Shattered Mirror Evil Spirit (IV)
The Soul Ring slowly descended and landed on Lin Chen's head.
boom--
The violent spatial and spiritual power surged into his body simultaneously.
It was even more domineering than the previous Void Beast King's attack. Countless tiny fragments of the mirror surface darted wildly through his meridians, cutting through his flesh and soul; within his consciousness, countless mirror images overlapped, each mirror containing a "self," laughing or angry, standing or walking, as if trying to split his consciousness into countless parts.
Lin Chen grunted, his brows furrowing.
Within his dantian, the Chaos Pearl and the Heaven-Slaying Sword lit up simultaneously.
The gray Power of Chaos spread out, enveloping and refining the violent spatial power layer by layer; dark red patterns flowed on the black sword, and the killing aura rushed straight into the sea of consciousness, shattering the images that disturbed the mind.
With both Martial Soul working simultaneously, one defending and the other attacking, they steadily suppressed the impact of the Soul Ring.
The ice and fire spiritual energy stored in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well also flowed slowly along the meridians, nourishing the damaged meridians and assisting in the refining process.
Time passed slowly.
One hour, two hours.
As the sun gradually moved to its zenith, some of the snow on the ground melted.
Finally, the dark gray aura surrounding Lin Chen slowly receded.
Four Soul Ring silently rotated beneath his feet.
The first circle is purple for a thousand years, the second circle is black for ten thousand years, the third circle is black for fifty thousand years, and the fourth circle is black for sixty thousand years.
The four rings shone brightly, and the power of space and suppression formed a faint force field, causing the surrounding snow to automatically shun them by an inch.
Lin Chen slowly opened his eyes.
"It's done?" Xiao Wu rushed over.
"Hmm." Lin Chen nodded and stood up.
His Soul Power surged, becoming several times stronger than before he absorbed it, and steadily stopped at the level of Soul Ancestor, level forty-three.
More importantly, the Fourth Soul Skill.
"Fourth Soul Skill - Chaos: Three Thousand Mirror Realms."
Lin Chen's mind raced.
Buzz--
Within a radius of twenty zhang, space was slightly distorted.
Countless tiny fragments of mirror surface appeared out of thin air, layered upon each other in a staggered and orderly fashion, filling the entire space.
Light refracted back and forth between the fragments, sound was shattered as soon as it entered, and even the fluctuations of Soul Power bounced back and forth between the mirrors, creating a chaotic mess.
It was precisely the signature ability of the Shattered Mirror Evil Spirit that, after being refined by the Chaos Soul Power, became even more formidable.
"This is the Fourth Soul Skill?" Dugu Bo raised an eyebrow and tried to release a wisp of Soul Power to probe it.
The moment the Soul Power entered the mirror's range, it was immediately refracted by the mirror surface, becoming completely distorted and crashing into the tree trunk beside it.
"Interesting." Dugu Bo's eyes lit up.
Lin Chen nodded slightly and slowly explained, "This is a top-tier spatial control technique. Within the Mirror Realm, it has three effects."
"Firstly, the sense of direction is disrupted. The opponent's perceived location and the perceived positions of friend and foe will all be distorted by the mirror image. What they think is dodging to the left will actually cause them to crash into the mirror image to the right; what they think is an attack on me will actually be an attack on empty space."
"Secondly, Soul Skill will be deflected. All directional Soul Skill and Hidden Weapon will be deflected by the mirror. If the angle is just right, they may even bounce back and hit your own people."
"Thirdly, the mirror image. The mirror will reflect the opponent's own image, which moves and attacks in sync with the opponent. The image's attack power is not strong, but each strike carries a mental sting, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake. It is most effective at distracting the mind and consuming Soul Power."
Simply put, once you enter the Three Thousand Mirror Realms, it's like falling into a chaotic maze.
Everything you see is fake, everything you hear is a jumbled mess, and the skills you unleash might even bounce back and kill you.
Combined with the suppression of Chaos Prison Suppression, the combination of trapping and bewildering makes it a veritable meat grinder in team battles.
"What a magnificent Three Thousand Mirror Realms!" Dugu Bo exclaimed, clapping his hands in admiration. "Control, confusion, and counter-damage—a trinity. Soul Master of the same rank who enter would likely not even know how they died."
Once this kid grows up, won't he sweep aside Continent-Wide Elite Tournament?
"We've absorbed the Soul Ring, it's time for us to set off." Dugu Bo looked up at the sky. "If we delay any longer, those people at the academy will really go crazy."
Lin Chen nodded, put away the Soul Ring, and walked back to the corpse. He carefully dug out the cracked rhombus-shaped crystal from the forehead of the Shattered Mirror Evil Spirit.
This thing is the spatial core of Soul Beast. Although it is damaged, it still contains considerable spatial power. With proper care and repair in the future, it might come in very handy.
After the three of them finished packing and determined their direction, they headed out of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Sunlight filtered through the trees after the snow, casting dappled shadows.
In the depths of winter, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy was covered in a blanket of snow. Pine and cypress branches were weighed down with thick snow, and shouts echoed from the training grounds. The students continued their training as usual, but when they chatted, many would mention the name that had disappeared for more than four months— Lin Chen.
Inside the Education Commission office, the heater was burning brightly. The three education commissioners sat around a table with the preliminary rules of the Continent-Wide Elite Competition spread out on it, but none of them seemed to be paying much attention to it.
"It's been over four months, and there's still no news." Zhi Lin, the Education Commissioner, sighed, tapping his fingertips on the table. "Senior Dugu only sent a message saying he was taking on apprentices for training. It's almost spring, and the team members for the preliminary rounds will be confirmed soon. If Lin Chen doesn't return, it'll be difficult to finalize our team's lineup."
Bai Baoshan said in a muffled voice, "Who says otherwise? The Imperial Fighting Team is missing two players, so the team competition has been put on hold. They only played one match before. If the team's points are too low, they won't even be able to apply for a guaranteed promotion."
Meng Shenji sat in the main seat, his fingers stroking his teacup, his brows slightly furrowed. "Senior Dugu has always acted with method and order. Since he said he would take on a disciple, there won't be any problems. It's just... four months have passed, it's time for him to return."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the office door was slammed open.
A heavy, oppressive aura surged in first, not the chilling, venomous coldness of the past, but more restrained and profound, like a mountain that had been buried for a hundred years, pressing down on people and making it hard to breathe.
The three education commissioners suddenly looked up and stood up in unison.
The person standing at the door wore a green robe with his hands behind his back, his long, gray-black hair tied back. He looked more than ten years younger than they remembered, and his wrinkles had smoothed out considerably. Only his eyes, dark brown and seemingly ordinary, made the three of them feel a tightness in their chest the moment they glanced at him, as if they were being stared at by something.
It's Dugu Bo.
But he didn't seem like the Poison Douluo they knew.
Four months ago, Dugu Bo had green hair and blue eyes, and his whole body exuded a poisonous aura that kept strangers at bay, like a poisoned blade drawn from its sheath. But the person in front of him had completely suppressed his poisonous aura, his temperament was calm and profound, and his Soul Power fluctuations were unfathomable, making him even stronger than before.
"Senior... Senior Dugu?" Education Commissioner Zhi Lin's voice was a little strained, "You're back?"
Dugu Bo walked in, his gaze sweeping over the three of them, and he nodded slightly.
"I've come to tell you something. Lin Chen is my personal disciple, Dugu Bo's only one."
His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable weight. "Keep an eye on him in the academy. Don't let just any Tom, Dick, or Harry dare to get close to him."