Third Soul Ring

After some dinner they slept in tents and the night passed without incident.

At dawn, as Liuxing awoke from his sleep, Liuying and Luan Yu had already prepared breakfast.

The morning sunlight filtered through the dense forest, casting scattered golden spots on the ground, bringing a warm and cozy feeling to the body.

Liuxing rubbed his sleepy eyes, stretched lazily, and stared blankly at his surroundings for a long moment before gradually waking up.

"You're awake. Have some porridge."

Liuying handed a bowl of plain porridge to Liuxing.

Today, Liuying looked especially radiant. Her delicate face had a faint pink blush, making her appear irresistibly sweet, like the juiciest and most delectable peach, tempting one to take a bite.

After breakfast, the three of them set off on foot toward the Jingyang Mountain Range.

Luan Yu also activated a detection soul tool to search for suitable soul beasts.

This time, both Liuxing and Liuying needed to find two fire-attribute soul beasts with around eight thousand years of cultivation—destruction-attribute ones would be even better.

Of course, destruction-attribute soul beasts were exceedingly rare, so finding one would depend on luck.

After all, they couldn't delay their cultivation breakthroughs just for the sake of obtaining destruction-attribute soul rings, that would be a loss rather than a gain.

Even if they didn't obtain a destruction-attribute soul skill, Liuxing and Liuying already had ways to utilize the destruction attribute.

They had been experimenting with creating destruction-attribute soul skills, though they had yet to succeed. But the future held promise.

After crossing several hills, the trio had already ventured deep into the core region of the Jingyang Mountain Range.

"Boom—!"

A massive black serpent, its scales glowing like flowing lava, resembling molten magma coursing through its body, opened its bloodthirsty maw.

Two razor-sharp fangs flickered with red flames as it spewed a pillar of fire at Liuxing, who was already in his Martial Soul Possession state in midair.

In an instant, Liuxing was engulfed by the fire pillar.

On the other side, Liuying, also in her Martial Soul Possession state, sent an even larger serpent crashing into the magma below with a single powerful punch.

Standing on a raised platform, Luan Yu observed their battle with a satisfied expression.

Half an hour earlier, her detection soul tool had pinpointed this underground magma pool deep within the volcano, revealing the presence of two Blazing Flame Spirit Pythons.

Blazing Flame Spirit Pythons were fire-attribute soul beasts that typically resided within magma.

They could consume flames and even summon heavenly fire to create seas of molten rock.

Of course, ordinary Blazing Flame Spirit Pythons couldn't achieve such feats, only those that had cultivated for at least a hundred thousand years could do so.

These two Blazing Flame Spirit Pythons, one male and one female, were formidable. Judging from the flame patterns on the female python, it was likely just a step away from breaking through to the ten-thousand-year level.

At this moment, it was being completely overpowered by Liuying.

This was already the umpteenth time she had sent the female python crashing into the magma.

As for the weaker male python, which had cultivated for only around eight thousand years, it was currently locked in combat with Liuxing.

Normally, given their cultivation levels, even a Soul Ancestor-level human would struggle against these two beasts.

However, they were now being suppressed by Liuxing and Liuying.

Liuxing and Liuying were no ordinary Soul Elders.

Their Molten Fire Knight Martial Soul granted them immense offensive and defensive power, flight capabilities, and impressive speed.

Their attack, defense, and mobility were all top-tier. Additionally, their Ultimate Fire attribute had a natural advantage against fire-attribute soul beasts.

The suppression of the Blazing Flame Spirit Pythons was entirely within Luan Yu's expectations.

Unlike other soul masters who were typically classified into Power Attack, Control, Defense, Agility, or Support types, Liuxing and Liuying were true all-rounders, six-sided warriors.

"Boom!"

Liuxing burst out from the flames, his silver-white armor completely unscathed. Carrying the momentum of his descent, he plummeted from the sky with earth-shattering force.

The sheer impact sent the Blazing Flame Spirit Python tumbling backward, rolling across the ground.

Like a silver-white bolt of lightning, Liuxing stepped forward, his legs jetting out scorching flames.

His foot, now a blazing fireball, struck the python's head with immense force.

The python's entire body was sent hurtling toward the ground by the terrifying impact.

Yet Liuxing didn't stop. With his right hand shaped into a sword, he unleashed wave after wave of fiery sword energy, slashing at the python.

The python's scales shattered, blood sprayed into the air, only to be instantly evaporated by the intense heat.

The wounded python let out a miserable roar, but Liuxing showed no mercy.

His figure blurred into afterimages, dodging the incoming fireballs like a phantom.

In the next instant, he hammered his fists into the python's body, producing deafening explosions.

The Blazing Flame Spirit Python was utterly crushed, its body exploding midair like a flaming blossom.

Blood and fire intertwined, dyeing the battlefield in crimson.

The python's dying screams echoed through the heavens, before gradually fading into nothingness.

At the same time, a sharp cry of agony resounded from the other side.

A massive black serpent, its body battered and tattered, was flung through the air, crashing toward Liuxing.

Liuxing chuckled lightly and kicked the near-dead python toward its mate.

After all, he was a kind person, husband and wife should face death together.

In their next life, he hoped they could be reunited.

"Boom!"

Liuying descended from the sky, landing directly on the python's skull.

The light in its vertical pupils instantly extinguished, and a dark purple soul ring slowly emerged from its lifeless body.

Nearby, the male python took its final breath, and a brilliant purple soul ring began to manifest.

Luan Yu's eyelids twitched. She muttered in her heart, "These two brats… why are they so violent?"

Encased in red and green flames, Liuxing and Liuying released their Martial Soul Possession states.

"Hurry up," Luan Yu said. "I'll guard you."

Sitting on the platform, her long legs in blue high heels swayed in the air, reflecting her good mood.

The two brats had grown, they no longer needed her help to hunt soul beasts.

Liuxing and Liuying exchanged a glance, nodding at each other before approaching their respective fallen prey to absorb the soul rings.

This time, they were absorbing a 9,000-year and an 8,000-year soul ring.

Thanks to their Life Sharing Ceremony, both rings would evolve into ten-thousand-year soul rings.

They no longer intended to keep it a secret from Luan Yu.

After all, she had witnessed them slaying these soul beasts firsthand, she knew exactly how old they were.

There was no way to hide their black soul rings.

Unlike their previous soul rings, where the color change could be concealed, the sudden appearance of black rings for their third soul rings was impossible to explain away.

Besides, Luan Yu was someone they could trust. It was time to let her in on a little secret.

As the two began absorbing their soul rings, Luan Yu's expression grew more and more peculiar.