To Dugu Bo, the Sunset Forest held no secrets.
Carrying Zhao Liuyun through the air, his mental strength spread out like a tide, locking onto their target in an instant.
It was a soul beast with a ferocious aura.
Standing about three meters tall and measuring four zhang in length, it was covered in thick, deep purple fur. Beneath the fur, dense silver-gray dragon scales were faintly visible, shimmering with the cold, hard luster of metal.
Its pupils were forest-white with a swirling silver light; its claws were like hooks and its fangs like daggers, radiating sharp lethality.
The moment Dugu Bo landed with Zhao Liuyun, the Dread Dragon Wolf sensed the presence of the intruders.
"Roar—!"
It let out a low growl, arching its back as its fur stood on end. Even when faced with the pressure of a Title Douluo, it refused to retreat. Instead, it bared its sharp teeth, and surging mental fluctuations condensed in its eyes, ready to strike.
"Quite a decent wolf cub," Dugu Bo praised. Before his voice had even faded, his figure flickered like a ghost.
With a casual wave of his hand, the Dragon Wolf was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, slamming heavily into the ground, its breath ragged and faint.
"Nine thousand one hundred years, a Dread Dragon Wolf." He glanced at the undisguised reverence in his disciple's eyes, the corners of his mouth curling upward as a sense of pleasure welled up in his heart.
Displaying one's skills slightly before those close to you provided a unique kind of satisfaction.
Zhao Liuyun repeated in a low voice: "Nine thousand one hundred years—"
"Disciple, go ahead and absorb it," Dugu Bo said gently.
He didn't give the matter much thought. As a Title Douluo, he was invincible here; the situation was perfectly secure.
"Thank you, Teacher."
Zhao Liuyun expressed his gratitude.
Seeing that the Dragon Wolf was at the end of its tether, he couldn't help but secretly admire the courage it showed by growling at a Title Douluo. He dared not delay, quickly using his "Vast Abyss Return" to deliver the final fatal blow.
The Dragon Wolf was already barely clinging to its last breath; it was easily crushed by the powerful mental strength of a Soul King level.
"Roar—!" It gave one last mournful cry toward Zhao Liuyun, hatred flickering like sparks in its eyes, before its aura dissipated completely, and it moved no more.
Confirming its death, Zhao Liuyun walked closer and sat down cross-legged.
The Dread Dragon Wolf, with its mental element, was a dragon-type soul beast of the Silver Dragon lineage—precisely the perfect catalyst for purifying his soul bone.
At nine thousand one hundred years, it was extremely close to the ten-thousand-year mark, meaning it could be upgraded to that level in the future with minimal cost.
As time passed, the power of the Dread Dragon Wolf gradually surfaced. Streaks of purple light spots drifted up from its corpse, as intense mental fluctuations intertwined and surged with soul power.
After a short while, the light converged, and a deep purple ring appeared in their sight.
Zhao Liuyun stood still, calmly watching everything before him.
It was time to absorb the soul ring.
Seeing this, he slightly raised his palm. A soft glow rose from it as the Moon Gloom Epiphyllum floated before him.
With a shift of his will, Zhao Liuyun issued a summons to the Dread Dragon Wolf's soul ring. In an instant, the purple light surged forward like a tide.
The dense energy fluctuations caused the surrounding air to darken, transforming into a massive thermal current that poured into his body like a bursting dam.
He had no time to react—it was simply impossible to react—before that scorching aura began to burn through his limbs and bones like a raging fire.
Nine thousand one hundred years was already extremely close to ten thousand, and coming from a mental-type soul beast, its instinctive resistance was far more violent than it had been during his second soul ring.
His muscles felt sore and swollen as the surging energy almost submerged his body, and a slight pain spread from deep within his meridians.
His physical body could still bear it; the energy could not break through its restraints.
The newly opened "Eight Extraordinary Meridians" channel was currently playing a crucial role, proving highly beneficial for channeling and containing the external energy.
At the same time, his sea of consciousness suffered an impact. Chaotic energy rushed into his mental realm like a river entering the sea.
However, this energy was ultimately like rootless duckweed, lacking the guidance of a core will. In the face of the mental tide ruled by the Dragon Demon Silver Eye, it ultimately failed to form any effective resistance.
Diverting, crushing, and absorbing—the entire process was as smooth as flowing water.
The nine-thousand-one-hundred-year soul ring was refined with extreme speed.
Relying on the strength of his body and the toughness of his meridians, he even guided the energy to break through the second of the extraordinary meridians that was about to open.
In less than four hours, Zhao Liuyun had finished absorbing the soul ring.
When he opened his eyes again, a sharp light swirled within them, and his overflowing mental strength almost seeped out of his body.
[Soul Ring: 9,153-year Dread Dragon Wolf (0/10)]
Being a mental-type soul beast, the greatest improvement was naturally in his mental strength.
[Soul: 64]
After taking the "Gazing Through Autumn Waters Dew," his soul intensity had skyrocketed to 58. After half a year of bitter cultivation, it had reached the peak of Level 59. This soul ring absorption successfully broke the bottleneck, leaping his mental strength to Level 64, equivalent to a Level 64 Soul Emperor.
Even when facing the vast majority of Soul Kings, it was enough to form a crushing dominance on the mental level.
The increase in soul power looked even larger in terms of numerical values.
The soul power obtained from refining the "Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum" had already reached around Level 33; this nine-thousand-one-hundred-year soul ring brought him another 3-level increase.
[Soul Power: Level 36 (17,894/19,800)]
His soul power soared to the peak of Level 36.
As for growth in terms of talent, it was difficult to tell for the moment and would require evaluation through meditation.
[Constitution: 56]
The improvement in constitution was the most limited, increasing by only 3 points.
Before absorbing the soul ring, Zhao Liuyun's constitution was equivalent to a Level 53 Soul King, while the Dread Dragon Wolf was merely a thousand-year soul beast biased toward mental strength. To have such an increase was thanks to the Dread Dragon Wolf's own powerful physical foundation.
The Dragon Demon Silver Eye grew rapidly.
The shared Silver Dragon bloodline further enhanced the purity of the Dragon Demon Silver Eye, causing its age to skyrocket by over three thousand years.
[Soul Bone: 4,396-year External Soul Bone]
When absorbing a soul ring, the most important thing was naturally the soul skill.
"What is the soul skill?"
Dugu Bo spoke up to ask.
He remembered that what the Dread Dragon Wolf excelled at most was awakening the deepest fears within a living being's heart. It was similar to Dragon Might, but it wasn't an aura; it was a powerful mental soul skill.
Zhao Liuyun focused his mind for a moment, and a flash of surprise and joy crossed his eyes: "Third Soul Skill: Dread Dream Flashback."
[Professional Skill: Dread Dream Flashback (Able to evoke a brief nightmare of fear within the enemy's heart)]
The acquisition of soul skills is influenced by the Martial Soul.
After Zhao Liuyun absorbed the Dream Demon soul ring and his "Hypnotist" parallel class changed to "Dream Master," the Dream attribute had completely become one of the fundamental attributes of his Martial Soul.
"It's an area-of-effect control soul skill. The consumption is high, but the advantage is that it is instant."
A hundred-thousand-year soul skill would reduce consumption, but before reaching a hundred thousand years, the higher the age, the higher the consumption.
"Instant?" Dugu Bo noticed the key point.
Instant-cast skills are different from others; they often have the power to change the outcome of a battle in a split second.
Zhao Liuyun nodded: "An instant skill. It has no flight trajectory and acts directly upon the target."
If there are too many people, the control intensity might be less than ideal, only able to disrupt soul skill casting and behavior for a split second, acting as a short-term silence.
But this was a dream of fear.
[Hypnosis] detonates the fear.
And as long as it is a dream, it can be interfered with by a [Dream Master].
In the blink of an eye, what was originally a brief control could be upgraded into a powerful suppression that is difficult to break free from.
A dream of fear, an invisible dream—it was enough to completely cripple the core combat power of an opponent at a critical moment.
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