Chapter 6: Soul Beast Cultivation and Age Limit

In a world where the inheritance of divine thrones has long been predetermined, no matter how exceptional he is, his fate is ultimately no better than becoming another Tang Chen.

In the original story, Tang Chen's failure, Li Chang'an thought, likely had something to do with the Asura God. After all, according to the classification of attributes, the Rakshasa God was a subordinate main god under the Asura God. With such a subordinate status, how could the Rakshasa God have the ability to interfere with the heir of a dignified God king?

If the power of a divine king could be disturbed by a mere first-level god, then that God king would be laughably weak.

Thus, the truth was obvious.

It was all an act, with the Rakshasa God serving as a scapegoat. Moreover, her heir, Bibi Dong, was used as a sharpening stone for the Asura God's chosen heir.

By eliminating both the Rakshasa God and the Angel God, Tang San would ascend to the divine realm with credentials that would bolster his prestige after inheriting the divine throne. The Asura God had essentially turned this unfortunate mother-daughter pair into stepping stones to enhance his successor's reputation.

As for the inheritance of the Sea God, the dual godhood was merely a bonus and wasn't part of the Asura God's original plan.

Therefore, if Li Chang'an wanted to seek a godly inheritance, the Sea God was the closest and most likely option available to him.

Star Dou Forest

In a hidden underground cave, Li Chang'an slowly awakened.

Upon waking, he noticed that the surrounding space seemed smaller. Or rather, it wasn't the space that had shrunk, but his body that had grown larger.

After consuming his eggshell, his body length had rapidly grown to ten meters. His cultivation age had also increased from under ten years to around a hundred years. This showed how highly nutritious that eggshell had been.

A soul beast's age limit doesn't refer to how long it has lived, but rather serves as a classification system, much like how human soul masters are categorized at different stages. Thus, a ten-thousand-year soul beast hasn't necessarily lived for ten thousand years; otherwise, even an abundant supply of soul beasts wouldn't be enough to meet the demands of human soul masters.

Given the vast number of soul rings human soul masters require, and considering that the profession of soul master has existed for several millennia, if soul beasts could only grow by waiting out time, they would have long been hunted to extinction.

Furthermore, aside from human hunting, soul beasts frequently fight and kill one another due to their instinct for survival of the fittest, further increasing the death toll. Thus, age is merely a label—age limits don't equate to actual age.

After becoming a soul beast, Li Chang'an learned through the inherited information in his bloodline that a soul beast with a top-tier bloodline could grow into a ten-thousand-year soul beast in just a few hundred or thousand years. This process could be expedited by consuming rare treasures or by residing in environments with abundant natural energy.

A prime example would be the Tianmeng Iceworm from the second part of the story. That creature is the perfect example of a soul beast that became a million-year-level existence simply by consuming resources.

In truth, soul beasts in the Douluo Continent are akin to demonic beasts in cultivation worlds, relying on bloodlines and natural instincts to absorb the world's energy, thereby enhancing their power and lifespan. However, unlike in cultivation worlds, the soul beasts of Douluo are restricted by a lock placed on them by the gods of the divine realm. Their power can never exceed the god level, and upon reaching ten thousand years, they face heavenly tribulation lightning, clearly designed to exterminate them and leave them with no path to survival.

Currently, Li Chang'an's physical form is that of a Azure-scaled Snake Sovereign, a top-tier existence among soul beasts—a king among snakes and a sovereign of poison!

Given such a prestigious bloodline, his potential was unquestionable. Even if he remained in this cave and practiced in isolation, it would take only a few thousand years for him to naturally grow into a ten-thousand-year-level soul beast.

Thus, one shouldn't be fooled by the seemingly impressive titles of soul beasts with a thousand or ten thousand years of cultivation.

Sometimes, they haven't actually lived that long.

Soul beast cultivation is relatively simple. They rely on their bloodlines to instinctively absorb and refine the world's energy, strengthening both their bodies and soul power. For soul beasts, this process is as natural as breathing. They don't require complex techniques or specific energy circulation routes.

The higher the quality of a soul beast's bloodline, the more efficient its energy absorption and refinement will be, resulting in faster cultivation.

Conversely, soul beasts with inferior bloodlines experience slower cultivation speeds. Some may indeed experience such slow progress that they gain only one year of cultivation for each year they live, making them literal ten-thousand-year soul beasts.

After adapting to the changes in his body, Li Chang'an began to move, ready to leave the cave. As a hundred-year-level soul beast, he now had some means of self-defense.

As it turned out, the cave wasn't entirely enclosed—it had several tunnels leading to the outside.

Li Chang'an flicked his tongue, relying on the scents in the air to determine that this area hadn't been visited by any creatures for at least a few hundred years. His mother, being a cold-blooded creature, lacked maternal instincts. Most likely, she had found this safe location to lay her eggs before abandoning them to fend for themselves.

The snake eggs would naturally hatch over time.

"I wonder where I am right now?"

"Is it the Star Dou Forest, the Sunset Forest, or some other unknown soul beast forest?"

With these thoughts in mind, Li Chang'an began slithering down a randomly chosen tunnel, heading toward the source of the fresh air.

Outside

A patch of ground covered in fallen leaves suddenly bulged.

Moments later, a triangular jade-green snake head cautiously emerged from the leaves. Its amber eyes scanned its surroundings warily. After ensuring that there was no danger, it slowly slithered out of the leaves.

Li Chang'an couldn't determine whether the environment posed any immediate threats to his life. Thus, he moved cautiously, slithering into the underbrush and blending in with the green foliage to conceal himself.

Snakes are naturally adept at stealth. As a Azure-scaled Snake Sovereign, Li Chang'an was a master of this ability.

He moved silently through the grass, carefully observing his surroundings while flicking his tongue to gather information from the air.

Soon, he spotted another soul beast.

It was a rabbit, its body glowing faintly with white light. Judging by its aura, it was a soul beast with a few dozen years of cultivation.

When Li Chang'an saw the rabbit, his innate predatory instincts stirred, making him eager to hunt!

Without hesitation, he slithered closer, keeping his movements slow and silent.

However, the rabbit, which had been happily nibbling on blue silver grass, suddenly froze. Its crimson eyes scanned its surroundings cautiously, and its long ears twitched, trying to pick up any sounds.

Naturally, it quickly detected the approaching danger from behind!

In an instant, the rabbit kicked off the ground with its hind legs and dashed away at full speed.

Realizing that his prey was about to escape, Li Chang'an abandoned stealth and surged forward like a green flash, aiming directly at the rabbit.

Simultaneously, a powerful aura of a top predator spread out instinctively.

The fleeing rabbit, as if struck by lightning, froze mid-run. Its limbs stiffened, and it tumbled forward several times before collapsing onto the ground, trembling in fear.

Soul beasts place extreme importance on bloodlines.

Li Chang'an's current form, with its noble Azure-scaled Snake Sovereign bloodline, naturally suppressed lower-bloodline soul beasts like this rabbit, making them instinctively submit without resistance.

Even thousand-year-level soul beasts with inferior bloodlines might flee in fear upon encountering him. For a rabbit with less than a hundred years of cultivation, resistance was simply impossible.

Li Chang'an quickly reached the rabbit's side. Seeing the trembling creature offering no resistance, he opened his mouth and exhaled a faint poisonous mist.

The rabbit, which had been shivering moments ago, immediately went stiff and died on the spot, its legs kicking weakly before it fell silent.

A white soul ring slowly condensed above the rabbit's corpse, as if awaiting a soul master to absorb it.

Ignoring the soul ring, Li Chang'an focused on the plump rabbit before him. He felt an instinctive hunger surge from within his body, urging him to consume it. Without further delay, he opened his jaws and began swallowing the rabbit whole, much like a python.