Chapter Fourteen: The Second Soul Ring

Under Huohuo’s lead, the three of them sped swiftly toward the residence of the Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon. Owing to the dragon’s intimidating presence, not a single other soul beast could be found for miles around its lair. This, however, was also related to its choice of dwelling—truly formidable ten-thousand-year soul beasts preferred the depths at the very heart of the Star Dou Great Forest, disdaining such peripheral, marginal lands.

The Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon’s senses were exceedingly keen. No sooner had Xiao Yu and his companions set foot within its domain than the enormous beast, which had been coiled up with eyes closed, suddenly unfurled itself and charged toward them with menacing ferocity.

“Vile creature, such acute perception!”

If a mere thousand-year-old Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon could sense their arrival, then Huohuo, a Soul Douluo, and Miao, a Soul Sage, would be utterly useless if they couldn’t even perceive the dragon’s murderous intent directed at them—they might as well bash their heads against a wall.

“Miao, protect the young master! Leave this beast to me!” Huohuo shouted, soul spirit instantly possessed. Two yellow, two purple, and four black spirit rings—the optimal combination of eight—shone around him as he dashed headlong toward the hellish dragon.

Both man and dragon moved with astonishing speed. In just a few breaths, they collided head-on.

With a thunderous roar, the Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon opened its gaping maw and bellowed at Huohuo, unleashing a shockwave of a dragon’s roar accompanied by a violent gale.

Yet the formidable Huohuo was utterly unfazed; his forward momentum did not slacken in the slightest. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the demon dragon, clenched his right fist, and struck the dragon’s massive skull with a brutal blow.

It was only a single punch, but it landed on the dragon’s head like a boulder falling from the sky. The Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon howled in pain, staggering back several steps, its eyes locked on Huohuo and blazing with murderous fury.

Twisting its body, turbulent streams of air swirled around it, and in an instant, it conjured some thirty blazing fireballs. With another furious roar, the dragon sent these fireballs hurtling toward Huohuo in a wild barrage.

“Fourth soul skill: Blackflame Surge!”

Seeing this, Huohuo immediately counterattacked. His fourth spirit ring flared, and a glowing ring nearly a meter wide hovered above his head. From it, a torrent of black fire erupted, devouring the incoming crimson fireballs in a sweeping arc before surging straight for the Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon itself.

Unable to evade, the dragon took the brunt of the attack. The terrifying black flame possessed boundless destructive power—were it not for the dragon’s innate fire attribute, it might have been reduced to ashes then and there. Even so, the Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon was left shrieking in agony, its enormous body gradually charred black under the relentless black fire. Its proud head slowly drooped.

Seeing the dragon battered to the brink of death, Huohuo finally withdrew his soul skill. Casually, he seized the demon dragon—though it weighed over a hundred pounds, it was as light as a feather in Huohuo’s grasp. He carried it at speed and quickly returned to Xiao Yu’s side.

“Young master, act quickly—finish this beast,” Huohuo urged.

After being scorched by Huohuo’s black flames, the Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon was hanging by a thread. If Xiao Yu hesitated any longer, the last wisp of its life would extinguish, and since soul masters could only absorb the soul rings of beasts they themselves had slain, all their efforts would have been wasted.

Xiao Yu understood this well. Without hesitation, he drew a dagger and plunged it into the dragon’s vital spot. The already dying beast struggled feebly for a moment before life faded from its form, and a ring of violet light slowly rose from its massive body.

Sitting cross-legged, Xiao Yu took a deep breath and began channeling his soul power to absorb the soul ring.

Drawn by his soul power, the faintly glowing violet ring settled onto Xiao Yu’s body. Though he had prepared thoroughly, absorbing a soul ring of a higher level was never an easy feat. The moment the ring’s power entered him, a wave of searing pain coursed through his entire being, the agony so intense his breath grew ragged.

“Hold your mind steady—stay conscious!” Xiao Yu gritted his teeth, repeating the reminder in his heart.

Time ticked by, the formidable energy of the soul ring coursing through him, washing over his body in a relentless tide. The excruciating pain made veins bulge across his skin, sweat beading on his brow, and blood seeping from his tightly clenched lips.

He did not know how much time passed, but in the numbness of his suffering, Xiao Yu seemed to hear the sound of an eggshell cracking. The power of the soul ring, surging through his body, found an outlet and burst forth.

It was done!

Xiao Yu let out a silent sigh of relief—the hardest part was over, and now everything else would fall into place.

“Ding! The system has detected that the host has slain and absorbed a thousand-year soul ring with the help of others. Task evaluation: Black-tier. Congratulations, host, you have earned one Black-tier character draw.”

As the system’s prompt sounded, the absorption of his second soul ring was complete. Without delay, Xiao Yu opened the system shop and used the recently acquired Soul Ring Camouflage, purchased for 300 diamonds, to disguise his second soul ring’s violet glow as yellow.

“At last, it’s over!” Xiao Yu exhaled deeply, rising to his feet and rubbing his legs, which had grown numb from sitting cross-legged for so long.

Huohuo and Miao, who had been standing guard nearby, immediately approached him. Huohuo, ever taciturn, remained silent, but Miao asked with curiosity, “Young master, what skill did this thousand-year soul ring grant you?”

“My second soul skill is called Shadow Gale Burst. It seems to combine the darkness attribute of my martial spirit with the Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon’s fireball, creating a long-range attack. Its range is about twenty meters, and I can fire it without limit until my soul power is depleted.”

There was no need to hide anything from Huohuo and Miao, so Xiao Yu explained the ability of his second soul skill in full.

“A fine skill indeed,” both Huohuo and Miao nodded in approval.

“The soul ring is absorbed. Let us leave this place at once,” Xiao Yu urged. Though the Crimson Lotus Demon Dragon appeared to be a solitary beast, who could say for certain it had no distant kin? While sub-dragons might not possess true dragon blood, they could still overpower others of their level with ease. Should a ten-thousand-year beast appear, it would be a dire threat.

Huohuo and Miao nodded in agreement, understanding Xiao Yu’s concern. The three of them swiftly gathered their things and departed in haste, flying toward the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.