This swampy wetland is deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, far from the entrance they used.
However, as Lin Rong broke through to the Soul King, his Life Sense range surged once more.
The area at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest happened to be the extreme range that Lin Rong could currently perceive.
Of the two auras within his Life Sense, Lin Rong recognized one: that old fellow Titan.
He could also guess the other.
The aura of the Clear Sky Hammer's Martial Soul was far stronger than Titan's Soul Power fluctuations and his robust, stable life force.
Between the two Tang brothers, Tang Hao met the first two conditions, but with his severe injuries, his life fluctuations couldn't possibly be so robust and stable.
Therefore, the only person who met all three conditions simultaneously could only be Tang Xiao.
"Grandpa Yu, I'll leave Tang Xiao to you to deal with. You can rest assured leaving that old fellow Titan to me."
After speaking, Lin Rong saw the worried look on the old butler's face and added:
"Don't worry, with my current strength, even if I can't defeat Titan, I can more than protect myself."
"Besides, a Soul Douluo who only has power but no speed can't harm me in the slightest."
Upon hearing this, the old butler no longer said anything more, but secretly made up his mind that no matter how the battle unfolded, he would definitely protect the young master.
...
The Nine Bend Vine Dragon carried Lin Rong and the old butler all the way towards the forest's edge, with no intention of concealing their presence.
Along the way, all the Spirit Beasts they encountered were terrified of the pressure the old butler released and dared not step forward to stop them.
About an hour and a half later.
"They're here. Hmm?"
Tang Xiao opened his eyes and looked ahead, his previously dismissive expression gradually turning solemn.
"This level of pressure is significantly stronger than mine. This is troublesome. I should have brought my second brother."
Beside him, Titan's attention was not on the familiar yet suffocating pressure, but on the way the other party seemed to know they were ambushing him.
But how was that possible?
Before Titan could figure out this problem, Lin Rong's Vine Dragon Domain covered the area.
Vine Dragon Domain, Second Stage: All allied attributes are amplified by 20%, and all enemy attributes are weakened by 20%.
Immediately after, two moon-white cold lights shot towards where Tang Xiao and Titan were hidden.
In just an instant, Tang Xiao and Titan recognized these as locking, instantaneous Soul Skills. They couldn't dodge and could only resist.
Thus, they instantly released their Martial Souls and used Soul Skills to block before the moon-white cold lights hit them.
Cold Moon Starlight was merely the old butler's third Soul Skill. This move was only intended to force Tang Xiao and Titan out.
Therefore, these two cold lights did not injure Tang Xiao and Titan, they only made Titan, the weaker of the two, appear somewhat disheveled.
After blocking the cold lights, Tang Xiao emerged from the shadows and looked in the direction the cold lights had come from, his eyes widening instantly.
"A five-ring Soul King! A ten-year-old five-ring Soul King!"
After a moment of surprise, fierce killing intent erupted in Tang Xiao's eyes.
"Today, no matter the cost, I must keep you here."
"Titan, proceed as planned!"
Even though his overall attributes were weakened by 20% by the innate domain, Tang Xiao was confident in his Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul.
Or rather, he was confident in the two ultimate skills, the Nine Absolute Skills of Clear Sky and the Great Sumeru Hammer.
Even with a 20% reduction in all attributes, he had the ability to fight an even match against this elder whose Soul Power was subtly stronger than his.
"Young master, please be careful."
The old butler quickly finished speaking and released his Martial Soul, blocking Tang Xiao who was advancing.
"Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring!"
Tang Xiao saw the ninth blood-red Spirit Ring beneath the old butler, and his heart sank heavily once more.
Now, he no longer sought to fight this elder to a draw, he only wished to stall for more time, allowing Titan to deal with Lin Rong.
Thus, Tang Xiao directly activated his seventh Soul Skill: Clear Sky True Body.
Holding the massive Clear Sky Hammer, his sixth Soul Ring lit up, and he swung the giant hammer at the old butler.
Seeing this, the old butler was not to be outdone and directly activated his seventh Soul Skill: Star Body.
Simultaneously, the fifth Spirit Ring on his body lit up, and the nine brightest stars in the starry sky transformed into a defensive barrier, successfully blocking the attack from Tang Xiao's sixth Soul Skill while in his Clear Sky True Body state.
"Blocked so easily? A defense-type Spirit Master?"
"Then try this: Nine Absolute Skills of Clear Sky, Tremor Skill!"
Tang Xiao roared, swinging the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand with a unique method of exertion, and smashed it towards the star barrier again.
On the other side of the battlefield.
After activating his Martial Soul, Titan, resembling a colossal black ape, looked up at Lin Rong standing on the Azure True Dragon in the sky. He couldn't help but curse inwardly:
"Damn it! I remember that the Dragon Soul Vine can only achieve Dragon Soul Separation after breaking through to the seventh ring as a Soul Saint. How can this kid do it at the fifth ring? Is it a Mutated Martial Soul?"
"Flying so high, even if I use my Martial Soul True Body, this altitude is beyond the effective range of all my Soul Skills."
High in the sky.
Lin Rong looked down from above at Titan on the ground.
"For any Spirit Master, no matter how peace-loving, their hands will inevitably be stained with blood."
"It's just that I never expected the first drop of my kinsman's blood to be shed by a Soul Douluo."
Lin Rong said calmly. All four of his Spirit Rings, except for the second one, lit up one after another.
Two Nine Bend Vine Dragons appeared beside Lin Rong.
Immediately after, the forest around Titan instantly transformed into a lush Banyan Forest.
At the same moment, a sky-blue lightning barrier separated this Banyan Forest from the outside world.
Before Titan could react, countless vine roots, like dancing dragons and snakes, whipped towards him.
Seeing these rapidly lashing vine roots, Titan instinctively wanted to counterattack with a Soul Skill, but the Dragon Might carried by the vine roots roared towards him.
This Dragon Might caused a slight waver in Titan's resolve to counterattack with a Soul Skill, causing him to miss the best opportunity to retaliate.
As a result, Titan was quickly buried under layers of vine roots.
"Damn it! I was careless."
These vine roots were incredibly tough. No matter how hard Titan struggled, he couldn't break free from their restraints.
"There's no other way, I have to go all out!"
Titan's seventh Spirit Ring lit up.
The next moment, Titan transformed into a giant black ape and used his immense size to forcefully break free from the vine roots' confines.
High above.
Lin Rong looked at the scene on the ground, feeling a bit surprised.
"I didn't expect the toughness of the Nine Bend Vine Dragon's Martial Soul to be this high. Even Titan, who has activated his Martial Soul True Body, couldn't forcefully tear it apart and could only break free with his sheer size."
"But this is normal. With the Dragon Soul Separation, there are two Nine Bend Vine Dragon Martial Souls, and simultaneously using the first, third, and fourth Soul Skills is equivalent to double amplification."
"Moreover, toughness naturally counters strength, preventing Titan from fully utilizing his power."
"If it were a Soul Douluo of the same level whose Martial Soul possessed a sharp attribute, these Vine Dragon Tree Roots of mine wouldn't be able to restrain them."
"However, using so many Soul Skills simultaneously also consumes an astonishing amount of Soul Power."
"Fortunately, this is a forest, with towering trees everywhere. I can absorb the life energy of these trees at any time and convert it into Soul Power through my Life Dragon Soul to replenish my consumption."
"Otherwise, no matter how fast my Soul Power recovery is, my Soul Power would be depleted within five minutes at most."
Lin Rong wouldn't easily let go of such a good practical combat opportunity.
It was also a good chance to test the power of the Thunderclap Nether Vine's Spirit Bone skill, "Thunder Prison: Heavenly Punishment."
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