Chapter 188: The Soul Hunt Begins, What Good Luck
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Out at sea
The four of them flew swiftly. Li Luochen led the group to the territory of the three beast kings, but there was no sign of the beasts themselves—only their lingering presence remained.
"What's going on? Where did they go?" Li Luochen muttered in confusion.
"Little Chen, at five o'clock," Dugu Bo spoke up.
Dugu Bo's spirit was a snake, and snakes were highly sensitive to scents, using them to track prey. A prime example of this was the King Cobra.
There were stories of people accidentally stumbling upon a King Cobra's eggs while hiking or searching for something in the mountains. Once the eggs were disturbed, the cobra would relentlessly pursue the offender for 15 to 30 kilometers to exact revenge.
Snakes were especially attuned to scent, and Dugu Bo's spirit—the Nine-Headed Celestial Snake King—was the supreme ruler among snakes, akin to the Dragon God's status among dragons.
Dugu Bo's tracking abilities were now exceptionally sharp. Upon arriving at this stretch of sea, he had already detected where the beast kings had departed from and the direction they had taken.
"Good. Let's go!"
The four of them flew toward the five o'clock direction. After about fifteen minutes, they spotted a small isolated island where a massive avian and a colossal dragon lay sleeping soundly.
Since Li Luochen's group hadn't concealed their presence, the two beast kings woke up immediately.
"Humans! Jiao Jiao, be careful," the Sea Azure Divine Eagle said gravely as it stared at the four distant figures.
"Sister Eagle, you be careful too." The Sea Thunder Dragon suddenly erupted with powerful lightning—it was ready for battle.
In an instant, the four figures landed on the island: one Title Douluo, two near-Title Douluos, and one Soul Douluo.
The two beast kings could sense the auras of the four humans. The green-armored middle-aged man exuded an overwhelming presence that made them tremble.
When the two beast kings saw Li Luochen, they were instantly enraged.
"Human! You! We should never have let you escape last time. Now you've brought stronger fighters to hunt us down!"
The Sea Azure Divine Eagle roared.
"Heh, you couldn't kill me then. Did you really think what I showed you last time was my full strength? I simply didn't want to waste three hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
Hmm? Where's that snake? It seems it's not here. What good luck!" Li Luochen sneered.
"AAAAHHH! Despicable humans! If only we'd paid the price and killed you back then!"
"Tsk, just as expected from wet-hatched, scaled beasts. Even after living for a hundred thousand years and gaining some semblance of intelligence, you're still foolish. Beasts are beasts. I don't wish to argue with you. Unenlightened beasts deserve to perish!"
After delivering his tirade, Li Luochen unleashed his spirit rings—four black, four red—shocking both beast kings and Yu Luomian.
Flender was already aware of Li Luochen's strength, so he remained expressionless. But Yu Luomian's jaw dropped wide enough to fit a bowl.
"Monster…." That was the only word Yu Luomian could think of.
"True Body of the Spirit! ×4"
Facing the two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, they unleashed their True Body forms head-on.
A Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon tens of meters tall, a Hurricane Owl with a wingspan of twenty meters and a body length of forty meters, and a crimson nine-headed serpent nearly a hundred meters long charged directly at the Sea Azure Divine Eagle.
Meanwhile, Li Luochen wielded his True Body-transformed Atlas Divine Dragon Staff and smashed it down onto the Sea Thunder Dragon.
Upon seeing the two beast kings, Li Luochen had already devised a plan. Dugu Bo, Flender, and Yu Luomian would handle the Sea Azure Divine Eagle, while he took on the Sea Thunder Dragon alone.
With Dugu Bo present, Flender and Yu Luomian were safe. Although the Sea Azure Divine Eagle boasted high attack power and speed, its defense was weak. Dugu Bo's poison was perfectly suited to subduing it.
Moreover, Dugu Bo's eighth soul skill, "Time Solidification," was a natural counter to the Sea Azure Divine Eagle's speed. Thus, Dugu Bo had the upper hand.
Not to mention, Dugu Bo possessed level 97 soul power, fully equipped with ten-thousand-year soul bones and one hundred-thousand-year soul ring. Who else could match such a configuration?
Yu Luomian was once again stunned by Dugu Bo's soul ring setup—two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red. Was this still the Dugu Bo he remembered?
"Roar! Despicable humans, how dare you use poison!"
Dugu Bo's toxic abilities had grown even stronger. He had already glimpsed his own path to the limit. At level 98, he planned to use the Snow Swan Kiss to enhance his Seven-Colored Poison Core, amplifying his toxins a hundredfold to break through to Limit Douluo.
Dugu Bo was undoubtedly the continent's foremost poison master. The thought of his seven-colored mixed poison was terrifying.
"Eighth Soul Skill, Time Solidification."
Dugu Bo activated Time Solidification, immobilizing the Sea Azure Divine Eagle. Flender and Yu Luomian seized the opportunity to unleash their eighth soul skills, dealing heavy damage to the Sea Azure Divine Eagle.
"Eighth Soul Skill, Heavenly Gale Hurricane!"
"Eighth Soul Skill, Dragon Ascension Thunderstorm!"
A green storm and a blue-purple thunder dragon surged toward the Sea Azure Divine Eagle's body. Its defenses were already low, and with the added effect of poisoning, its resistance plummeted further. This round of attacks left it critically wounded.
"Flender, prepare to gather momentum. My second brother and I will hold it off while you deliver a decisive strike to pierce its throat!"
Dugu Bo transmitted his plan to Flender.
Flender hovered in the air, gathering energy. With his fully equipped soul bones, Flender's combat power rivaled that of a Title Douluo. During this time, he had developed a new self-created soul skill specifically designed for one-hit kills.
"Ninth Soul Skill, Serpent King Heaven-Cracking Strike!"
The heads of the Nine-Headed Celestial Snake King unleashed intense beams of poisonous soul power with immense penetration and destructive force, piercing through the Sea Azure Divine Eagle's feathered defenses.
Dugu Bo also employed the Infinite Venom Python soul bone skill, doubling his poison's potency and corrosive effects. The Sea Azure Divine Eagle's sword-like feathers were completely corroded away.
"Divine Eagle Pierce!"
Flender transformed into a streak of green light, piercing straight through the Sea Azure Divine Eagle's throat. As it died, the eagle cast one final glance at the heavily wounded Sea Thunder Dragon under Li Luochen's assault, passing away with regret.
A scarlet-red soul ring emerged, marking the fall of the flying beast king, the Sea Azure Divine Eagle.
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On the other side, the Sea Thunder Dragon, beaten back repeatedly by Li Luochen, witnessed its eldest sister's demise and went berserk!
"AAAAHHH! Wretched humans! You shall die!"
The Sea Thunder Dragon erupted with lightning, entering a state of explosive power. Originally possessing strength equivalent to level 96, it now reached level 97.
(Being at sea gave it a geographical advantage—level 96 was reasonable! The Sea Thunder Dragon was the strongest and most balanced of the three.)
"Hmph! Can this wretch really mount a last-ditch counterattack? Elder Yu, get ready!"
Li Luochen reminded Yu Luomian to seize the opportunity.
"Six Forms of Battle, Move Mountains and Fill Seas! Staff Intent, Battle Heaven and Earth!"
Li Luochen condensed his essence, energy, and spirit into his staff, unleashing a devastating blow in his True Body form.
The Sea Thunder Dragon tried to resist desperately, but the dragon aura emanating from Li Luochen's Golden Dragon torso bone suppressed it, rendering it unable to exert its full strength.
BOOM!
The Sea Thunder Dragon's head cracked open under the crushing blow, leaving it on the brink of death.
"Eighth Soul Skill, Dragon Ascension Thunderstorm!"
Yu Luomian remained in his True Body form, having observed the Sea Thunder Dragon's condition closely. He delivered the final blow.
The Sea Thunder Dragon fell!
A scarlet-red hundred-thousand-year soul ring emerged. Yu Luomian gazed at it, his eyes gleaming with fervor.
After receiving Li Luochen's nod, he began absorbing the soul ring. Meanwhile, Flender had already started absorbing the soul ring from the Sea Azure Divine Eagle's corpse.
The surge of a hundred-thousand-year soul ring was somewhat overwhelming, but he could handle it.
As Yu Luomian began absorbing the soul ring, Li Luochen started extracting the Sea Thunder Dragon's soul bones. Soon, a blue-purple soul bone appeared in his hand.
"Hmm, a left arm bone—what good luck! This can replace Yanzi's current one. This soul bone's attributes suit her perfectly. That Black Mamba left arm bone can finally retire."
Li Luochen was pleased with this left arm bone. With his Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone, he could easily help others replace their soul bones.
Dugu Yan already possessed head, right arm, and leg soul bones at the hundred-thousand-year level. Li Luochen had always disliked her current left arm bone, and now it could finally be replaced.
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