The deafening roar truly descended only at the moment the two great Soul Beasts feinted, turned, and fled!
The torrents of cyan and dark-gold energy surged forward like a heavenly river bursting its banks, carrying an air of utter destruction.
"Roar!"
Xiong Jin's eyes went wide with fury. His enormous true form as a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear advanced rather than retreated, the muscles on his crossed arms bulging, every inch infused with the vast Soul Power of a rank ninety-five expert.
Behind him, his Ninth Soul Ring, that scarlet circle symbolizing a hundred thousand years of cultivation, blazed brighter than ever!
"Ninth Soul Skill, Dark Gold Heaven-Rending Claw!"
At the same time, the giant lava beast Shi Mo had transformed into let out a muffled roar.
Before his mountain-like body, an immense basalt shield, thick enough to inspire despair, materialized out of thin air. Ancient patterns lit up across its surface, and layers upon layers of earthy yellow light gathered over it, as though lending it the weight of the entire earth.
"Ninth Soul Skill, Black Tortoise Wall!"
Boom-!!!
An indescribable blast erupted at the center of the forest.
The entire world seemed to lose its sound and color, leaving only a destructive white light.
"Pfft!"
The giant lava beast Shi Mo had transformed into shuddered violently and let out a muffled groan of pain. An irresistible force drove his massive body straight backward, plowing two bottomless trenches into the ground.
Xiong Jin, right behind him, met the torrent of energy head-on with his attack after it had been weakened by nearly half.
His dark-gold carapace scraped against the pillar of destructive light, sending blinding sparks flying.
The earth beneath his feet, along with the forest for hundreds of meters around him, was instantly razed flat, leaving a bottomless crater!
The Hell White Tiger at the very rear was ultimately caught by the shock wave.
Its enormous, gilded body shuddered violently in midair. Blinding golden light and gloomy black light flickered in chaotic bursts before it exploded apart with a bang!
Two figures fell from the sky like kites with their strings cut.
"Your Highness!"
Zhu Zhuyun forced herself to steady her body in midair and landed lightly with a flip, but a sweet taste rose in her throat, and a trace of blood still spilled from the corner of her mouth.
Ignoring her own condition, she immediately flashed to Dai Weisi's side and reached out to support him.
Dai Weisi's face was as pale as paper. He could barely remain standing even with Zhu Zhuyun's arm supporting him. His chest heaved violently, and he finally failed to hold back a mouthful of blood, spraying it out.
The forced interruption of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, coupled with an impact from two Soul Beasts of that caliber, had thrown his Soul Power into complete disorder and sent his Qi and blood churning incessantly.
On the other side, Dugu Bo was in an even sorrier state.
He lay flat behind a boulder, his green robes torn to shreds by the shock wave and his hair as messy as a bird's nest. Still shaken, he patted his chest.
"Good heavens... those two beasts really aren't human when they fight for their lives..."
He muttered to himself, his eyelids twitching as he looked at the land that had been completely flattened.
The dust slowly settled.
At the center of the crater, Shi Mo had returned to human form. His face was ashen, and blood clung to the corner of his mouth; he had clearly exhausted himself.
Xiong Jin was in slightly better shape, but he too was covered in blood, his arms lined with scorch marks from the energy. He was panting heavily, yet the fighting spirit in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest.
Dai Weisi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked toward the Lake of Life. There was little frustration in his eyes; instead, they showed an understanding that took the outcome for granted.
They were top-tier Soul Beasts, after all. If they had been taken down so easily, they would hardly have lived up to their reputation.
Just then, the cold mechanical voice rang out in his mind again.
[Ding! The mission branch has changed!] [The targets, 'Sky Azure Bull Python' and 'Titan Giant Ape,' have been detected fleeing into the Core Circle of the Star Dou Great Forest. Will the host pursue them?] [Option one: pursue them relentlessly, venture into the depths of the Lake of Life, and fight until one side is dead! Reward: one God-Given Soul Ring! (Note: enormous risks exist within the Core Circle. Host, please choose carefully!)] [Option two: avoid their edge for now and regroup. Reward: increase the age of all the host's current Soul Rings by one thousand years!]
Dai Weisi frowned slightly.
The system rarely used words like "enormous risks" as a warning.
Did that mean the system didn't want him to make that choice now?
Besides, the reward seemed merely ordinary!
He was not a reckless person.
It was unwise to take a risk that even the system deemed "enormous" for the sake of two Soul Beasts that had already fled with severe injuries.
Come to think of it, that was true!
The system had no function to protect its host!
At his current level, even with these three Titled Douluo accompanying him, if Gu Yuena or Di Tian made a move, he would probably be wiped out before he could even make a system choice!
Courting death for rewards wasn't done like this!
"Forget it. The monk may run away, but the temple can't."
Dai Weisi sighed inwardly.
"After this, Xiao Wu and the two great Soul Beasts probably won't leave the Star Dou Great Forest either. There's no need to rush."
He said silently, Option two.
[Reward granted: the age of all the host's current Soul Rings has increased by one thousand years!]
The moment the words ended, a warm, vast surge of strange energy appeared from nowhere and poured into Dai Weisi's body.
The seven Soul Rings behind him emerged on their own: purple, yellow, purple, purple, black, red, and red. Under everyone's gaze, each ring began to shine more brilliantly. Though it lasted only an instant, the change was unmistakable.
They were now black, purple, purple, purple, black, red, and red!
His face, pale from depleted Soul Power, quickly regained its color under the nourishment of that energy, and his churning Qi and blood settled down.
In the span of only a few breaths, Dai Weisi had recovered most of his strength.
Good. Since he was already here, he couldn't leave without the Soul Ring he wanted!
The image of another Soul Beast appeared in Dai Weisi's mind.
It was a sinister, strangely shaped tiger, pitch-black all over, with a pair of wings growing from its ribs.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger!
In terms of years of cultivation, it might have fallen far short of the two great kings of the forest.
But in the original story, its abilities were bizarre to the extreme. It possessed multiple attributes, including evil, wind, lightning, time, space, and death. It could even cultivate by devouring the souls and life force of Soul Masters and Soul Beasts, giving it boundless potential.
Tang San had needed the strength of nine oxen and two tigers to hunt down a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger with sixty thousand years of cultivation, and had nearly failed.
So what if its abilities are bizarre?
The corners of Dai Weisi's mouth rose slightly.
Before absolute strength and my system, all flashy tricks are futile.
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the others.
"Shi Mo, Xiong Jin, rest here."
"Yes, my lord."
The two answered respectfully.
Dai Weisi's gaze finally settled on Dugu Bo.
"Old Poison."
"Yes, Your Highness, at your command!"
Dugu Bo started and hurried over, wearing a fawning smile as though he had forgotten the sorry state he had just been in.
"You should be fairly familiar with the terrain of the Star Dou Great Forest,"
Dai Weisi said evenly.
"Go find me a tiger."
"A tiger?"
Dugu Bo froze for a moment and scratched his messy hair.
"Your Highness, there must be eight or ten thousand tigers in this forest. Which... which kind do you mean?"
"A strange black tiger with wings."
A glint flashed in Dai Weisi's eyes as he gave him a more specific clue.
"Its presence is full of evil and ill omen, and its strength is probably between sixty and eighty thousand years. Given its habits, it most likely roams the border between the Mixed Zone and the Core Zone. Go search for traces of it."
Dugu Bo listened in bewilderment. A black tiger?
With wings, too?
What on earth was that?
But he didn't dare ask more. He immediately thumped his chest and promised:
"Rest assured, Your Highness. As long as that monster is still in the Star Dou Great Forest, even if I have to scrape three feet off the ground, I will drag it out for you!"
"Good. Once you find it, don't alert it. Come back and find me!"