"Grand Elder, what's wrong…?"
Hong Yue stepped forward, worry and confusion in her eyes. She knew how cautious the Grand Elder was, and had never seen him miss such an obvious "flaw" at such a critical moment.
That momentary fluctuation in spiritual power, though brief, was enough for a Title Douluo's sharp senses to detect.
The Grand Elder didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the tranquil turquoise lake, his invisible consciousness sweeping the depths over and over like the finest detector. A solemn and tense atmosphere filled the air. Only after confirming that no more terrifying auras had appeared, and that it was merely a brief "glance" followed by endless silence, did he slowly exhale.
He turned his eyes to Chen Yi and spoke in a low voice,
"Kill it."
Chen Yi's heart chilled. He knew it was never normal for the Grand Elder to show such severity. Instantly, he thought of the beasts sleeping in the lake's depths for over 100,000 years—could it be… the legendary Silver Dragon King?
From the Grand Elder's reaction, the being had not intervened directly—likely only cast a "glance" when the Grand Elder's spiritual trace leaked out. Since the other party had no intention of interfering, the best choice was to achieve their goal as quickly as possible and retreat.
Trusting both the Grand Elder's judgment and his own trump cards, Chen Yi stepped forward to the dying Azure Bull Python. The once-Emperor of the Forest lay collapsed, covered in cracks and scorch marks, its blood staining the earth. Its one open, dim eye stubbornly watched the direction Er Ming had fled, the last thing it saw concern for its brother's safety and a hint of relief.
Chen Yi remained calm, raising his right hand as purple-gold thunder soul power instantly condensed into an unparalleled thunder blade. He struck at the split in the python's head where Xie Xiaoqing's last blow had landed.
Crack—!
Thunder pierced through, the destructive power instantly ending the python's last vestiges of life. Its massive body convulsed violently, then collapsed completely. The last glimmer in its eye was extinguished.
Thus fell the Azure Bull Python, 100,000-year Emperor of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Moments later, a massive scarlet soul ring, over five meters in diameter, slowly floated from its corpse. Cyan thunder patterns and turquoise halos of life flowed across its surface, marking its extraordinary nature—a 100,000-year soul ring!
A burning light appeared in Chen Yi's eyes. Without hesitation, he sat cross-legged beside the soul ring, activating his main martial soul's gravity to draw the massive scarlet ring to him. Slowly, it settled onto his body.
Vast energy—lightning and life attributes—poured into Chen Yi's meridians and body like a broken dam. Xie Xiaoqing watched him absorb it, gratitude and a hint of emotion in her gaze.
"It must be Xiao Yi—the sixth 100,000-year soul ring… In all the continent's history, this is a unique achievement."
Hong Yue nodded. "Xiao Yi's physique is already top among Title Douluo, and his soul power has reached a qualitative realm. Absorbing this 100,000-year ring is risky, but his success rate is high."
Still, her eyes flickered to the Grand Elder, who remained silent, his powerful, invisible spiritual power shielding a hundred meters around Chen Yi, not letting the slightest disturbance escape his senses. Clearly, he was still on guard.
Time passed slowly amidst tension and anticipation.
One hour, two… one day, two…
Chen Yi sat unmoving. The purple-gold light and crimson ring around him fluctuated violently at times, then stabilized. Sweat beaded on his forehead; it was clear the process was not smooth. The energy and resentment within a 100,000-year soul ring were no small matter. But with his far superior body and solid control, he steadily integrated the violent energy.
...
Two days and nights passed.
Finally, on the dawn of the third day, the fluctuating light around Chen Yi rapidly converged, and the massive soul ring fully merged into his body.
His eyes suddenly opened!
Purple-gold lightning flashed within them. Powerful soul force, several times richer than before, surged out, quietly resolved by the Grand Elder's spiritual barrier.
Soul power level—sixty's bottleneck—broken!
Not only that, but the total and quality of his power had made a qualitative leap. He could clearly feel his body and mind strengthened in every way. More importantly, the Azure Bull Python's soul ring skills and attribute bonuses were now carved into the depths of his martial soul and soul.
"Success…"
Power surged through Chen Yi, excitement in his eyes.
"Take the soul bone!"
But before he could savor the joy, the Grand Elder's urgent voice cut through the air.
Chen Yi reacted instantly, knowing the elder's apprehension hadn't faded and might have only deepened. Without hesitation, he rushed to the python's corpse and extracted its left arm bone—a cyan bone with fine lightning patterns.
100,000-year Azure Bull Python left arm bone!
Storing it away, Chen Yi joined the others.
"Let's go!"
The Grand Elder's command came again, and a spiritual barrier enveloped the group. In the blink of an eye, they became four blurs streaking toward the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest, faster than when they had come, ignoring all soul beasts along the way. Soon, they disappeared into the sky.
The Lake of Life, its turquoise waters seemingly endless, lay tranquil once more. In the depths, two enormous, vertical golden pupils slowly opened in the darkness, cold and majestic, filled with the weight of ages. After glancing toward the direction the group departed, the gaze slowly turned away, as if uninterested in pursuit.
"Divine-level spiritual power…?"
"Incredible, a being has reached this level among humans after ten thousand years…"
"Humans… Truly, they are favored by heaven and earth."
The voice was neither joyful nor angry, only carrying a hint of indifference and the faintest nuance of complexity.
...
When they finally set foot on a relatively safe plain outside the range of Star Dou Great Forest, the Grand Elder's tension and solemnity slowly eased. He stopped, turned, and gazed at the endless ancient forest behind them with complex eyes. Having reached the divine level in spiritual power, he understood many truths about the forest's mysteries, once confident he could go wherever he pleased. But after this incident, the pride he had felt was now entirely replaced by deep fear and caution.
"Grand Elder, are you…?"
Hong Yue finally couldn't help but ask, seeing the elder's heavy back facing the forest.
Xie Xiaoqing frowned as well. "Is there something terrifying beneath that lake?"
The Grand Elder looked away, turned to the three core disciples, and spoke, his voice tinged with lingering fear.
"Two days ago, when I used divine sense to suppress the soul beasts and was about to succeed… an extremely terrifying spiritual power descended from the depths of the lake without warning."
He paused, searching for words.
"It wasn't an attack, but more like… an investigation after being alerted. From its intensity and concentration… it shocked me."
"Spiritual power?"
Xie Xiaoqing was stunned, unable to believe it. "How is that possible?! Even your power is divine—ordinary spiritual power or even ninety-ninth rank Title Douluo's spirit pales before divine sense. How could anything below god level shake you, or expose your flaw?"
The Grand Elder shook his head. "It was definitely spiritual power, not divine sense. But… its concentration, purity, and degree of control… even surpassed that of divine sense."
"If its essence still counted as 'mortal' and not fully 'divine,' I'd think it was a sleeping god's will."
"It surpassed your divine sense?"
Hong Yue gasped. She only vaguely understood the Grand Elder's strength, but knew it was a power beyond comprehension.
"It's unreasonable," she muttered. "Such condensed force should have already transformed and walked the path of true gods. Why would it remain at the mortal level unless restrained by insurmountable constraints?"
The Grand Elder frowned, voicing his speculation.
Listening, Chen Yi understood.
A being whose condensed spiritual power rivaled or surpassed early divine sense, yet remained below the realm of gods, residing at the bottom of the Lake of Life in Star Dou Great Forest… all pointed to one name—Beast God!
Eighty thousand years of cultivation, wielding ultimate darkness, known to future generations as the "strongest on the continent"—Di Tian!
Chen Yi secretly sighed in relief. His greatest concern at first had not been the Silver Dragon King but Di Tian. It made sense—the Silver Dragon King was likely still asleep, recovering from injuries, and unless a drastic change occurred, would not awaken. The divine sense accidentally triggered by the Grand Elder would not threaten the Silver Dragon King, but might alert Di Tian, her guardian. Di Tian was powerful, but would not fight to the death for the Azure Bull Python or risk clashing with a human divine-level powerhouse, especially with greater powers possibly behind them. Just a warning glance would be enough to make the other party withdraw.
This also explained why, after confirming no further actions from the other side, the Grand Elder allowed Chen Yi to complete the absorption before leaving—the signal was a warning, not death.
"Star Dou Great Forest… truly the continent's greatest and oldest gathering of soul beasts."
The Grand Elder finally stared into the vast forest, as if imprinting today's lesson on his heart.
"Its hidden legacies and terrors far exceed our previous estimations. In the future, our Sect must hold it in utmost reverence."
He said no more, turned to the road, and waved his sleeve. "Today's events are to be kept absolutely secret within the Sect—never to be revealed.
Come, let's return!"
The four transformed into streaks of light, racing toward the Sect, disappearing into the sky.
...