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Yuwen Tuo walked around the cages one by one.
Most of the soul beasts here were fire-attribute creatures—Flame Lions, Volcanic Camels, Fire-Eating Lizards, and so on.
At this moment, standing before Yuwen Tuo was a Flame Lion with an age of roughly a thousand years. Relatively speaking, its attack power was quite decent among all the soul beasts here.
"Interested in this Flame Lion? It's a good choice," Gong Changlong remarked.
"It's a decent choice, but not the best one," Yuwen Tuo replied. This Flame Lion would only be a fallback option if nothing better presented itself.
First, its age was on the lower side, having just crossed the thousand-year mark, which fell far short of Yuwen Tuo's expectations.
Second, absorbing this soul beast's soul ring would likely grant him a reasonably powerful flame-based attack skill. However, such "reasonable power" was only relevant for his current level. In the future, as his soul power grew stronger, these kinds of millennium-level attack skills would become useless. To deal significant damage to soul masters above the Soul Sage level, at least ten-thousand-year soul skills would be required.
By then, this millennium-level skill would become nothing more than a useless relic.
Yuwen Tuo was extremely satisfied with his first soul skill—the ability to manifest a flame-infused blade. Not only did it increase his attack power by fifty percent, but it also allowed him to wield advanced sword techniques.
This type of amplification-based beginner skill was truly valuable. Even if he became a Title Douluo in the future, he could still use his first soul skill to boost his attack power. Fifty percent was no small increase—it was equivalent to the amplification provided by a four-ring Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda. Moreover, as a beginner skill, it consumed very little soul power, allowing him to maintain the boost for extended periods during combat.
Thus, Yuwen Tuo hoped that his second soul ring would also provide an amplification effect.
"Chirp!" Just then, Yuwen Tuo suddenly heard the cry of an eagle.
Instinctively, he turned toward the source of the sound. There stood a massive red eagle, its feathers burning like blazing flames.
"This is… a Ling Yuan from the Flame Eagle family of soul beasts!"
Over the past six years, Yuwen Tuo had spent most of his time cooped up in his room with nothing to do but read books brought to him by others. Ma Xiaotao, naturally, hadn't refused such a minor request, and among the books she provided were rare compendiums of soul beasts. The Ling Yuan was one of them.
Ten thousand years ago, a Title Douluo Elder of the Spirit Hall possessed a martial soul like this. This type of soul beast had two defining characteristics. First, its flight speed was extraordinary—even as a power-type soul beast, its speed rivaled that of agility-focused soul beasts. Second, its flame attribute was incredibly potent and domineering. Legend had it that the feathers of a hundred-thousand-year Flame Ling Yuan, when they fell, burned with extreme fire that couldn't be extinguished by water and could incinerate anything.
If he absorbed this soul beast's soul ring, whether the resulting soul skill enhanced speed or amplified the power of flames, it would be excellent either way.
"It's decided! I'll take this one!" Yuwen Tuo declared, pointing at the Flame Ling Yuan.
Gong Changlong frowned. "Kid, are you sure? This soul beast is nearly two thousand years old—completely different from the Flame Lion that has barely passed a thousand years. Based on your physique, I estimate absorbing the Flame Lion would pose no danger. But this Ling Yuan? I can't guarantee complete safety. For peace of mind, it'd be better to stick with the Flame Lion."
"Hmph, can its flames possibly be stronger than Ma Xiaotao's demonic fire? I didn't fear her demonic flames even when they reached over sixty levels of intensity. How could I possibly fear the flames of a mere Ling Yuan under two thousand years old?" Yuwen Tuo responded confidently.
"If it were anyone else, I'd call them arrogant. But in your case, I think you might actually pull it off. I heard about last night—you took down Bei Bei of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, defeating a three-ring opponent while only being at one ring. That's truly remarkable. Very well, Old Yan gave me orders to let you choose freely, so I'll honor your decision." Gong Changlong raised his hand, unleashing his Beast King aura once again.
The overwhelming pressure of a Title Douluo immediately forced the Ling Yuan down from the air into the cage, immobilizing it.
He then shattered the cage with a single palm strike and said to Yuwen Tuo, "Go ahead, kid!"
"Thank you, Elder," Yuwen Tuo replied without hesitation. Activating his first soul skill, he brandished his fiery blade and approached the Ling Yuan. "First soul skill: Flameblade—Blade of Annihilation!"
With a fierce downward slash, a crescent-shaped wave of fire surged toward the Ling Yuan.
The Ling Yuan was indeed formidable—its attack power was strong, its speed impressive, and thanks to a trace of Phoenix lineage, its recovery abilities weren't weak either. However, its weakness was glaringly obvious: its defenses were lackluster.
Unable to resist, the blade's energy cleaved through its body from head to tail, splitting it cleanly in two.
Gong Changlong couldn't help but exclaim, "What incredible attack power! With just a single blow of his first soul skill, this kid managed to cut the Flame Ling Yuan in half. Why does it feel like his first soul skill is stronger than a typical third-rank skill used by a Soul Elder?"
A purple soul ring emerged from the Ling Yuan's corpse.
Unfortunately, there was no spirit bone this time either. Despite killing two soul beasts, Yuwen Tuo hadn't obtained a single spirit bone. External spirit bones could be absorbed, and ordinary ones could be sold for money.
Using his soul power to draw the soul ring into his body, Yuwen Tuo found that absorbing this soul ring was far more challenging than the previous one from the Flameblade Demon. Back then, the Xuanyuan Sword in his spiritual sea had effortlessly guided him into the second stage of absorption, where he assimilated the soul power and generated the soul skill.
But now, he was still stuck in the first stage—resisting the soul ring's overwhelming impact on his body.
After all, this was a soul ring beyond his usual limits, so it was bound to take some effort.
Fortunately, both Yuwen Tuo's physical body and mental fortitude were exceptionally resilient. While absorbing the soul ring was uncomfortable, it was merely discomfort—there were no signs of collapse whatsoever.
"Hmm, what an extraordinary physique! These six years of misfortune have been both a calamity and an opportunity for him," Gong Changlong remarked sincerely.
Yuwen Tuo's soul power, having been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt multiple times, was akin to someone who had faced countless setbacks yet emerged stronger each time. The refinement of his soul power at Level 20 was likely superior to that of a Soul Ancestor at Level 40.
His body, tempered by demonic flames, was incredibly tough.
A strong physique was forged through trials, and an indomitable spirit was nurtured through suffering.
How true those words were! The ancients were never wrong!
An hour later, Yuwen Tuo's aura stabilized, his cultivation reaching the late stages of Level 22, nearing Level 23.
Standing up, he activated the newly acquired purple soul ring. A flash of light illuminated the area.
Moments later, a pair of flaming wings sprouted from his back, allowing him to soar into the sky.
"Flight capability?!" Gong Changlong was astonished. Unless one possessed a natural flying-type beast martial soul, other martial souls could only achieve flight in two ways: either by reaching an immensely high cultivation level, such as that of a Soul Sage, Soul Douluo, or Title Douluo, or by obtaining a flight-related soul skill, which usually required reaching at least Level 40.
Yet here was Yuwen Tuo, at a mere Level 20, already possessing such a remarkable skill.
This was Yuwen Tuo's second soul skill: *Starfire Soaring Through the Sky*!
Manifesting a pair of flame wings, it increased his speed by fifty percent and allowed him to soar through the skies for extended periods. The wings could also be used to strike enemies with a powerful Wing Slash. However, similar to his Blade of Annihilation, the wings would dissipate after a single use and could not be reformed for a short period.