Chapter 196: Birth of a Soul Spirit! Du Busi and Long Aotian in Awe
The heavy stench of copper and gore hung thick over the forest clearing. It mingled with the damp, earthy scent of violently upturned soil, pressing down on the area to create an atmosphere so oppressive it felt suffocating.
Having absorbed Liu Yuan's detailed explanation, the lingering doubts within Du Busi and Long Aotian evaporated. The vague, hazy concepts they previously held sharpened into absolute clarity.
Initially, both men assumed this so-called 'Soul Spirit'was merely an alternative method of absorbing a standard soul ring. They never anticipated that the absolute core of the process depended on two unmatched concepts:'voluntary submission'and'symbiosis'.
"I see..." Du Busi murmured. He cast his gaze toward the two massive beasts thrashing weakly in the expanding pool of their own blood. A sharp, calculating gleam flickered in the old man's eyes. "They battered each other to the brink of death; we had no hand in this slaughter. Offering them a sliver of survival at this exact moment... yes, that is the ultimate bargaining chip."
He turned to the youth. "Liu Yuan, since the stage is set, strike now. I will personally stand guard over you!"
Aotian wiped the lingering smile from his face. Dark gold soul power began to circulate slowly around his muscular frame, emitting a heavy, metallic hum. "Junior Brother," he said, his voice dropping an octave, "I leave this in your hands."
Without another word, the three figures dropped from the dense canopy. They landed with practiced silence in the dead center of the blood-soaked ruins, their boots sinking slightly into the crimson mud.
The moment the scent of humans reached them, the two dying soul beasts violently tensed, their ruined muscles twitching in a final, desperate surge of adrenaline.
The Vigorous Vajra Ape forced out a low, ragged snarl that bubbled with blood. Its shattered right arm dangled uselessly by its flank, exposing jagged white bone. Only its thick left arm remained functional, its massive fingers digging deep into the torn earth. Within its bloodshot eyes, unyielding violence warred with the encroaching shadow of despair.
A few paces away, the Earth-Splitting Rhino strained to lift its incredibly heavy, armor-plated skull. Gory fragments of the ape's internal organs still hung sickeningly from its spiraled horn. It locked its dimming gaze onto Liu Yuan, a wet, threatening grunt vibrating from deep within its crushed throat.
"Vile beasts. Still daring to bare your fangs at death's door?" Du Busi sneered, taking a single, deliberate step forward. The terrifying, suffocating pressure of a Level 98 Super Douluo erupted from his body. It crashed down like a ten-thousand-foot mountain manifesting out of thin air, instantly pinning the two twenty-thousand-year soul beasts firmly to the blood-stained earth. They couldn't even twitch.
Unbothered by the crushing gravity, Liu Yuan strolled calmly toward the two dying titans. A deep, purple-gold divine light began to swirl within his Double Pupils. He met their hostile glares without a shred of hesitation.
"I know you possess enough intelligence to understand me," Liu Yuan stated. His tone was cool, detached, and carried an unquestionable, absolute authority. "Your physical vessels are ruined. Your life origins are completely shattered. Barring a divine miracle, you will both bleed out and rot in this dirt within fifteen minutes. However... I am offering you a singular chance to live."
Bypassing spoken language, Liu Yuan channeled his immense spiritual power. He sent a concentrated wave of mental fluctuations directly into the spiritual seas of the two soul beasts, forcefully instilling the complex concept of a 'Soul Spirit' into their fading minds.
He laid out the terms with brutal efficiency: if they submitted willingly, they could abandon their doomed physical bodies. They would fuse with Aotian—the man standing behind him—as pure spiritual entities. In exchange for their power and loyalty, they would achieve a different, symbiotic form of eternal life.
Yet, the inherent, wild ferocity of high-tier soul beasts was never easily suppressed by mere logic.
Upon processing Liu Yuan's mental transmission, the violent madness in the Vigorous Vajra Ape's eyes did not waver. Instead, it flared into a resolute, burning intent for mutual destruction. To the proud ape, abandoning its flesh to be imprisoned within a human's spiritual sea as a subservient puppet was an indignity worse than death. It was the ultimate insult to its bloodline.
Roar—!
The ape suddenly detonated the very last dregs of its origin life force. Defying the Super Douluo's suppression through sheer, suicidal willpower, its massive, broken body lunged forward. Its remaining left fist tore through the air, carrying a ruthless momentum aimed directly at Liu Yuan's skull.
"Stubborn and incorrigible." Du Busi snorted, his expression turning ice-cold. He didn't even bother assuming a combat stance. The old man merely raised his right hand and pressed his palm downward against the empty air.
Boom.
A massive, emerald-green palm constructed of pure, condensed soul power manifested from the heavens. It slammed down with apocalyptic force, instantly flattening the lunging Vajra Ape into a grotesque, unrecognizable pulp of crushed bone and meat.
As the ape's physical vessel was utterly obliterated, a deep purple-black soul ring slowly drifted up from the carnage. However, lacking a host to absorb it, the dense ring of energy gradually fractured and dissipated into the surrounding atmosphere.
The Earth-Splitting Rhino watched the brutal execution unfold inches away. The fierce, unyielding pride in its eyes evaporated in a fraction of a second. It was immediately replaced by a shuddering, primal terror of death—and an overwhelming, desperate craving to survive.
Shifting its gaze back to Liu Yuan, the massive rhino slowly, agonizingly lowered its proud, bloodstained horn into the mud. It let out a pathetic, trembling wail. It was an absolute surrender. A desperate plea for life.
"It seems this beast possesses a bit more sense," Liu Yuan noted dryly. He glanced over his shoulder at Aotian before calling out within his spiritual sea, 'Elder Yi, please step forward to preside over the contract.'
The moment the thought formed, an incredibly pure, ancient gray light erupted from the center of Liu Yuan's forehead.
The ethereal, aged figure of Electrolux slowly condensed within the swirling mist of gray radiance. The sheer, extraordinary quality of his sudden appearance caused the ambient noises of the surrounding forest to instantly die out, plunging the clearing into an eerie, absolute silence.
"Elder Yi, please examine its spiritual state," Liu Yuan requested respectfully. "Ensure there is no hidden hostility or intent to backlash."
Electrolux gave a faint, serene nod. His deep eyes, which seemed to hold the depths of an endless starry sky, swept over the trembling Earth-Splitting Rhino. With a casual flick of his translucent finger, a single strand of gray spiritual thread shot forward, sinking directly into the center of the beast's brow.
A moment later, a peaceful, reassuring smile graced Electrolux's weathered features. "Child, it is quite intelligent. Faced with the absolute certainty of death and the compromise of symbiosis, it has wholeheartedly chosen the latter. Its soul harbors a deep-seated fear of oblivion, but there is not a shred of resentment directed toward you or your martial brother. We may begin."
With that confirmation, the unmatched ceremony officially commenced.
Aotian strode forward and sat cross-legged directly in front of the dying rhino. Following Liu Yuan's precise mental instructions, he relaxed his defenses and fully opened his spiritual sea.
Electrolux slowly spread his ethereal hands. Obscure, ancient chants began to echo throughout the blood-soaked clearing. The language was beyond understanding, yet every single syllable seemed to carry the weight of a thousand mountains, connecting directly upon the fundamental level of the soul.
"In my name, I guide the spirit to its vessel; let the contract stand as witness, bound in life and death together!"
As the mystical incantation reached its peak, the Earth-Splitting Rhino's colossal physical body began to vibrate violently. Torrents of dense, blue-black soul power, heavily saturated with its core soul origin, began to pour out from its seven orifices. The massive volume of energy swirled into the air, continuously compressing and refining itself under the necromancer's guidance.
The fusion process placed an excruciating burden on Aotian's mental fortitude. Fine beads of cold sweat quickly broke out across his forehead, his jaw locking tight as he endured the spiritual pressure.
Minutes bled into hours as the delicate operation continued.
Roughly two hours later, the originally mountainous physical vessel of the rhino had completely withered away. All its blood, flesh, and vitality had been drained, leaving behind nothing more than a hollow pile of brittle, dry bones.
Hovering quietly in the air above the remains was a miniature, translucent, dark-cyan spiritual projection of the Earth-Splitting Rhino. Stripped of its brutal, physical form, the creature had lost much of its savage ferocity. Instead, its glowing, ethereal body radiated a strange, almost sacred purity.
Electrolux gently pointed a finger toward Aotian's brow. The miniature rhino let out a crisp, resonant cry. It transformed into a brilliant streak of cyan light, instantly shooting forward and sinking smoothly into Aotian's forehead.
Buzz—!
An aura as heavy and unyielding as a primordial mountain suddenly erupted from deep within Aotian's core.
Beneath his feet, five soul rings rose in rapid succession. Immediately following them, an entirely new, extremely unique black soul ring materialized. Unlike standard rings, this one pulsed with a faint, dark-gold texture, signifying the presence of a living Soul Spirit.
Aotian's aura began to climb at a frantic, terrifying pace. The previously impossible bottleneck of Level 60 shattered like fragile glass the exact moment the spiritual entity fully integrated with his power.
Soul Power Cultivation: Level 61!
The moment Aotian snapped his eyes open, the ethereal rhino Soul Spirit materialized in the physical world. It crawled up onto his broad shoulder, tilted its translucent head, and blinked at him curiously.
Standing off to the side, the usually unflappable Du Busi was completely, utterly stunned.
He sensed the deep, incredibly stable depths of his disciple's newly advanced aura. He stared blankly at the docile Soul Spirit, failing to detect even a microscopic trace of the resentment that normally plagued high-level soul rings. The old man's lips trembled slightly.
"It really... it actually succeeded?"
Du Busi closed the distance in a flash, his massive hands gripping his disciple's shoulders like iron vises. His voice shook with undisguised excitement. "Aotian, how do you feel? Is the soul beast's intelligence truly preserved?"
Aotian slowly clenched his fists, marveling at the surging power within his veins. He glanced at the little fellow perched on his shoulder, currently observing its new surroundings with wide-eyed curiosity. His own eyes reflected absolute shock.
"Master, I can feel its thoughts clearly. It's actively helping me regulate the soul power flowing through my meridians..." He turned to look at the calm youth standing nearby. "Junior Brother... this is simply a miracle!"
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