Chapter 98

Three kilometers outside the Rock Snake's nest, at the foot of a mountain, a five‑meter‑diameter jet‑black portal suddenly appeared; to the uninformed it looked a bit like the spatial wormhole seen during an alien invasion.

The moment that spatial portal appeared, a smaller three‑meter‑diameter portal emerged even earlier, and three figures slowly stepped out—Gu Rong, Gu Xuan, and Li Li.

Just as the three arrived, a space demon dragon with a human‑like terrified expression emerged from the five‑meter portal, and it seemed to glance back in lingering fear, as if worried something might follow it out of the portal.

When it turned and stepped out of the portal, the beast jolted instantly! Three silhouettes had appeared before it without warning, and before it could even observe, the space demon dragon instinctively opened a portal to flee.

But now it had no chance to escape; Gu Rong calmly extended his right hand, black‑gray soul power swirling, and directly sealed the space demon dragon's movements.

This was Gu Rong's control over spatial power; the technique resembled a spatial seal, more than enough to trap a mere 30,000‑year‑old space demon dragon.

Indeed, the space demon dragon had already reached 30,000 years, which surprised Gu Yeye a bit, since just over a year ago the beast was only 28,000 years old.

"Since it came to the gate, why rush to leave?" Gu Rong smiled faintly; as his soul power flowed, four thick, ancient bone spikes emerged behind him, instantly piercing the space demon dragon's limbs.

Because the spatial power contained in the four bone spikes, under Gu Rong's control, prevented the space demon dragon from mobilizing its own spatial ability, feeling like absolute oppression from a superior to an inferior.

Gu Xuan watched the desperately struggling space demon dragon, nodded slightly, and thought, this is my third Soul Ring; two months have passed, a full two months wasted, and finally I've found this satisfactory fourth Soul Ring.

Gu Xuan extended his right hand, five Dark Gold Terror Claws, each a meter long, sprang forward to the space demon dragon's front, and the razor‑sharp Dark Gold Terror Claws drove straight into its skull.

The space demon dragon thrashed violently, then fell still, losing its life; shortly after, a black Soul Ring coalesced above its corpse.

Gu Rong looked at Gu Xuan and cautioned, "If it's not possible, don't force it; even if you fail, I can interrupt your absorption of this Soul Ring in time, and any damage to the origin can be later restored."

"But remember, never act rashly; too many have died in the Soul Master realm from over‑age explosions when absorbing Soul Rings. This old man doesn't want a white‑haired person delivering a black‑haired one."

Gu Xuan solemnly nodded and replied, "I understand."

Having said that, Gu Xuan sat cross‑legged, began to quiet his qi, focused his mind, and regulated his breath to prepare for absorbing the Soul Ring.

Li Li blinked her big eyes and whispered beside Gu Rong, "Gu Yeye, can big brother really absorb this 30,000‑year fourth Soul Ring?"

Gu Rong patted Li Li's head and said softly, "Li Li, your brother Gu Xuan won't do anything without certainty; all we can do is bless him." Li Li nodded at his words and stared intently at Gu Xuan.

This spot lies on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, so there are no powerful soul beasts, and with Gu Rong here, even if a strong soul beast appeared, any that aren't of the 100,000‑year grade cannot affect Gu Xuan's absorption of the Soul Ring.

After a quarter of an hour, Gu Xuan's martial soul possessed him, began using soul power to draw the Soul Ring, and he was determined to obtain this fourth Soul Ring.

A 30,000‑year fourth Soul Ring—if successful, his future would definitively lay the foundation for becoming a god, even though Tang San's fifth Soul Ring in the original work was only 25,000 years.

Of course, this is also because Gu Xuan's physical quality far exceeds Tang San's, and moreover his martial soul is a primary martial soul—yes, a primary martial soul—though it's still the Dou period, and the term 'primary martial soul' isn't used yet.

But Gu Xuan knows well that his martial soul is a Bone Dragon, bearing the 'dragon' character; it sounds like a beast martial soul, yet it is in fact a primary martial soul. This is because Gu Rong's earlier martial soul mutation evolved the original skeletal martial soul into a Bone Dragon martial soul. As for the boost to physical quality, a primary martial soul still surpasses a beast martial soul, which is why Gu Xuan can dare to absorb a 30,000‑year Soul Ring at the fourth level.

This is Gu Xuan's fourth time absorbing a Soul Ring, so he already has ample experience; after drawing the Soul Ring above his body, the terrifying soul‑power pressure contained within it immediately erupts outward.

Gu Xuan endures this dreadful pressure, actively guiding it to temper himself, wasting no ounce of power, striving to utilize all the energy of the Soul Ring.

The process of absorbing the Soul Ring is naturally lengthy for Gu Xuan, and before he knows it, time has quietly slipped away.

It must be said that absorbing a Soul Ring beyond one's level is exceptional; normally a genius Soul Master can absorb a Soul Ring in at most three hours.

But Gu Xuan has already spent half a day—six hours.

At this point, the jet‑black ten‑thousand‑year Soul Ring from the space demon dragon has already been placed on Gu Xuan, and beneath this ten‑thousand‑year Soul Ring lie two yellow and one purple Soul Rings.

Another hour passed, the black fourth Soul Ring fully settled; Gu Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance in his red‑blue pupils, and the four Soul Rings on his body—two yellow, one purple, one black—pulsed in unison, shining brightly.

"Level 45…" Gu Xuan felt the surging soul power within, and exhaled a long breath of murky qi.

Gu Rong also looked at Gu Xuan with an excited expression; with his own strength he could clearly sense Gu Xuan's current soul‑power level, just as Gu Xuan said, his soul power had reached Level 45.

Moreover, this Level 45 was not achieved by forced external means; Gu Xuan's soul power is dense and heavy, and merely spending a little time familiarizing himself with this sudden surge is enough to master it, far quicker than cultivating soul power level by level.

Gu Rong couldn't help but exclaim, "Truly worthy of a 30,000‑year fourth Soul Ring, it actually boosted his soul power by a full five levels."

Li Li naturally heard Gu Xuan and Gu Rong's words; based on the knowledge she's studied since childhood, the horror was easy to grasp, and she covered her mouth, showing an expression of disbelief.

But just as Gu Rong was about to ask about the effect of Gu Xuan's fourth soul technique, his expression changed; he stared in a direction, frowned, and said, "This terrifying soul‑power fluctuation… a 100,000‑year soul beast?! But this is only the outer area; why would a 100,000‑year soul beast come here?"

Gu Rong had nothing to hide, so Gu Xuan and Li Li naturally heard his words.

Hearing this, Gu Xuan thought briefly, then said, "Grandpa, could it be that some treasure has emerged, drawing this 100,000‑year soul beast here?"

Gu Rong nodded at the words and said, "It's possible; we'll try to conceal our soul‑power fluctuations and sneak by to see."

If it had been earlier, Gu Rong wouldn't have risked taking Gu Xuan and Li Li with him, but now he is Level 97; even if he doesn't intend to solo a 100,000‑year soul beast, he wants to move on, and a 100,000‑year soul beast would certainly not be able to block him.

Gu Xuan and Li Li nodded in response, "Alright."

ps: Typos will be corrected later.

(End of chapter)