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Burning Bugs were extremely rare soul beasts—rarer than even top-tier ones. The fact that Luan Yu and her crew ran into two Burning Bugs right on the outskirts of the Demonic Forest? That was some next-level luck. And judging by the color of their flames, these two were only around the thousand-year mark.
Starting at a thousand-year mark, The color of a Burning Bug's flame changes as it grows stronger. At the hundred-thousand-year level, its entire body is wrapped in golden fire, and the heat rivals the ultimate fire—blazing hot and crazy powerful.
Of course, only those at the hundred-thousand-year level can evolve their flames into that kind of ultimate fire. At ten thousand years, they're close but not quite there. And at just a thousand years? Nowhere near.
"But for Meteor and Firefly, it didn't really matter, as their own unique abilities granted them control over the ultimate fire."
Since Burning Bugs are pure energy-type beasts, their soul rings were just as good as any top-level fire beast.
Luan Yu made a quiet "shhh" gesture to everyone. Burning Bugs were super fast and could explode into action the second they sensed danger. If they got spooked, they'd be gone in a flash. Sure, she was confident she could catch up—but she didn't want to waste the effort. Anything unexpected could make the situation messy.
She pulled out two soul tools shaped like pistols and, ghost-like, slipped silently through the trees toward the Bugs.
With her Title Douluo-level strength—even if she was just a lower-end one—there was no way two thousand-year soul beasts could resist her. If she wasn't trying to avoid complications, she wouldn't be bothering with all this stealth.
High-speed soul beasts can be a real pain. One wrong move chasing them and you might stumble into something way worse.
As she closed in, Luan Yu raised her twin pistols. In a flash, two icy-blue soul beams shot out like lightning.
The Burning Bugs sensed the surge in soul power and flared up, their flames spiking—but it was too late. The beams hit them dead-on. Their bodies stiffened instantly and were frozen in solid ice, crashing to the ground.
But Meteor and the others could clearly see the ice was starting to melt from the inside out. The Bugs weren't completely knocked out—the freezing attack alone couldn't fully neutralize them.
Not that Luan Yu had expected it to. She'd deliberately held back, using only two fourth-grade soul tools so she wouldn't kill the Bugs outright. Anything stronger might've wiped them instantly—and then Meteor and Firefly would be out of luck for their soul rings.
You can only absorb a soul ring from a beast you killed yourself. Someone else's kill? Doesn't work.
And Meteor and Firefly didn't have enough soul power to operate fifth-grade tools anyway.
But this was enough. Luan Yu zipped over to where the Bugs had landed. Cold air swirled around her as she froze them again, this time with her own spirit power. She carefully controlled the temperature—just enough to keep them frozen without killing them.
Seeing the Bugs safely locked down, Meteor and the others finally stepped out from hiding and rushed over.
"Are we really gonna absorb a thousand-year soul beast? Isn't that super dangerous?" Xu Tianzhen and Ye Guyi looked at Meteor and Firefly with obvious worry. Especially Xu Tianzhen—she'd barely managed to absorb a 400-year soul beast. A thousand years? That was basically suicide for her.
"Relax, we've got this. Besides, Auntie's here. Nothing will go wrong."
Meteor tried to reassure them. He wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't sure. What gave him that confidence wasn't just Phoenix Douluo's tests—it was Firefly.
At full power, Firefly could wipe out a planet. Sure, she'd been weakened and turned into a kid again, but the foundation was still there. A thousand-year ring? Definitely worth trying.
Meteor and Firefly each walked up to a Burning Bug. Luan Yu lifted the freezing effect, and the ice started to melt. The moment the ice disappeared completely, both of them struck out with their soul daggers.
Pssh!
With two clean stabs, they pierced the Burning Bugs' energy cores. Still weak from the freezing, the Bugs froze again—this time for good.
Two faint purple soul rings floated up. The Burning Bugs were dead.
Meteor and Firefly glanced at each other. Flames flared up around them, covering their bodies, and in their place appeared two sleek silver mech suits. Following Luan Yu's instructions, they activated their Martial Soul states, channeling their soul power to guide the soul rings into fusion.
Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen watched curiously. It was their first time seeing the two use Martial Soul Possession, and they were fascinated.
Neither of them had seen a mecha-type Martial Soul before. But since Meteor and Firefly both had innate full soul power, their spirits couldn't possibly be weak. Everyone knew low-grade spirits couldn't produce innate full soul power.
Just like Meteor had predicted, both he and Firefly's bodies could handle a thousand-year soul ring. As the Burning Bug's fiery energy poured into him, Meteor felt a sharp burn—like scalding hot water against skin.
But that was it. The pain faded quickly, and he began to absorb the energy from the soul ring. As time passed, he felt something break inside.
He knew exactly what that was—the sound of a bottleneck shattering. Only by attaching a soul ring could a bottleneck like this be broken. As the limit crumbled, his soul power began to rise steadily: level 10… 11… 12… all the way to 13. His whole body felt lighter, his mind clearer and sharper than ever.
The impact from the Burning Bug's energy had already weakened by the time he broke through. Once he hit level 13, he couldn't even feel the burn anymore—just the thrill of getting stronger.
Watching the faint purple rings glow around Meteor and Firefly, Luan Yu, Ye Guyi, and Xu Tianzhen all relaxed. The hardest part was done. They'd clearly succeeded.
But what confused them was—why hadn't Meteor and Firefly ended their Martial Soul Possession yet? They were still sitting there cross-legged in full mecha form, deep in meditation.
"What's going on? Didn't they already finish absorbing the rings?" Ye Guyi looked over at Luan Yu, worried.
"Give it a bit more time. I'm sure it's fine."
Luan Yu frowned. She was confused too. Normally once someone finishes absorbing a ring, it's over, right? So why hadn't they woken up yet?
But she didn't dare interrupt. If something went wrong now, it could ruin everything. They'd just have to wait it out. And honestly, the two of them didn't look like they were in any danger.
Xu Tianzhen and Ye Guyi kept their eyes fixed on the pair, anxious and nervous.
Meanwhile, inside Meteor and Firefly's minds, something strange was happening. They both felt it—like they had merged into one being. The Life Sharing Ritual had activated again.
"....."