Burning Worms

Xu Tianzhen gazed with bright eyes at the magnificent wings behind Ye Guyi, imagining that she too would one day find such a beautiful pair of wing-shaped external soul bones.

The naive Xu Tianzhen was lost in her whimsical thoughts, truly believing that soul bones were so easily obtainable, especially external ones that had to be wing-shaped.

How fortunate one must be to encounter such a thing!

"It's called Heaven's Wings, and the soul bone skill is Dispel, which can remove negative and buff states," Ye Guyi explained, unable to put down the Heavenly Wings.

She stroked the white feathers, experiencing the soul skill granted by the soul bone.

She had no intention of hiding anything; everyone present had her trust and approval, so there was nothing to conceal.

"Dispel?" Liuxing secretly clicked his tongue. The name might sound simple, but the soul bone skill was anything but. To some extent, it was a magical skill.

Especially for auxiliary soul masters and evil soul masters, this skill was a game-changer.

Auxiliary soul masters could buff their teammates, but Ye Guyi's Dispel could nullify those effects, rendering the auxiliary soul masters useless in battle.

Similarly, evil soul masters, who often relied on curses and negative effects, would find their abilities useless against Ye Guyi's Dispel.

The well-informed Luan Yu also nodded in approval. "Very good. It's worthy of a soul bone provided by the Bird of Paradise. The effect is extraordinary. Used well, this skill can be a game-changer."

"This is the soul bone skill. What about the soul skill? How is it?" everyone asked, turning their attention back to Ye Guyi.

"Well, my first soul skill is Divine Praise. It's a buff-type soul skill, and the effect isn't bad,"

Although she was satisfied with the soul bone skill, she was less enthusiastic about her first soul skill.

Given her competitive nature, she had hoped for something more aggressive.

Seeing Ye Guyi's thoughts, Liuxing smiled. "Buff-type skills are very good! Liuying and I also wanted our first soul rings to be buff-type, so that when we reach Title Douluo, our first soul skills won't become obsolete."

"But this greatly impacts our early combat effectiveness! We might be suppressed by our peers because we lack offensive soul skills,"

Although she understood the logic, she was still somewhat unwilling. She was competitive and didn't want to be held back by her soul skills.

Luan Yu shook his head. "Among your peers, with your martial soul and talent, even without offensive soul skills, very few can suppress you. An early lead is insignificant; the future is what matters."

Luan Yu glanced subtly at Liuying, especially thinking of her. Even without an offensive soul skill, what difference would it make?

"Hehe, it's still my Sun Power. I can both attack and assist," Xu Tianzhen said with a smug smile.

Liuxing shook her head helplessly. This girl was indeed lucky.

She happened to encounter a soul beast with the bloodline of the Golden Crow, which was a perfect match for her martial soul, resulting in a very well-rounded first soul skill.

After absorbing the soul ring of the Bird of Paradise, Ye Guyi's soul power increased by two levels.

The absorption of the external soul bone added another level, thanks to the perfect compatibility of attributes.

Otherwise, a four-hundred-year soul bone wouldn't have provided such a significant boost.

...

After Ye Guyi absorbed the Heaven's Wings, half a day had passed.

Luan Yu and the others were carefully hiding behind a large tree, observing two flaming insects playing with each other.

Since encountering that evil soul master, Luan Yu had become much more vigilant on the outskirts of the Evil Demon Forest. She had released dozens of soul detection guides, monitoring every life form that came close, even ants.

It was through this thorough detection that they found these two soul beasts, suitable for Liuxing and Liuying, two Burning Worms.

The Burning Worm was a type of energy lifeform, feeding on the soul power, particularly fire elements.

They also consumed fire-based heavenly treasures to accelerate their growth.

The number of Burning Worms is scarce, making them rarer than even the top-tier soul beasts.

For Luan Yu and the others to encounter two Burning Worms on the outskirts of the Evil Demon Forest was incredibly fortunate.

Moreover, judging by the color of their flames, these two Burning Worms were only around a thousand years old.

The color of a Burning Worm's flame changes as it grows and cultivates.

A 100,000-year-old Burning Worm would have golden flames, with temperatures comparable to that of extreme fire, making it an immensely powerful creature.

Of course, only a 100,000-year-old Burning Worm can evolve its flame into extreme fire.

A 10,000-year-old Burning Worm is still a step away from achieving extreme fire, let alone a thousand-year-old one.

However, this didn't matter to Liuxing and Liuying. They were already in possession of extreme fire, and the first soul ring provided by a Burning Worm, as an energy lifeform, was no less valuable than that of a top-tier fire-attribute soul beast.

Luan Yu signaled Liuxing and the others to remain silent. Burning Worms were extremely fast and explosive.

If startled, they could escape in an instant. Although Luan Yu was confident she could catch up, she didn't want to risk any unnecessary complications or accidents.

Luan Yu pulled out two soul guides that resembled pistols.

Moving like a ghost, she quietly approached the two Burning Worms under the cover of the trees.

With her Title Douluo cultivation, two thousand-year-old soul beasts stood no chance against her.

If not for the sake of avoiding unnecessary trouble, she wouldn't have been so cautious.

After all, a fast-moving soul beast could be troublesome to chase, and pursuing it could easily lead them into danger.

As the distance closed, Luan Yu instantly raised the soul guides in her hands.

Two ice-blue soul guide rays shot out like lightning.

The two Burning Worms, sensing the fluctuation of soul power, flared up their flames, but it was too late.

The ice-blue rays hit them, and they stiffened before being encased in ice and falling to the ground.

However, Liuxing and the others could clearly see that the ice was melting from the inside out.

The Burning Worms hadn't lost their ability to resist, and the freezing rays couldn't completely subdue them.

Luan Yu hadn't expected two freezing rays to be enough to deal with the Burning Worms.

To avoid killing them outright, she had only used two fourth-level soul guides. Anything stronger would have risked killing them instantly, rendering the soul rings useless for Liuxing and Liuying.

Only the soul ring dropped by a soul beast you kill yourself can be absorbed.

Those killed by others cannot be absorbed.

And with Liuxing and Liuying's soul power, they couldn't use a fifth-level soul guide.

But this was enough. Luan Yu quickly moved to where the Burning Worms had fallen.

The cold air emanating from her hands froze the two Burning Worms again.

This time, with Luan Yu's cold suppression and precise temperature control, the Burning Worms were frozen without being harmed.

Seeing that Luan Yu had successfully subdued the two Burning Worms, Liuxing and the others emerged from their hiding spots and ran toward her.

"Are you really going to absorb thousand-year-old soul beasts? Isn't that too dangerous?" Xu Tianzhen and Ye Guyi looked at Liuxing and Liuying with concern, especially Xu Tianzhen.

She had struggled to absorb a four-hundred-year soul beast, and a thousand-year one would have been fatal for her.

"Don't worry, we're sure. Besides, Auntie is here. It'll be fine," Liuxing reassured them. If he hadn't been completely confident, he wouldn't have been so bold.

His confidence didn't come from Ice Phoenix Douluo's detection but from Liuying.

Liuying's peak state could destroy a planet.

Although she was now weakened and adapting to this world, her foundation remained. A thousand-year soul ring was worth a try.

Liuxing and Liuying approached the two Burning Worms. As Luan Yu lifted the cold suppression, the ice began to melt.

The moment the ice completely melted, the two of them stabbed their soul guide daggers into the Burning Worms' energy cores.

With two soft "poofs," the energy cores were punctured, and the bodies of the Burning Worms, still recovering from the ice, stiffened once more.

As two purple soul rings appeared, it signaled the death of the two Burning Worms.

Liuxing and Liuying glanced at each other.

Their bodies were simultaneously enveloped in flames, and two silver-white mechas replaced their figures.

They began to follow the method Luan Yu had taught them, summoning their martial souls and channeling the soul power within their bodies to draw in the Burning Worms' soul rings.

Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen watched curiously.

It was the first time they had seen Liuxing and Liuying summon their martial souls, and they were intrigued by what they saw.

Although they had never seen a mecha-type martial soul before, since Liuxing and Liuying were born with full soul power, their martial souls couldn't be weak.

It was common knowledge that low-level martial souls couldn't produce innate full soul power.

As Liuxing had expected, his and Liuying's physical fitness allowed them to withstand the thousand-year soul rings.

When the Burning Worms' soul power entered their bodies, Liuxing felt a stinging sensation, like being scalded by boiling water.

But that was all. He quickly adapted to the burning sensation and began to slowly absorb the soul power within the soul ring.

As time passed, he faintly heard the sound of something breaking.

He knew it was the sound of the bottleneck breaking, the level bottleneck that could only be overcome by attaching a soul ring.

As the bottleneck shattered, his soul power began to increase steadily: level ten, level eleven, level twelve, until it reached level thirteen. He felt light, refreshed, and invigorated.

The impact of the Burning Worms' soul power on his body had greatly weakened after he broke through the bottleneck.

After leveling up, he no longer felt any pain, only the pleasure of cultivation and improvement.

Seeing the purple soul rings around Liuxing and Liuying, Luan Yu, Ye Guyi, and Xu Tianzhen breathed a sigh of relief.

The most difficult moment had passed, and the two had clearly succeeded.

However, what puzzled them was that Liuxing and Liuying still hadn't released their martial soul possession. They remained seated in meditation.

"What's going on? Didn't they already succeed?" Ye Guyi asked, worried, looking at Luan Yu.

"Wait, it should be fine," Luan Yu replied, though she was also puzzled. Normally, absorbing a soul ring ended once it was successfully absorbed. Why hadn't Liuxing and Liuying awakened yet?

But she didn't dare to wake them abruptly, fearing something might go wrong. She could only wait patiently. The two didn't seem to be in any immediate danger.

Xu Tianzhen and Ye Guyi watched with concern, afraid that something might go wrong.

Meanwhile, Liuxing and Liuying felt something extraordinary. They sensed that they had become one, and the life-sharing ritual had activated once again.