, if Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Masters want to achieve complete Dragon Transformation, they must absorb a dragon Soul Beast's Soul Ring every single time!"
"Mm."
Yu Yuanzhen nodded slightly. "Every member of our clan needs to hunt dragon Soul Beasts. For that very reason, we control many dragon Soul Beast habitats."
"One of them is called Thunder Canyon!"
As his words fell,
Yu Yuanzhen abruptly accelerated, leaving a streak of blue lightning in the air.
The forest below raced backward. Soon, they reached a region shrouded in dark clouds.
"We're here."
Yu Yuanzhen gazed ahead and lowered his altitude. "Thunder Canyon is up ahead. Thunderclouds shroud it year-round, making it ideal for lightning-attribute Soul Beasts. There's no shortage of powerful dragons among them!"
Yu Tianming looked into the distance.
Sure enough, dense dark clouds filled the sky above the canyon ahead, with lightning striking down from time to time.
Even from far away, Yu Tianming could sense the restless lightning element in the air.
"What we're looking for is..."
Before Yu Yuanzhen could finish, a deafening roar suddenly rang out from deep within the canyon.
Immediately afterward,
A silver-blue figure shot into the sky!
It was an enormous silver-blue dragon. Its violent Soul Power instantly churned the dark clouds above Thunder Canyon, and countless bolts of lightning burst around it, forming a devastating thunderstorm domain.
It was none other than Thunder Canyon's overlord, the Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon with seventy thousand years of cultivation!
"Roar!"
The Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon roared repeatedly, its voice like thunder, shaking the rock walls on both sides of the canyon.
Yu Yuanzhen snorted coldly and stood with his hands behind his back. Nine Soul Rings slowly rotated beneath his feet as he unleashed the full pressure of a Titled Douluo without restraint.
His gaze flashed like lightning as he said indifferently:
"A mere seventy-thousand-year Soul Beast dares act so brazenly before me?"
The Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon flew into a rage. With a fierce beat of its wings, it instantly whipped up a violent thunderstorm hurricane. Countless silver-blue lightning bolts bombarded Yu Yuanzhen and Yu Tianming like a torrential downpour!
"Paltry tricks!"
Yu Yuanzhen smiled disdainfully. He did not even use a Soul Skill, merely transforming his right arm into a dragon's and reaching forward with his blue-violet dragon claw.
Boom!
He actually tore the thunderstorm filling the sky apart with his bare hand!
Violent lightning exploded in his palm, yet failed to pierce even his dragon scales.
At the sight,
The Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon's pupils abruptly contracted, horror rising within it.
That strike was powerful enough to severely injure an ordinary Soul Douluo, yet this human had easily neutralized it without even using a Soul Skill?
Sensing that terrifying might, the Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon was already thinking of retreating.
"My turn."
Yu Yuanzhen spoke coldly. The next second, his figure abruptly vanished.
Bam!
Before the Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon could even make out his movements, a heavy blow struck its abdomen. Its enormous body was blasted hundreds of meters away and smashed hard into the canyon wall!
"Roar!"
It roared in pain, struggling out of the rubble, fear finally appearing in its eyes.
Run! I have to run!
The Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon turned without hesitation. Its wings beat frantically as it became a streak of silver-blue lightning, fleeing deeper into the canyon.
"Trying to leave?"
Yu Yuanzhen's gaze was unfathomable as his Seventh Soul Ring abruptly lit up.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar!"
Boom!
In an instant, his body swelled, transforming into an enormous dragon even larger than the Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon, its entire body covered in blue-violet scales.
Its terrifying draconic might sent every Soul Beast in Thunder Canyon prostrate on the ground, trembling!
"Thunder Dragon Claw!"
A dragon claw formed from lightning suddenly reached out, crossing hundreds of meters in an instant and seizing the Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon's tail!
The Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon roared in terror, struggling wildly.
But its strength was insignificant before Yu Yuanzhen.
Crack!
Yu Yuanzhen exerted a sudden burst of force, actually tearing off half its tail.
"Roar!"
The Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon let out a shrill, agonized howl. Not daring to linger another moment, it desperately unleashed its power, turning into a streak of blood-colored lightning as it fled frantically.
It could not even spare a thought for its own kin,
Or the Soul Beasts of Thunder Canyon under its rule!
Yu Yuanzhen did not pursue it. He merely snorted coldly, returned to human form, and swept an indifferent glance over the trembling Soul Beasts.
The Mystic Thunder Rampage Dragon still had to be kept alive. Dragon Soul Beasts of such an age were rare...
"Tianming, let's go. Grandpa will find you a suitable Soul Beast."
Yu Tianming nodded and followed his grandfather into Thunder Canyon, his gaze sweeping over its dragon Soul Beasts one by one.
Silver-Horned Earth Dragon, Nether Thunder Dragon, Crimson Thunder Horned Dragon, Amethyst-Winged Thunder Dragon...