The smoke at Chaotic Soul Ridge had not yet dissipated, and under the direct light of morning, the collapsed ruins of the underground palace looked increasingly desolate.
Liu Yuan stood at the edge of the deep pit blasted open by "Max Wyrmwind." Having just broken through to Level 73, his spirit power felt exceptionally full. That overwhelming sensation—like holding up the heavens with a single hand—left him slightly intoxicated.
But the feeling lasted only a moment.
Beside him, the Snow Empress's crystal-clear gaze suddenly sharpened.
"Master, someone is coming. Their speed is extremely fast, and their aura is terrifyingly strong."
Her voice carried a solemnity Liu Yuan had never heard before. Her jade-like fingers moved subtly, as if sensing disturbances rippling through distant space.
Liu Yuan's heart tightened. For the Snow Empress to react like this, the newcomers were no ordinary enemies.
"Was the disturbance from the Dynamax just now too big…?" he muttered.
Though confident in his strength, he was keenly aware that his current self could not withstand several peak-level experts at once.
"How many?" he asked in a low voice.
"Three," the Snow Empress replied after sensing carefully. "Two auras are deep and gloomy, carrying decaying death energy. They should be those two old monsters from the Holy Spirit Cult."
"There's another one. His aura is upright, tranquil, and immensely vast. He should be a high-level member of the Sun Moon Empire's imperial family. They're only a few thousand miles away—at their speed, they'll arrive very soon."
Liu Yuan made a decision instantly, without hesitation.
"We can't meet them head-on. We leave—now!"
With a thought, the sky-covering Mega Rayquaza shattered into countless motes of light and retracted back into his body.
Emerald scales and golden whiskers emerged across Liu Yuan's skin as he activated Martial Soul Possession, taking on a half-human, half-dragon form.
"Snow Empress, let's go!"
"Extreme Speed!"
Shua—!
Supported by that terrifying burst of speed, the two figures vanished from Chaotic Soul Ridge in an instant, leaving behind only a violently torn sonic boom cloud.
After breaking through to Spirit Saint, Liu Yuan's speed had reached a level where even an ordinary Titled Douluo could no longer capture his afterimage.
…
Half an hour later.
Above the ruins of the once-silent Chaotic Soul Ridge, space suddenly twisted violently, like ripples spreading across water.
Two black streams of light descended from the sky—it was Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao.
The moment Ye Xishui landed, her sinister pupils locked onto the devastated remains of the underground palace. Seeing the area transformed into frozen wreckage that had then been violently obliterated, her withered hand clenched tightly.
"The branch… completely wiped out? Even the aura of the divine soul is gone. Who did this?!"
Long Xiaoyao said nothing. He walked to the edge of the bottomless chasm, slowly crouched, and pressed his hand against the scorched soil, sensing the lingering warmth of dragon breath.
His expression grew increasingly grim. The instinctive trembling from deep within his bloodline persisted, even under the iron will of a Limit Douluo.
"This wasn't just destruction," Long Xiaoyao said heavily. "The level of energy involved… is far too high."
At that moment, a gold-red beam pierced the sky, descending with a terrifying spirit tool aura.
Kong Deming hovered in midair, countless spirit tool halos interweaving behind his head.
Looking down at the two Limit Douluos, he frowned slightly, his tone carrying the authority of a superior.
"Long Xiaoyao, Ye Xishui. Why are the two of you here? And where is that giant dragon that spanned thousands of miles just now?"
As the strongest individual of the Sun Moon Empire, Kong Deming maintained a cooperative—but wary—relationship with the Holy Spirit Cult.
Ye Xishui snorted coldly, her blood-red eyes fixed on him.
"Old ghost Kong, you're asking us? This was a branch of our Holy Spirit Cult!"
"Now it's nothing but ruins, and that monster has vanished. We should be asking whether your Sun Moon Empire was conducting some secret spirit tool experiment!"
Kong Deming swept his gaze across the devastation. Sensing the lingering ice attributes and the extreme dragon aura, his heart surged with shock.
"No," he said solemnly. "This power does not belong to any spirit tool."
"The kind of pressure that causes space itself to collapse… that's far beyond what human strength can achieve."
"It vanished too quickly. Even our radar network couldn't lock onto its trail."
The three peak-level powerhouses stood amidst the desolation, each harboring their own suspicions—yet none could offer a satisfactory explanation.
None of them could have imagined that the "monster" they were searching for had already returned to the Duke's Mansion in Bright Capital.
…
Duke's Mansion, secret cultivation room.
Liu Yuan locked the door from the inside. Without even changing his clothes, he sat cross-legged at the center of the Soul Gathering Array.
"Phew… that was close."
He let out a long breath. The Snow Empress revealed her form beside him. Though the Extreme Speed dash hadn't drained her much, her eyes were filled with concern.
"Liu Yuan, something is very wrong with your current state," she said, stepping forward quickly.
Liu Yuan's face was deathly pale, yet an abnormal flush colored his cheeks.
Beneath his skin, emerald scales flickered in and out of existence. Inside him, spirit power surged like a runaway beast, crashing violently through his meridians.
"I can feel it too…" he gritted out, his voice hoarse.
"While we were moving, my spirit power felt blocked—and incredibly heavy."
Enduring the tearing pain in his meridians, Liu Yuan forced himself into internal vision.
What he saw struck him like a bolt of lightning, plunging him into total shock.
Within his soul power vortex—once flowing like a raging river in liquid form—brilliant sapphire-like crystals had appeared.
Liquid… to solid!
"How is this possible?!" he shouted inwardly.
As a transmigrator familiar with the Spirit Master cultivation system, he knew exactly what this signified.
Normally, spirit power is compressed and refined gradually as one advances.
But a complete transformation from liquid to solid—forming a core—was something else entirely.
A Soul Core.
According to common knowledge on the Douluo Continent, a Soul Core only forms when a Spirit Master approaches Level 90, preparing to bear the terrifying energy reserves of a Titled Douluo.
But how old was he?
Seventeen.
And only Level 73.
A Spirit Saint… already condensing a Soul Core?
"Is it because the amplification from my two Divine Rank Martial Souls is simply too great?"
"So great that my total spirit power has already approached the level of a Titled Douluo?"
"And by sheer coincidence… or opportunity… my spirit power mutated, transforming from liquid to solid ahead of time, and even began forming a Soul Core early?"
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