Chapter 9: Level 50! A Soul Bone Drop? The Target for the Fifth Soul Ring, a Lion?
"Neigh..."
As if sensing its approaching death, the Heavenly Dragon Horse let out a sorrowful neigh.
It struggled to stand up, but with the bones of its four limbs shattered, it fell powerlessly to the ground.
Desperate tears flowed from its large, intelligent eyes.
"There is no need for sorrow."
Yu Jingcheng slowly raised his right hand. Within his palm, golden Soul Power began to condense, transforming into a sharp blade of light.
He looked at the Heavenly Dragon Horse, his tone calm and indifferent:
"To become a stepping stone on my path to godhood and a part of my power..."
"...is the greatest honor of your life."
As his voice fell.
Puchi!
The golden light blade pierced the Heavenly Dragon Horse's heart without mercy, instantly severing its life force.
The Heavenly Dragon Horse's body convulsed violently before falling completely still.
A speck of black light slowly condensed above its corpse.
Immediately after, the light expanded rapidly, transforming into a deep, pitch-black ring emitting terrifying energy fluctuations.
A twenty-thousand-year spirit ring!
"Come!"
Yu Jingcheng sat cross-legged, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
He guided the black Soul Ring, letting it slowly descend over his head.
Boom!
The moment the Soul Ring entered his body, a majestic power of light mixed with the Heavenly Dragon Horse's deathly resentment surged into his Meridians like a flood of beasts.
If it were before, this power might have been troublesome for him.
But now...
"Ice Fire Golden Body, suppress!"
Red and blue light flashed on the surface of Yu Jingcheng's body. His indestructible Meridians acted like iron walls, firmly locking down the impact.
Then, the golden dragon pellet began to circulate again, greedily devouring this kindred power of light.
There was no suspense.
The absorption process was outrageously smooth.
In less than half an hour.
The black Soul Ring, which was originally violent and filled with the Heavenly Dragon Horse's resentment, was completely tamed and settled firmly onto Yu Jingcheng's Martial Soul.
Yellow, yellow, red, black.
The four Soul Rings radiated together, especially the outermost deep black ring, which emitted a heart-palpitating pressure.
"Phew—"
Yu Jingcheng slowly opened his eyes. Two flickering golden lights shot out from his pupils, leaving two clear trails of light in the dim cavern.
He stood up, and the bones throughout his body let out a series of popping sounds like beans roasting.
An unprecedented feeling of power filled his entire body.
"Just as I expected."
Yu Jingcheng sensed the surging Soul Power within him, a satisfied curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"After absorbing this twenty-thousand-year spirit ring, the Soul Power in my body instantly broke through the Bottleneck and surged forward, directly reaching the level 50 mark."
"If not for the lack of a fifth Soul Ring to act as a vessel, this massive Soul Power would likely have pushed me straight to level 53 or even higher."
If word of this rocket-like leveling speed got out, it would probably make every Soul Master on the Douluo Continent question their life.
But Yu Jingcheng knew this was the result of long-term accumulation.
The foundation of a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast's sacrifice, the medicinal power of two top-grade Immortal Herbs, plus this over-leveled ten-thousand-year spirit ring.
If it still couldn't achieve this effect, then he would be a true waste.
"Let me see what this fourth Soul Skill is."
With a thought from Yu Jingcheng, the pitch-black fourth Soul Ring beneath his feet suddenly lit up.
Ang—!
Accompanied by a high-pitched dragon roar.
On the head of the Light Holy Dragon, a spiral horn of light, similar to that of the Heavenly Dragon Horse, faintly appeared.
"Fourth Soul Skill—Holy Dragon Judgment Light!"
Ang—!
With a high-pitched dragon roar, the massive head of the Light Holy Dragon phantom suddenly reared up.
The newly formed spiral horn of light on its forehead, resembling the Heavenly Dragon Horse's horn, instantly became the central light source of the entire cavern.
The surrounding free light elements seemed to be summoned by a king, frantically converging toward that single horn.
In just the time of a single breath, the spiral horn of light became so bright it was impossible to look at directly, as if a miniature sun had risen in the cave.
"Go!"
Yu Jingcheng raised his hand and pointed toward the hard rock wall deep within the cavern.
Xiu—!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a scalp-numbing whistle of piercing air.
A platinum beam, only as thick as an arm but refined to the extreme, shot out from the spiral horn.
Wherever the beam passed, the air was instantly scorched and distorted, leaving a long-lasting burn mark.
Pu!
The platinum beam instantly pierced through the rock wall a hundred meters away.
Like a hot knife through butter, the hard granite appeared incredibly fragile before this strike.
The beam sank unknown depths into the rock wall, leaving only a deep hole with edges smooth as a mirror, still emitting wisps of smoke and intense heat.
"Single-target penetration, with extreme high temperature and purification effects."
Yu Jingcheng looked at the bottomless hole and nodded with satisfaction.
"The power of this strike is enough to instantly pierce the shield of a defense-type Soul Emperor. If it hits a vital spot, they would likely die on the spot."
"Holy Dragon Judgment Light, truly worthy of being a twenty-thousand-year Soul Skill. It is indeed overbearing."
Retracting his Martial Soul, Yu Jingcheng stepped toward the Heavenly Dragon Horse's corpse.
Just as he was about to dispose of it, a strange light caught the corner of his eye.
In the shattered chest cavity of the Heavenly Dragon Horse, a soft white halo floated quietly, looking completely out of place amidst the surrounding gore.
"This is..."
Yu Jingcheng's heart stirred. He stepped forward quickly and reached out to grab it.
The halo fell into his hand, turning into a piece of crystal-clear bone that looked like it was carved from crystal.
Looking at the shape, it was actually a right arm bone!
Inside the bone, liquid light seemed to flow, and a miniature Heavenly Dragon Horse could faintly be seen galloping within.
"A Soul Bone?!"
Yu Jingcheng raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.
"I didn't expect that despite this Heavenly Dragon Horse's heavy resentment, my luck would be so good to drop a twenty-thousand-year light-attribute right arm bone."
On the Douluo Continent, the drop rate of Soul Bones is extremely low; the chance of a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast producing a Soul Bone is only one in a thousand.
If this Soul Bone were to leak to the outside world, it would be enough to cause a frantic scramble between the two Empires and Spirit Hall, potentially triggering a bloodbath.
However.
Yu Jingcheng merely toyed with it for a moment before indifferently putting it into his storage spirit tool.
"Useless."
To Yu Jingcheng.
Except for external Spirit Bones, the six main Soul Bones of his body must all be at least at the hundred-thousand-year level!
Better to have nothing than something inferior.
This Heavenly Dragon Horse right arm bone could, at best, serve as a bargaining chip for training subordinates or exchanging for rare resources in the future.
After dealing with the Heavenly Dragon Horse's corpse, Yu Jingcheng was in no hurry to leave.
He turned around.
His gaze bypassed those shivering low-level Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts and finally fixed on the deepest part of the cavern.
On a massive creature imprisoned in a specially made refined iron cage.
It was a male lion.