Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Having finished their act, Yu Longyue and Huo Yuhao continued deeper into the mixed zone.
"Do you think Tang San will believe us?" Huo Yuhao asked, somewhat uncertain.
"As long as we didn't give anything away, what reason would he have not to believe us?"
Yu Longyue, who was walking at the front, stopped.
Huo Yuhao didn't ask why. Instead, his expression grew grave.
"Here they come. Two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."
No sooner had he spoken than deep growls sounded around them, and two enormous dire wolves appeared before them.
The two dire wolves were far larger than ordinary wolf-type Soul Beasts. Their muscles were clearly defined, their fur was dark gray, and a cold light flickered in their eyes.
Their claws were as sharp as knives, and every step made the ground tremble slightly, displaying their formidable strength.
Yu Longyue raised an eyebrow.
"My Martial Soul's draconic might carries the presence of a true dragon. By rights, they should have kept their distance."
He had withdrawn his draconic might while Tang San was around, so many Soul Beasts had taken the initiative to attack them on sight.
Now that Tang San was gone, they would naturally pick stronger Soul Beasts to kill. There was no point wasting time on shrimp soldiers and crab generals.
"Remember the Ten-Thousand-Year wolf-type Soul Beast we just killed?" Huo Yuhao said. "Wolves are Soul Beasts that live in packs. There couldn't have been just one. I'd guess these other two are its siblings, here for revenge."
Yu Longyue tilted his neck. "The one on the left is over thirteen thousand years old. The one on the right is around twenty-five thousand years old. That should be the wolf king."
"There are also lots of wolves approaching us from farther away."
"That shouldn't be a problem for you, right?" Huo Yuhao couldn't help saying. "With your physical strength, you'd be a tiger among sheep in a wolf pack."
"Yeah. I'll go first. You do as you see fit." Golden dragon scales appeared on both of Yu Longyue's hands as he brought out both the Golden Dragon King's right and left claws.
The right claw had a crushing effect, while the left had a tearing effect.
He unleashed his first Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw. Lightning coiled around his pair of dragon claws, and golden light flashed. Yu Longyue swung his right claw fiercely, sending the phantom of a dragon claw formed from lightning straight at the dire wolf on the left, the one over thirteen thousand years old.
The lightning was blindingly fast. With a sound of air being torn apart, it struck at the dire wolf's vital points.
At the same time, his left claw moved. A dark blue claw shadow followed close behind, attacking the other wolf, the twenty-five-thousand-year-old wolf king.
The two dire wolves sensed the terrifying power in Yu Longyue's attacks. A flicker of fear passed through their eyes, and they didn't dare take the attacks head-on. In particular, the draconic might, which was enough to crush them, prevented them from bringing much of their fighting strength to bear.
But to avenge their brother, the two dire wolves roared in unison. Intense gray light erupted from their bodies, and gray blades of light sprayed from their mouths to meet Yu Longyue's attacks.
Boom! The lightning collided with the gray blades of light, producing a deafening roar. Even the surrounding air rippled from the clash of forces.
Huo Yuhao raised an arm in front of himself, then activated Mass Weakening and Mass Spiritual Confusion.
The two dire wolves froze, unable to tell north from south or east from west.
Yu Longyue hurriedly activated his third Soul Skill, True Dragon's True Form, and stomped hard on the ground with his right foot. He shot toward the two dire wolves like a cannonball, then unleashed Thunderous Might. A torrent of lightning erupted at a fixed point, countless bolts converging into enormous pillars of lightning that plunged straight into the ground.
The entire forest trembled under the bombardment. The power of the lightning exploded like a bomb, covering the entire battlefield.
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao hurriedly covered his ears with both hands. The thunderous roar was deafening, and the entire forest shook under its power.
Lightning illuminated the entire primeval forest, frightening the wolf pack, which had yet to approach, into retreating at once.
This is... Thunderous Might?
Huo Yuhao thought back to his eldest senior brother, Bei Bei. They both had the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul and the same Soul Skill, yet it manifested completely differently in different hands.
How is this Thunderous Might? Isn't this some kind of bomb?
The lightning faded. The once-dense trees had been split apart by the bolts, and the ground was pocked with charred craters.
Yu Longyue stood at the center of the bombardment, lightning coiling around him. He placed a dragon hand over one wolf's head, then abruptly grabbed it and hurled it in front of Huo Yuhao.
The other wolf, the wolf king, seized the opening after Thunderous Might ended. With a furious roar, it pounced at Yu Longyue.
Its eyes were now full of hatred and madness. Its body, stained blood red and touched by lightning, traced an arc through the air, its sharp claws aimed straight at Yu Longyue's vital points.
But Yu Longyue was faster. He jerked up his right foot and kicked viciously at the oncoming wolf king.
The kick carried his tremendous strength and the lingering force of the lightning. The wolf king's massive body flew far away like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into a large tree with a dull thud.
The wolf king's body slid down the tree. Fear and unwillingness flashed in its eyes, but it could no longer stand.
Yu Longyue gave it no chance to catch its breath. He raised his right hand again, and the lightning shot out like electric serpents, striking the wolf king squarely.
The wolf king let out a piercing, anguished howl. Its body convulsed violently under the bombardment, and in the end, the power of the lightning left it completely unable to fight.
The lightning attribute could be said to stand at the pinnacle of all elements. Its violent energy made lightning difficult to control or suppress, and gave it tremendous destructive and explosive power.
Having dealt with the two wolves, Yu Longyue let out a draconic roar in the direction of the remaining pack, releasing a true dragon's majesty without restraint. The entire forest instantly erupted into chaos, chickens flying and dogs leaping, as every Soul Beast within several kilometers fled Yu Longyue for its life.
"Once you've absorbed these two Soul Beasts, that should be about enough. Hurry up." The dark blue light had yet to fade from Yu Longyue's eyes as he cast an intimidating glance at Huo Yuhao behind him.
Huo Yuhao nodded, thinking to himself that this guy's suppressive power really was strong. If he hadn't fallen from the God King Realm himself, his self from his previous life would probably have been startled too.
He then quickly finished off the two dire wolves and began absorbing Spiritual Qi.
Yu Longyue stood guard for him.
Only a few minutes passed before Yu Longyue sensed that something was wrong.
Within the range of Spiritual Detection, an extraordinary giant seemed to be heading their way.
Its presence was so terrifying that even Yu Longyue felt somewhat endangered.
He had been about to urge Huo Yuhao to hurry, but signs of spirit ascension suddenly appeared on him. Now they wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon.
Yu Longyue braced himself, looking up in the direction from which the enormous creature was charging.
Before long, Yu Longyue got a clear look at the creature in its entirety.
A giant over sixty meters tall was rapidly approaching. Its pair of massive, sturdy legs possessed tremendous explosive power, dark gray scales covered its entire body, and a thick tail trailed behind it...
When its blood-red eyes caught sight of Yu Longyue, they stirred, and it stopped of its own accord.
Yu Longyue's face went slightly blank at the sight of the giant.
"The Tyrant Dragon, king of the subdragon species?!"
An adult Tyrant Dragon could rival a giant dragon. The one before him, with ten thousand years of cultivation, was no weaker than an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and perhaps even stronger.
Yet the Tyrant Dragon showed Yu Longyue no hostility. Instead, it threw back its head and roared, then looked at him with some excitement. It promptly lowered its head of its own accord and brought it close to Yu Longyue.
The next instant, the Tyrant Dragon began shrinking continuously, turning into a phantom that entered Yu Longyue's body directly.
At the same time, the Thunder Dragon's voice rang out in Yu Longyue's mind.
"Holy shit, master, what's going on? I was sleeping just fine at home, so how did an outsider barge in?"
"Wait, a Tyrant Dragon, king of the subdragon species? Didn't they go extinct ages ago? Hang on, why are you fighting me for territory? There's no room for you here!"
Then Yu Longyue felt his head grow a little muddled, and two different dragon roars rang out in a duet.
Wait...
Fine, my Martial Soul and bloodline got into a fight, but how did you two start fighting too?
"No! Master's fifth, sixth, and Seventh Soul Rings are all my territory. If you want to come in, get over to the Eighth Soul Ring and stay away from mine!"
"You can't even talk, and you want to fight me for territory? No way, no way!"
Yu Longyue had just been about to say something when his vision went black, and he briefly lost consciousness.
When he awoke, he found himself lying in a cold pod, surrounded by a crowd of Spirit Pagoda staff.