Chapter 41: Shocking Long Aotian, Junior Brother, What Is Your Situation?
Two streaks of emerald-green light tore through the clouds, descending like meteors before landing steadily on the vast plaza of the Body Sect. The moment their boots touched the stone, the previously tranquil sect erupted into a frenzy of activity.
"The Sect Master has returned!"
"Senior Brother Liu Yuan is back too!"
The news spread through the courtyards and training grounds as if it had sprouted wings. Disciples who had been waiting near the sparring arenas abruptly stopped their drills, their weapons lowering as they turned fanatical gazes toward the main gates.
In the center of the sparring arena, Chen Lu and a few core disciples were regulating their soul power. Hearing the commotion, they exchanged knowing glances before turning to tease the youth seated cross-legged nearby.
"Senior Brother Long, speak of the devil," Chen Lu chuckled. "You were just muttering about wanting to test yourself against Senior Brother Liu Yuan, and here he is."
Long Aotian didn't reply with words. Instead, his eyes snapped open, the simmering battle intent within them instantly igniting into a tangible, scorching heat. He pushed himself up from the stone floor, completely ignoring the sheen of fine sweat clinging to his forehead.
"Let's go," Long Aotian said, his voice dropping to a deep, resonant timbre. "We're going to welcome the Sect Master and Junior Brother."
The group quickly intercepted the returning master and disciple at the base of the sweeping stone steps leading to the Sect Master's main hall.
Liu Yuan had changed into a crisp, brand-new set of sect training robes, but the clothing did nothing to mask the sheer edge he now possessed. Forged by the extreme, biting cold of the Far North and tempered through brutal life-and-death slaughter, his aura was razor-sharp. Standing silently beside Du Busi, Liu Yuan resembled a freshly honed blade resting quietly in its scabbard. His calm, unbothered demeanor paradoxically radiated a heavy, suffocating sense of oppression.
Seeing him like this, the battle lust in Long Aotian's chest flared even hotter.
After exchanging the customary, brief pleasantries, Long Aotian couldn't hold back a second longer. He stepped forward, bringing his hands together in a crisp, martial salute. His eyes burned into Liu Yuan's.
"Junior Brother Liu, your expedition to the Far North must have been incredibly rewarding," Long Aotian said. "I've also experienced a breakthrough in my cultivation recently. I wonder... would Junior Brother be willing to step onto the stage and satisfy my craving for a friendly match?"
Hearing this eager challenge, Du Busi's expression shifted into something exceptionally strange. The old man cast a sidelong glance at his chief disciple, secretly amused.
As a Level 98 Super Douluo, Du Busi's perception was absolute. He could tell with a single glance that Long Aotian had broken through to Level 47. For his age, reaching the Soul Ancestor realm was an undisputed mark of top-tier genius.
But Long Aotian was still bound by the conventional growth logic of a normal Soul Master.
Liu Yuan, on the other hand... was an absolute lunatic who had just solo-slaughtered a ten-thousand-year soul beast in the frozen wastes of the Far North. Both his soul power density and his spiritual power had mutated into something entirely inhuman.
In Du Busi's eyes, Long Aotian asking to spar with Liu Yuan right now was the equivalent of actively begging for a beating.
Yet, the old monster didn't point this out. The core tradition of the Body Sect was battle. Only through relentless, bone-crushing competition could true strength be forged. Letting Liu Yuan apply some heavy pressure might be exactly what Long Aotian needed to temper his arrogance.
So, when Liu Yuan turned an inquiring gaze toward his master, Du Busi merely waved a hand with dismissive ease.
"Why are you looking at me?" Du Busi scoffed. "Since your Senior Brother wants to test your mettle, go ahead and spar. It's just a friendly match. You won't lose a piece of flesh."
"Understood, Master," Liu Yuan nodded calmly. He shifted his gaze back to Long Aotian, his expression placid. "Since Senior Brother has such high interest, I will gladly comply."
The news of the impending clash spread like wildfire. The message, Long Aotian versus Liu Yuan, instantly ignited the entire sect's enthusiasm.
This wasn't just a collision between two of the Body Sect's most monstrous prodigies; it was a long-awaited revelation. Everyone was dying to know exactly what kind of third soul skill Liu Yuan had obtained after being personally escorted to the Far North by the Sect Master himself.
Within minutes, the grand sparring arena was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with eager disciples. The commotion was so massive that it even disturbed several reclusive elders, drawing them out of their cultivation chambers to observe from the high stands.
Elder Chen took a seat beside Du Busi, stroking his long beard with intense curiosity. "Sect Master, you personally oversaw Liu Yuan's third soul ring hunt. What level did you settle on? Is the skill any good?"
Du Busi offered a cryptic, inscrutable smile, refusing to answer directly. He simply pointed a weathered finger at the stone stage below. "Whether it's good or not, you'll see for yourself in a moment."
He paused, his grin widening slightly. "I can only tell you this: it will absolutely shatter your imagination."
That vague promise only made the anticipation burning in Elder Chen's chest grow stronger. "Oh? Then I must keep my eyes wide open."
Down on the expansive stone ring, the two youths stood thirty paces apart.
Long Aotian's expression was dead serious. Even from this distance, he could feel the faint, suffocating pressure radiating from Liu Yuan, a pressure far heavier and sharper than before he had left.
"Junior Brother," Long Aotian warned, his voice low and echoing across the silent arena. "This time, I won't hold back like I did before. To show my absolute respect, I will fight you with everything I have."
The moment the words left his mouth, Long Aotian let out a thunderous shout.
His bones popped and shifted, his skin rapidly taking on a dense, metallic bronze luster. The formidable, heavy pressure of a Level 47 Soul Ancestor erupted outward in a shockwave of raw power. Beneath his feet, four soul rings pulsed rhythmically into existence, two yellow, two purple. The optimal configuration. It was a flawless display of his powerful foundation as the chief disciple.
"Level 47! Senior Brother Long's cultivation speed is terrifying!" a disciple in the crowd gasped.
Up in the stands, Du Busi nodded slightly. Long Aotian's progress was undeniably excellent. But compared to an anomaly like Liu Yuan, excellent was simply not enough.
On the opposite side of the ring, Liu Yuan finally made his move.
He took a slow, steadying breath. Deep within his Double Pupils, a chilling flash of crimson light flickered to life. As he circulated his soul power, a tyrannical, oppressive aura surged outward, crashing against Long Aotian's pressure and instantly splitting the arena's atmosphere in half.
"Liu Yuan, Level 35," he announced. His voice wasn't loud, yet it carried a strange, piercing clarity that echoed in the ears of every single person present. "Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."
Immediately after, soul rings began to rise slowly from beneath his boots.
The first was yellow. Standard. Unremarkable.
The second was purple. A thousand-year soul ring. A low murmur of approval rippled through the crowd.
But when the third soul ring finally rose and stabilized around Liu Yuan's body, the entire sparring arena plunged into a deathly, suffocating silence.
It was black.
A black as deep as an endless abyss, as cold and unyielding as dark iron.
A ten-thousand-year soul ring!
The pitch-black ring pulsed, emitting a terrifying, suffocating wave of soul power. It carried the lingering, primordial majesty of the ten-thousand-year Ice Qilin. Bathed in the dark, oppressive glow of that black ring, Liu Yuan's Level 35 cultivation utterly eclipsed the Level 47 Long Aotian in sheer, overwhelming presence.
The entire audience was paralyzed with shock.
"B-Black...?" someone stammered, their voice cracking in the quiet arena.
"His third soul ring is at the ten-thousand-year level?!"
"How is that even possible?! How could a three-ring Soul Elder survive absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring?!"
Up in the VIP stands, the seated elders shot to their feet in unison, their faces contorted in absolute disbelief. Elder Chen, who had just been asking about the ring, was so violently startled that he accidentally ripped out a small clump of his own beard.
Down on the stage, Long Aotian's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. The moment his eyes locked onto that abyssal black ring, his previously condensed, flawless aura violently fluctuated, nearly collapsing in on itself.
Three rings. The third was ten-thousand years.
This was something that defied the very laws of the soul master world. Even for a peerless genius like himself, his third ring was only purple.
Unable to comprehend the reality in front of him, Long Aotian snapped his head toward the stands, his eyes wide and pleading as he looked at Du Busi.
"Master... what exactly is Junior Brother's situation?!"
The surrounding Body Sect disciples quickly echoed the sentiment, snapping out of their daze to shout their own bewildered questions.
"Yeah! Sect Master, why is Senior Brother Liu Yuan's third soul ring such an impossibly high tier?"
"How did he even do it without his body exploding?!"
Du Busi didn't bother hiding the truth. He stood at the edge of the stands, his voice booming with unmistakable pride. "His situation is entirely unique. Not only is his physical body monstrously resilient, but his spiritual power is also outrageously vast."
The old man swept his gaze over the dumbfounded disciples. "Because both his body and his mind have far surpassed his current realm, he is capable of absorbing higher-level soul rings in advance. His foundation can handle the strain."
Du Busi then snorted, a wicked grin crossing his face. "But the rest of you are still lacking. Don't even think about trying this, or you'll burst like overfilled water skins."
Hearing the Sect Master's blunt explanation, the crowd's gaze shifted back to Liu Yuan. The shock in their eyes rapidly morphed into something entirely different, a burning, fervent reverence.
"So that's how it is..."
"Senior Brother Liu Yuan... his talent is truly terrifying."
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