Inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well Valley, the colorful mist flowed slowly, and exotic flowers and herbs bloomed in silence, as if the earth-shattering commotion at the bottom of the spring had not affected the tranquility of this world.
Yu Yuanchen sat cross-legged by the spring, his burning gaze fixed on the slowly rotating purple-gold orb of light in his palm. Inside the orb, a miniature Thunder Sacred Dragon seemed to be swimming and roaring, emitting a heart-palpitating, vast energy and profound law fluctuations. This was the prototype of a God-Bestowed Soul Ring, which he had condensed using the origin dragon power of the Ice Fire Dragon King as a foundation, supplemented by the Thunder God Power and secret techniques!
"Brother Yuanchen, this soul ring..." Ye Zhilan stood to the side, her beautiful eyes filled with a trace of worry and curiosity. She could clearly feel that the energy contained within the orb was vast and terrifying, far exceeding any soul ring in her knowledge.
"Do not worry. Although this ring is strong, it shares the same origin as me, and since I refined it myself, there should be no great risk in absorbing it." Yu Yuanchen's tone was calm, but his eyes flashed with confidence and anticipation. "Zhilan, act as my guardian."
"Mm!" Ye Zhilan nodded heavily and stepped back a few paces. Her Sacred Heart Immortal Begonia Martial Soul was quietly released, and green light swirled around her body. She was full of vigilance, ready to deal with any sudden situation at any time.
Yu Yuanchen took a deep breath and hesitated no longer. He held the soul ring prototype with both hands, and his vast Spiritual Power slowly surged out like the gentlest tentacles, carefully wrapping around it to begin guiding its fusion with his own body.
"Hum--!"
The moment his Spiritual Power touched the soul ring prototype, the purple-gold orb shook violently and erupted with a dazzling light! A vast, sea-like, and incomparably pure dragon power mixed with Thunder God Power surged into Yu Yuanchen's body like a breaching river!
"Hmph!"
Yu Yuanchen let out a muffled groan, his body trembling slightly. This energy was too massive, instantly filling his limbs, bones, meridians, and Dantian! Dense purple-gold scale patterns instantly appeared on the surface of his skin, lightning flashed all over his body, and the Thunder God Seal at the center of his brow shone brightly, operating autonomously to frantically absorb and refine this vast yet homologous power.
The absorption process had officially begun!
The energy was like a torrent, scouring every inch of his flesh, meridians, bones, and even his soul. A violent sense of expansion and tearing sensation arrived, as if his body could be burst at any moment. However, although this energy was massive, its core shared the same origin as his Thunder Sacred Dragon Bloodline, Thunder God Seal, and even his soul core, so it did not produce strong rejection. Instead, there was a sense of smoothness, like water and milk blending together, returning to the source.
The true challenge lay in the traces of Ice Fire Dragon King law fragments contained within, as well as the test of the massive energy itself on his carrying capacity!
Although the ice-blue and crimson law fragments had been filtered and weakened by the power of the Thunder God Position, they still carried the supreme artistic conception of the God King Level. The artistic charms of extreme yin and extreme yang impacted his soul alternately, attempting to interfere with his mind and distort his cognition. At the same time, the massive energy torrent required him to have sufficiently tough meridians and strong willpower to guide, refine, and absorb it.
Yu Yuanchen kept his spirit platform clear, and the Thunder God Seal at his brow shone brightly, forming a solid soul barrier that firmly blocked the impact of the yin and yang artistic charms. Inside his Dantian, the already liquefied thunder soul core rotated frantically at an unprecedented speed, like a bottomless pit, greedily devouring the incoming energy and converting it into the purest Thunder True Essence to nourish himself, while simultaneously strengthening his meridians and widening his energy channels.
His body seemed to have turned into a huge furnace, with external energy pouring in frantically and the internal soul core refining it at high speed. This was a process where pain and gain coexisted. His soul power aura began to soar at a speed visible to the naked eye, breaking through obstacles all the way as it charged toward the final bottleneck!
His meridians were constantly expanding under the scouring of the energy, becoming increasingly tough; his flesh and bones were undergoing deeper tempering under the nourishment of the dragon power, moving toward a higher level of life; his soul, under the impact of the law's artistic conception and the protection of the Thunder God Position, became more condensed and powerful.
Time passed silently during his cultivation. Inside the valley, Yu Yuanchen was wrapped in a huge purple-gold light cocoon. From time to time, subtle red and blue patterns flashed across the cocoon, emitting heart-palpitating fluctuations. Ye Zhilan stood guard nearby without moving an inch, her expression tense.
Three full days and nights passed!
On the morning of the fourth day, when the first ray of dawn passed through the seven-colored poison cloud above the valley and fell onto the light cocoon--
"Crack!"
A faint cracking sound rang out, and a fissure appeared on the light cocoon. Immediately afterward, the crack spread rapidly like a spider web, instantly covering the entire cocoon!
"Boom--!"
The next moment, the light cocoon exploded! An indescribable, terrifying aura swept through the entire valley like a storm! Yu Yuanchen's figure was revealed; he was still sitting cross-legged, but the pressure radiating from his body was many times stronger than before!
Eight soul rings—yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red, and red—had already emerged on their own, rhythmically circling him. And right after the eighth soul ring, a brand-new soul ring was slowly condensing and taking shape!
The base color of the soul ring was a deep and noble orange-gold, symbolizing the supreme status of his thunder origin. But on that orange base, which was wreathed in four golden patterns, there were countless red and blue lines as fine as hair, yet incomparably clear, intertwined and entangled, like the most exquisite embroidery, outlining a profoundly mysterious pattern. The red lines were hot and wild, while the blue lines were cold and deep. The two blended perfectly yet remained distinct, emitting a strange law fluctuation of ice and fire merging and yin and yang balancing!
Once this soul ring appeared, the light of the other eight soul rings seemed to dim a little. It hung there quietly, naturally becoming the center of the world, radiating a supreme majesty that transcended the mundane and surpassed ordinary hundred thousand year soul rings!
Four hundred thousand years! A God-Bestowed Soul Ring!
"Hum--!"
The moment the soul ring completely solidified, Yu Yuanchen's tightly closed eyes snapped open! Purple-gold electric light surged in his eyes; deep within his left pupil, a cluster of crimson flames seemed to dance, while deep within his right pupil, an ice-blue snowflake seemed to rotate! A vast and massive soul power fluctuation erupted from his body like a tsunami, instantly breaking through the final barrier!
Level 93! At twenty-six years old, he had become a formal Titled Douluo!
However, his improvement did not stop. The massive energy contained in the soul ring was still vast, pushing his cultivation level to continue climbing! Level 91, Level 92, peak Level 92... until he reached the threshold of Level 93, the massive energy slowly calmed down, completely merging into his limbs and bones, and settling down.
In the end, his cultivation stabilized at Level 93, not far from the threshold of a Level 95 Super Douluo!
Yu Yuanchen let out a long breath of turbid air, and that breath actually carried faint lightning and red and blue mist. He stood up slowly, feeling the unprecedented vast power within his body and his clearer perception of the world's energy, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"Brother Yuanchen, did you succeed?!" Ye Zhilan greeted him with pleasant surprise, feeling the unfathomable aura on Yu Yuanchen, her beautiful eyes shining with brilliance.
"Mm, I succeeded." Yu Yuanchen nodded. With a thought, the ninth soul ring with an orange-gold base and intertwined red and blue lines floated up, hovering above his head and emitting a heart-palpitating pressure. "The age of this ring should be over four hundred thousand years, and its power far exceeds that of an ordinary hundred thousand year soul ring."
He carefully comprehended the information of the two soul skills granted to him by the soul ring, and a stunning brilliance erupted in his eyes.
"Ninth Soul Skill: Two Forms Divine Thunder!"
He gave a low shout, and his ninth soul ring flashed. In an instant, the nature of the purple-gold Thunder True Essence around him changed abruptly! The originally pure and domineering thunder instantly split and flowed; one part turned into extreme yang and extreme hardness, a hot and violent crimson-gold Yang Thunder, and the other part turned into extreme yin and extreme softness, a cold and deep blue Yin Thunder! Two divine thunders with diametrically opposite attributes coexisted perfectly around him, flowing endlessly like Yin-Yang Fish, emitting a strange aura where destruction and creation were intertwined.
What surprised Yu Yuanchen even more was that he had absolute control over this split Two Forms Divine Thunder! With a thought, the Yang Thunder and Yin Thunder could be freely converted, merged, and separated, as if they were extensions of his own arms!
"Wonderful! Simply wonderful!" Yu Yuanchen couldn't help but praise. With this skill, he instantly thought of countless ways to apply it. For example, forcibly compressing and merging the Yang Thunder and Yin Thunder, using their mutually exclusive yin-yang characteristics, and combining them with his right arm soul bone skill Thunder Dragon Blast to instantly erupt with world-destroying power (Yin-Yang Bipolar Blast);
Or, invoking the Two Forms Divine Thunder to protect his body, using its characteristics of yin and yang generating each other and rotating at will to form a state of immunity to all laws. This would not only greatly weaken external attacks but also grind away foreign energy and various negative states that had invaded his body (Immunity to All Laws); it could even be used to temper his body, cultivate soul skills, and so on. Its variety of changes and potential were far beyond that of an ordinary single soul skill!
"Ninth Soul Skill: Dragon King's Judgment!"
He shouted again, and the red and blue patterns on his ninth soul ring suddenly lit up. An invisible, supreme majesty originating from the depths of his bloodline and soul suddenly spread out from Yu Yuanchen's body! This majesty was not a spiritual attack, but a law judgment that was similar to a domain but more essential!
In this state, any of Yu Yuanchen's attacks would carry the effect of "Dragon King's Judgment." The power boost depended on the comparison between the opponent's Martial Soul or bloodline status and Yu Yuanchen's own:
If the opponent's Martial Soul/bloodline status was lower than Yu Yuanchen's Thunder Sacred Dragon Bloodline, it would trigger "Dragon King's Contempt," increasing the power of Yu Yuanchen's attack tenfold! It could be called a divine skill for bullying the weak, forming an absolute suppression against soul beasts or Martial Soul holders with low-level bloodlines!
If the opponent's Martial Soul/bloodline status was on the same level as Yu Yuanchen's, it would trigger "Dragon King's Fury," increasing the attack power by three times! This was enough to establish a huge advantage in same-level confrontations.
Even if the opponent's Martial Soul/bloodline status was higher than Yu Yuanchen's (such as encountering a true God or divine beast), it would trigger "Dragon King's Pride," increasing the attack power by one time! This ensured that even when facing higher-level existences, he would have the power to fight and would not be completely suppressed! Although if he really encountered such an existence, this little increase in attack power wouldn't change much. (Martial Souls only slightly worse or slightly better than the Thunder Sacred Dragon are considered the same level.)
This was a terrifying buff soul skill with extremely high growth potential and wide applicability! As Yu Yuanchen's own bloodline continued to improve (for example, if he could fully inherit the Thunder God Position in the future), the judgment benchmark would also rise, and the effect of "Dragon King's Judgment" would become increasingly terrifying!
Feeling the heaven-defying effects of the two soul skills, even with Yu Yuanchen's temperament, he couldn't help but feel his heart surge. The improvement brought by this four hundred thousand year God-Bestowed Soul Ring far exceeded his expectations! Not only did his soul power soar, but the two soul skills perfectly matched his path, elevating his strength to a whole new level!
Although his current Soul Power Level is 93, by relying on two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, a 400,000-Year Ninth Soul Ring, a Soul Core, numerous soul bones, and these two heaven-defying Soul Skills, his true combat power is enough to crush an ordinary Super Douluo!
Even when facing peak powerhouses like his Grandfather Yu Boxuan at Level 97, he is confident that he could defeat them based on surface-level strength alone! However, such powerhouses on the continent often possess their own Trump Card, which can be very difficult to deal with once unleashed.
As for even stronger individuals at Level 98 or Level 99, although he has yet to encounter them, he is confident that with his Trump Card, he could face them and retreat unscathed. Thus, it can be said that looking across the entire continent, there is no longer anyone who can threaten the life of Yu Yuanchen.
"Congratulations, Brother Yuanchen, on achieving your Title!" Ye Zhilan felt genuinely happy, her beautiful eyes curving into crescent moons. "By the way, have you thought of your Title yet?"
"Not yet. Why don't you help me think of one?" Yu Yuanchen shook his head slightly and asked Ye Zhilan in return.
Ye Zhilan replied, "Sure, sure! Let me think... a dragon that controls the brilliant Heavenly Might—how about Dragon Emperor Douluo? What do you think, Brother Yuanchen? It's very imposing, right?"
"Hmm... this Title is quite good. Many thanks to my wife for choosing this Title for me. From now on, I shall be the Dragon Emperor Douluo." Yu Yuanchen thought for a moment, withdrew his aura, let his Ninth Soul Ring fade away, and nodded in agreement. He then took Ye Zhilan's hand and smiled, "This trip has been a complete success. Next, it is time to find your seventh soul ring."
His gaze swept across this precious land, a hint of deep thought flashing in his eyes. He had only caught a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg regarding the secrets of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The True God King Dragon Bone at the bottom of the spring was the real treasure. However, this matter required careful planning; for now, letting Ye Zhilan obtain her soul ring and improve her strength was the right course of action.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan