The Soul Beast had not a trace of any other color on its body. It was like pure crystal from head to toe.
Only at the center of its forehead did a pearly-white flame burn! When everyone's gaze was drawn to it, all sorts of emotions would involuntarily surface in their hearts.
"Is that... an Illusory Heart Flame Deer?"
Ling Yuan Douluo's expression shifted slightly. She had not expected to encounter such a rare Soul Beast on the outskirts. It was quite an unusual sight.
"Young mistress, get back! Make absolutely sure you don't stare at it for too long!"
"Although it's only a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, it's exceptionally skilled at mental attacks. The flame on its forehead isn't physical, but a manifestation of spiritual power. When the Illusory Heart Flame Deer activates it, it can directly ignite the obsessions deep in an enemy's heart, making their life worse than death!"
Hearing Ling Yuan's warning, Qian Renxue's heart pounded with alarm. Even the Fifth Elder was so wary of it. It was probably truly dangerous.
Yet at that moment, Chen Qianqiu's excited voice rang out in her mind.
"That's the one! Xiao Xue, he's the best candidate for your first Soul Ring!"
Chen Qianqiu stared at the white deer, an unusual gleam shining in his dark-gold slit pupils.
There were many reasons Qian Renxue lost everything in the final battle in the future. Besides her Soul Ring configuration, there was also her lack of offensive methods. Who could have imagined that, after developing the mighty Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, her late-stage abilities would amount to nothing more than hacking at people with a glowing sword?
It completely buried the potential of a god-tier Martial Soul. Who knew how Spirit Hall had planned things for this little girl? If she wanted to fight like a primitive with a sword so badly, awakening a Sword Martial Soul would have been more straightforward. She was not even as good as the Wind Sword Sect. At least they could fling out a couple of blasts of sword Qi to add some special effects and put on a show.
So he absolutely could not let this Illusory Heart Flame Deer slip away. If Qian Renxue absorbed it, she could not only make up for the shortcomings in her Soul Ring configuration, but also gain the properties of flame. Combined with the terrifying mental control and offensive properties the Angel Martial Soul already possessed, it should produce unexpected results.
Meanwhile, to protect Qian Renxue from harm, Ling Yuan Douluo decided to take the initiative. At the very least, she would drive this Soul Beast out of Qian Renxue's sight.
But the Illusory Heart Flame Deer was extremely alert. Sensing the Titled Douluo pressure Ling Yuan Douluo released, it immediately let out an uneasy cry. Its wings beat fiercely as it turned to flee.
"Trying to run?"
Noticing its intentions, Chen Qianqiu narrowed his eyes, his dark-gold slit pupils becoming deep and boundless at that moment.
Over the past few days, he had been eating and drinking ravenously in Spirit Hall, deliberately gathering and compressing those vast quantities of concentrated essence into his pupils. The results were immediate. His eyes' abilities had evolved to become several times stronger than when he had faced Yu Hengyun.
Condensed, terrifying draconic might surged from his slit pupils. To prevent the Illusory Heart Flame Deer from escaping again, Chen Qianqiu wove that pressure into a great net, precisely covering every direction in which the flame deer could advance.
Although Chen Qianqiu was still a juvenile and could not inflict substantial injuries on a Thousand-Year Soul Beast with pressure alone, the bloodline suppression still made the flame deer, which had almost escaped, suddenly freeze for an instant. That brief moment was more than enough for Ling Yuan Douluo.
"Die!"
Ling Yuan Douluo had already become a blazing afterimage as she closed in forcefully. With a sweep of her delicate hand, a dazzling blade of flame tore through the sky and pierced straight through the Illusory Heart Flame Deer's vital point.
With a bang, the Heart Flame Illusory Demon White Deer crashed heavily to the ground, utterly lifeless.
It had all happened in an instant, and puzzlement still lingered in Ling Yuan Douluo's eyes.
Strange, something isn't right. Since when did Illusory Heart Flame Deer move so slowly? Apart from its mental attacks, this Soul Beast should be best known for its agility and ability to escape. With my speed, even if I could kill it in the end, it should have taken some effort.
"Was this Illusory Heart Flame Deer particularly stupid? Or have I gotten stronger?"
Beside her, a Thousand-Year Soul Ring so purple it was almost black slowly formed and rose from the white deer's corpse, radiating violent fluctuations of power.
While Ling Yuan Douluo was puzzling over this, a fragrant breeze swept past. Qian Renxue had already quietly trotted over to the white deer and sat down cross-legged before it.
The little girl closed her eyes and immediately began trying to absorb that violent purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring!
"Young mistress, the delicacy is fresh. Let's keep looking for a Soul Beast that suits you!"
"Young mistress? Young mistress!! That's a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!!!"
Only just coming back to her senses, Ling Yuan Douluo turned to look and nearly had her liver and gall split with fright. She screamed without any regard for her image, frantically gathering Soul Power in her palm as she prepared to rush over and forcibly disperse the Soul Ring.
But it was too late!
Boom!!!
The moment the Soul Ring entered her body, the thousand-year Ferocious Beast's exceedingly violent power and unwilling obsession pushed Qian Renxue's body to the brink of collapse in just a few breaths.
The little blonde grunted, blood instantly spilling from the corner of her mouth. Her porcelain-doll face twisted in extreme pain.
It's over! Her body's going to explode!
Ling Yuan Douluo paced in frantic circles. She had never been so helpless since becoming a Titled Douluo. She wanted to risk intervening to interrupt the process, yet feared that doing so would cause Qian Renxue to suffer a backlash and sustain even worse injuries.
At this hair's-breadth moment, Chen Qianqiu lightly beat his wings and hovered above Qian Renxue's head. Then he opened his draconic maw and focused his mind. Nidhogg's devouring power erupted!
"Devour!"
As though finding an outlet, the violent impurities rampaging through Qian Renxue's body were forcibly extracted and devoured by Chen Qianqiu, who gulped them down like a whale swallowing and an ox drinking!
All that remained for Qian Renxue was the purest essence of Soul Power, perfectly suited to her.
Burp!
Chen Qianqiu let out a contented burp, and Qian Renxue's absorption of the Soul Ring also reached its final stage.
That purple Soul Ring no longer resisted. It obediently settled around Qian Renxue's feet, pulsing up and down!
It worked!
Qian Renxue slowly opened her eyes, her golden irises radiant. Her previously pale little face was now exceedingly rosy, and even her blood and vitality had surged considerably under the nourishment of this Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Meanwhile, Ling Yuan Douluo stood to the side, utterly dumbfounded.
Is this still the Douluo Continent? Why don't the rules apply to our young mistress?
Ling Yuan circled Qian Renxue, still unable to believe what had happened before her eyes. Yet the dense, sharp presence of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring could not be faked!
Her first Soul Ring, a thousand years?!
How was this possible?!
Perhaps, in legends of the past, there had been extraordinary geniuses whose second Soul Ring was a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. But that was still their second Soul Ring. The difficulty was on an entirely different level from having a thousand-year configuration for one's first Soul Ring.
It truly was not that she was making a fuss over something she had rarely seen. If this news reached Spirit Hall, even His Holiness the Pope and the Great Enshrined would surely be shocked!!
Moreover, Ling Yuan Douluo noticed that the divine Martial Soul behind Qian Renxue seemed to have undergone some changes.
The pure-white, sacred Six-Winged Angel Phantom stood silently. Among its six enormous wings, a faint layer of fire had quietly begun burning along the edge of the lower-left wing at some unknown point.