Chapter 27: Flames Engulf the Tree

Before long, with the efforts of the grandfather and grandson, a large pile of firewood had accumulated beneath the Sky Blue Tree's trunk.

Next, Su Nan took several wooden barrels from his storage soul tool and tossed them toward the pile of firewood.

Sky Blue Tree: ???

Throwing wood posed no direct threat, and neither did tossing barrels filled with flammable oil. The Sky Blue Tree, with its instinct and lack of intelligence, failed to detect any danger and remained motionless, like a mountain.

"Boom boom boom—"

The barrels cracked open upon hitting the ground, spilling the oil everywhere, and a pungent odor filled the air.

Of course, the Sky Blue Tree didn't have a nose, so it couldn't sense the deadly threat posed by the black liquid.

Seeing everything proceed according to plan without any issues, Chu Chengzhou took out a fire stick, lit the oil-soaked wooden stick in his hand, and threw it at the unsuspecting Sky Blue Tree, which was blissfully unaware of its impending demise.

"Boom—!"

The oil was of excellent quality, and as soon as the fire stick landed, it quickly ignited a roaring fire.

"Bang bang bang—!"

As the fire spread, the Sky Blue Tree could no longer remain still. Several thick roots broke through the ground and instinctively began to strike at the firewood pile.

Unfortunately, the tree didn't have the intelligence to realize that the more it struck its roots, the higher the flames grew.

The reason for this was simple: the barrels of oil that had only leaked before were now shattered by the tree's roots, causing the oil to splatter and further intensifying the fire.

Starting a fire in a forest... I wonder how many years the government will imprison us for this?

Looking at the result of their handiwork, Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but think to himself.

Of course, the Tiandou Empire didn't prohibit Soul Masters from setting fires in forests, otherwise, fire-type Soul Masters would be the first to object, and fire-type soul beasts wouldn't follow the laws of the Tiandou Empire either.

Moreover, starting a fire to burn down the entire Soul Hunting Forest was far more difficult than one might imagine.

Although the forest was full of vegetation, dry wood and dead grass were surprisingly scarce. Furthermore, most plants had some degree of soul power, so unless a Title Douluo of the Fire element were involved, even if someone intentionally set a fire, it would be nearly impossible to burn the entire Soul Hunting Forest down.

Under the intense heat of the flames, the unlucky Sky Blue Tree was completely still within ten minutes.

In fact, the tree lasted as long as it did thanks to its status as a soul beast.

Without soul power protection and frequent use of soul techniques to heal itself, Chu Chengzhou estimated that it would have been burned to death in less than three minutes.

Soon, a deep yellow soul ring emerged from the blazing fire.

Seeing the soul ring appear, Chu Chengzhou's face lit up with joy, but then he immediately showed a bitter expression.

The fire was still burning—how was he supposed to absorb the soul ring?

Absorbing a soul ring while bathing in flames? That would be suicide!

"Wait a bit, the fire should die down soon," Su Nan said, noticing Chu Chengzhou's predicament.

Chu Chengzhou, a little frustrated, nodded in agreement.

There was no stream or river nearby to put out the fire, so they could only wait for the flames to die down on their own.

The oil they had poured was not much, and the firewood burned quickly. After about a minute, the fire began to subside.

However, Chu Chengzhou didn't rush to approach and absorb the soul ring. The heat from the flames was still too intense, and to avoid injury, it was better to wait a little longer.

After all, soul rings might have a time limit, but they wouldn't dissipate that quickly.

Another half an hour passed, and Chu Chengzhou felt it was time. With a faint blue light glowing around him, he summoned his True Spirit Flag martial soul and prepared to approach and absorb the soul ring.

"Huh? Chengzhou, your martial soul seems to have changed?" Su Nan said with surprise, noticing the small flag in Chu Chengzhou's hand.

In his memory, Chengzhou's martial soul had always been a gray flag that looked like a low-quality item. How did it suddenly look so different?

"Really? Grandpa, you must be mistaken. My martial soul has always been like this!" Chu Chengzhou replied, feigning confusion.

Some of the enhancements he had gained through his special abilities, like meditation, body refining, and spirit refining, he could share with his family. These achievements could be explained through self-created soul techniques.

But he couldn't explain the upgrade of his martial soul, and he certainly couldn't share it, so Chu Chengzhou decided to play it off.

After all, his grandfather had only seen his martial soul once, during the awakening. After three years, even if there were slight differences, it would be easy to fool him.

"Remember wrong? Hmm... Looks like Grandpa is really getting old, even forgetting Chengzhou's martial soul," Su Nan said, stroking his chin, shaking his head.

Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou felt a little embarrassed.

Shaking his head, he pushed aside the guilt he felt and stepped forward to absorb the soul ring.

With the faint blue glow of soul power guiding it, the hundred-year-old Sky Blue Tree soul ring slowly flew toward Chu Chengzhou.

As the soul ring approached, Chu Chengzhou felt a powerful pressure descending on him, as though the gravitational pull of the Douluo Star had suddenly increased several times.

Soon, the soul ring reached above his head. Before he had any chance to react, it suddenly contracted and transformed into a solid yellow ring, about the size of a bracelet, and directly landed on his right hand, where his True Spirit Flag martial soul was.

Suddenly, Chu Chengzhou felt an overwhelming surge of energy flooding into his body, as though it was about to burst him apart.

Without hesitation, he immediately activated his meditation skill, fully focusing on refining the soul power that was rushing into his body from the Sky Blue Tree's soul ring.

The purple-level meditation skill was extraordinary. Not only did it allow Chu Chengzhou to absorb soul power at a much faster rate, but it also greatly improved his ability to recover and refine the energy, far surpassing the regular meditation methods that most Soul Masters across the continent used.

As the meditation skill took effect, the turbulent and violent energy from the soul ring began to calm down. Chu Chengzhou felt the pressure ease significantly, allowing him to focus on the refining process.

Time passed slowly. After more than ten minutes, seeing Chu Chengzhou seated cross-legged, calmly absorbing the soul ring without showing any signs of being overwhelmed, Su Nan finally relaxed.

Although he had anticipated that Chu Chengzhou could absorb a soul ring of around seven hundred years, Su Nan couldn't help but feel nervous as the moment approached. After all, he knew that there were no precedents on the continent for a Soul Master at level 10 absorbing a soul ring of such an age. Whether it was truly possible or not, he couldn't be at ease until he saw it with his own eyes.

But now, after more than a quarter of an hour, if there were any danger, it should have manifested by now.

Since there were no signs of him being overwhelmed, and the situation seemed to be stabilizing, it meant that his grandson was indeed on the verge of making history, setting a new precedent for the entire continent!