"Roar!"
Seeing that the people before it had not withdrawn despite its threats, the Ghost Tiger was clearly somewhat angry.
The Ghost Tiger suddenly charged at Gui Mei and the others. Its figure flickered, instantly becoming three tigers.
"Tch, you dare show off such paltry tricks before a master!"
Gui Mei smiled disdainfully. His figure flickered as well, vanishing from the spot as his second Soul Skill, Soul-Devouring Claw, abruptly activated.
"Rrraow!"
All three Ghost Tigers were attacked at once. Two vanished instantly, while the remaining one was sent flying straight into a tree with a heavy crash, several fairly deep wounds appearing on its neck.
But the Ghost Tiger did not flee. Instead, it sprinted a few steps and took a great leap, intending to finish off everyone other than Gui Mei first. While still in midair, it extended its enormous claws, their nails glinting with cold light.
Had ordinary people been here, they probably would not have dared to meet the attack of this Ghost Tiger of over nine thousand years head-on, but Yu Tianling was not among those ordinary people.
Watching the Ghost Tiger attack, Yu Tianling was itching to try his hand. Now that the Ghost Tiger was seriously wounded, he was not worried about it running too far away.
"Old Master Gui, leave this Ghost Tiger to me."
As he spoke, Martial Soul Possession was completed in an instant, and his fourth Soul Skill, Dragon Claw Hand, activated directly. His hands transformed completely into red-and-blue dragon claws and met the Ghost Tiger's claws head-on.
"Roar!"
The instant they made contact, the Ghost Tiger let out a roar of agony. Then black light surged all over its body, and it grew somewhat larger, actually wrenching itself free of Yu Tianling's dragon claws.
But it was still a little too late. Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire had already entered the Ghost Tiger's body and were wreaking destruction within it.
After landing, the Ghost Tiger stared hatefully at Yu Tianling, blood constantly seeping from the corners of its mouth. Even standing on its forelegs was beyond its reach.
In the end, it could only collapse into a pool of blood, filled with hatred, its life already nearing its end.
Seeing this, Yu Tianling smiled faintly, fairly satisfied with the power of his fourth Soul Skill.
His fourth Soul Skill, Dragon Claw Hand, instantly transformed his hands into dragon claws, increasing speed and strength by three hundred percent. It possessed extremely powerful binding force and could deflect an enemy's attacks or even draw the enemy right before him. Combined with the two Ultimate Attributes within his body, once he restrained an opponent, the two Ultimate Attributes could enter their body directly, inflicting tremendous damage on their internal organs.
"Sister Na, do it!"
At Yu Tianling's calm words, Hu Liena hurriedly drew a short blade and stepped forward to claim the spoils.
With a single strike, she drove it straight through the Ghost Tiger's temple and into its brain. Just like that, the Ghost Tiger of over nine thousand years met its bitter end beneath Hu Liena's blade. A deep purple Soul Ring tinged with a trace of black slowly began to condense.
"I'm afraid absorbing it won't be easy."
Only then did Xie Yue and the others take a few steps forward toward the center of the battle. Recalling the look in the Ghost Tiger's eyes as it struggled, he could not help worrying and suggested, "Nana, why don't we find another Soul Beast? This Ghost Tiger's resentment is far too deep."
When absorbing a Soul Ring, a Soul Beast's resentment was the hardest thing to deal with. The resentment of an ordinary Soul Beast was not too difficult to handle; with enough willpower, one could endure it and get through. But Hu Liena was now absorbing a ring beyond her age limit, and the Ghost Tiger was also a particularly powerful Soul Beast in combat. With its resentment now so deep, Xie Yue truly worried that his younger sister would not make it through.
And when someone absorbed a Soul Ring, others had no way to help. Once the absorption failed, the lighter outcome was becoming a cripple, while the more severe outcome was death.
"Brother, don't worry, everyone. I'll definitely be fine, and I'll definitely succeed in absorbing the Ghost Tiger's Soul Ring. Tianling could absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as a Soul Ancestor, so I can definitely do this!"
Hearing Xie Yue's words, Hu Liena hesitated for a moment, but once she looked at Yu Tianling, all her hesitation turned to resolve. If she backed down here, would she not lose any chance of catching up to her junior brother for the rest of her life?
Just like that, Hu Liena made up her mind and immediately began absorbing the Soul Ring.
As the Soul Ring condensed above the Ghost Tiger's corpse settled onto Hu Liena, her previously rosy face visibly grew several shades paler in an instant, and her entire body began trembling uncontrollably.
"Nana, you can do it!"
"Sister Nana, you can do it!"
Seeing this, Xie Yue and little Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly cheered Hu Liena on.
As though she had heard them, Hu Liena gradually calmed down, but her tightly knitted brows showed that her current situation was still not very promising.
That was indeed the case.
At the beginning, Hu Liena had abruptly suffered an impact from powerful Soul Power, followed by an attack of immense resentment. The two assaulted Hu Liena together, as though intent on tearing her limb from limb.
It was also thanks to the medicinal power remaining in her body that whenever Hu Liena felt she could barely hold on, it would act like medicated oil, instantly clearing her head considerably.
Half an hour passed. Hu Liena had completely adapted to the current state within her body and began absorbing the power contained in the Soul Ring with all her strength.
Only then did the people watching her intently from outside finally breathe a full sigh of relief. There should essentially be no problem with absorbing the Soul Ring now.
"Pfft!"
Suddenly, Hu Liena, who had already calmed down, spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Ah!"
Everyone present, including the two Titled Douluo, had a change of expression.
"Damn it, a mental attack!"
Hu Liena was frantic. She had not expected the Ghost Tiger to refuse to give up even at the very end, instead concealing a killing move and striking her with a mental shock just as she was about to finish absorbing the Soul Ring. Caught off guard for a moment, she suffered an impact from Soul Power.
"Tianling, what's going on? Nana won't be in danger, will she?"
Looking at the bright red blood on the ground, Xie Yue anxiously questioned Yu Tianling.
"This... could it be a mental attack?"
Thinking back over Hu Liena's entire absorption process, Yu Tianling's expression abruptly changed, and he, too, lost some of his composure.
"What?!"
Apart from Zhu Zhuqing, who was too young to know what a mental attack during Soul Ring absorption meant, everyone else's expression changed drastically upon hearing Yu Tianling's words. Xie Yue's face had gone white.
Yu Tianling stared fixedly at Hu Liena, who was still sitting cross-legged and resisting with all her might, his heart filled with regret. He had always thought that only a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast could develop the trump card of a mental attack through its extremely powerful resentment, waiting for an opportunity to attack the person absorbing its Soul Ring. He had never imagined that this Ghost Tiger's resentment would run so deep that it possessed the ability to launch a mental attack before reaching ten thousand years, and could even hold off using it until the final moment.
"Ah."
Looking at Hu Liena's face, which had turned pale again, Yu Tianling could not help sighing. The Ghost Tiger had timed it far too well.
One minute earlier or one minute later would not have led to this.
One minute earlier, Hu Liena would have had the strength to deal with the mental shock. One minute later, the Ghost Tiger's consciousness would have been completely worn away by Hu Liena, leaving it unable to offer any resistance.
Yet the Ghost Tiger had suddenly attacked at precisely the most critical moment.
"Brother Yue, everyone, don't worry too much. I believe Sister Na will definitely make it through. Because of her Martial Soul, Sister Na's mental power is already somewhat stronger than an ordinary person's, so she'll be much more composed when dealing with a Soul Beast's sudden mental attack."
Seeing everyone's spirits sink, Yu Tianling hurriedly spoke up.