Because their natal beast souls had been severely injured by Elder Song, the Zhongli trio were not at their peak state earlier.
Furthermore, the ultimate thunder attribute perfectly countered their abilities, which was why Xu Zihuang could so easily shatter the defensive barrier formed by the three of them working together and instantly kill Zhongli Di.
Killing an evil soul master at the Soul Douluo level with one strike seemed incredibly shocking. But that was under a combination of various premises. Moreover, even without using the second awakening of his golden-rank body martial soul, Xu Zihuang already possessed combat power far surpassing that of an ordinary Soul Douluo.
Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren stared at Xu Zihuang's pair of ice-cold, deep purple eyes, their minds trembling violently.
Aura is something mysterious and profound, yet it truly exists.
With the deterrence from Xu Zihuang instantly killing Zhongli Di just moments ago, the first emotion that rose in Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren's hearts was fear, followed only secondarily by rage at their brother's death at Xu Zihuang's hands.
"Second Brother!" Zhongli Ren gripped his staff tightly and let out an angry roar. Whether it was out of fury and grief or an attempt to dispel the fear in his heart through such action was unclear.
Yet at this moment, Zhongli Tian unusually maintained his composure and harshly shouted at Zhongli Ren beside him: "Third Brother, leave this place first!"
Leaving aside Xu Zihuang for now, there was still a Super Douluo glaring at them from the side. If they stayed and fought desperately, death was certain.
Xu Zihuang naturally would not give Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren any time to catch their breath. Holding the Golden Dragon Spear, he swept it horizontally in a single strike.
The extremely sharp aura radiating from the Golden Dragon Spear caused pain to prick at the skin of both Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren. The two held their staffs horizontally in front of them while rapidly retreating.
Having cultivated to the Soul Douluo realm and specializing in capturing beast souls, apart from cultivation, most of their time was spent hunting soul beasts in various soul beast habitats. Their combat experience was extremely rich.
While retreating, the bodies of Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren suddenly became distorted. With a twist, the two curled together and transformed into two large snakes covered entirely in fine gray scales, their eyes a strange blood-red color.
The martial souls of the Zhongli Tian, Zhongli Di, and Zhongli Ren brothers were the Netherworld Serpent, a typical evil martial soul that had appeared in earlier times. Even among evil martial souls, it was an extremely powerful existence.
To escape with their lives, Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren decisively unleashed their martial soul true bodies. At the same time, a large number of beast souls frantically surged out from their respective staffs, some attacking Xu Zihuang, while others moved to surround and block Elder Song and the others.
When anyone faces a threat to their life, no matter how precious something is, as long as it can preserve their life, they will use it without hesitation.
At this moment, how could the two brothers possibly care about the consumption of these blood-colored beast souls?
During the process of releasing the beast souls, their bodies also transformed into streaks of gray light, floating in midair like clouds of gray mist as they fled into the distance.
As for their injured natal beast souls, they had already been recalled long before Xu Zihuang shattered their blood-colored protective barrier.
After transforming into mist, the speed of Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren surged dramatically. In the blink of an eye, they had opened a distance of several hundred meters from Xu Zihuang.
This was one of the special abilities of the Netherworld Serpent martial soul.
Back when Elder Mu taught Xu Zihuang, he had specifically mentioned the abilities of this evil martial soul, the Netherworld Serpent.
After one strike missed, Xu Zihuang's expression did not change in the slightest.
Thunderlight swirled around his entire body as he pushed his speed to the limit, rapidly closing in on Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren.
Every blood-colored beast soul that came into contact with the lightning dancing across his body was instantly reduced to ashes. Strangely, however, the eyes of those beast souls extinguished within the thunder all showed expressions of relief and release.
"Lexuan, take everyone and defend against these beast souls. I'll go help Tianhuang deal with the remaining two evil soul masters," Elder Song instructed, then also unleashed her own martial soul true body.
Against evil soul masters, there was naturally no need to show mercy. The sooner those two evil soul masters were dealt with, the less chance there would be for any accidents.
Yu Tianhuang was far too important to Shrek Academy; no accidents could be allowed.
With a shake of her body, Elder Song rose into the air. Two yellow, two purple, five black, nine soul rings rose. The seventh black soul ring blazed with light. In the next instant, a cyan hawk with a wingspan of at least six meters appeared in midair, its entire body radiating cyan light.
Martial soul true body — Greenshadow Godly Hawk.
Elder Song's martial soul, the Greenshadow Godly Hawk, was a top-tier wind-attribute beast martial soul. She herself was currently the number one agility-attack system soul master in the continent's soul master world.
Her speed was so fast that even with Zhang Lexuan's cultivation, she could not clearly see her figure. In merely an instant, Elder Song's form had vanished from her line of sight.
Watching the blood-colored beast souls closing in from all directions, Zhang Lexuan let out a low, solemn command: "Everyone, gather together first! Mo Xuan, open your light rings. Ning Tian, look for opportunities to use the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to assist everyone. Li Yongyue, Wang Qiu'er, you two will be responsible for annihilating these beast souls together with me."
To survive, Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren had thrown everything to the wind. Not only were these beast souls numerous, but among them were quite a few with a ten-thousand-year cultivation or higher.
Although these beast souls were weaker than when they were alive, they still placed considerable pressure on the group.
Beast souls lacked intelligence and attacked purely on instinct. But this also meant they would not retreat out of fear.
Everyone responded in unison: "Yes!"
The first to act was Mo Xuan. Two yellow, two purple, two black, six soul rings rose from beneath his feet. In the next moment, rings of various colors bloomed from his body, perfectly enveloping each person.
Everyone could clearly feel that their strength, speed, soul power, and even mental focus had all increased somewhat simultaneously. However, the degree of amplification was truly modest, only about one-tenth the effect of Ning Tian's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul. In other words, roughly a 5% boost.
Wang Qiu'er, who had previously experienced the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's amplification, felt the difference even more keenly.
Yet at this moment, her expression was complex as she gazed in the direction where Xu Zihuang's figure had disappeared, showing no sign of action.
"Wang Qiu'er!" Zhang Lexuan's voice rang in Wang Qiu'er's ears once again. Unlike her usual gentleness, this time the senior sister's tone clearly carried anger.
Reprimanded by Zhang Lexuan, Wang Qiu'er finally reacted. Her naturally proud personality made her want to retort, "Who do you think you are to order me around?" But at a time like this, she ultimately held back. She formed a triangular formation with Zhang Lexuan and Li Yongyue, placing Ning Tian, Mo Xuan, and Dai Luoli protected in the center.
Ning Tian held the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul and applied various attribute amplifications to the group, her delicate brows slightly furrowed. She vaguely sensed that Wang Qiu'er's strange behavior had something to do with Yu Tianhuang, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
On the other side, Elder Song had almost instantly caught up to Xu Zihuang. Then she witnessed a powerful soul skill that Yu Tianhuang had never displayed before.
An explosion rang out. A thousand meters away in the void, a purple-golden black hole suddenly appeared.
Xu Zihuang stood directly below the center of this black hole. Once again, the Thunder God Spear fused with the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand, transforming into a resplendent and majestic purple-golden long spear that resonated with the purple-golden black hole above.
Beneath the black hole, the space within a thousand-meter radius was completely darkened.
Xu Zihuang raised the purple-golden long spear high. Low, rumbling thunder continuously echoed through this space.
Looking at Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren frantically fleeing, he spoke calmly in a low voice:
"I said it before, none of you will leave here alive today."
Suddenly, he thrust the purple-golden long spear fiercely into the ground before him. Instantly, with his body as the center, countless purple-golden lightning bolts erupted. An uncountable number of dense purple-golden arc-shaped lightning filled the entire space.
It was like an ocean of purple-gold.
"Is this a domain-type soul skill?" Even with Elder Song's vast experience, feeling the cataclysmic, violent energy contained within Xu Zihuang's domain-type soul skill, her gaze still sharpened.
She knew that the soul skill attached to Yu Tianhuang's Thunder Prison Vine right leg bone, Thunder Prison, was a domain-type soul skill, but the one before her eyes was clearly different from Thunder Prison.
Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren noticed the purple-golden arc lightning around them and felt a jolt in their hearts. Strangely, however, they did not sense the slightest threat from these purple-golden lightning arcs. Not even a trace of energy leaked from them.
Just as this thought subconsciously arose in their minds, Xu Zihuang's voice quietly sounded.
"Netherworld Thunder Prison."
All the purple-golden arc lightning suddenly became blindingly brilliant. Purple-golden light completely dyed the space. The terrifying energy contained within the purple-golden arc lightning seemed to have its seal broken, as though it would tear the very space apart.
Netherworld Thunder Prison was not one of Xu Zihuang's original soul skills. It was the fusion of the Thunder Prison Vine right leg bone's attached soul skills, Forest of Lightning, and Thunder Prison.
The fusion of two hundred-thousand-year soul bone skills, its might was comparable to a true natural disaster.
Moreover, the Netherworld Thunder Prison Xu Zihuang unleashed this time was further amplified by the Thunder God Spear.
Netherworld Thunder Prison was currently Xu Zihuang's most powerful offensive technique. To unleash this soul skill, he had consumed nearly ninety percent of the soul power in his body. Even a Titled Douluo would have no choice but to avoid its edge when facing Netherworld Thunder Prison temporarily.
This was fully demonstrated by Elder Song herself. Even with her cultivation, she felt an extreme sense of danger from this Netherworld Thunder Prison and rose into the air to temporarily leave the area.
Within the dazzling purple-golden light, Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren could no longer maintain their gray mist forms. They reverted to two gray serpents, writhing and howling in agony.
Lightning is condensed from the righteous qi of heaven and earth; it is the natural bane of all evil and malevolent things. This Netherworld Thunder Prison dealt an even more devastating effect on them.
All the blood-colored beast souls they released, the evil soul power within their bodies, and even their bodies tainted with evil resentment aura were gradually melting away inside the Netherworld Thunder Prison.
"Third Brother!" Knowing there was no way to turn the tide, Zhongli Tian erupted with his final soul power to protect Zhongli Ren. Yet even this blood-red soul power barrier was visibly melting at a rapid pace and could not hold for long.
Zhongli Ren saw the venom and resolve in Zhongli Tian's blood-red eyes and immediately understood. A similarly venomous thought flashed through his mind.
"Little bastard, even if the three of us brothers die, we'll drag you down with us! I want all of you to accompany the three of us in death!"
Outside the Netherworld Thunder Prison, a brownish figure instantly vanished into the air. It was precisely Zhongli Ren's natal beast soul, the Ghost Shadow Leopard Emperor.
The purple-golden arc lightning raged through the space for a long time before slowly dissipating. In the following half hour, faint illusory purple-golden arc lightning would occasionally flicker and linger around Xu Zihuang's body.
Every plant in this area had been annihilated, leaving behind a shocking circular crater.
Only Xu Zihuang stood at the center of this circular crater, using the Golden Dragon Spear to support his body as he breathed heavily. Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren had met the fate of having not even bones remaining.
Elder Song floated down gracefully beside Xu Zihuang, her eyes filled with gratification and kindness.
To single-handedly eliminate three evil soul masters at the Soul Douluo level, what an astonishing feat! Although part of it was due to her having severely injured the Zhongli trio's natal beast souls, it could not diminish Yu Tianhuang's brilliance.
"Elder Mu, I'm afraid even you never expected that Tianhuang would grow to such a level in just a few short years."
With the spiritual-attribute soul core residing in the center of his brow, Xu Zihuang's soul power quickly recovered a portion, and his breathing gradually steadied. He straightened his body and nodded toward Elder Song.
"Elder Song."
Elder Song smiled and said, "Tianhuang, you've given me another surprise this time. No wonder you were so confident. If I sensed correctly, that domain-type soul skill earlier was unleashed by fusing Thunder Prison and Forest of Lightning, right? Truly worthy of being the profound mystery inherited from the Thunder Prison Vine."
"Elder Song, you sensed correctly," Xu Zihuang calmly nodded in acknowledgment.
"But this is also the first time I've fused and used these two soul skills together."
Elder Song seemed to think of something. After a moment of thoughtful silence, she said, "Tianhuang, I actually think you don't need to rush to attach soul rings to your second martial soul. With your talent, there's no need to settle. Although hundred-thousand-year thunder-attribute soul beasts are rare on the continent, they are not impossible to find. Given enough time, we can mobilize the Sea God Pavilion's resources to search across the continent for suitable hundred-thousand-year thunder-attribute soul beasts for you. Only by simultaneously fusing hundred-thousand-year soul rings and hundred-thousand-year soul bones can you obtain the best amplification effect."
"Elder Song, I understand everything you mean. The reason I entered the Star Dou Great Forest this time was simply to try my luck. If I encounter a suitable soul beast, that would be ideal. If not, there's no need to force it," Xu Zihuang replied with a faint smile.
"It shouldn't be necessary to mobilize the Sea God Pavilion's power just for me alone, right?"
Elder Song shook her head with a smile.
"You are the successor chosen by Elder Mu. The academy will naturally pour all its effort into nurturing you. In the future, the academy will ultimately be handed over to you. Tianhuang, do you understand what I mean?"
"Elder Song, Tianhuang, how is the situation on your side?"
Just as the two were conversing, Zhang Lexuan arrived with the others after finishing off the beast souls.
Looking at the nearly thousand-meter-diameter crater, everyone's hearts shook violently.
"What is this…?"
At that very moment, another low rumble of thunder suddenly rang out from the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest core region. This time, it was not Xu Zihuang's power, but came from a strange soul beast.
This soul beast was entirely bright yellow, a color rarely seen on soul beasts. It looked like a small squirrel, even smaller than the sickle weasel they had encountered earlier, only about a foot long.
Yet its tail was not the fluffy kind typical of squirrels; instead, it was slender and pointed, standing upright with two bends, resembling lightning.
Its pair of blue-purple eyes was especially large, occupying nearly half its face. Lightning crackled across its body, and it hovered in the air entirely through the power of thunder.
"Thunder Beast?!" Wang Qiu'er's eyes widened as she blurted out the soul beast's name.
The Thunder Beast was one of the top existences among thunder-attribute soul beasts. Whether in speed, explosive power, or destructive force, it approached the pinnacle. Because their foundation was already so powerful and their overall strength so overwhelming, if one were to cultivate to the hundred-thousand-year level, it would almost become an uncontrollable existence.
Therefore, in the world of soul beasts, it was absolutely forbidden for a Thunder Beast to live to that point.
The so-called "uncontrollable" did not merely refer to the Thunder Beast's immense strength, but more importantly to its inability to control the terrifying energy within its body, like a time bomb that could detonate at any moment.
This was somewhat similar to the Thunder Prison Vine; both would head toward self-destruction.
If a hundred-thousand-year Thunder Beast were to self-destruct, its power would be even more terrifying than a Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell.
And the Thunder Beast that now appeared before everyone seemed to be precisely in that state of nearing self-destruction.
Although the area around it had not turned into a sea of lightning like Xu Zihuang's Netherworld Thunder Prison, the thunder-attribute elements were even more wildly concentrated.
The Thunder Beast let out a sharp cry. Its entire body became crystal clear, as though it were an aggregate of pure energy.
At this moment, everyone also noticed the brownish-yellow leopard shadow hidden in the void, not far in front of this Thunder Beast.
Ghost Shadow Leopard Emperor?
There was no doubt, it was precisely because of this natal beast soul of Zhongli Ren that the Thunder Beast had been drawn here. Moreover, before dying, he had even attached a trace of his soul to the Ghost Shadow Leopard Emperor to drag Xu Zihuang and the others down with him.
Long ago, the Zhongli trio had discovered the existence of this Thunder Beast. But because this Thunder Beast was on the verge of self-destruction, it was far too dangerous; they had only been able to avoid it from afar and instead hunt other soul beasts to obtain beast souls.
The period when a Thunder Beast nears self-destruction is its most violent phase, and it also means its cultivation is about to break through to the hundred-thousand-year level. However, very few Thunder Beasts are truly able to break through this bottleneck. At least in the records left by human soul masters, no such existence had ever appeared.
This was also why Wang Qiu'er felt shocked and doubtful. As the Three-Eyed Golden Lion Emperor, she had never known of this Thunder Beast's existence in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Those who recognized the Thunder Beast's identity also included Elder Song, Zhang Lexuan, and Xu Zihuang.
The moment the Thunder Beast's sharp cry rang out, a trace of gold gradually emerged within the blue-purple lightning that coiled around its body. The lightning grew stronger and stronger. In just a short while, its body transformed into a massive thunderball, instantly engulfing the Ghost Shadow Leopard Emperor.
And this thunderball continued to expand. In the blink of an eye, it had grown to over a hundred meters in diameter — like a blue-purple sun descending upon the mortal world.
Elder Song and Zhang Lexuan both sensed great danger. Yet Xu Zihuang actually charged proactively into the thunderball.
Xu Zihuang's unexpected action caught even Elder Song off guard for a moment.
"Tianhuang!" Ning Tian cried out in concern. Although she knew that with Yu Tianhuang's personality, he would never act recklessly, at this moment, she still lost her composure.
However, the next moment, that purple-golden thunderball visibly began to shrink at a rapid pace.
Strange purple-golden patterns densely covered Xu Zihuang's entire body. The energy of the thunderball was being absorbed by these purple-golden patterns.
This ability came from the Thunder Prison Vine.
His right hand tightly grasped the Thunder Beast. After the thunder ball had erupted, the Thunder Beast's body seemed to shift back from a half-energy state to a flesh-and-blood one. Its body was plump, and its bright yellow fur felt warm and comfortable to the touch.
The Thunder Beast, which had been struggling frantically with all four limbs, suddenly stopped. It blankly looked at Xu Zihuang before it. In its huge blue-purple eyes appeared a trace of almost human-like confusion.
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