Chapter 120: Corrosion

For a Soul Master with an ordinary martial soul, mastering a top‑tier martial soul's exclusive meditation method may grant the soul some of the top martial soul's traits—perhaps faint—but once a trait appears there is greater room for growth.

Tie Li obtained the corrosion trait of the Yinlei Magic Dragon martial soul, only a faint trace; it is not obvious in combat and against a well‑defended Soul Master may be undetectable.

Yet this became the key to opening the jade box.

To open the jade box one must possess the aura of the Yinlei Magic Dragon martial soul.

Tie Li's soul power contains a sliver of the Yinlei Magic Dragon's corrosion trait, so when he first touched the jade box it reacted.

He retrieved the jade box again; his soul power formed a violet electric arc around it, and a fissure appeared on the box.

The moment the jade box opened, the raging thunder and lightning that had surrounded Tie Li instantly became exceedingly gentle.

Inside the jade box was a drop of black blood, whose thunder and lightning attribute was terrifyingly strong.

Upon the black blood, Tie Li also sensed a familiar feeling, identical to the corrosion trait within his own soul power.

A thunder‑attribute Soul Beast with a corrosion trait is already extremely rare; let alone a black drop that also radiates a draconic aura.

As a true dragon‑type Soul Beast, the Yinlei Magic Dragon is not only scarce but each individual is immensely powerful.

Like the dark‑golden Terror Claw Bear, a hundred‑year‑old Yinlei Magic Dragon can hunt ten‑thousand‑year‑old Soul Beasts.

Ordinary blood could never wield such might; it must be the essence blood of a Yinlei Magic Dragon.

Even a common thunder‑attribute Soul Beast that refines a single drop of Yinlei Magic Dragon essence blood will experience a complete ascension of its life tier.

In the past hundred years the Fenglei Sect has never produced a Soul Master with a Yinlei Magic Dragon martial soul; most only have lower‑rank martial souls.

To enable the sect to someday yield a Soul Master bearing the Yinlei Magic Dragon martial soul—and to boost the strength of the current younger generation—

the senior Elder and the sect leader of Fenglei Sect jointly decided to enter the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Yinlei Magic Dragons.

More than seven Eight Ring Soul Douluo were to hunt a ten‑thousand‑year‑old Yinlei Magic Dragon.

Paying the lives of four Soul Douluo as the price, they finally succeeded.

Not only did they obtain the Yinlei Magic Dragon's essence blood, they also secured an exquisite soul bone, a bountiful harvest.

But this also attracted the scrutiny of the Spirit Hall.

Only a few disciples managed to escape; all the sect's Elder stewards were slain, and even the Fenglei Sect's sect leader became a headless corpse.

Greed flashed in Tie Li's eyes, but does absorbing Yinlei Magic Dragon essence blood require any precautions?

To reach the Leichi for cultivation, one must first raise one's thunder and lightning attribute.

Absorbing and refining Yinlei Magic Dragon essence blood is currently the best option.

Otherwise one must leave this place, slowly raise one's Soul Power Level, perhaps become a Soul King, and then force one's body into the Leichi for cultivation.

I am only at level forty‑two; even if I return to Baidi to train, it will take at least five years before I might become a Soul King.

Yet it is precisely time that I need most.

A resolute glint flashed in my eyes as I swallowed the dragon's essence blood from the jade box.

I sat down on the spot and began refining the Yinlei Magic Dragon's essence blood.

The instant the essence blood entered Tie Li's belly, the surrounding thunder and lightning turned ferocious again, brimming with aggression.

The pain in my body reached an extreme, as if a worm in the ankle bone gnawed every inch of flesh, making me want to collapse instantly.

I clearly felt the bodily pain, yet could only endure, operating the Lei Long Meditation Method to refine the single drop of Yinlei Magic Dragon essence blood.

Time slipped by second by second, and the repulsion of the surrounding thunder and lightning grew weaker for Tie Li.

Opening his eyes, Tie Li moved another ten meters toward the Leichi.

Then he sat again on the ground, continuing to refine the Yinlei Magic Dragon's essence blood.

……

"It's been five days and there's still no sign of movement," Zhao Tianhe's gaze took on a hint of anxiety.

"Zhao Laoshi, the Lightning Light around the Leichi is repulsive; ordinary thunder‑attribute Soul Masters find it hard to enter the Leichi's vicinity for cultivation, at most they can linger a hundred meters away, though the cultivation effect is still decent."

The general leading the Soul Elder army spoke; after chatting with Zhao Tianhe these past few days and learning he is a teacher at the Tian Dou Royal Academy, his attitude softened considerably.

"Repulsive?"

"You can think of it as the level of thunder and lightning; if your martial soul's thunder‑and‑lightning level is lower than that surrounding the Leichi, you cannot pass its barrier.

As a core student of the Tian Dou Royal Academy, your martial soul is surely not weak; its thunder‑and‑lightning level must be fairly high, perhaps enough to get within a hundred meters.

From what we know, even a core disciple of Fenglei Sect needs at least a Four‑Ring Soul Dou rank to meditate within a hundred meters of the Leichi."

To become a core disciple, one's martial soul and innate talent cannot be lacking.

"Hiss!" Zhao Tianhe inhaled a sharp breath of cold air; he hadn't considered all this before.

"A few days ago, the eldest son of Duke Ke Bosen visited here, also wishing to enter the Leichi, but he got stuck at one‑hundred‑fifty meters."

Zhao Tianhe knows the duke's eldest son; he too was once a student of the Tian Dou Royal Academy and graduated over a decade ago.

Possessing a Thunder Leopard martial soul, he is now a level‑51 aggressive‑type Soul King, with a two‑yellow three‑purple Soul Ring Configuration.

He trained here for three days before returning to his family; this time, among the several nobles negotiating the Fenglei Sect's former lands with the royal family, was Duke Ke Bosen himself.

……

Tie Li felt his soul power surge; after absorbing the Yinlei Magic Dragon's essence blood his Soul Power Level rose from forty‑two to forty‑three;

The Purple Thunder Hammer hovered above him, its hue noticeably changed—originally a bright purple, now the purple deepened toward black, the patterns becoming more pronounced and feral.

Even the purple lightning shifted toward black; the original corrosion trait was faint, but after ingesting the essence blood the corrosion trait began to reveal its horror.

Beneath the raging thunder‑lightning attacks lies a cruel, poisonous method; the Lightning Light will pierce your body like an ankle‑bone worm, beginning to corrode vitality and soul power, while your soul power becomes nourishment for the Lightning Light, growing ever more ferocious.

Yet a single drop of essence blood cannot make the Purple Thunder Hammer's corrosion trait reach the level of a Yinlei Magic Dragon.

If a few more drops are absorbed, or a Yinlei Magic Dragon soul bone is obtained, the full inheritance of the Yinlei Magic Dragon's corrosion trait becomes possible.

Tie Li was now fifty meters from the Leichi, using the surrounding thunder and lightning to stabilize his martial soul's form.

Once fully stabilized, he planned to descend the mountain to report his safety to Zhao Laoshi, lest he worry excessively.

But staying here to cultivate for a period is not only for a better training environment; it also requires a span of tempering.

At that time, releasing the martial soul also has a reasonable explanation.

On the tenth day, Tie Li only then descended the mountain to find Zhao Tianhe.

(End of chapter)