The Saint Dragon form could go toe-to-toe with the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear—evidence enough of the sheer power this bloodline ability possessed.
If a true Light Saint Dragon were to descend, it would likely be able to crush the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear with ease.
Yet, the Light Dragon Turtle showed no signs of joy. Facing the terrifying Phoenix Hellfire and the rain of Phoenix Meteors engulfing its massive form, it let out another furious roar.
A radiant golden light surged from its body, coalescing into countless golden arrows of light that shot out from its shell like a storm of divine lances.
These golden arrows pierced through the flaming phoenixes born of the Hellfire and collided with the falling Phoenix Meteor Shower, unleashing a chorus of deafening explosions.
Zhou Sicheng wasn't the least bit surprised by the turtle's strength. Its Saint Dragon Form alone indicated that it was no ordinary soul beast.
Even among hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, this one could likely hold its own in battle.
But no matter how tough your shell is, can you really say the same for the parts not protected by it?
With a flap of his Phoenix Wings, Zhou Sicheng turned into a blur and shot down toward the Light Dragon Turtle.
His right arm, which had once been pierced by golden light arrows, now condensed once more into a flaming phoenix born from Phoenix Hellfire. Meanwhile, his left arm had already transformed into a sleek, icy-blue Ice Jade Scorpion Claw.
A long ice-jade-colored scorpion tail extended from his back, the hooked tip glinting with lethal frost.
Both the Ice Jade Claw and scorpion tail exploded with a freezing blue aura—an eruption of the Extreme Ice element that instantly locked onto the dragon turtle's head and limbs.
"Freeze!"
"Ice Burst Technique!"
Two terrifying attacks were cast in tandem. Since the turtle's shell was nearly impenetrable, Zhou Sicheng refused to believe its head and limbs could be just as well-protected.
Faced with another terrifying assault, the Light Dragon Turtle grew numb.
Controlling a beast as strong as the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was one thing—but this human himself had such terrifying fire-based abilities?
And now, such bone-chilling ice?
Was this guy even a soul master? The beastly aura pouring off him didn't seem human at all.
Compared to him, even soul beasts seemed more... human.
Struggling to fend off the Phoenix Hellfire and Meteor Shower, the Light Dragon Turtle hastily retracted its limbs and head into its shell.
At the same time, its shell expanded rapidly, transforming it into a massive shield. All incoming attacks landed squarely upon it.
Fire and ice, their terrifying powers clashed—yet they were all absorbed by the enormous turtle shell.
This defensive form was one of the turtle's innate abilities—turning its shell into a massive shield and maximizing its defensive capabilities.
Seeing this, Zhou Sicheng raised an eyebrow and retracted the Phoenix Hellfire. The Ice Burst and Freezing attacks continued and fully encased the shell in ice.
Once the entire shell was frozen solid, Zhou Sicheng's left hand subtly clenched, unleashing the secondary detonation of the Ice Burst Technique.
"Explode."
With a single word, the frozen turtle shell erupted in a booming explosion.
A dense fog of ice particles instantly blanketed the surroundings, making it impossible to see clearly.
Zhou Sicheng activated his spiritual power and silently opened his Soul Eye. Through the mist, he saw the turtle had barely poked its head out and was now trembling violently under his gaze.
The shield formed from its shell hadn't broken, even under the full force of the Ice Burst Technique, but the internal shock had damaged its organs. The Extreme Ice had seeped into its body.
Panicking, the turtle activated its light-attributed power to try and resist the chilling invasion.
In just a moment, it felt as if even its blood had begun to freeze.
Its outer shell may have been invincible, but its internal body was its greatest weakness.
The Extreme Ice ravaged its insides, causing it to tremble uncontrollably. It could no longer maintain its defensive form.
Even the Saint Dragon Form it had projected to fight the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear vanished as it focused all its power on suppressing the freezing energies inside.
It poured its light energy into cleansing the Extreme Ice, and only with the protection of the Saint Dragon Form on its internal organs did it manage to slow the freezing process.
But Extreme powers are by nature tyrannical. Even after exhausting its abilities, the Light Dragon Turtle remained in agony—on the brink of being frozen solid.
Zhou Sicheng seized the moment. With a wave of his hand, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear turned into golden light and merged into his arm.
His flaming claw transformed into a massive, razor-sharp dreadclaw, glowing with dark-gold energy—an absolutely devastating weapon.
With a powerful flap of his Phoenix Wings, he dashed toward the turtle that was still struggling to resist the ice within.
"Darkgold Pierce!"
The Dark Gold Dreadclaw was the ultimate weapon of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear. This Darkgold Pierce technique was specifically designed to shatter even the toughest defenses.
The turtle's spirit shattered. It could barely contain the Extreme Ice—how could it defend against an external killing blow?
Zhou Sicheng had no intention of giving it any chance to retaliate.
Just as the turtle prepared to go out with a final, desperate struggle, the sharpened dreadclaw pierced straight through its shell and shredded its internal organs.
In a heartbeat, the Light Dragon Turtle lost all ability to resist. The overwhelming ice element surged inside, instantly freezing the mountain-sized beast into a statue of solid ice.
Only a sliver of life remained—barely keeping it alive, but not for long. The intense pain and catastrophic internal injuries would soon claim its life.
At that moment, Ye Guyi's soul tool shone brilliantly. Her upgraded sixth-level soul tool, the Light Holy Sword, appeared in her hand.
Golden angelic wings flared behind her as she turned into a shooting star, dashing toward the turtle. Just as its head was about to be sealed in ice, she struck.
Shing!
A massive dragon head soared into the air. Blood gushed skyward—only to freeze instantly mid-flight. Her Light Holy Sword sliced through the beast's neck like a hot knife through butter.
Before the frozen dragon head could fall, Zhou Sicheng stored it in his soul tool.
This turtle was a treasure trove. Its dense shell alone was enough to craft a powerful defensive soul tool.
A dark soul ring slowly began forming over the turtle's corpse. Ye Guyi beamed at Zhou Sicheng. "Sicheng, that was amazing!"
He smiled. "Hurry and meditate. Absorbing a soul ring above your level is no joke—you'll need to be in peak condition."
Ye Guyi nodded and quickly sat cross-legged to begin recovery meditation.
Roughly an hour passed as the soul ring fully formed—just enough time for her to finish preparing.
Zhou Sicheng remained vigilant. Although the Light Dragon Turtle's territory was vast, the earlier battle had created enough commotion to draw unwanted attention.
With three 25,000-year contract soul beasts by his side, he could now face a Titled Douluo head-on. With him guarding her, Ye Guyi could fully focus on absorbing the 50,000-year soul ring.
Elsewhere, just beyond Zhou Sicheng's spiritual sensing range, Xuanzi lay atop a towering tree, munching on chicken and drinking wine.
His spiritual sense far surpassed Zhou Sicheng's, so the latter was unaware of his presence.
Still, Zhou Sicheng likely guessed that someone was watching over them. He had made sure to only reveal a portion of his abilities—keeping the rest hidden away.
Just then, Xuanzi's hand paused mid-bite. His gaze darkened. "Evil soul masters?"
Moments later, he put away his wine and chicken, his expression growing solemn. "Perhaps... this is a good test for you."
…
Fifteen minutes later, Ye Guyi finished recovering and activated her Holy Angel Martial Soul. A radiant holy light shone from her body as two yellow, two purple, and one black soul ring rose around her.
As she activated her soul power and began absorbing the turtle's soul ring, the sixth ring slowly drew toward her.
With his sister focused on absorbing the ring, Zhou Sicheng prepared to dismantle the turtle corpse—and already began thinking about how best to craft soul tools from the high-grade materials.
But before he could act, he frowned.
Three powerful auras suddenly intruded on his spiritual detection—rushing directly toward them.
The clear purpose in their movement made Zhou Sicheng's expression grow cold.
He was sure no one had tracked him and his sister. Only Elder Mu from the academy knew they came here to hunt this beast.
Which meant the intruders likely weren't after them—but the turtle.
Zhou Sicheng glanced at Ye Guyi and cracked his neck.
Whatever their purpose, they couldn't be allowed to disturb her now.
He summoned his ice and fire power, forming a mask of fused crimson and icy blue with a dark-gold base.
With a flap of his Phoenix Wings, he took to the skies, flying straight toward the intruders.
After flying nearly a hundred meters, the three figures also spotted him—and noticed Ye Guyi absorbing a soul ring.
All three were cloaked in black robes, emitting an eerie aura distinct from normal soul masters, which made Zhou Sicheng instinctively recoil.
"Evil soul masters?" he muttered, raising an eyebrow as the three approached.
When they saw Ye Guyi absorbing the ring, the trio briefly hesitated—completely ignoring Zhou Sicheng, who was already locking onto them mid-air.
The leader sneered, "Absorbing a 50,000-year soul ring as her sixth? And such pure light aura... Killing her would be a massive achievement."
"Boss," one of them said, "if we take her out and absorb her power along with the Light Dragon Turtle's, our strength will skyrocket."
****
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