Purple! Purple! Black! Ice Blue! Red! Crimson! Gold! Crimson
Dugu Yan's gaze was instantly drawn to the soul rings, especially the terrifying aura emanating from the three 100,000-year soul rings, which resembled primordial beasts. This caused her mind to go blank, and her breathing suddenly stopped.
She extended a trembling finger, pointing at the red spirit ring. Her lips quivered, as if she wanted to say something, but could only utter broken, incoherent syllables:
"Ten...ten...ten thousand years...spirit rings...three...three..."
Extreme shock, fear, disbelief... a tsunami of emotions overwhelmed her mind in an instant.
The next second, her eyes rolled back, her body went limp, and she didn't even have time to scream before she fell backward with a "thud".
"Oh! Sister Yan Yan!" Lan Xi exclaimed and quickly went forward to help her.
...
Inside the courtyard, the air still seemed to retain the shockwaves from those eight terrifying spirit rings.
After a while, with Lan Xi 's gentle calls and pats, Dugu Yan's long eyelashes trembled a few times before she slowly woke up.
The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Jiang Zhen's handsome face with a slightly mocking smile.
The enormous shock left her mind reeling, and subconsciously she refused to accept the scene she had just witnessed that was beyond her comprehension.
She grabbed Lan Xi 's sleeve as if it were her last lifeline, her emerald eyes looking at Jiang Zhen with hopeful anticipation, her voice trembling with a final glimmer of hope:
"Fake...fake, right? Jiang Zhen, you must have just used some illusion magic or soul tool to tease me, right?"
"How could it be... that kind of spirit ring... and level 90..."
She preferred to believe that she was seeing things, or that Jiang Zhen had a strange hobby of playing pranks.
However, Jiang Zhen simply smiled and slowly shook his head, shattering her last shred of illusion: "I'm sorry, Miss Dugu, it's all true~"
In order to make her give up completely, Jiang Zhen very kindly and very slightly released a trace of the soul power pressure belonging to a level 90 quasi-titled Douluo.
This oppressive aura remained stagnant, targeting only Dugu Yan, and vanished as quickly as a dragonfly skimming the water.
But this slight difference was like an insurmountable iceberg for Dugu Yan, who was only a Soul Master.
That profound, vast, and oppressive feeling, as if it contained the power of the entire ocean, was brief but incredibly real, and could not be simulated by illusion!
"Waaah..."
Dugu Yan's last hope was shattered. She let out a mournful cry, turned her head sharply, and buried her burning cheeks deep in Lan Xi 's warm and soft embrace, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
She actually asked a near-title Douluo if he had broken through to level 40...
This was absolutely the stupidest and most embarrassing thing she had ever done in her life!
I'm too ashamed to show my face!
Lan Xi was both amused and exasperated, and could only continue to gently pat her back to comfort her, as if comforting a child who had suffered a great blow.
Looking at Dugu Yan's ostrich-like appearance, Lan Fuzi couldn't help but burst out laughing again.
She moved closer to Lan Xi , patted Lan Xi 's shoulder, and gave her a knowing look.
Lan Xi naturally understood Lan Fuzi's meaning—just revealing a spirit ring was enough to scare Yan Yan like this. If she knew that her best friend of the past two months was either the Blue Silver Emperor in her true form or the daughter of a million-year-old spirit beast, the Deep Sea Demon Whale, she would be in a completely different situation.
Even... the Bing Di Sister next to her with the perpetually cold face is none other than the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, one of the three Heavenly Kings of the Far North...
I wonder what kind of earth-shattering scene it will be?
The thought of Dugu Yan's adorable panic and complete collapse of her worldview, which might be ten times more exaggerated than it is now, made Lan Xi and Lan Fuzi exchange a glance, their eyes revealing a hint of mischievous anticipation and amusement.
Well, let's keep this secret for Yan Yan for now. Telling her now might really scare her.
Jiang Zhen smiled helplessly at their antics and said, "Alright, stop fooling around. Let's get down to business. I really need to return to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well as soon as possible to obtain my ninth soul ring."
"What about you? Are you planning to stay in Heaven Dou City and play some more, or come back with me?"
Lan Fuzi was the first to speak up. She suppressed her smile, and a complex yet determined look flashed in her sea-blue eyes: "Azhen, I'll go back with you."
She knew what this return meant. It was the moment her father, the Deep Sea Whale King, would fulfill his promise.
From now on, her parents will exist as pure water spirits, and she needs to go back to take care of them.
Without any hesitation, Lan Xi gently grasped Jiang Zhen's hand: "Brother, wherever you go, I'll go."
Her world is simple: wherever Jiang Zhen is, that is where she belongs.
Bing Di didn't even bother to answer the question; she simply showed it through her actions—she was already standing beside Jiang Zhen, her emerald eyes sweeping over everyone with an indifferent expression, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Finally, everyone's eyes turned to Dugu Yan, who still had her face buried in Lan Xi 's arms.
Dugu Yan's muffled voice came out: "I...I'm not going..."
Her voice was still slightly hoarse from embarrassment. What a joke! Hunting a 100,000-year-old soul beast? Was that a scene she could possibly participate in?
They probably won't even be able to withstand the aftershocks of the battle!
Moreover, she desperately needs some time to rebuild her worldview and values, which have just been shattered by the shock, and she simply doesn't have the courage to face Jiang Zhen's inhuman cultivation progress and soul ring configuration anymore.
"I...I haven't quite come to my senses yet..."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhen nodded in understanding.
He said gently, "Alright. Then you can stay in Heaven Dou City without worry. We'll be back soon."
After giving a few more brief instructions, Jiang Zhen didn't linger any longer.
He took Lan Xi 's hand and nodded to Bing Di and Lan Fuzi.
The next moment, four figures soared into the sky, transforming into streaks of light, and sped towards Sunset Forest at an astonishing speed, quickly disappearing into the horizon.
Dugu Yan was left standing alone, gazing in the direction they had disappeared, unable to recover for a long time. The terrifying colors of purple, black, ice blue, red, deep red, gold, and deep red kept replaying in her mind...
...
Sunset Forest, the eye of ice and fire.
The valley still resembled a celestial abode, with milky white and crimson springs gushing forth and a dense mist of energy lingering in the air.
When Jiang Zhen and his three companions passed through the poisonous array and slowly landed in the valley, they immediately alarmed the residents.
The Demon Emperor's phantom spirit and the Sea Princess's phantom spirit floated over lightly, swaying gently around Lan Fuzi and Jiang Zhen, conveying a soft wave of welcome and inquiry.
Most eyes, however, were focused on the enormous figure beside the spring, a figure as large as a small mountain—the Deep Sea Whale King.
He seemed to have foreseen this moment. The instant Jiang Zhen and the other three landed, his huge single eye slowly opened, and his gaze immediately locked onto Jiang Zhen.
With just a glance, the massive body of the Deep Sea Whale King paused almost imperceptibly.
Things are different now.
The boy before me had undergone a dramatic change in aura compared to when he left two and a half months ago.
It is no longer as sharp and powerful as before, but has become like a boundless deep sea, calm on the surface, but containing terrifying energy that can devour everything!
It was a kind of restrained majesty that was all the more awe-inspiring.
Especially the stable and powerful resonance of his dual soul cores, and his level ninety soul power, which had already reached the peak of mortals and was just one step away from it...
Everything was proclaiming that the time had come.
A chill ran down the spine of the Deep Sea Whale King.
It wasn't fear, but a complex mix of emotions when facing a predetermined fate—a sense of relief, resentment, determination, and even... a hint of indescribable anticipation.
Jiang Zhen slowly stepped forward, walked to the enormous one-eyed creature, raised his head, and with a calm and solemn smile on his face, his voice clearly reaching the ears of the Deep Sea Whale King:
"Senior Deep Sea Whale King..."
"Are you... ready?"