The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger lowered its body, a warning growl squeezing from its throat as its red, slit-pupiled eyes slowly scanned the shadows of the bushes.
Just one person. For now, it found no signs of an ambush nearby.
The trace of caution in its mind was soon suppressed by greed.
It was only a child with level sixteen Soul Power. Although it had no idea why this child gave off such a tempting scent, it had a powerful premonition!
As long as it swallowed this child, it could cross the hundred-thousand-year threshold as naturally as water flowing into a channel. It might even have a chance of breaking past that limit, reaching a million years, and becoming the new Evil God!
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's lips curled back, exposing its ghastly white fangs. Its four limbs drove hard against the ground, and it turned into a streak of black light hurtling toward Jing Shanshan.
Golden ripples spread across the sky the instant the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger lunged. Hundreds of Tool Martial Souls emerged from the void-sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, and forks. Every one gave off a presence that countered the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger and made its hide crawl.
What shocked and enraged it even more was that the fluctuations of the child's Soul Power were climbing steadily.
Level sixteen, level twenty, level thirty...
Finally, his presence settled at Titled Douluo?!
It was a trap!
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's pupils contracted sharply. It forcibly twisted its lunging body in midair, trying to retreat.
Martial Souls rained down, blotting out the sky and leaving the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger no room to dodge.
Its prized Evil God Hook tail had barely risen before a golden chain wrapped tightly around it. The sacred presence flowing through the chain scorched its nerves, making it let out a shrill howl of pain.
After expending considerable strength to break free of the chain, it looked up to see even more Martial Souls aimed at it from every direction, with no blind spots!
This was not a fight against one person at all. What stood before it now was a war!
Elsewhere on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, beneath the shadow of an ancient tree, Jing Shanshan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, all his concentration immersed in controlling his possession Martial Souls.
His consciousness was residing within Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's body, borrowing his Titled Douluo-level standing and Soul Power to activate the Martial Souls in the Gate of Babylon. Retrieving and releasing each Martial Soul was countless times smoother than before.
Even the power and effects of the Martial Souls were gradually approaching the Titled Douluo level.
It was an extraordinarily wondrous experience, like a small stream suddenly joining a mighty river. Soul Power was so abundant it almost overflowed. The Martial Souls he normally could not use because his Soul Power Level was too low now emerged from the golden ripples one after another. Every one was brought to bear on the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, beating it until it howled in pain!
Unfortunately, as the Martial Souls' power gradually increased, so did their Soul Power consumption.
He could no longer keep hurling Martial Souls at it indiscriminately.
The Shadow Doll Puppet Qian Renxue stood beside Jing Shanshan, holding an Angel golden-flame greatsword and serving as a competent guard, her vigilant gaze sweeping their surroundings.
Normally, no matter how heaven-defying a Martial Soul's quality or how good its effects, it could never allow a mere level sixteen Soul Master to possess a Titled Douluo.
How incredibly tough must the will and spirit of someone who had cultivated to Titled Douluo have been tempered to become!
Unfortunately, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan was currently in an extremely weakened state, his life hanging by a thread. His will and spirit had been battered until they were riddled with holes, and his response to outside stimuli was practically nonexistent, leaving Jing Shanshan free to try.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, an attempt to possess a Titled Douluo would soon meet a counterattack from the Titled Douluo's unconscious resistance.
After breaking through to level sixteen, Jing Shanshan could bring more types of Martial Souls into play.
For instance, before absorbing his Soul Ring, he could use at most two possession-type Martial Souls simultaneously. After reaching level sixteen, that number increased eightfold: he could use sixteen Martial Souls with possession effects.
Sixteen Martial Souls with possession effects were stacked layer upon layer, supplemented by dozens of corresponding amplification-type Martial Souls.
He successfully "borrowed" Chrysanthemum Douluo's body, and the possession could last thirty minutes without any risk.
Qian Renxue silently kept track of the time while watching Jing Shanshan's expression.
At the ten-minute mark, the composed smile that had remained on Jing Shanshan's face suddenly vanished. His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and his gaze shifted from relaxed to scrutinizing, as though he had encountered something rare and unexpected.
Qian Renxue was very curious, but she knew she could not disturb him now.
Jing Shanshan was fully occupied with controlling his possession Martial Souls and had not a scrap of mental capacity to spare. She could only tighten her grip on the golden-flame greatsword and expand her watch another ring outward, preventing any mishap here from disrupting Jing Shanshan's plan.
Thirty minutes passed.
Thirty minutes-that was the safe possession limit Jing Shanshan had given her.
Qian Renxue looked at Jing Shanshan. He showed no intention whatsoever of ending the possession...
Every second that passed now carried the risk of possession backlash. If left unchecked, Jing Shanshan's spiritual power could very likely suffer tremendous backlash damage.
Was he still not done? Was the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger harder to handle than expected?
Thirty-one minutes...
Thirty-two minutes...
She suppressed her anxiety, repeatedly raising and lowering her outstretched hand. In the end, she sat cross-legged beside Jing Shanshan.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
At the forty-minute mark, footsteps came from the direction of the bushes.
Qian Renxue sprang up, positioning herself opposite the figure. Golden-flame greatsword in hand, she stared fixedly at the bushes.
Another Jing Shanshan emerged from behind a tree.
In his left hand, he carried a little jet-black cat. A golden collar encircled its neck. Covered in wounds, it curled its limbs weakly, barely clinging to life. Its red, slit-pupiled eyes were half-open, filled with bewilderment.
In his right hand, he casually carried a Rock-Breathing Tortoise. Dirt and grass still clung to its shell, and its limbs dangled as though it had just been dug out of the ground.
Qian Renxue froze for a moment, then quickly understood.
She had not expected Jing Shanshan to actually take down the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger!
Jing Shanshan, who had kept his eyes closed all this time, patted the dust off himself, while his other, possessed form swiftly reverted to Chrysanthemum Douluo's appearance.
Chrysanthemum Douluo stood there with vacant eyes, like a puppet awaiting orders. At the sight, Qian Renxue immediately hurried over in a few quick strides to examine his condition.
Only after confirming that his Soul Power was merely depleted and his injuries had not worsened did she breathe a sigh of relief.
"As long as we haven't lost him."
Qian Renxue spoke softly. If a Titled Douluo fell in a place like this, Spirit Hall would have lost a great general for nothing.
Only then did Qian Renxue take a closer look at the little black cat that had been brought back.
"This is the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger?"
Jing Shanshan nodded, and Chrysanthemum Douluo mechanically set the black cat on the ground.
The black cat lay sprawled on the ground, its red, slit-pupiled eyes staring at the sky and its tongue poking out slightly. Its "Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?" look was plain to see. There was none of the sinister cunning it had displayed when they first encountered it!
"I fed it a Martial Soul potion that can restore youth."
"What?!"
Hearing this, Qian Renxue stared at Jing Shanshan with wide eyes.
What had she just heard?
Rejuvenation?!
This was absolutely something almost every Soul Master on the Douluo Continent pursued! No one could resist the temptation of immortality!