As he watched Jin Yu's expression shift repeatedly, Xu Zi's eyes gradually regained their clarity.
He was no fool. At such close range, he could naturally tell from the other man's subtle expressions that Jin Yu feared the power backing him, which was why his words and actions had become so timid.
Young masters from great clans like this usually became cautious in an instant when they encountered a power with an even greater background than their own.
So today's incident would simply fizzle out.
And events did not stray from Xu Zi's prediction-
After his expression shifted several times, Jin Yu suddenly waved his hand. "We're leaving!"
"Yes!" The six guards gathered around him again.
Huang Ying breathed a soft sigh of relief, inwardly exclaiming how fortunate they were.
She turned apologetically and approached to offer an apology. "Sorry, junior. What just happened wasn't my-"
Before Huang Ying could finish, Xu Zi shook his head and smiled gently. "It's fine. I know it wasn't your fault, senior."
But just as the Jin family's young master was about to leave-
"Wait!"
Xu Zi's sharp call caught everyone off guard.
Jin Yu turned around with his six attendants, his face slightly ashen. "What else do you want?"
"Don't you want the Soul Core Method?" Xu Zi suddenly gave an inexplicable smile.
"What do you mean?" Jin Yu frowned, an ominous feeling rising in his heart for no apparent reason.
He still remembered what Xu Zi had just said: Pope Bibi Dong had forbidden him from teaching the "Soul Core Method" to outsiders.
The Jin family had originally intended to invite Xu Zi over and use a Golden Crocodile of a suitable age as a bargaining chip to quietly request the new cultivation method in private.
Yet how had the other party suddenly dared to expose those top-secret words in broad daylight?
Jin Yu was no fool. He was certain the other party was setting a trap for him.
Faced with the Jin family's young master's confusion, Xu Zi did not answer directly. Instead, he changed the subject and asked Huang Ying, "Senior, has the bishop notified you over the past two days that we're gathering at the Soul Fighting Plaza tomorrow morning?"
Huang Ying nodded. "Yes. Why? Did you get the notice too, junior?"
Xu Zi did not answer this either. Instead, he faced Jin Yu again and made a startling declaration. "Then tomorrow, around morning or noon, at Spirit Hall Academy's Soul Fighting Plaza, with the Soul Core Method as the stakes-do you dare fight me?"
The air first fell silent.
Huang Ying hurried over and grabbed Xu Zi's arm, whispering sternly, "Are you mad, junior? My cousin is a rank-49 Soul Ancestor with the top-tier Martial Soul, the Golden Crocodile!"
"And he's the only one in this generation of the Jin family with the potential to become a 'Crocodile King'!"
Having said that, she turned back with an appeasing smile. "Young master, he's a visitor from another continent. The way they approach Soul Fighting there might differ from ours, so it's easy to..."
But from behind her, Xu Zi asked again, "Jin Yu, do you dare or not?"
Huang Ying's expression abruptly changed...
"Hmph!" Jin Yu strode forward, pushed Huang Ying aside with one hand, and leaned down in front of Xu Zi. "Fine. If you want to hand me a new cultivation method, I couldn't ask for more."
The anger completely faded from Jin Yu's face, and a hint of smugness even appeared.
In his view, this overseas visitor had probably gotten scared. Most likely, he was using a wagered fight to lose the cultivation method to him, Jin Yu, legitimately, so as not to offend the Golden Crocodile Family Clan.
That way, he could also circumvent, to some extent, the Pope's order to keep the new cultivation method secret.
After all, throughout history, when had there ever been a record of a rank-30 Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster lasting even one move against a rank-49 Soul Ancestor?
At this thought, Jin Yu nodded repeatedly. "A man who recognizes the tides is truly wise."
"In that case, tomorrow morning-no! First thing tomorrow, at Spirit Hall Academy's Soul Fighting Plaza. I, Jin Yu, will be there right on time!"
Xu Zi paid no attention to whatever fantasy the other man was indulging in. He merely extended an open palm. "Tomorrow's business can wait until tomorrow. Please leave now."
"Hahaha!" Jin Yu laughed loudly and waved his hand. "We're leaving!"
The party of seven went off into the distance.
Coming to her senses, Huang Ying reached out to feel Xu Zi's forehead, then checked her own temperature...
"I don't have a fever, senior. You're worrying too much," Xu Zi interrupted.
At that, the worry on Huang Ying's face deepened. Utterly baffled, she asked, "Then why did you take the initiative to challenge my cousin? Twice, at that!"
"Do you know that my cousin is a genuine Gold Soul Fighter at the Holy City's Great Soul Arena? Not long ago, when he was still rank 48, he even defeated a Five-Ring Soul King."
"If the Worships and Her Majesty weren't at odds in word and deed, and the academy didn't belong to the Pope Hall faction, my cousin would definitely be one of the top three favorites in this Soul Master Tournament."
"Yes. I looked into that before coming to the Holy City." Xu Zi's tone and demeanor remained calm.
"Then you..." Huang Ying was somewhat at a loss for words.
Several seconds later, she finally asked with a strange expression, "You aren't really planning to use Soul Fighting as a pretext to give the new cultivation method to the Worships of Elder Hall, are you?"
"The point is, you're the one who issued the challenge. How could Her Majesty fail to see through your intentions?"
Xu Zi still shook his head. "You're overthinking it, senior. I have something to attend to. See you tomorrow morning."
With that, he turned and waved, heading back to his residence as originally planned.
"Hey, hey! Hah..." Huang Ying was speechless for a long while before finally stamping her foot and leaving.
The golden bracelet spun around his left wrist. Listening to the sounds behind him, Xu Zi shook his head.
He still followed his usual principle: never waste effort on anything that brought no returns.
Besides, he had only just joined Spirit Hall, yet he had declared a challenge against the Second Worship's grandson immediately upon arrival. From a normal person's perspective, that was truly unwise.
If his own interests were not involved, how could recklessly stirring up trouble be his style?
Back inside the detached villa.
Xu Zi headed straight for the fourth-floor rooftop terrace.
The third floor was a large bedroom, while the fourth was an open-air sun terrace shaped like a great circular millstone ten meters across.
As soon as he stood still on the terrace, Xu Zi raised his left wrist. Spiritual power burst from between his brows and seeped into the golden bracelet Storage Soul Tool.
He had just spent all that time and effort sending the Jin family's master and six servants away precisely so he could welcome this moment in peace!
"A Thousand-Year Dragon Scale Fruit has medicinal value comparable to a ninth-grade ginseng king. I wonder whether it can evolve a Golden Crocodile into a Crocodile King."
Logically, it should not, because any top-tier Soul Beast needed at least a hundred thousand years of cultivation to earn the title of "Beast King."
Soul Beast species that became kings at ten thousand years and emperors at a hundred thousand were mostly high-grade, or even merely ordinary Soul Beasts.
So, judging by the Dragon Scale Fruit's effects, after a night of Dragon Metamorphosis, the Golden Crocodile should have become an entirely new "beast species."
His spiritual power spread downward, and the answer was immediately revealed-
Within the pitch-black surroundings, the bottom of the Soul Tool's space was dry, cold, and hard.
A six-meter-long dark golden giant crocodile lay lengthwise amid the darkness.
Its once-golden hard armor had deepened to a dark golden hue. In color alone, it had already gone far beyond the "golden" in Golden Crocodile.
Moreover, after a night of high-temperature transformation, the refined steel cables the Jin family had bound around its limbs had broken into black fragments scattered across the floor.
That made things easier for Xu Zi, however, allowing him to observe it better with his spiritual power.
As everyone knew-
Dragon Scale Fruit not only greatly strengthened the constitution of those who consumed it, but also granted them a measure of dragon bloodline.
Thus, when Soul Beasts and Soul Masters without dragon bloodlines consumed Dragon Scale Fruit, the process of enduring high temperatures and acquiring a dragon bloodline was called Dragon Metamorphosis by later generations.
Transformed by a night of Dragon Metamorphosis, this Golden Crocodile had not only deepened in color; ridges of plated armor had also risen along its back.
This made the entire length of its back look remarkably like a dark golden dragon's spine.
Not only that, the two rows of hooklike protrusions on its back had elongated into two rows of dark golden dorsal spikes, their sharp gleam intimidating to behold.
And those were merely the most conspicuous changes to its body.
Next were the changes to its head-
Visually, the dark golden giant crocodile's entire maw appeared much shorter, but more accurately, its maw had widened into something resembling a dragon's snout.
Two pale golden fangs also jutted out beside its mouth.
As though sensing something "invisible and intangible" brush over its body, the dark golden giant crocodile, which had been resting quietly, suddenly opened its eyes.
Having no concept of spiritual power, the dark golden giant crocodile could only use its serpentine-dragon vertical pupils to warily scan the surrounding darkness.
Outside the Soul Tool's space, Xu Zi opened his eyes, his smile blossoming.
"A great success. The medicinal effects of this Dragon Scale Fruit really are highly compatible with the Golden Crocodile."
Now, considering the old name "Golden Crocodile" alongside the appearance of the giant crocodile inside his golden bracelet, he suddenly felt it was not precise enough.
"Its color has deepened to dark gold, and the medicinal effects have added a dragon bloodline..."
"Then I'll call it the Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon."
A Golden Crocodile transforming into a lesser dragon might have been a first in all history.
As its creator, Xu Zi had the right to name it.
Moreover, over thirty thousand years later, during the Douluo IV era, a Soul Beast called the "Crocodile Dragon" did indeed exist, though it and the "Golden Crocodile" were two different species.
Now that Xu Zi had combined the Golden Crocodile and Crocodile Dragon into one and brought it to the Douluo Continent ahead of time, the name had a reasonable basis.
His spiritual power "looked" at the Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon within the Soul Tool's space.
The third Soul Ring he had anticipated and planned for nearly two months-
"It's finally time to harvest the fruit!"
Xu Zi did not hesitate. The Soul Guidance Ring on a finger of his right hand flashed-
Three steel clamping plates shaped like armored treads flew out of the Branding Sun Soul Guidance Ring. Driven by Soul Power, they emitted pale blue light before being placed inside the golden bracelet's storage space.
A Level 4 Soul Tool-the Soul Hunting Beast Trap!
Driven by Soul Power, the three treadlike Soul Hunting Beast Traps descended from above. Guided by Xu Zi's spiritual power, they precisely enclosed the Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon's mouth, forelimbs, and hind legs, binding it into a golden rice dumpling.
No matter how it death-rolled, it could not break free of the Soul Tool's restraints.
At the same time, on the rooftop terrace.
Xu Zi drew a deep breath, seemingly preparing himself for the ordeal.
Purple light and intense heat rose behind him. The blazing Purple Sun and the dragon within it appeared in the mortal world once more!
The dual-aspect, unified Martial Soul, "Dragon and Sun," crashed down and attached itself to Xu Zi. In an instant, purple light spread a hundred zhang.
Amid the blazing purple radiance, Xu Zi's clear eyes rapidly turned purple, and a serpentine dragon's vertical slit emerged in each!
"Rooaaar!"
A fierce dragon's roar rose toward the heavens, shaking the daytime sky.
The blazing purple light drew inward, leaving a figure standing tall upon the rooftop terrace.
Amethyst dragon scales covered various parts of his body like light amethyst armor, overlapping in neat, orderly rows that possessed an indescribable beauty at a glance.
Outside his calves, two yellow rings of light revolved, just then deepening into two different colors: one yellow and one purple.
This was Xu Zi-the complete form of his Martial Soul Possession.
He felt the power of destruction surging within him and the Will of Destruction lingering in his mind.
Xu Zi exhaled a scorching dragon breath, silently beginning a sixty-second countdown.
"Time waits for no one."
He sharply flicked the five fingers of his right hand, and a faint Soul Tool light shone from the Branding Sun ring,
A great mass of dark gold flew out and crashed onto the ten-meter terrace, becoming the six-meter-long Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon.
"Thud!"
Immediately after flicking his right hand, Xu Zi removed the Branding Sun ring. Before the Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon could react...
He clenched his right hand into a dragon fist, gathered his strength, and swung with a blazing purple intent of destruction, hammering the Golden Crocodile's lower jaw with a muffled thump of flesh wrapped around bone.
"Boom!"
Caught by surprise and struck unprepared, the Golden Crocodile restrained by the Soul Tool had not even figured out its surroundings before a single punch flipped it over on the spot, leaving it sprawled on its back upon the rooftop terrace, white belly facing upward.
The power of destruction from that charged, heavy blow penetrated its body, continuously ravaging the Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon's brain tissue.
Its stiffened limbs twitched, and its wide eyes kept rolling back. Caught utterly off guard, it had actually been knocked unconscious.
Bright purple dragon eyes looked down, their vertical pupils studying the giant crocodile at his feet without blinking.
Those bright purple vertical pupils were like a progenitor of lesser dragons examining its descendants, as though a single glance could lay bare the foundations of every lesser dragon.
"Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon... barely four thousand years?"
The voice rumbled like a dragon's speech, yet its inflection carried the youthful quality of a boy.
Judging by Xu Zi's tone, however, he seemed dissatisfied with the Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon's age.
"That makes sense. The medicinal potency of a Thousand-Year Dragon Scale Fruit can at most compare to a ninth-grade precious medicine. It merely has the additional mechanism of Dragon Metamorphosis."
Turning a two-thousand-year Golden Crocodile into a four-thousand-year Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon was already the limit of its medicinal effects.
A four-thousand-year, highest-tier Soul Ring was already the limit for many rank-50 support types, but for the rank-30 Xu Zi...
It might still fall three or four hundred years short of what he could endure for his third ring.
"With the conditions limiting me, this will have to do."
His rank had been stuck at Soul Grandmaster for over two months. His cultivation left no room for him to keep splitting hairs.
Suddenly-
"Crack! Crack!"
Driven by its survival instinct, or perhaps intimidated by the dragon might of a progenitor of lesser dragons, the Dark Golden Crocodile Dragon suddenly jolted awake from its stupor. It frantically thrashed its head, tail, and limbs, trying to flip itself over.
But with three Level 4 Soul Tools restraining it, even as a thousand-year Soul Beast with a highest-tier bloodline, it could not move freely in the slightest.
Xu Zi's dragon eyes sharpened. He attacked with tremendous speed-
The hundred-year first ring at his feet abruptly lit up, and a wave of spiritual fluctuations surged forth!
First Soul Skill: Will of Destruction!
The inverted triangle of skin between Xu Zi's left eye, right eye, and the center of his brows creased into a dragon's brow as the spiritual attack Soul Skill thundered down!
Just as the Golden Crocodile was about to turn over, the Will of Destruction arrived in blazing force and struck straight into its head...
Looking down at the crimson blood flowing from the corners of the Golden Crocodile's mouth and eyes, Xu Zi did not let down his guard.
After all, this was a beast born of a Golden Crocodile's Dragon Transformation, a highest-tier lesser-dragon Soul Beast. That series of attacks would at most leave it severely injured.
While his First Soul Ring was on cooldown, Xu Zi raised both dragon fists, brilliant amethyst light blazing from his knuckles!
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