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The next morning.
As the first rays of sunlight dispersed the darkness, Xiao Wu, beneath the Sky Azure Tree, had finally fully condensed her sixth soul ring.
Upon completely forming the sixth soul ring, Xiao Wu's aura immediately surged, and her soul power directly reached Level 62, making her a Soul Emperor.
"Only two levels of soul power increase?"
Seeing the newly formed sixth soul ring on Xiao Wu, which exceeded fifty thousand years in age slightly, Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.
Indeed, the higher the level, the greater the accumulation required to advance each level of soul power.
This was precisely why soul masters experienced slower soul power upgrades as their levels increased.
It wasn't that their cultivation efficiency decreased—on the contrary, the higher the level, the more efficient cultivation became. However, this increase in efficiency simply couldn't keep up with the exponential rise in the accumulation needed for advancement.
Ordinary Level 60 soul masters who obtained a sixth soul ring nearing twenty thousand years would typically reach Level 61 as a Soul Emperor. Yet, Xiao Wu, with a sixth soul ring exceeding fifty thousand years, had effectively doubled its age, yet her soul power only barely entered Level 62.
Of course, part of this was due to her cultivation of the Red-Tier Meditation Method, Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique, which, even without deliberately improving the quality of soul power, still resulted in soul power quality superior to that of peers at the same level.
Energy was conserved; with higher-quality soul power, the quantity inevitably decreased.
"Xiao Wu, what's the effect of your sixth soul skill?"
Chu Chengzhou asked.
In the original storyline, Xiao Wu's sixth soul ring was unique—it wasn't acquired through her own abilities but boasted an age of one hundred thousand years. Now, with circumstances vastly different, Chu Chengzhou truly couldn't predict its specific effects.
"It's a skill called 'Nullity.' When activated, it grants immunity to all physical attacks and reduces energy-based attacks by 50%."
(T/N: I'm using the wiki name for it, another translation would be 'Voidification' or something along those lines)
As she spoke, Xiao Wu proudly puffed out her chest, clearly seeking praise.
"Nullity?"
Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow. If he remembered correctly, this Nullity skill not only shared the same name as the hundred-thousand-year skill from the original storyline but also had the exact same effect?
Speaking of which, Xiao Wu was quite peculiar.
In the original storyline, Xiao Wu possessed two versions of her Invincible Golden Body—one was a soul skill version, lasting three seconds, with an age of a thousand years, and the other was a soul bone skill version, lasting three seconds but with an age of a hundred thousand years.
Similarly, her Teleportation ability also had two versions—a thousand-year soul skill version with a range of five meters and a hundred-thousand-year soul bone version with a range of one hundred meters.
So, here was the question: why did the Teleportation skills have vastly different effects depending on their versions, yet both versions of the Invincible Golden Body had identical effects?
Was it really the case that a prestigious hundred-thousand-year soul bone skill could be reduced to the same effect as a thousand-year soul skill?
If viewed this way, then perhaps it wasn't surprising that a fifty-thousand-year Nullity soul skill had the same effect as a hundred-thousand-year one?
"By the way, Xiao Wu, how are you planning to obtain your seventh, eighth, and ninth soul rings?"
After pondering for a moment, Chu Chengzhou asked again.
In the original storyline, after Xiao Wu sacrificed herself and resurrected, she directly gained a hundred-thousand-year sixth soul ring and soul bone. Her subsequent seventh, eighth, and ninth soul rings were acquired by hunting spirit beasts.
But if such extraordinary circumstances didn't occur, how would anthropomorphic spirit beasts like Xiao Wu acquire their seventh, eighth, and ninth soul rings? Would they follow the pattern of her previous six soul rings and condense them independently?
"Gone~"
"Gone? What do you mean?"
Chu Chengzhou was momentarily stunned and quickly pressed for clarification.
"Brother, when I reincarnated and began cultivating anew, I didn't need to hunt spirit beasts for my first six soul rings—they naturally condensed on their own.
However, once my soul power reaches Level 70, I'll be just like any ordinary soul master. That means my seventh, eighth, and ninth soul rings will require hunting spirit beasts."
Xiao Wu explained.
"What about your hundred-thousand-year soul ring and soul bone?"
Chu Chengzhou's eyes widened.
He had originally assumed Xiao Wu could naturally condense a hundred-thousand-year seventh soul ring! After all, her sixth soul ring was already over fifty thousand years old, so a hundred-thousand-year seventh soul ring seemed plausible—but unexpectedly, it was gone?
"I don't know. Mom said that transformed spirit beasts can only naturally condense their first six soul rings. I'm not sure where my soul rings and soul bones went."
Blinking innocently, Xiao Wu shrugged.
Chu Chengzhou: "…"
What a loss!
Comparing this situation to the original storyline, Xiao Wu had lost a hundred-thousand-year soul ring and a hundred-thousand-year soul bone?
It was heart-wrenchingly painful!
If it were him suffering the loss, it wouldn't matter much since he was cheating—with his future capabilities, hundred-thousand-year soul rings and soul bones wouldn't mean much to him.
But Xiao Wu was different—she wasn't cheating, and his exploits couldn't benefit her. This loss was real.
Moreover, given that Xiao Wu's martial soul was the Soft Bone Rabbit, obtaining a suitable hundred-thousand-year soul ring for her would be incredibly difficult.
Perhaps hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts and anthropomorphic spirit beasts inherently lacked hundred-thousand-year soul rings and soul bones. The reason they dropped these items when hunted by soul masters was due to the special rules of the Douluo world, which converted the energy that should've dissipated upon death into soul rings and soul bones.
Of course, while the loss of soul rings and soul bones was unfortunate, if it meant Xiao Wu had to die once to gain them, Chu Chengzhou would rather do without.
As for soul bones—well, if he had the strength, there were plenty of hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts and ferocious beasts in the sea. He could easily hunt a few.
As for soul rings, he recalled that the Sea God Poseidon was quite generous. Those who passed certain stages of the Sea God Trials received a divine-bestowed soul ring the first time they encountered a bottleneck.
As long as one's body could withstand it, this divine-bestowed soul ring was equivalent to a perfectly compatible hundred-thousand-year soul ring. It might even exceed a hundred-thousand years in age.
Although the divine-bestowed soul rings absorbed by the Shrek Seven Monsters in the original storyline were only a hundred thousand years old, it was likely that this wasn't the limit of the divine-bestowed soul rings but rather the limit of the absorbers themselves.
As for participating in the Sea God Trials, which required joining the Sea God Island and not leaving afterward...
If he could defeat a demi-god like Bo Saixi, snatch the divine-bestowed soul ring, and leave, who would dare stop him?
After all, it was just a divine-bestowed soul ring—a 1st-Class God shouldn't be petty, right?
Wait... wasn't Xiao Wu's trial rank quite high? With careful cultivation, surpassing her innate talent and strength compared to the original storyline, perhaps she could even cheat her way into obtaining a 1st-Class God position?
A week later.
Night was about to fall. Led by a fiery-red figure soaring through the sky, two figures appeared beside a small lake.
Since there were no high-level experts leading this soul-hunting expedition, Chu Chengzhou didn't flaunt his presence. He didn't dare brazenly ride Fire Phoenix Xiao Hong with Xiao Wu on his back to search for spirit beasts, lest they accidentally provoke a powerful spirit beast lurking in the forest.
"Let's set up camp here for the night and resume our search tomorrow."
Looking at the gradually darkening sky, Chu Chengzhou said to Xiao Wu beside him.
Chu Chengzhou's requirements for his fifth soul ring were quite high.
First, the spirit beast's bloodline couldn't be too weak.
Second, it should ideally be a defensive-type spirit beast, capable of serving as a meat shield for his summoner role.
Finally, the age couldn't be too low or too high—between twenty thousand and forty thousand years.
Though his body had been tempered by the Ice-Fire Fairy Herb, and he possessed the ultimate body-strengthening technique Unbreakable Golden Body, far surpassing soul masters at the same level, he already had three ten-thousand-year soul rings and one over twenty-thousand-year soul ring. He wasn't entirely confident he could handle a fifth soul ring exceeding forty thousand years.
Precisely because of these stringent requirements, despite having Fire Phoenix Xiao Hong as his "high-altitude scout," after a week of searching near the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest, Chu Chengzhou still hadn't found a suitable target.
"Camp here? Brother, camping here means we're likely to encounter spirit beasts coming to drink water."
Xiao Wu remarked, somewhat surprised.
Choosing to camp near a water source while hunting in a spirit beast forest wasn't a good idea.
"Fool! We're here to find soul rings—why would we fear spirit beasts coming to drink water?"
Chu Chengzhou lightly flicked Xiao Wu's forehead.
"Oh right!"
Xiao Wu suddenly realized.
Finding an open space, Chu Chengzhou summoned the Sky Azure Tree Xiao Qing, then worked with Xiao Wu to set up their tent.
As night fell, after dinner and arranging for Xiao Qing to keep watch, the two entered the tent to rest.
Xiao Qing, whose age had long surpassed ten thousand years, possessed some intelligence. If a formidable ten-thousand-year spirit beast came to drink water, Xiao Qing would naturally alert them—there was no need to constantly monitor.
The next morning, as dawn broke, Chu Chengzhou felt a bit frustrated.
As expected, several groups of spirit beasts had come to drink water by the lake last night, but none of them met his criteria.
Not only had he wasted effort, but he also hadn't rested well.
After all, this was the inner region of the Great Star Dou Forest, frequented by ten-thousand-year spirit beasts—and not the outer edges. Many of the spirit beasts that arrived were stronger than Xiao Qing, forcing him to intervene and drive them away.
After recalling Xiao Qing, who had kept watch all night, and stepping out of the tent to wash up, Chu Chengzhou noticed a herd of Wild Ox Spirit Beasts approaching the lakeshore.
Confirming his suspicions, he realized they weren't his intended targets.
To be precise, they weren't suitable for his fifth soul ring—but they could certainly serve as food.
Having spent a week in the Great Star Dou Forest, the dry rations he had prepared in his storage soul tool were nearly depleted. It was time to change his diet.
However, as Chu Chengzhou surveyed the herd, preparing to select a tender calf to ambush, his expression suddenly shifted, and he turned toward the calm surface of the lake ahead of the oxen.
Through his spiritual perception, he detected a formidable uninvited guest quietly approaching beneath the tranquil waters.
Half a minute later—
Whoosh—
Suddenly, near the shore, large splashes erupted from the lake's surface. A blue column of water imbued with water-attribute soul power burst diagonally through the water, striking a drinking Wild Ox Spirit Beast directly.
Boom—!
The blue column instantly obliterated the head of the ox, whose age hadn't yet reached ten thousand years. Flesh, bone fragments, and water droplets sprayed everywhere, and the decapitated ox's corpse, emitting a deep purple soul ring, collapsed by the lakeshore.
The sudden incident startled the herd of oxen, causing the survivors to flee in panic.
Revenge?
Nonexistent!
The survival rule of the Great Star Dou Forest was the law of the jungle. Seeking revenge for a fallen comrade with the entire tribe's strength was only feasible if the tribe was the forest's dominant species—otherwise, the entire tribe would face extinction sooner or later.
With the oxen fleeing, the uninvited guest beneath the lake showed no intention of stopping them. Fresh food tasted better, and today's meal quota was already satisfied. No further killing was necessary—otherwise, no spirit beasts would dare come here to drink water in the future.
Soon, a massive shadow gradually emerged, accompanied by churning waters. This stealthy intruder revealed its true form.
Nearly three zhang in length, its body was elliptical, covered with a majestic black turtle shell. Its robust limbs were scaled in black, with claws shimmering ominously. Beneath its shell, a short tail extended, and atop its fearsome head stood a single black horn.
"Mystic Water Turtle?!"
Chu Chengzhou's expression turned astonished.
At first glance, he recognized the type of spirit beast.
The Mystic Water Turtle, a water-attribute defensive spirit beast, though its bloodline was slightly inferior to the dual-element (water and earth) Mysterious Tortoise, still qualified as a top-tier spirit beast.
Of course, the classification of spirit beasts wasn't as rigid as that of soul masters. While the Mystic Water Turtle was categorized as a defensive spirit beast, its offensive capabilities weren't weak—they simply weren't as prominent as its defenses.
Most importantly, this Mystic Water Turtle was nearly thirty thousand years old, perfectly fitting the criteria for his fifth soul ring!
Before long, as the Mystic Water Turtle approached the shore to enjoy its meal, Chu Chengzhou lightly tapped the ground, activating the movement technique Divine Light Dash. His figure shot forward, appearing tens of meters away from the turtle within moments.
Instantly, his banner materialized, and the second and fourth soul rings on his body lit up. The forms of Little Bai, the Light Lion Summon, and Big Bear, the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear Summon, coalesced beside him.
The next second, a streak of white light surged from Little Bai, entering Chu Chengzhou's body.
Under the influence of Little Bai's innate soul skill, Blessing, all of Chu Chengzhou's attributes, including his mental power, surged by 50%.
Following this, he unleashed his illusion technique. An intangible wave of mental power surged forth, spanning dozens of meters, and descended into the Mystic Water Turtle's consciousness.
In an instant, during the mental battle, the nearly thirty-thousand-year-old Mystic Water Turtle was no match for Chu Chengzhou, a level-50 quasi-Soul King. Its consciousness was pulled into an absolute void—an endless expanse of darkness devoid of color or sound.
The terrifying Little Black Room Technique made its grand reappearance!
Of course, perhaps for spirit beasts lacking intelligence, the Little Black Room Technique wasn't as terrifying?
"Big Bear, attack it!"
With his first move successful, Chu Chengzhou pointed at the now defenseless Mystic Water Turtle and issued the attack command to Big Bear.
"Roar—!"
Letting out a mighty roar, dark golden light flashed across Big Bear's claws as its innate soul skill, Dark Golden Terror Claw, activated. A claw-shaped shadow imbued with terrifying sharpness shot forth, striking the fearsome head of the Mystic Water Turtle directly.
Poof!
The razor-sharp dark golden claw tore through the turtle's hard black horn before splitting its fearsome head in two. Blood and brain matter spilled everywhere.
Moments later, countless golden specks of light emanated from the Mystic Water Turtle's body, gradually coalescing into a pitch-black ten-thousand-year soul ring.
"Not bad!"
Seeing Big Bear kill the nearly thirty-thousand-year-old Mystic Water Turtle with a single claw strike, Chu Chengzhou nodded in satisfaction.
Of course, this was within reason. The Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear was renowned for its offensive prowess. Moreover, this Mystic Water Turtle had been trapped in his Little Black Room, rendering it defenseless. If Big Bear couldn't finish it off under these conditions, it would truly be unworthy of its name.
"Hmm? A Mystic Water Turtle?"
At this moment, Xiao Wu's astonished voice sounded from behind Chu Chengzhou.
When the Mystic Water Turtle had launched its surprise attack with the water column, Xiao Wu inside the tent had sensed the commotion outside and came to investigate.
However, Xiao Wu was a step too late. By the time she arrived, the Mystic Water Turtle had already been defeated by Big Bear's claws.
"Mm, it's perfect for my fifth soul ring."
Chu Chengzhou nodded.
With healing provided by Xiao Qing, support from Xiao Bai, aerial combat handled by Xiao Hong, land combat covered by Big Bear, and now a meat shield added to the mix, this was a very reasonable setup.
"Go for it, Xiao Chu! It's time to advance to a Soul King!"
Pointing at the nearby Mystic Water Turtle, a certain mischievous rabbit declared dramatically.
Chu Chengzhou: "…"
This naughty rabbit's antics were getting out of hand!
Glaring at Xiao Wu, who clearly needed discipline, Chu Chengzhou began drawing the Mystic Water Turtle's soul ring.
As soon as it was drawn, the nearly thirty-thousand-year-old Mystic Water Turtle soul ring slowly rose and settled onto his body.
The moment the soul ring landed, Chu Chengzhou immediately felt a surge of pressure. Following this, a vast, profound energy flooded into his body.
Though the soul ring was within his capacity—far from reaching his limits—Chu Chengzhou didn't dare slack off. He immediately activated the Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique, rapidly refining the energy flowing into his body from the soul ring.
According to optimal soul ring ratios, ordinary soul masters could absorb a fifth soul ring of at most ten thousand years.
However, gifted individuals and cheaters were exceptions. Even though Chu Chengzhou's soul power was currently at Level 50, and the combined age of his first four soul rings exceeded fifty thousand years, the upper limit of the fifth soul ring he could handle still far exceeded that of ordinary soul masters at the same level.
Additionally, absorbing the Mystic Water Turtle's soul ring was far easier than absorbing a similarly aged Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear soul ring. A nearly thirty-thousand-year soul ring? Child's play.
As the Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique circulated, the energy from the soul ring was swiftly converted into Chu Chengzhou's soul power cultivation.
As for the residual spirit beast soul contained within the ten-thousand-year soul ring?
At full strength, the Mystic Water Turtle had already been mentally inferior to Chu Chengzhou. In its current state as a remnant soul, it stood no chance.
Even without specific mental attack techniques, the overwhelming force of Chu Chengzhou's mental power crushed the residual soul of the Mystic Water Turtle, causing it to dissipate at an accelerated rate.
Time ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, half a day had passed.
Suddenly, as Chu Chengzhou was refining the Mystic Water Turtle soul ring, his aura surged dramatically. His soul power broke through the level-50 barrier, officially advancing him to a Soul King.
[Attribute Panel]
[Host: Chu Chengzhou]
[Soul Power: Level 52 Soul King]
[Spirit Weapon: True Spirit Banner]
[Soul Rings: Black (10,000), Black (10,000), Black (10,000), Black (25,400), Black (29,050)]
[First Soul Skill: Summon - Sky Azure Tree]
[Second Soul Skill: Summon - Light Lion]
[Third Soul Skill: Summon - Fire Phoenix]
[Fourth Soul Skill: Summon - Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear]
[Fifth Soul Skill: Summon - Mystic Water Turtle]
[Skills: Nine Breaths Method (Red), Unbreakable Golden Body (Red), Eternal Thought (Red), Sunshot Arrow (Red), Divine Light Dash (Red), Control (Black), Defense (Black), Forging (Black), Illusion (Black)]
[Idle Slots: 1. Control (Black), 2. Forging (Black), 3. Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Method (Red), 4. Illusion (Black), 5. Fourth Soul Ring (Black), 6. (Empty)]
A Mystic Water Turtle soul ring of nearly twenty-nine thousand years granted Chu Chengzhou a two-level increase in soul power. Upon advancement, his soul power directly reached Level 52, making him a Soul King.
There was a minor regret, though—it seemed he wasn't the protagonist. Despite reaching the fifth ring, not only had he failed to obtain the standard external soul bone of the protagonist, but he hadn't even gotten an ordinary soul bone.
Uh actually, it was normal for nothing to drop. After all, he hadn't killed many spirit beasts in his life. Ordinary soul bones had at most a 0.1% drop rate, and external soul bones were ten times rarer. How could they drop so easily?
After glancing at his cheats, Chu Chengzhou's slight disappointment over not obtaining a soul bone or external soul bone vanished completely.
Compared to soul bones, upgrading his cheats was far more enticing.
Moreover, this upgrade wasn't a minor one like when he advanced to a four-ring Soul Sage. Not only did the number of AFK slots increase by one, but the AFK efficiency also improved significantly.
Before advancing, leveling a Black-Tier ultimate technique to Red-Tier took three hundred days. After advancing, it was reduced to one hundred days.
Similarly, upgrading a Red-Tier ultimate technique to Gold-Tier, which previously took a thousand days, was now reduced to three hundred days.
As for soul rings, before advancing, AFKing increased their age by forty years per day. After advancing, it doubled to eighty years per day.
At this rate, Big Bear's age, which already exceeded twenty-five thousand years, would reach one hundred thousand years in just two and a half years if AFK efficiency didn't increase further.
And a hundred-thousand-year Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear? Hmph, even ten Snake Spear Douluos like She Long wouldn't make Chu Chengzhou bat an eye.
It wasn't Chu Chengzhou boasting—if a hundred-thousand-year-old Big Bear simply stood there, relying on its resilient dark golden fur alone, She Long wouldn't be able to break through its defenses. Conversely, a single swipe of Big Bear's claws would tear She Long apart.
Big Bear: I'll take on ten of them!
After reviewing the progress of the techniques in his AFK slots, Chu Chengzhou noticed that the fastest to upgrade was the illusion technique, followed closely by the Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique, with Control and Forging slightly behind.
In just over ten days, the illusion technique would evolve and upgrade to Red-Tier.
The Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique, Control, and Forging techniques would also upgrade successively within two months.
Unlike Control and Forging, the Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique served as the foundation of his cultivation system. If it upgraded again, it wouldn't merely become Red-Tier—it would ascend to the higher tier of Gold-Tier.
In Chu Chengzhou's view, among the numerous ultimate techniques on the continent, perhaps only the Hao Tian Sect's Great Sumeru Hammer deserved a Gold-Tier rating.
After some thought, Chu Chengzhou didn't place the fifth soul ring into the sixth AFK slot for upgrading. Instead, he placed his True Spirit Banner martial soul into it.
Some readers have commented that I made Tang Hao too strong. Let me explain.
It's not baseless boasting—Tang Hao was truly formidable.
Tang Hao had recovered from his injuries, breaking through to Level 96. He possessed a full set of six soul bones, whereas among the thirteen Spirit Hall Douluos, only Gui Yan had a single soul bone.
Tang Hao had a hundred-thousand-year soul ring; the thirteen Spirit Hall Douluos didn't.
Tang Hao had the Killing God Domain, providing a ±20% boost to stats, while the thirteen Spirit Hall Douluos lacked domains. (T/N: +20% to himself, -20% to enemies)
The Hao Tian Hammer was the world's number one weapon-type martial soul, suppressing opponents with weapon-type martial souls to varying degrees.
With full soul bones, a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, the Killing God Domain, the world's number one weapon-type martial soul, and the detonation of all nine rings, Tang Hao faced thirteen Spirit Hall Douluos whose highest level was 95, with most hovering around 92-93. Given Tang Hao's higher level and all these advantages, escaping from a one-versus-thirteen fight wasn't exaggerated, was it?
During the Soul Emperor stage, Zhao Wuji managed to escape from sixteen Spirit Hall bishops above Level 60. Could Tang Hao possibly be weaker than Zhao Wuji?
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