Chapter 169: The Fifth Soul Ring

Inside the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.

Wu Qi's strength had already reached the peak of level 49 half a month ago.

With his talent, even breaking through to Title Douluo would not present a bottleneck; logically, he should not have been stuck at level 49 for too long.

Yet the reality was that he was not in a rush to break through, but rather was squeezing out the final value of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well during his Soul Ancestor stage, allowing his physical strength to reach its maximum possible improvement.

Of course, he was not soaking in the well at every single moment.

At the very least, he was still human, not a god; if he did not eat, he would starve to death.

While eating that day, Dugu Bo informed him: "Little guy, the tournament opens in just a few days; are you not anxious at all?"

Wu Qi shook his head with a smile, "The team competition is not an individual competition; my personal growth doesn't represent everything. The growth of everyone is the true growth of the team."

"Relax, even without me, they might lose their backbone for a short time, but they will regain their state very quickly."

Even if their state was poor, with the solid personal foundations of Feng Xiaotian and the others, winning the competition would not be a problem.

Since the person involved was not anxious, Dugu Bo, as an onlooker, naturally had no reason to be.

"By the way, I have already found a suitable Soul Beast for you in the forest. A 21,000-year Wind Shadow Demon Bird, how about it?"

Thanks to the knowledge he accumulated in his early years at the Primary Soul Master Academy, Wu Qi was aware of this rare Soul Beast.

The Wind Shadow Demon Bird looked similar to a phoenix, but it possessed no Phoenix Bloodline; however, it possessed unusual intelligence, which was why it was crowned with the word "Demon."

Wu Qi laughed aloud and cast a grateful look, "Fine, let it be that one. I will be able to break through in a few days, and then I will go."

He could feel that the effect of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well was gradually diminishing and would soon be of no use.

……

Five days later, above the Sunset Forest.

Two blue and green figures were hunting the Wind Shadow Demon Bird.

Having not fought for a long time, Wu Qi's hands and feet were not rusty; facing a 21,000-year Soul Beast, although his attacks could not do much, he could toy with the opponent by relying on his speed.

Watching this scene, Dugu Bo said helplessly: "Little guy, stop playing. I will take it down, and you should absorb the Soul Ring as soon as possible."

If you walk by the river often, how can you not get your shoes wet?

He was worried that Wu Qi would play too hard and be severely injured by the Wind Shadow Demon Bird, resulting in him being unable to participate in the competition.

Wu Qi agreed silently and turned to quickly withdraw from the battlefield.

Dugu Bo blocked its path behind him, and the pursuing Wind Shadow Demon Bird let out a long, unwilling cry before turning to run.

Yet, facing a Title Douluo, could it possibly escape?

Dugu Bo made only a slight move, and it was poisoned and fell to the ground.

Wu Qi arrived before it and controlled his wing blades to easily execute it.

Dugu Bo landed beside him and shrugged, saying: "Little guy, although I am being a busybody, you must act according to your ability. A 21,000-year Soul Ring is a nine-out-of-ten death situation even for a quasi-Soul Emperor to absorb."

Wu Qi simply asked in return, "Old man, have you forgotten the results of my body tempering?"

His physique was sufficient to withstand the soul pressure of 21,000 years; as for his mental power, there was even less need to worry.

After all, with a 100,000-year soul bone as a foundation, how much of a splash could the remnant soul of a mere ten-thousand-year Soul Beast make?

Dugu Bo smiled awkwardly; thinking about it, the opportunities the other had obtained were perverse enough that it seemed there was no need to worry about these things.

Three hours later, five Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, black, and black—shimmered at Wu Qi's feet, signifying that he had successfully absorbed his Fifth Soul Ring.

Dugu Bo did not rush to ask about the soul skill, but instead analyzed it right there: "The Fifth Soul Ring is 21,000 years; the age of your Sixth Soul Ring can be equivalent to that of a Soul Saint with the best soul ring configuration, and the Seventh Soul Ring will be the configuration of an ordinary Spirit Douluo."

"Doesn't that mean that starting from your Eighth Soul Ring, you could absorb a 100,000-year Soul Ring?"

Wu Qi smiled faintly, "Theoretically speaking, that is the case."

Dugu Bo was full of envy, then snorted coldly: "I can't deal with a 100,000-year Soul Beast, so don't come bothering me when the time comes!"

Wu Qi did not respond; he knew the other's thoughts, which were nothing more than wanting to hear some comforting words.

"Old man, Dugu Yan broke through to Soul King even earlier than me; her strength is not necessarily inferior to mine."

Dugu Bo waved his hand, "Enough, I am not petty to that extent."

"Besides, Yan Yan is nearly six years older than you, yet you are a latecomer who has surpassed her; what is there left to compare?"

Without waiting for the other to speak, he continued: "Alright, tell me about your Fifth Soul Skill; I am very curious."

Wu Qi's Fifth Soul Skill was the same as the Sixth Soul Skill of Qingluan Douluo, both being "Dili soul skill," which could be considered an inherent soul skill of the Qingluan Spirit.

This was a single-target attack soul skill; its speed when released was extremely fast, and opponents of the same level had almost no chance to react. Its power was also not bad; unless a Spirit Master possessed extremely high defensive power, a single strike could severely injure or even kill them.

……

Two days remained until the opening of the tournament.

Through Sun Buyu's guidance, the mindset of Feng Xiaotian and the others had gradually leveled out.

After all, with their strength, looking across all previous tournaments, only the Spirit Hall Academy Team could wrestle with them; other teams were simply not worth looking at.

So, before the finals arrived, what was there to be nervous about?

Having been given time off by Sun Buyu, they spent these days in the academy resting and chatting, discussing the personnel configurations of various teams while also engaging in idle talk.

After Wu Qi returned, he reported to the academy at the first opportunity and simultaneously learned of everyone's location.

Arriving at the entrance, he did not enter the lounge immediately, but instead concealed his aura to observe everyone's performance.

Although they were chatting casually, everyone still did not show any arrogance.

When mentioning the Canghui Academy Team, Feng Xiaotian was full of caution, "The Dean of Canghui Academy is a Spirit System Spirit Master, and thus he has attracted many Spirit System Spirit Masters to come and pay respects, or even join them."

As everyone knew, the attack methods of Spirit System Spirit Masters were very difficult for others to understand.

Before the competition started, no one knew when they would run into Canghui Academy.

If Wu Qi had not returned, they would have had to rely on discussing countermeasures themselves.

The vast majority of academies within the Heaven Dou Empire followed the Extreme Flow.

For example, the three families of wind, water, and fire—the team members all had single attributes; or for example, Elephant Armor Academy, where the team members were all exclusively Defense System Spirit Masters.

Canghui Academy is no exception; their participating team members are all Spirit System and Control System Soul Masters.

Huo Wu expressed her opinion: "Control System Soul Masters have a common flaw: their own defensive power is weak, and they need teammates to protect them."

Except for that freak Tang San, other Control System Soul Masters cannot escape this law.

As for Huo Wu, strictly speaking, she should be a Power Attack System Soul Master; it is only because she possesses a soul skill like Resisting Fire Ring, which forces knockback, that she is defined as a Control System Soul Master.

Huo Wushuang added: "Canghui Academy has always had hope of passing the Preliminary Tournament."

In the first tournament, Canghui Academy participated in the Preliminary Tournament in the Bala Kingdom, but because the tournament system was incomplete at the time and the scale was not as large as it is today, the kingdom and duchy competition zones only had one spot for an advancing team.

Canghui Academy finished second in their zone, missing out on entering the subsequent Advancement Tournament and the finals.

(End of this chapter)