Star Dou Forest.
Tang Lan descended upon a spot that 'felt right' at first glance.
Unleashing the Seagod's Soul Barrier, he concealed his presence entirely.
Then, he sat cross-legged and began absorbing the energy of heaven and earth—
Condensing his eighth Life Soul Ring.
His Blue Silver Life Domain expanded,
And under the call of the Plant King,
All the plant-type soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest willingly offered a portion of their life energy.
Streams of vitality flowed from all directions, converging toward him.
This was no small phenomenon.
It immediately attracted powerful soul beasts and soul masters,
Many assuming that some heavenly treasure was about to manifest.
They tracked the energy to its source—
Only to find that the streams of life force were vanishing into thin air.
Cautiously, they stepped forward to investigate—
Only to be blocked by the Seagod's Soul Barrier.
Those who were smart enough to hold back stayed safe.
But those who recklessly attacked?
Little Thunder zapped them immediately.
The first warning was non-lethal but severe—a heavy injury.
But if they kept testing their luck…
A bolt of Ultimate Lightning would reduce them to dust.
—Some things simply weren't meant to be spied on.
Over time—
The gathered soul beasts and soul masters simply stood on the other side of the barrier,
Waiting in anticipation for this 'treasure' to emerge.
This wait lasted ten whole days and nights.
Finally—
Tang Lan finished condensing his eighth Life Soul Ring.
Ignoring the massive audience outside,
He checked his results.
'A base age of 750,000 years.'
'The soul skills should be pretty strong, right?'
'Oh?'
'Finally, an ability related to the soul.'
'The name "Life Soul" is finally living up to itself.'
Glancing at the Raijin's Second Trial status—
「Successfully obtained an eighth 100,000-year soul ring, exceeding the trial's requirement by 750%!」
「Reward: Raijin Affinity +18%!」
「Raijin's Fourth Trial Unlocked: Win the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament Championship!」
Oh?
This fourth trial was interesting.
But honestly, Tang Lan had already planned to win it anyway.
So this was just a free bonus.
Now, time to examine his eighth Soul Skill.
He had received two abilities—
—Soul Binding!
A semi-transparent, spirit-infused Blue Silver Emperor vine, capable of restraining an opponent's soul,
Preventing them from controlling their physical body!
It was similar to his third soul skill, Heaven and Earth Soul Bind,
Which worked by locking the enemy's spirit to disable movement.
However—
Heaven and Earth Soul Bind only lasted five seconds, and its duration decreased against stronger opponents.
But Soul Binding had no such limit.
As long as Tang Lan's soul power held out,
He could restrain the target indefinitely—
Regardless of their level.
Only soul strength mattered.
Now, the only concern—
Was that this skill didn't just consume his spiritual energy.
It also drained his soul essence.
—Soul essence was different from spiritual energy.
It was the very core of a being's soul, much like how blood was to the body.
Losing too much could permanently weaken the soul,
And that was dangerous.
'I need to test how much soul essence this actually consumes during use.'
Tang Lan swept his gaze over the gathered soul masters outside the Seagod's Soul Barrier.
Locking onto the strongest aura among them—
A middle-aged man.
—Congratulations, lucky contestant. It's you.
"Let's go."
A transparent, blue-tinged vine shot out from within the barrier,
Immediately alerting the onlookers.
The targeted soul master reacted fastest,
Leaping backward instinctively, unwilling to take any risks.
—After all, just days ago, a reckless Soul Douluo had tried to force his way in.
He ended up frozen solid by Snow Emperor and Ice Emperor,
And his ice sculpture was still standing nearby as a warning.
Unfortunately—
Once Tang Lan set his sights on someone,
There was no escape.
"Third Soul Skill—Life Burial!"
The ground beneath the soul master's feet burst open,
Revealing several Life Soul Blue Silver Emperor vines.
The man instantly summoned his Fire Lion Martial Soul,
Slamming a ferocious palm strike onto the vines.
However—
The vines didn't budge.
—Not even using a soul skill would break through them.
Even a Titled Douluo wouldn't be able to shatter the Life Soul Blue Silver Emperor.
That brief moment of hesitation—
Was all Tang Lan needed.
The Soul Binding vine closed in and pierced into the man's head,
Latching onto his spiritual sea,
And binding his soul completely.
The soul master froze mid-motion,
Eyes glazing over as if his mind had suddenly gone blank.
Tang Lan retracted the vine,
But the man remained standing in place,
As if he had completely lost control of his body.
Based on the strength of his soul,
Tang Lan estimated that he was around level 85.
A decent mid-to-high-level combatant.
But no matter how hard his soul struggled,
He couldn't command his own body to move.
He was like a vegetative patient,
Fully conscious but unable to act.
A horrifying, absolute helplessness.
Meanwhile, Tang Lan carefully monitored his soul essence consumption.
Approximately 0.5% per second.
—That was a massive drain.
Considering how incredibly strong his soul was,
Even without a martial soul, he could manipulate objects with sheer spiritual energy.
And yet,
Even he was losing soul essence this fast?
This 0.5% soul essence consumption was equivalent to at least 10% for someone of the same level.
Meaning—
At most, he could only use this soul skill for 10 seconds before his soul essence was completely drained?
That might not sound like much.
But at high-level combat, battles were often decided within milliseconds.
10 seconds?
That was more than enough to do plenty.
Not to mention, the middle-aged soul master was currently in a completely defenseless state.
If someone broke through his physical defenses, they could kill him instantly.
And Tang Lan?
He could control his target for 200 seconds.
—Now do you see how broken this is?
This made Tang Lan very satisfied.
But wait—
A 750,000-year soul ring had two soul skills.
Time to test the second one.
—Spirit Extraction!
By consuming his own soul essence, Tang Lan could forcefully pull a bound soul out of its physical body!
Tang Lan activated it immediately.
His soul essence drained like a waterfall.
At the same time, the Soul Binding vine yanked violently,
Dragging the middle-aged man's soulout of his mental world—
And out of his body!
With no spiritual sea to anchor it,
And no body to sustain it,
The man's soul was like a tree without roots, a river without a source.
It rapidly deteriorated, fading at an alarming rate—
On the verge of complete annihilation.
Tang Lan dismissed the soul skill.
The Soul Binding vine vanished, freeing the man's fading soul.
But at this point, his spirit was so weak that he couldn't even move.
He could only watch in despair as his existence gradually dissolved.
Tang Lan was still merciful.
He used his spiritual power to push the man's soul back into his body,
Allowing him to retreat into his spiritual sea to recover.
The moment he regained control,
The middle-aged man collapsed onto the ground, drenched in cold sweat.
His eyes were filled with pure terror.
Even with his soul weakened, he forced himself to stand, staggering away as if his legs might give out at any moment.
—That man would probably never set foot in the Star Dou Forest again.
Just like Wang Dali before him.
Truly pitiful.
—But that's what happens when you pry into things you shouldn't.
Seeing this, the remaining soul masters and soul beasts all scattered like frightened birds.
But some of them, with more guts than sense,
Remained at a safe distance, still watching from afar.
—They just wouldn't give up, huh?
Tang Lan couldn't be bothered.
He withdrew the Seagod's Soul Barrier,
Activated Blood Escape,
And vanished into the sky in a streak of silver-white light.
Leaving behind a crowd of confused soul masters and soul beasts.
One of them, looking stunned, muttered:
"Was… was that a human figure just now?"
Another, a more experienced soul master, suddenly gasped—
"I've seen that technique in Tian Dou City! Master Tang has an ability just like that—blood-colored flight!"
Huh?!
Master Tang?!
Nearby, a group of soul masters exchanged glances.
Then, without hesitation, they surrounded the man who spoke.
"Kid, are you sure you weren't mistaken?"
"Master Tang is a legendary figure. Why would he waste ten whole days here?"
"Speak! Are you some black-hearted hater, trying to slander Master Tang?"
"A 'dark fan,' huh?!"
"This punk's clearly an anti-fan!"
"Caught red-handed, huh?!"
(End of Chapter.)