The enormous Hell Demon Dragon let out a pained cry before tumbling across the ground in an extremely miserable state. Even its spread wings snapped beneath the weight of its own body.
The exposed little dragon roared furiously and charged directly at Golden Crocodile Douluo. Black light flowed across its body, transforming into a layer of viscous substance.
Golden Crocodile Douluo casually released a strand of Spirit Power, intending to heavily injure the little dragon in a single blow. Yet when the flowing golden Spirit Power struck its body, it only caused light injuries, while part of the energy was absorbed by the sticky black substance surrounding it.
The absorbed power was temporarily stored within the little dragon's body, causing the entire creature to charge toward Golden Crocodile Douluo like a speeding vehicle.
Golden Crocodile Douluo originally intended to punch it away, but after seeing the little dragon more clearly, he frowned slightly and merely raised a hand to stop the charging dragon.
"A talent ability that converts burst damage into continuous damage over time, while increasing its own attributes based on absorbed damage? As expected of a mutant Spirit Beast. Such an innate ability is truly exceptional."
"It just takes a little extra effort…"
Golden Crocodile Douluo's figure flashed repeatedly, and in an instant, all four limbs of the Spirit Beast were severed. Clearly, the little dragon's talent ability had some kind of limit or prerequisite, while Golden Crocodile Douluo's instantaneous output had already exceeded what it could withstand.
The little dragon wailed on the ground, crying miserably as its aura weakened further and further.
Nearby, the Hell Demon Dragon, despite its broken wings, struggled back to its feet. Though its eyes were filled with terror, seeing its child reduced to such a state caused it to release a furious roar.
Black light gathered around the Hell Demon Dragon's body. Its heartbeat accelerated continuously until it sounded like war drums. Dense dark-element energy condensed and accumulated like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
This was not the sign of a Spirit Ability.
It was the precursor to self-destruction.
The self-destruction of a fifty-thousand-year Hell Demon Dragon was enough to kill a Titled Douluo like the poisoned Dugu Bo from years ago. Even ordinary Level 91 or 92 Titled Douluo would almost certainly suffer catastrophic injuries, with slim chances of survival.
But for Golden Crocodile Douluo, this was hardly a problem.
The light of his second Spirit Ring flashed. Golden energy enveloped all ten of his fingers, and with a casual swing, the massive body of the Hell Demon Dragon was instantly severed in two. The self-destruction process was interrupted halfway through and forcibly stopped.
The dragon head, severed from the body, did not die immediately. Instead, it stared toward its child, opening its mouth and releasing an extremely weak sound. Its dragon eyes were filled with hatred and unwillingness.
Watching its mother be killed before its eyes, the heavily injured little dragon also lost all will to survive. It dismissed its own talent ability and allowed the accumulated damage to consume it.
"Now."
Golden Crocodile Douluo nodded toward Chen Ming.
In an instant, Chen Ming activated both Martial Soul Possession and Beast Soul Toolization. A dragon-headed hammer appeared in his hand.
Swinging the massive hammer, Chen Ming instantly smashed apart the little dragon's head. A purple Spirit Ring rose from the headless corpse.
And upon seeing its child die, the Hell Demon Dragon—which had stubbornly held onto its final breath—finally lost all signs of life as well. A deep black Spirit Ring floated up from its body.
"Outstanding Spirit Beasts are becoming increasingly rare nowadays. If this Hell Demon Dragon hadn't intended to self-destruct, I wouldn't have killed her."
"It's just… killing a child in front of its mother…"
Golden Crocodile Douluo paused briefly before shaking his head.
"In the end, it's nothing more than the law of the jungle between humans and Spirit Beasts."
Golden Crocodile Douluo revealed a trace of reluctance, but quickly adjusted his mindset.
To him, it was better to have a Spirit Beast mother and child turn into human Spirit Rings than to wait and see a human mother crying over her child in the jaws of a Spirit Beast.
In his youth, he had seen many human villages destroyed by Spirit Beasts and witnessed many horrific scenes. It was only because of his age and the fact that he had taken a disciple that he had become slightly sentimental; in his younger days, he wouldn't have even blinked.
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at Chen Ming with some concern, fearing the boy might be traumatized. Instead, he saw Chen Ming rushing excitedly toward the Hell Demon Dragon's body, searching through it. Moments later, he pulled a Spirit Bone from the bloody flesh.
"Teacher, the Hell Demon Dragon dropped a Spirit Bone."
Chen Ming hurried over and handed the bloodstained Spirit Bone to Golden Crocodile Douluo.
"Good. This is a good thing."
Golden Crocodile Douluo nodded while holding the fifty-thousand-year right arm Spirit Bone. Though pleased, he also looked somewhat curious.
"Seeing all this… you don't have any thoughts about it?"
"It is pretty tragic. And then what?"
"Humans can't even treat other humans equally yet. I haven't even managed to empathize with every person who needs help—why would I waste energy empathizing with Spirit Beasts?"
"Once everyone is equal, everyone can eat their fill, and parents and children no longer have to be separated, then I'll consider worrying about Spirit Beasts. But right now, things are just the way they are."
Chen Ming's voice was extremely calm and rational.
In the era of his previous life, because of the schemes of a certain wandering people that had drifted for a thousand years, countless nations had fallen into war, and all kinds of horrifying tragedies had unfolded.
And the Douluo world, being a half-slave, half-feudal society, was even worse for ordinary commoners. Even though Holy Soul Village had relatively decent living conditions, Chen Ming had still witnessed scenes too terrible to describe.
He had helped some people before, trying within his abilities to pull others out of despair.
But he understood clearly that what he could do was only a tiny fraction.
There were countless things he could not see. Countless people he could not help. Countless tragedies beyond even his imagination.
Protecting animals and protecting nature were certainly important.
But the prerequisite for all of that was humanity developing in a stable and prosperous manner.
If humanity itself was headed toward extinction, then what was even the point of preserving the world? It might as well all be destroyed together.
Humanity was already in such miserable condition—why shouldn't Chen Ming place his sympathy toward humans first?
Even if he sympathized with Spirit Beasts, he would only sympathize with those he personally knew. Treating one's own dog as family did not stop someone from ignoring stray dogs on the roadside.
You could call him hypocritical if you wanted, but Chen Ming refused meaningless emotional self-torment.
And if he ever chose to become some kind of saintly savior, he definitely would not add the word "self-righteous" afterward.
Even when killing Spirit Beasts, he would never do what Tang San did—swearing that he would only kill evil Spirit Beasts, then desperately inventing some "deserved death" justification for every Spirit Beast suitable to become his Spirit Ring.
In Chen Ming's eyes, that kind of thing was less useful than taking the time to fart a few times. At least farting helped clear your intestines.
"..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo had met many people in his life, but someone as "double-standarded" yet decisive as Chen Ming was truly rare.
Over the years, he had seen plenty of detached idealists who treated humans like dirt while simultaneously pitying Spirit Beasts during hunts.
So Chen Ming's attitude instead made Golden Crocodile Douluo nod approvingly.
Someone intelligent who could remain clear-headed and decisive at critical moments was bound to have a bright future.
Especially with talent like this—the boy's future was practically limitless.
"Wait. What's with that hammer? Aren't you a beast-type Martial Soul?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo tossed aside the topic of Spirit Beasts and looked toward the dragon-headed hammer in Chen Ming's hand.
"It's simple. I figured out Beast Soul Toolization myself. It's a little difficult, but I've basically mastered it now."
Chen Ming waved his hand. The hammer dissolved and merged back into his body. The thin layer of scales covering him thickened, his ten fingers became even sharper, and his entire body expanded another size compared to before.
"Beast Soul Toolization…"
The corner of Golden Crocodile Douluo's mouth twitched.
Even within Spirit Hall, only a tiny handful of people possessed this kind of talent. Across the entire history of Spirit Masters, it was considered extremely rare.
And this kid had actually "figured it out" on his own?
...
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