The next morning, Chu Chengzhou took Xiao Wu to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and met up with Chen Xin, who had been arranged beforehand. The three of them boarded the Fire Phoenix Summon Beast Little Red and set off for the Great Star Dou Forest.
Chen Xin was a reliable tool person; his soul power level was at 97, ensuring strength and reliability.
Of course, Chu Chengzhou didn't need Chen Xin to help hunt down a seventh soul ring beast—this he could handle himself.
Their destination was the core area of the Great Star Dou Forest, where high-level soul beasts often appeared. During the process of refining soul rings to advance, one couldn't move, so a strong protector was needed.
Although Xiao Wu's strength wasn't weak—with her current Soul Saint level, combined with her soul rings, soul cores, Azure Silver Light Armor, and mastery of various techniques—she could likely rival someone like She Long, a Titled Douluo, it was still somewhat unreliable.
Even someone as powerful as Snake Spear Douluo She Long—if faced with an ordinary 90,000-year-old soul beast, would definitely get trounced.
The reason for bringing Xiao Wu along was naturally to make finding suitable soul beasts easier.
Once the soul bone skill Ears of Eight Directions was activated, everything within forty kilometers around Xiao Wu could be clearly detected, and even movements a hundred kilometers away could be vaguely perceived. With such a vast detection range, if the Great Star Dou Forest had what they were looking for, it wouldn't take long to find it.
"You brat, how are you advancing again so soon?"
Midway through their journey, Chen Xin couldn't help but ask Chu Chengzhou.
If he remembered correctly, it hadn't even been a year since Chu Chengzhou advanced to the Soul Emperor level, right?
What kind of feed did he eat to cultivate so quickly?
"Hmm, I used some treasures~"
Chu Chengzhou nodded, not elaborating further.
Thanks to the high years of his sixth soul ring, when he initially advanced to Soul Emperor, his soul power level was already at 63. Later, after receiving a left-arm soul bone from the Star Luo Imperial Family, his soul power level increased by nearly another level.
In other words, throughout the entire Soul Emperor stage, he only needed to cultivate six levels of soul power on his own.
The talent boost from the Ice and Fire Immortal Herb, combined with the continuous release of latent medicinal energy in his body and the enhancement from Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique, allowed him to increase his soul power by six levels in less than a year.
And due to his exceptional talent, the bottleneck at the peak of Level 69 that most Soul Saints encountered simply didn't exist for Chu Chengzhou.
Bottlenecks? For him, they might only appear once he reached the Titled Douluo rank, or perhaps only after reaching Level 94.
Of course, Chu Chengzhou could sense that the latent medicinal energy from the immortal herb had almost completely dissipated. Without this boost and considering that higher soul levels required more accumulation to advance, his cultivation speed would inevitably slow down significantly in the future.
But that wasn't a problem. Once the quality of Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique improved again and his martial soul underwent another evolution, his soul power cultivation speed would skyrocket. He believed that by then, his advancement speed wouldn't lag behind either.
Seeing that Chu Chengzhou didn't want to elaborate further, Chen Xin dropped the idea of prying and asked, "What kind of soul beast are you looking for this time?"
"A dragon-type soul beast with time or space attributes, or the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger."
In the world of soul beasts on the Douluo Continent, dragon clan soul beasts undoubtedly stood at the top of the food chain. Few soul beasts could match or rival dragons of the same age.
However, this wasn't ancient times anymore. It was uncertain whether there were pure-blooded time or space attribute dragon clan soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest. Chu Chengzhou could only settle for dragon-type soul beasts with mixed bloodlines that possessed time or space attributes.
After all, the bloodline level of soul beasts evolved with age. Even something as weak as Blue Silver Grass could transform into the top-tier Blue Silver Emperor after reaching 100,000 years.
Even if it was a mixed-blood dragon, as long as its age reached a million years, it would eventually evolve into a pure-blood dragon or develop new dragon bloodlines, with a bloodline level no less impressive than existing pure-blood dragons.
As for the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, there was no need to explain—it possessed multiple attributes including time, space, and wind, which he needed, and its strength was formidable. It was undoubtedly a prime choice for a seventh soul ring.
"Tsk~, looks like we'll have to stay in the Great Star Dou Forest for quite some time."
Chen Xin clicked his tongue.
Whether it was a time-space dragon-type soul beast or the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, both were extremely rare. Even if the Great Star Dou Forest had them, it wouldn't be easy to encounter them. It might take a month or two of searching.
"Don't worry about that. Xiao Wu has a detection-type soul bone skill with a considerable range. As long as the Great Star Dou Forest has what we're looking for, it won't take long to find."
Chu Chengzhou pointed to Xiao Wu beside him.
"Hiss~, so according to what you're saying, if the Great Star Dou Forest has any 100,000-year-old soul beasts, does that mean you can obtain as many 100,000-year soul rings and soul bones as there are soul beasts?"
Instantly, Chen Xin sucked in a breath of cold air.
Were there 100,000-year-old soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest? Definitely.
Why were Titled Douluos with 100,000-year soul rings so rare on the continent?
It wasn't because there weren't strong enough soul masters to hunt 100,000-year soul beasts—it was because the Great Star Dou Forest was vast, making it hard to find them.
To locate 100,000-year soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest without sending out large numbers of people was almost impossible.
But the Great Star Dou Forest wasn't a safe place—it had many high-level soul beasts. Without efficient detection methods, sending out large numbers of people would inevitably result in heavy losses, which most factions couldn't afford.
However, with efficient detection methods, the situation would be different. They could directly send out experts for precision strikes.
At the Soul Emperor level, Chu Chengzhou's strength could rival newly minted Titled Douluos. Once he became a Titled Douluo, Chen Xin had no doubt that he'd have the ability to easily slay 100,000-year Beast Kings.
Xiao Wu: "..."
This old geezer is wicked!
---
Meanwhile, in the inner city of the Slaughter City.
Not far from the gate, on a bustling street, a blue-haired figure exuding a chilling killing intent sat on a small stool, looking up at the gloomy dome above Slaughter City with an expressionless face.
Just then, two sets of footsteps echoed from the direction of the gate.
Instantly, Tang San, who had accumulated thirty-seven consecutive victories in the Hell Arena, fully revived with excitement. A faint smile appeared on his somewhat pale face, his eyes gleaming like a hungry predator spotting prey, as he gazed toward the gate.
From the gate approached two figures—a man and a woman.
The woman, clad in black gauze, was an emissary of the Slaughter King. The man, about forty years old, had a ferocious face and reeked of blood. Clearly, he wasn't a good person—most likely an evil soul master who had just entered Slaughter City.
However, Tang San didn't care whether the man was an evil soul master or not. All he knew was that today, a newcomer had arrived in the inner city.
With this newcomer, himself, and the eight others already registered for the Hell Arena, in less than twenty-four hours, his consecutive victory record would reach thirty-eight!
"Hey, didn't you say earlier that the inner city of Slaughter City was dangerous? Why is it so quiet?"
Looking around at the eerily silent inner city, the middle-aged man asked the black-gauzed woman leading him.
Upon hearing this, the black-gauzed woman glanced at the middle-aged man with a hint of pity.
In the past, although the population of the inner city of Slaughter City couldn't compare to cities outside, it was still quite "lively."
But ever since the arrival of the 'Soul-Controlling Devil,' Slaughter City had changed.
In less than a month, the 'Soul-Controlling Devil' and the 'Hell Witch' reduced the population of the inner city by two thousand.
Originally, after the 'Soul-Controlling Devil' and the 'Hell Witch' left Slaughter City, the inner city would gradually return to its previous "prosperity."
But who would've thought that after barely half a year of such "good days," the inner city would once again welcome another ruthless fellow nicknamed the 'Skull-Crushing Blue Devil.'
Though this 'Skull-Crushing Blue Devil' wasn't as powerful as the 'Soul-Controlling Devil,' his bloodlust was even greater.
At the time, the population of the inner city hadn't yet recovered. This 'Skull-Crushing Blue Devil' had little regard for sustainable development, and thus, the slightly revived inner city was ruthlessly turned into a ghost town.
According to her knowledge, the number of Fallen Ones in the inner city had dwindled to single digits over two months ago.
Because every single Fallen One in the city was forced by the 'Skull-Crushing Blue Devil' with a giant hammer to register for the Hell Arena.
Moreover, in the past two months, whenever the number of Fallen Ones forcibly registered reached nine, the 'Skull-Crushing Blue Devil' would hold a match. Afterward, apart from a few staff and enforcers, only he would remain in the inner city.
Though entering the inner city meant you couldn't leave again, and the outer city wasn't entirely lawless, it was easy to imagine that if he could, the 'Skull-Crushing Blue Devil' would go to the outer city to capture people, force them into the inner city, and send them to the Hell Arena to die for him.
"What do you mean by that?"
Seeing the black-gauzed woman's pitying gaze, the middle-aged man's face darkened.
He, the 'Blood Devil,' was considered a notable figure in the outside world. He was a Soul Saint who once fought four Cardinal Guardians of the Spirit Hall without defeat. Did he need her pity?
If this black-gauzed woman weren't under the Slaughter King, he would've killed her on the spot, draining her blood and devouring her flesh to nourish his Bloodthirsty Vine martial soul.
"Resident 8023, this matter doesn't concern my duties—I'm not obligated to tell you. But you'll understand soon enough."
The black-gauzed woman spoke meaningfully.
Suddenly, catching sight of Tang San, who had been sitting not far away now rising and walking toward them, the black-gauzed woman trembled slightly. Steeling herself, she stepped forward and said, "Resident 7478, please stay calm. He's a newcomer. Every newcomer to the inner city has a twenty-four-hour protection period."
Resident 7478 was Tang San's identification number in Slaughter City.
"I know!"
Tang San nodded, pointing at the middle-aged man, the 'Blood Devil,' with disdain. "You filthy bug drenched in blood, dare you accept my challenge?"
Newcomers indeed had a twenty-four-hour protection period, but that was only valid if they didn't attack first. Once they initiated combat, the protection period was nullified.
Tang San naturally didn't want to wait through this "long" twenty-four hours if he could complete his thirty-eighth match sooner.
'Filthy bug drenched in blood?'
Hearing the disdainful words from the blue-haired young man before him, the 'Blood Devil' couldn't help but turn livid.
True, he reeked of blood, but how much better could this little blue-haired punk be?
Such a chilling killing intent—even this old man, who had "consumed" over two thousand people in the outside world, couldn't match it. And you dare call me filthy?
"Die!"
Not being a good person to begin with, the enraged 'Blood Devil' immediately manifested his Bloodthirsty Vine martial soul, lashing out at Tang San nearby.
A mere Soul King dares to act arrogantly in front of this lord, a Soul Saint?
Blood Devil: I declare, this little blue-haired punk has a death wish!
Seeing this, Tang San rejoiced. He had been waiting for you to make a move!
Dodging the lashing Bloodthirsty Vine, Tang San summoned his Hao Tian Hammer martial soul, gripping the massive hammer and charging forward.
Half a minute later, the battle ended.
Unscathed but splattered with blood, Tang San glanced at the black-gauzed woman. Ignoring her speechless gaze, he dragged the semi-paralyzed 'Blood Devil,' whom he had hammered to near-death, toward the Hell Arena.
Ten minutes later, Tang San emerged from the Hell Arena after securing his thirty-eighth consecutive victory.
However, gazing at the empty Slaughter City, Tang San's joy didn't last long before he sank back into despair.
The prerequisite for leaving Slaughter City was passing through the Hell Road, and the condition for attempting the Hell Road was accumulating a hundred consecutive victories in the Hell Arena. Right now, he only had thirty-eight victories—still at least 558 heads away from a hundred wins!
Who knew when the inner city of Slaughter City would gather so many Fallen Ones!
---
Two days later, in the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest.
On the back of the Fire Phoenix Summon Beast Little Red, Xiao Wu materialized her pair of green elongated ears, activating the soul bone skill Ears of Eight Directions to carefully perceive her surroundings.
"Brother, in that direction, there's a relatively young evil soul beast fighting a powerful soul beast."
Suddenly, Xiao Wu pointed southwest and informed Chu Chengzhou.
"An evil soul beast? How far? Is it the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger?"
As he spoke, Chu Chengzhou immediately directed Little Red to change course and head southwest.
"About a hundred and twenty kilometers away. My perception is a bit blurry, but the evil soul beast's age shouldn't exceed fifty thousand years. The other soul beast's age is probably not too far from a hundred thousand years...
Errrr, it seems the battle has already ended. The evil soul beast won."
Before Xiao Wu finished speaking, she vaguely sensed that the distant battle had already ceased, with the outcome decided in a very short time.
"Fifty thousand years defeating ninety thousand years in seconds?"
Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow.
Though Xiao Wu's information was limited, if nothing went wrong, this evil aura-emitting soul beast should be the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger he was looking for.
After all, in his memory, aside from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, there were no other evil-attribute soul beasts capable of such exaggerated cross-level combat abilities.
"Grandpa Sword, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger has an unreasonable innate soul skill. Let my summon beasts handle the fight first. If they can't defeat it, you can step in."
Chu Chengzhou turned to Chen Xin and explained.
He vaguely remembered that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had an unreasonable ability—its tail hook could temporarily regress the victim's soul master state to when they first awakened their martial soul.
Though Chen Xin was a 97-level Titled Douluo with considerable strength, if he were caught off guard, even a 99-level peerless Douluo would be helpless.
After all, regressing to the state of a freshly awakened martial soul meant that even though the experience of a strong individual remained, how much strength could they really exert?
But his summon beasts were different. Even if they fell, they could be resummoned after a while, allowing room for error.
Moreover, such unreasonable skills surely couldn't be used consecutively in a short period.
Additionally, his current summoning prowess wasn't weak. Dealing with a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger under fifty thousand years old should pose no problem.
"Mhm."
Chen Xin nodded.
Speaking of unreasonable, isn't your little brat the most unreasonable one here?
Little Red's flight speed wasn't slow, but they were still over a hundred kilometers away—not something that could be reached in the blink of an eye. By the time they were halfway there, the evil soul beast had already left the original location.
Fortunately, Xiao Wu had been continuously using Ears of Eight Directions. There was no way this evil soul beast could escape.
Half an hour later, the sharp-eyed Chu Chengzhou spotted a tiger-like soul beast exuding an evil aura in the forest below.
This was a gigantic black tiger over six meters long, with fur so pitch-black it had no trace of any other color.
The most peculiar feature was its tail, much longer than an ordinary tiger's, standing upright and composed of countless segments, ending in a large hook that glowed with a sinister light.
Furthermore, on the back of this pitch-black tiger grew a pair of jet-black fallen wings, exuding a dense evil aura.
"It's indeed the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger!"
Seeing the winged tiger with a hooked tail, Chu Chengzhou silently nodded.
There wasn't much difference from Xiao Wu's initial perception. This Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's cultivation was nearing fifty thousand years.
Though its age was still under fifty thousand years, its strength was undoubtedly formidable. Even Level 95 Titled Douluo like Ju and Gui would likely stumble in a direct confrontation.
"Xiao Wu, this Dark Demon Evil God Tiger isn't easy to deal with. Take Little Red and stay back. Grandpa Sword, let me handle this first!"
Golden light flashed around his body as he manifested his Nine Heavens Divine Armor, Nine Heavens Divine Bow, Flowing Gold Armor Piercing Arrow, and six concealed soul rings. Behind him floated a banner as he shouted to the two, activating his flying technique: Golden Light Dash, transforming into a streak of golden light that appeared above the distant Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Yes, it was the movement technique: Golden Light Dash, renamed!
Not long ago, his movement technique: Divine Light Dash had advanced, evolving from a movement skill with flight capabilities into a full-fledged flying technique. Its speed and agility skyrocketed compared to before. Combined with wearing the Nine Heavens Divine Armor for aerial flight, he looked exactly like a streak of golden light.
Detecting the unwelcome guest, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, having just devoured a 90,000-year-old soul beast and gained considerable strength, focused its gaze on Chu Chengzhou hovering in the sky—and the distant Chen Xin.
A mere Soul Emperor human soul master wasn't worth its attention.
However, the perceptive Dark Demon Evil God Tiger sensed danger emanating from the distant Chen Xin.
"Roar—!"
A tiger roar erupted, and a ripple of eerie gray waves spread rapidly from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Simultaneously, realizing these three human soul masters meant trouble, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger unleashed a surge of intense gray energy from its tail hook, swiftly forming a protective gray barrier around itself.
The white-haired soul master (Chen Xin) gave it an extremely dangerous feeling. To avoid being ambushed, it prioritized defensive measures.
In an instant, Chu Chengzhou felt the surrounding light dim.
Though the sky was clear and sunny, within several hundred meters centered on the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, everything turned dark, as if the world had been split.
Moreover, it wasn't just the light issue. Chu Chengzhou clearly sensed a cold, evil aura permeating the darkness, eroding his body.
"Hmph~!"
Snorting coldly, a wave of white light rippled as Chu Chengzhou unleashed his Killing God Domain.
Though his Killing God Domain wasn't strong enough to forcefully break the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's evil domain, it at least ensured he wouldn't be affected.
The next moment, Chu Chengzhou activated his illusion technique: Void Illusion Realm.
Similarly, the Void Illusion Realm had recently advanced to the golden tier. Compared to its previous purely mental control, the Gold-Tier Void Illusion Realm was not only more potent but also possessed mental attack capabilities.
As long as the opponent's consciousness was pulled into the illusion, he could forcibly extinguish their consciousness at the cost of his recoverable spiritual power. The stronger the opponent's spirit, the greater the consumption, and vice versa.
Intangible spiritual energy surged forth, instantly descending upon the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
"Hmm?"
The next second, seeing the gray protective barrier around the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger merely ripple violently before completely nullifying the Void Illusion Realm, Chu Chengzhou widened his eyes.
Was this a mental defense skill?
Where there was offense, there was defense. Just as there were mental attacks and mental control, there were also mental defenses—though such defenses were rare, with few possessors.
No, this wasn't just a simple mental defense skill. It was a versatile defense skill with a broader range than his Red-Tier defensive technique, Instant Bloom!
Of course, Instant Bloom could defend against mental attacks, just not mental control.
Could it be that the God-Tier bloodline of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger granted it an innate defensive soul skill equivalent to a Gold-Tier technique?
If so, it made sense that the Void Illusion Realm was blocked.
Failing with one move didn't frustrate Chu Chengzhou. The super genius of the soul beast world naturally had some extraordinary tricks up its sleeve.
Immediately, his fourth and sixth soul rings lit up, summoning Big Bear and Big Black, the Titan Giant Ape.
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