Chapter 30: Night Raven's Feather and Soul Liberation
Three days later, in the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Ruo Ling and the group of three, including Hu Liena, were besieging a giant bear-like soul beast.
It was a Flame-Earth Bear, aged 1,600 years—this one was meant for Yan.
As for Ruo Ling, he had already absorbed both his second soul rings, hunted personally with Ghost Douluo's help.
Aside from the 2,000-year-old Ghost-Faced Scorpion, the second soul ring for his Desire Soul martial spirit came from a 4,500-year-old Spirit Energy Rain Butterfly.
At the moment, deep in the forest, Ruo Ling stood behind Hu Liena and the others, his martial spirits fully fused.
After absorbing two thousand-year rings, his soul power had broken through the bottleneck, reaching level 24—astonishing for his age.
In his martial spirit fusion state, his strength already surpassed that of an average Soul Elder.
Watching the battle ahead, both of his purple soul rings glowed brightly.
"Haha! Xiao Ling's Soul Liberation is insane! This Flame-Earth Bear can't even touch me!"
Yan dodged a fiery column erupting from the ground with ease, grinning excitedly.
Xie Yue rolled his eyes. "Quit talking and finish it off already!"
Ruo Ling merely smiled faintly, making no move.
Soul Liberation was the second soul skill of his Desire Soul martial spirit.
It awakened the target's latent soul potential, greatly enhancing mental power and perception.
When combined with the Crow Shadow Puppet through martial spirit fusion, it granted an additional 20% enhancement to all attributes.
Currently, with two soul rings, Ruo Ling could bestow Soul Liberation on two people at once.
The number of targets would increase as he gained more soul rings.
It was an exceptionally powerful support ability, yet Ruo Ling felt dissatisfied.
So far, both of his Desire Soul skills were auxiliary, but he had no intention of being a mere support type.
Fortunately, the Crow Shadow Puppet's second skill was offensive.
On the battlefield, the Flame-Earth Bear was being easily toyed with by Xie Yue and Yan. Their movements were too sharp—as if they could predict every attack.
The bear's savage eyes soon focused on Ruo Ling behind them.
The crimson light in the boy's eyes radiated a demonic aura, the very source of the strange power making its opponents so evasive.
Roaring furiously, the Flame-Earth Bear beat its chest and charged toward Ruo Ling in blind rage.
Ruo Ling stood still, calm as a statue.
A dark aura swirled around him and condensed into black feathers, their roots glinting faintly with violet light like tiny needles.
Crow Shadow Puppet's second soul skill—Night Raven's Feather.
Strangely, a scorpion had produced a skill that normally only appeared in avian-type beasts.
A peculiar phenomenon—but it perfectly proved Ruo Ling's theory.
His martial spirit's soul skills were not bound by the type of beast he absorbed; they only inherited certain traits from it.
For instance, the violet hue on the root of the feathers came from the Ghost-Faced Scorpion's hallucinogenic venom.
Countless raven feathers shot forth like a machine gun, piercing the Flame-Earth Bear's body again and again, leaving deep, jagged wounds.
Though rapid and numerous, the attack power of Night Raven's Feather was not inferior to most single-target offensive abilities.
The feathers, composed of pure dark energy, carried an intense corrosive effect.
Soon, the ones embedded in the bear began to dissolve into wisps of dark purple energy, seeping through its wounds and invading its body.
Instantly, the raging bear's movements faltered; it staggered clumsily in confusion.
The toxin inherited within Night Raven's Feather was not lethal, but it induced powerful hallucinations, growing worse with continued exposure.
Watching the disoriented beast stumble toward him, Ruo Ling smiled faintly.
The feathers at his side gathered and fused, forming the shadowy image of a raven.
With a sharp caw, the spectral bird darted straight into the Flame-Earth Bear's head.
A horrifying crow's cry pierced the air as the beast's eyes widened in sheer panic. It let out terrified roars, thrashing wildly and crashing through the forest in confusion.
Ruo Ling nodded in satisfaction. He was pleased with this technique's results.
In his fused state, Night Raven's Feather had gained a new ability: the feathers could gather into the Raven of Fear, forcing the target into a state of terror.
It ignored spiritual willpower—its effect guaranteed at least one moment of fear, even against a Titled Douluo-level opponent.
Though weaker in control than his first skill, Spiritual Threads, it consumed far less energy and required no mental confrontation, making it safer to use.
A short distance away, Bibi Dong and Ghost Douluo watched the rampaging Flame-Earth Bear with tense expressions.
Once again, Ruo Ling's martial spirits had astounded them.
He was only a Grand Soul Master, yet his abilities could already influence powerhouses on the level of a Titled Douluo—what would he become in the future?
The battle neared its end.
The bear eventually recovered from its fear, but its strength was completely drained.
Its poisoned mind could no longer focus, and its soul power was rapidly corroding away.
Finally, Yan roared, smashing its skull with a fiery, magma-enveloped punch, ending the creature's life.
"Xiao Ling, you're terrifying!" Yan exclaimed, still catching his breath as he stared at the lifeless beast.
The Flame-Earth Bear had both fire and earth attributes, granting it immense attack power and defense.
Even after their prolonged fight, he and Xie Yue had dealt only superficial damage.
The true cause of its downfall was the corrosion and hallucination from Ruo Ling's Night Raven's Feather.
Ruo Ling said nothing, only smiled faintly as he dismissed his martial spirits and soul rings, reverting to his usual harmless look.
"Alright. Since the beast is dead, start absorbing the soul ring," Bibi Dong ordered. "We still need to find one for Xie Yue."
Yan nodded and sat down beside the fallen bear, beginning the absorption process.
The soul ring of a high-bloodline beast like the Flame-Earth Bear held far greater energy than typical thousand-year beasts. It would not be absorbed quickly.
The others stood guard around him.
Ruo Ling, however, entered his fusion state again, tuning himself to the rhythm of his martial spirit.
His first soul ring lit up. The world darkened, and countless Spiritual Threads intersected within the forest around him.
Suddenly, he sensed three powerful presence-lines in the distance, slowly approaching.
One exuded a sacred aura, while the other two were far more formidable—so powerful that Ruo Ling had only ever felt such intensity from Titled Douluo.
"Someone's coming!" Ruo Ling said sharply, standing up and looking toward the horizon.
Bibi Dong and Ghost Douluo both turned to him in surprise, then followed his gaze.
Far ahead, three figures appeared at the edge of the forest path.
(END CHAPTER)
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