The three-eyed golden lion lowered its head, looking at the smooth, mirror-like surface of the lake, and its ears twitched slightly.
Its furry face was filled with confusion and bewilderment, completely unable to understand why its lord would make such a decision.
Making it put its forehead against a human kid who talks nonsense is worse than making it gnaw on tree bark.
But Gu Yuena's double purple pupils stared at it quietly, her eyes carrying an undeniable authority.
Before the highest level of the Star Dou Great Forest, there is no room for any willfulness or resistance.
The three-eyed golden lion drooped its head and let out a very faint sob, ultimately not daring to disobey.
It shook its golden fur, and a dazzling golden halo appeared around its body.
Its body, which was originally as small as a puppy, stretched and swelled rapidly in the light.
In the short time it takes to breathe, a tall, strong, and majestic golden beast stood on the lakeside meadow.
Its four claws resembled those of a dragon, treading on swirling golden flames, its golden fur undulating gently in the breeze, exuding an extraordinary and wondrous aura.
It took a few steady steps and walked to the boy sitting cross-legged in front of it.
The giant beast slowly lowered its enormous head, its expression showing a hint of resignation and helplessness.
It precisely placed its tightly closed, crimson-gold vertical pupil in the center of its forehead towards Huo Yuhao's third eye, which was gradually splitting open between his brows.
The moment the two made contact, even the sound of the wind seemed to freeze for a moment.
Huo Yuhao's already vast and boundless spiritual sea was suddenly stirred up by a monstrous wave.
The deep, golden-white ocean surged violently, its surface expanding outwards into the endless void at an exaggerated speed.
A tremendous upheaval reverberated throughout his consciousness, shaking his entire spiritual world to the brink of collapse.
"Hey, what's going on? Was it an earthquake or did the sky collapse?"
The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, which had been sleeping soundly in a corner of its sea of consciousness, was suddenly overturned by this wave. Ten golden rays of light flashed wildly as it cried out in panic.
The sleeping Hyotei also materialized at this moment, her emerald green dress swaying in the wind, her pretty face full of vigilance.
"Don't panic, I'm integrating the original rules from outside."
Huo Yuhao's divine consciousness avatar manifested above the waves, his tone calm and gentle, quickly suppressing the agitation of both of them.
"It's too noisy here right now. You should go to the world inside the cauldron for a while to avoid being affected by the chaotic flow of rules."
Without further ado, Huo Yuhao's thoughts stirred slightly, and the Qiankun Creation Cauldron deep within his sea of consciousness trembled gently.
A hazy mist of creation swept out, enveloping the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, the Ice Emperor, and the remaining dormant ferocious beasts' wills, and naturally incorporated them into the independent world of the Creation Cauldron.
With no worries about the future, Huo Yuhao focused all his attention on the depths of his meridians and consciousness.
He could clearly sense that his mental energy reserves were increasing at an incredible rate.
The expansion was happening at an almost out-of-control speed, pushing the limits of thought and perception every second.
Even more astonishingly, at the edge of the original spiritual sea, the void was forcibly torn open by this immense power, creating a brand new boundary.
Layers upon layers of golden light collapsed and coalesced inward, and a brand-new space constructed purely of high-level spiritual power was being created.
This is his second spiritual sea.
Feeling the immense energy surging through his body, Huo Yuhao had a sudden inspiration.
He recalled the secrets of the original martial soul that he had learned from Nurha in the valley.
This is an opportunity not to be missed.
With his spiritual power surging and his second spiritual sea beginning to form, he now has the perfect opportunity to push his martial soul to its limit.
Huo Yuhao immediately focused his mind and, following the core mantra of the Body Sect, mobilized the soul power and blood energy within his body to forcibly circulate along specific meridians.
He attempted to complete the second awakening of his Time-Space Spirit Eye Brain Martial Soul in one go.
However, when that powerful flow of blood and energy reached the core nodes of the brain and eyes, it felt as if it had crashed into an invisible iron wall.
No matter how he mobilized his soul power to agitate and impact, the barrier remained completely still, showing no sign of loosening.
After trying several cycles of cultivation, Huo Yuhao decisively stopped the practice.
The attempt to pass the checkpoint failed.
He wasn't too discouraged; he simply calmly reviewed the reasons.
The second awakening of one's own martial soul is extremely demanding, and the success rate is ridiculously low if one relies solely on daily training.
This method relies most heavily on extreme stimulation when facing the threat of death, in order to squeeze the deepest potential of the organs.
Although he was currently trapped by the dragon's might on the lakeside, he had the backing of the Child of Nature and the Silver Dragon King's offer of peace, so he did not feel any real pressure from the desperate situation.
Without this kind of life-or-death pressure, simply accumulating energy is clearly not enough to force open the door to a second awakening.
Before he could completely sort out the chaotic soul power, a massive stream of information suddenly surged into his sea of consciousness.
Those were completely unfamiliar memories, flowing back in unimpeded from the point of contact where their foreheads touched.
Huo Yuhao scanned the area with his divine sense and discovered that it contained all of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's life experiences over the past ten thousand years.
In spring, they chase butterflies through the bushes; in summer, they splash and roll in the Lake of Life; in autumn, they search for sweet fruits all over the mountains; and in winter, they snuggle in caves and sleep soundly.
The entire span of more than ten thousand years is pieced together from these innocent, carefree, and tedious daily routines.
Huo Yuhao was puzzled as to why the little beast had suddenly changed its nature and taken the initiative to complete this tedious guiding process.
However, now is clearly not the time to investigate the motives.
To him, these nutritionally deficient accounts of young beasts were nothing more than garbage data taking up brain space.
He didn't even bother to look at them again, and directly used his mental power to pack and seal these images away, then casually threw them into the deepest reefs of the sea of consciousness.
After the memories had all faded away, the profound and powerful force hidden at its core finally revealed itself.
It was a transcendent power that could not be described in words, flowing slowly along the meridians on the forehead with the rhythm of the rules of the highest plane.
The power of destiny residing in the third eye of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion completely transcended racial barriers at this moment and smoothly entered the boy's body.
This power did not cause the slightest rejection reaction; it flowed smoothly, like a drop of water merging into the ocean, and completely merged with his composite martial soul.
In the center of his forehead, the vertical eye, which fused the gold of life, the dragon elixir of time, and the origin of destiny, slowly opened.
The moment his eyelids opened outward, the entire Star Dou Great Forest completely lost its original color in Huo Yuhao's sight.
His martial spirit underwent another fundamental transformation.
The gaze effortlessly shattered the mundane appearances of the material world, landing directly on the ethereal and elusive dimension of laws.
Directly above the boy's head, a ten-zhang-long, illusory dragon of fortune, its entire body gleaming with pure gold light, was coiling and winding.
His scales and claws flew, exuding a divine and majestic aura, radiating a continuous and magnificent power—the world's generous gift that he, as the chosen one of the plane's destiny and the chosen one of nature, exclusively enjoys.
With himself as the absolute central node, countless illusory golden lines, invisible to the naked eye, spread infinitely into the void in all directions.
Thousands of threads of fate intertwine between heaven and earth to form a vast, boundless golden net, crisscrossed with stars.
The end of each thread precisely corresponds to the person, force, and major event that has been causally intertwined with him.
The moment Huo Yuhao opened his forehead eye, the faint ripples on the entire Lake of Life slowed down completely in his perception.
The vertical eye, forged from the gold of life, the divine time dragon pill, and the origin of destiny, was greedily devouring fragments of rules in the void.
The original composite spirit body, which was composed of eyes and brain, began to undergo rapid structural transformation under the impact of this foreign supreme power.
Golden waves surged in the newly opened second spiritual sea deep within the mind, merging with the original spiritual ocean.
The more complete the martial soul's structure, the more the world presented in the field of vision is stripped of its material appearance.
Lines of illusory silk threads pierced through the sky, spreading out densely.
Those lines represent the traces of cause and effect left by mortal beings in the world.
Through this vertical pupil that incorporates the power of destiny, he can follow the veins of the threads and see through the predetermined course of time and space.
The soul power accumulated in his limbs and bones surged wildly along Tuokuan's meridians like a runaway horse.
Nourished by the power of external destiny, the soul force barrier that was originally blocking the pass quietly melted away.
Level 60.
Without any obstacles or the anticipated difficulties, his soul power cultivation naturally crossed the threshold.
With the addition of a suitable soul ring, he can now cross the threshold to become a Soul Emperor.
However, Huo Yuhao didn't even have time to experience the comfort brought by the sudden surge in his cultivation.
Amidst the vast expanse of golden silk netting, one particularly conspicuous thread began to sway violently.
The line was thick and solid, intertwined with his own causal origin like a double helix, even flowing with the warmth of blood vessels.
This karmic bond can only be formed when two people entrust each other with their entire lives and trust each other's existence without reservation.
But at this moment, the luster of this thread, which symbolizes a loved one, is fading at an extremely rapid pace.
The once dazzling colors are now visibly shrouded in a grayish gloom.
Huo Yuhao's consciousness was jolted.
The boy's gaze followed the dim thread indefinitely, his eyes traversing mountains and endless forests.
The barriers of time and space were forcibly erased in the face of the god-like shrewdness.
The scene from thousands of miles away, transcending the void, was clearly projected into my mind.
The mountains stretch endlessly, with jagged rocks; these are the Mingdou Mountains, which lie across the border between the two countries.
A raging blizzard howled above the treacherous canyon, as four menacing figures relentlessly blocked the airspace.
At the forefront of the snowstorm, a slender, tall figure was desperately flying through the air while shielded up.
The girl was wearing a set of standard silver-gray exoskeleton soul-guided armor, with a jet device spewing out chaotic flames.
That usually composed and elegant face was now as pale as paper, the hair hanging down her forehead was soaked with sweat, and there was still blood on the corner of her lips.
tangerine!
She is being intercepted and killed.
The armor shell was covered with cracks from being cleaved by knives and axes, and the soul-guided thrusters were emitting a roar of unbearable strain as it desperately fled towards the border defenses of the Sun and Moon Empire.
However, the encirclement behind them contracted too quickly.
Huo Yuhao's vertical eye trembled slightly. Through the underlying perspective of the laws of fate, a future picture composed of predetermined cause and effect was forcibly unfolded in his mind.
At that impending juncture, the armor core overloaded and shattered, and the girl fell from mid-air. What followed was a sharp claw carrying an aura of evil and savagery piercing through her chest.
Mortal fruit.
The thread of fate points to an inevitable end, a fall from grace.
An indescribable surge of violence and rage suddenly rose from the depths of his dantian.
no!
That's absolutely impossible!
Huo Yuhao will never accept this predetermined future!
Huo Yuhao could no longer maintain his meditative state.
He gritted his teeth and pressed his hands hard on his knees, forcibly reversing the meridian pathways in his body.
The life-giving eye, which was not yet fully stable, was abruptly cut off, and the bridge of laws that was being built instantly collapsed.
Forcibly interrupting the process of god-level transformation is equivalent to triggering a backlash storm within the body.
On the grassy lakeside.
The enormous three-eyed golden lion had reverted to its cub form and lay listlessly at Gu Yuena's feet.
The guiding ceremony just now went incredibly smoothly. Not only did it not lose any of its essence, but it was also nourished by the pure destiny rules within Huo Yuhao's body, and he benefited greatly.
But at this moment, this proud imperial beast was clutching its head tightly with its two front paws, and even its tail was drooping in the grass.
Its furry little face was full of blankness and confusion, and it made painful sobs.
What kind of rubbish is going on in this human boy's head?!
In those brief few dozen breaths when our foreheads touched, what flowed back through our mental connection was not normal memory at all.
Calculus, matrix mechanics, the second law of thermodynamics, and a whole bunch of formulas and models filled with strange symbols.
Thousands upon thousands of obscure and incomprehensible streams of information flooded its mind like a torrent.
It has lived for over 10,000 years, and the biggest challenge it has ever encountered is how to snatch fruit from the bear king's hands. It has never been exposed to the high-dimensional knowledge of this industrial civilization.
If it weren't for its status as an auspicious beast and its naturally strong spirit, that one blow would have been enough to turn its brains into a complete mess, turning it into a drooling idiot.
The little beast shook its dizzy head and secretly vowed never to stick its head close to this kid again.
Gu Yuena, standing to the side, ignored the little guy's complaints at her feet.
The girl lowered her double purple eyes, which shone with a noble aura, her expression solemn as if she were a true god looking down upon the world.
With her insight and status, she could clearly see every microscopic change taking place within Huo Yuhao's body.
While the other party's extraordinary martial spirit was amazing, what truly shook her was the transformation taking place deep within the boy's flesh and blood.
Under the pull and constraint of the power of destiny, the two soul cores in the dantian, which originally went their separate ways, resonated violently.
The top-tier essence scattered throughout the boy's body was forcibly twisted into a rope.
The power of the Titans and Ice Gods of the far north, the blood and energy of the divine dragons, and even the unique life force of creation belonging to the children of nature, are being repeatedly kneaded and forged by a pair of invisible giant hands.
The impure attributes were cleansed, and the incomplete divinity filled the gaps between each other.
A drop of pure, divine blood, radiating supreme divine power, is quietly taking shape at the core of the dantian.
Gu Yuena's knuckles tightened slightly, and a rare, undisguised emotion appeared on her usually aloof and detached face.
This fusion is not a simple piecing together of forces, but a supreme sublimation that traces back to the source of life.
If this bloodline can be allowed to evolve completely and steadily, its potential and status may not be weaker than itself in its prime.
An ordinary human body was able to forge a path to heaven by creating a divine bloodline without any external support.
The extraordinary talent displayed by this human completely overturned her entire understanding of the past hundreds of thousands of years.
However, before Gu Yuena could recover from the shock,
A sudden change occurred.
The vast energy that had been steadily rising suddenly went out of control, and the torrent of blood within the boy's body collided head-on without warning.
The azure-gold divine light surrounding Huo Yuhao collapsed with a bang, and his aura withered away like a precipice.
The boy suddenly opened his eyes, veins bulging around his eye sockets, and a chilling, almost manic look emanated from his icy blue pupils.
His throat tightened slightly, and his chest heaved violently.
puff!
A mouthful of bright red blood gushed from his mouth, transforming into a sharp streak of blood that shot out more than three zhang away, staining a large area of the calm lake red.
A wonderful fragrance permeated the lakeside meadow.
The aroma is reminiscent of the rich, mellow fragrance of ripe flowers and fruits that develop over time, and when inhaled, it carries a hint of the calming scent of ancient sandalwood.
The emerald green lake, originally stained red by the reversed blood, began to ripple with fine golden ripples under the influence of this exotic fragrance.
The little beast lying at Gu Yuena's feet shook its round head, its crimson-gold vertical pupils filled with confusion.
Standing to the side, Gu Yuena also frowned, her pale purple double pupils staring at the boy lying on the ground.
Three-Eyed Golden Lion: ...
Gu Yuena: ...
These two top beings, who were used to seeing extraordinary phenomena in the world, were completely bewildered by Huo Yuhao's inexplicable actions.
The guiding ceremony just now went extremely smoothly, and the boy's foundation and physical body were being tempered by the power of destiny.
Even the vertical eye, representing the passage of time and vitality, successfully opened the door to the rules.
Logically speaking, the other party only needs to go with the flow and fully utilize this generous gift from heaven and earth to achieve a transformative leap in life.
But this human boy actually forcibly cut off the flow of his cultivation technique at the most critical moment, preferring to endure the pain of the backlash from the divine blood in order to break through the barrier.
Could it be that forcibly integrating external rules led to him going astray?
Gu Yuena's fingers, which were hanging in her sleeves, twitched slightly as she pondered whether to use the elemental source to regulate his disordered qi and blood.
Before the Silver Dragon King could make a move, the boy lying on the wet grass braced himself against the mud with his hands and straightened his back abruptly.
Huo Yuhao suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze revealing no confusion or weakness, only an extreme chill.
He didn't even have time to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth; his expression was tense, and he didn't say a word.
Two purples, one red, one black, and one cyan gold.
Five soul rings, radiating immense power, rose up from beneath his feet without reservation, rapidly circling his slender body.
The second million-year soul ring shone brightly, pushing the spiritual detection of the Spirit Eye Martial Soul to its own limit.
A vast and boundless spiritual force surged forth like a torrent bursting its banks, rushing wildly out from the slightly open eye of the living being on his forehead.
The material outlines between heaven and earth completely faded in the field of vision, replaced by a dense array of distorted nodes that filled the void.
Those are dimensional coordinates belonging to time and space, microscopic anchors connecting distant realms.
Guided precisely by the threads of destiny, his perception transcended countless mountain ranges, instantly pinpointing the location in the Mingdou mountain range where the violent tremors were taking place.
Found it.
The next moment, a faint, transparent ripple spread around the boy, and he vanished into thin air under the watchful eyes of the two divine beasts, leaving no trace on the meadow.
A gentle breeze swept by, and the exotic fragrance that had been hanging in mid-air gradually dissipated.
The three-eyed golden lion got up from the grass and ran quickly to the spot where Huo Yuhao had just been sitting. It pawed at the mud puddle with its front paws and anxiously looked up at the silver-haired girl beside it.
"My lord, what has happened?"
The little beast's voice carried a hint of unease, its golden tail swishing back and forth behind it.
After completing the forehead-to-forehead connection ceremony, it and Huo Yuhao were already inseparable in terms of destiny.
That strange resonance, originating from the depths of its soul, unconsciously created a deep attachment for this rambling, nonsensical human boy.
Seeing the other party flee so recklessly after vomiting blood, it felt its heart leap into its throat.
Gu Yuena raised her eyes, looked towards the northwest horizon, and shook her head slightly.
"I don't know either."
A rare seriousness settled between the girl's brows, and her clear voice deepened, "He used the authority of spacetime to make a long-distance jump. Judging from the residual void fluctuations, he should have gone to the western borderlands."
The three-eyed golden lion was so anxious that it spun around in circles. "Then please use your divine power to investigate!"
With the Silver Dragon King's all-powerful abilities, as long as his divine sense is spread out even slightly, no movement on the entire Douluo Continent can escape his notice.
Gu Yuena lowered her head, looking at the restless golden beast, a hint of helplessness and wariness flashing in her eyes.
"No."
Her tone was calm, yet it conveyed a resolute determination that brooked no dissent.
"The divine realm still hangs overhead, and the eyes and ears of those gods are everywhere."
"If I were to use the power of a true god to tear through the sky, the resulting ripples of law would leave extremely conspicuous marks in this world."
"At that time, the hunters in the central part of the divine realm will be able to detect my presence immediately, and may even attract the descent of the gods to besiege me."
The girl raised her hand to smooth her silver hair, which had been ruffled by the wind, her expression indifferent.
"I would never do something so foolish as to risk the destruction of my race for the sake of a human boy."
After hearing Gu Yuena's rational yet cruel explanation, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion slumped its head.
It understood its master's concerns; those concerns were the bottom line concerning the survival of the entire Soul Beast race, a line that no one could cross.
"..."
The little animal didn't press the matter further, but simply lay back down on the grass.
It closed its clear golden eyes and began to mobilize the soul power within its body, quickly digesting the vast insights gained from the guiding ceremony.
Since we can't rely on others, we can only rely on ourselves.
As long as the surging power within the body can be completely regulated, and following the causal thread that is firmly tied between the two people's destinies, even if separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, it will surely find the boy's whereabouts.
...
Above the Mingdou Mountains, a fierce wind carrying ice crystals howled past.
High in the sky, the clouds had already been torn to shreds.
Two colossal, mountain-like true spirit beasts are engaged in a primal battle high in the sky.
Coiled on the left is a giant, deep blue dragon that is hundreds of feet long.
Thick, lightning-like snakes slithered wildly around the dragon's body, and its densely packed scales emitted a metallic, eerie light. Each flick of its tail caused a deep rumble of thunder to echo across the entire sky.
On the opposite side of the dragon was a giant blue eagle with a wingspan of nearly a hundred feet.
The giant eagle's wings were extremely mysterious. Beneath its thick, blue feathers, a layer of hard scales was faintly visible. With each flap of its wings, thousands of blue wind blades cleaved through the sky.
Even more astonishingly, a thick layer of seven-colored radiance always surrounded the giant eagle's enormous body, with the seven-colored glow flowing endlessly, forcefully keeping the ferocious power of the thunder dragon three feet away.
Thunder roared and the wind howled.
Two enormous creatures clashed back and forth in the sea of clouds, their claws tearing at each other, and countless blue feather fragments and lightning bolts rained down into the deep valley below.
Suddenly, the dragon raised its ferocious head covered with horns and let out a domineering dragon roar that shook the heavens.
The dragon twisted violently in mid-air, and a violent lightning bolt as thick as a giant tree spewed out from its gaping maw, shattering the wind blade defenses surrounding the giant eagle.
The thick dragon claws, carrying a domineering force capable of tearing everything apart, bypassed the protective glow and precisely gripped the base of the blue giant eagle's left wing.
The ear-piercing sound of bones cracking echoed through the sky.
Using the momentum of its descent, the dragon exerted tremendous force and actually tore the huge eagle wing covered with blue scales off.
A rain of azure light surged forth from the broken end, and the giant eagle let out a mournful, high-pitched cry. Its enormous body went completely out of control, transforming into streams of light that vanished into the void.
With its eagle wings broken, the Thunder Dragon was also exhausted, transforming into countless deep blue lightning bolts as it receded.
A strong wind blew across the rocks on the mountaintop.
Two powerful figures, each wielding their Martial Soul True Form, reappeared.
Dugu Ling stood proudly in the cold wind. His once neat dark blue robe was now tattered and soaked with large patches of dark brown blood, clinging tightly to his body.
His entire left arm was severed at the shoulder, the cut was a bloody mess, and the scorch marks from the lightning arc could still be faintly seen.
The jade crown that held her hair back was already shattered, and her long, silver-gray hair danced wildly in the gale, making her look utterly disheveled.
Even after suffering such a severe injury, this veteran powerhouse's back remained as straight as a green bamboo stalk.
Those azure pupils were cold and composed, and the nine soul rings around his body pulsed rhythmically. The overwhelming aura unique to a level 94 Title Douluo not only did not diminish in the slightest, but instead carried the ferocious fighting spirit of a cornered beast.
Dugu Ling's gaze narrowed slightly as he coldly stared at the middle-aged man several feet away.
Standing opposite him was none other than the world-renowned Tianlong Sect Master, a level 95 powerful attack-type Super Douluo, Tianlong Douluo Long Yuhan.
Long Yuhan stood with his hands behind his back, his clothes only slightly torn by the wind blades. His expression was cold and his breath was long and heavy.
The difference in soul power between the two is already an insurmountable gap, not to mention that the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex is the undisputed champion among beast martial souls in terms of pure offensive capabilities.
If it weren't for the external force constantly prolonging his life, Dugu Ling, with his combat strength, would have been blasted into charred remains by lightning dozens of moves ago.
A layer of warm, pure, seven-colored radiance swirled around Dugu Ling's body, constantly suppressing the remaining lightning energy seeping from his wounds.
Not far behind Dugu Ling, on a protruding rock, stood a middle-aged man dressed in a light blue scholar's robe.
The man had a handsome and composed face, with no hint of murderous aura about him. Seven neatly arranged soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and three black—floated slowly beneath his feet.
A small, translucent, seven-colored glass pagoda, about a foot in size, rests steadily on the palm of his right hand.
The small pagoda had seven stories, radiating a dazzling, precious light, with layers of rosy glow continuously flowing into Dugu Ling's body in front of it.
Ning Caichen, the current sect leader of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile School and a level 79 Soul Saint.
A fierce wind howled across the Mingdou Mountains, whipping up ice shards from the cracks in the rocks and striking the charred wound on his severed arm.
Long Yuhan stood firmly on a protruding bluish-gray rock, his right hand hanging by his side with its five fingers slightly extended, and wisps of dark blue electricity dancing and flowing at his fingertips.
Looking at the old man in front of him, who was leaning on a green-scaled feather blade with one arm and covered in blood, the Tianlong Sect Master's lips curled into a faint sneer.
"Dugu Ling, I have indeed underestimated you."
Long Yuhan took half a step forward, his tone calm and leisurely, with a hint of superior composure.
"I remember when I met you three years ago at the border of the Heavenly Soul Empire, you were stuck at level 93 and struggling to reach it, looking utterly dejected."
"I never imagined that in just a few short years, you would not only have overcome that hurdle and reached the threshold of level 94, but you would have even been able to invite the current sect leader of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School to be your helper."
His gaze swept over Dugu Ling's shoulder and landed on the middle-aged scholar behind him who was holding the seven-colored pagoda.
"If this were the chaotic situation on the mainland ten thousand years ago, a level 94 agility-type titled Douluo, if equipped with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the number one support in the world, would probably have to shed a layer of skin to defeat you today."
At this point, the level 95 Super Douluo shook his head, his tone filled with emotion.
"It's a pity that times have changed."
"The rules that judged strength based on the age of soul rings and the amount of soul power from ten thousand years ago are now outdated."
Ning Caichen, standing on the rock behind Dugu Ling, remained calm and did not respond.
But his right hand, which was holding the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, tightened almost imperceptibly.
Although the other party's words were harsh, every word hit the nail on the head.
Over these long millennia, the Soul Master system across the entire continent has undergone a dramatic transformation.
The most crucial innovation was the birth of the Soul Core architecture.
A Soul Master who condenses a Soul Core within their body can form a self-contained energy vortex deep within their dantian. Not only is the recovery speed incredibly fast, but the destructive power they unleash also represents a qualitative leap.
In today's high-level soul master circle, the presence or absence of a soul core is a completely different dividing line.
Having reached the level 95 Super Douluo realm, Long Yuhan had already constructed a complete soul core system within his body.
Even though Dugu Ling in front of him had a profound foundation, he was still only level 94. Even if he had a soul core, there was no difference between them when their basic conditions were the same.
No matter how powerful the amplification effect of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is, without the assistance of a soul core, the bonus it brings is ultimately limited and far from enough to bridge the gap of this level.
Faced with such a qualitative difference, the so-called "overtaking on a higher level" is nothing but empty talk.
Ning Caichen sighed inwardly.
This is not only Dugu Ling's predicament, but also the catastrophic disaster facing the entire Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School.
To condense a soul core within the body, according to all existing texts and trial-and-error experience, the most basic and rigid threshold is to possess the cultivation level of a nine-ring titled Douluo.
Only by reaching the ninth ring can a Soul Master's meridians and Qi Sea withstand the immense pressure during the operation of the Soul Core.
However, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul is born with an indestructible bloodline curse.
Seven Rings Soul Saint.
This is an insurmountable barrier that the vast majority of direct descendants cannot overcome even after a lifetime of hard work.
If they can't even get close to becoming a Title Douluo, how can they possibly reach the supreme level of the Soul Core?
Without the massive source of soul power provided by the soul core, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's output limit will soon be forcibly stretched to its limit in high-intensity Super Douluo battles.
The once renowned and feared number one support sect in the world has long lost its dominant position in this era where soul cores are prevalent.
If no way to break the shackles of the martial soul can be found, and the clansmen continue to endure this, this famous pagoda martial soul will eventually be crushed into dust by the passage of time.
Long Yuhan withdrew his gaze and returned it to Dugu Ling's slightly pale face.
Looking at this veteran expert who had lost an arm and whose posture was somewhat unsteady, a hint of beckoning appeared in his eyes.
"Dugu Ling, I am mindful of your arduous cultivation journey and will not pursue you to exterminate you today."
Long Yuhan stepped forward, his tone becoming calmer.
"You are only a little over 120 years old. Compared to the long lifespan of a Title Douluo, you are still considered to be in your prime."
"With the talent and ruthlessness you've shown so far, as long as you dedicate yourself to secluded cultivation for several decades, reaching level 95 and condensing your own soul core in the future is practically a certainty."
"When that time comes, the world will be so vast, where will you not be able to go?"
Long Yuhan raised an eyebrow and pointed to the valley defense line behind him, which was shrouded in a gale.
"Do you really think it's worth dying for an ambitious woman from the Sun and Moon Empire?"
"Are the meager favors she gave you really worth the promising future of a Super Douluo?"
"As long as you stop and retreat now, I swear in the name of the Tianlong Sect Master that I will never hold you accountable behind your back. In the future, within this territory that originally belonged to the Douluo Continent, you will still be a respected veteran."
These words were spoken sincerely, and the conditions were extremely generous.
If it were a typical rogue cultivator or titled Douluo who prioritizes personal gain, faced with a life-or-death crisis and such a hurdle, they would most likely have already given up.
Dugu Ling merely twitched the corners of his mouth, a hint of mockery even flickering deep within his azure eyes.
The dark blue robe billowed in the cold wind. The old man slowly raised his only remaining right hand and turned the blue-scaled feather blade in his palm.
A small favor?
These high and mighty sect elders have no idea how difficult it is for those at the bottom to cultivate.
Three years ago, his only grandson, Dugu Yu, was born weak and sickly, with a flawed martial soul and a strange illness. He was unable to cultivate soul power or accept soul power, and even the Immortal Doctor Douluo was helpless.
He had to swallow his pride and beg for help everywhere, and finally, in his desperate situation, he encountered the girl who came from the Sun and Moon Empire.
It was Ju Zi who used the most core resources of the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, through various high-tech soul-guiding instruments and treatment chambers, to forcefully reshape his grandson's physical body and repair the defects in his meridians.
Moreover, his ability to break through to level 94 is also inseparable from the resources provided by the Spirit Medicine Hall, all of which come from Orange.
Without oranges, the Dugu family line would have been completely severed long ago due to illness and the approaching end of life.
All the fame, status, and even the extra decades of lifespan he now possesses were given to him by that young woman.
For a seasoned veteran like him who has spent his entire life struggling in the mud, the so-called national righteousness and the distinction between factions are nothing more than slogans concocted by those in power to fool ordinary people.
Whoever protects his closest relatives and helps him reach a higher realm, his old life will be at their disposal.
betray?
Throughout his life, Dugu Ling has schemed against many people and abandoned countless insignificant pawns.
But faced with the immense debt of gratitude for saving his life and the very foundation of his livelihood, he would never back down an inch.
"Long Yuhan, you don't need to keep rambling on."
Dugu Ling gripped the short blade tightly, his cold voice echoing in the mountain wind.
"Once I've chosen a company, even the Heavenly King himself can't change my mind."
"Now that I'm standing on this defensive line, as long as I'm still breathing, you won't be able to step over my dead body."
This resolute statement echoed in the air above the cliff.
Seeing that the other party was so unyielding.
Long Yuhan didn't say anything more, but just snorted coldly.
"A stubborn old man who doesn't know his own mortality."
The last vestiges of patience in the black-robed man's eyes were completely exhausted. His long, pure black hair billowed in the gale, and thick, dark blue arcs of lightning rapidly spread down his back.
"My task is simply to stall you. This time, it's not just the Heavenly Dragon Sect that's making a move, nor is it just one force."
"That girl won't survive!"