It was night.
The world was silent beneath a sky littered with stars. The Milky Way hung overhead, and meteors dragged long silver tails as they fell toward the vast and unknown Star Dou Great Forest.
Ye Tianxing sat in his tent, fully immersed in his cultivation. His spiritual skull activated, unleashing a wave of spiritual power. Every detail of the surrounding terrain was vividly painted in his mind.
Outside, Qianjun Douluo, Demon Bear Douluo, and Ghost Leopard Douluo sat cross-legged, eyes closed in meditation—but their senses remained razor-sharp, alert for any sign of danger.
"Soul beasts are hard to find," Ye Tianxing muttered, hands behind his head as he stared at the tent ceiling. "And even harder to kill. In a forest this massive, trying to find a suitable one feels like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Qianjun Douluo chuckled. "Patience, Tianxing. A fitting soul beast will reveal itself in time."
"I know, I know," Tianxing grumbled. "Still..."
He poked his head out of the tent and looked at the three Titled Douluo. "The forest is huge. Finding the right beast isn't easy, even with you guys around."
All three laughed in response. They'd been through this struggle countless times before. Some soul masters had to stay in the forest for a month or more, hoping to find a beast with compatible attributes.
BOOM!
A thunderclap shattered the stillness of the night.
Ye Tianxing shot out of the tent. Having spent so long tempering his body with lightning, he was acutely attuned to changes in natural thunder. This one—this one was different. Stronger. Wilder.
"Good," Qianjun Douluo muttered. "Natural lightning strong enough to trigger a soul beast's breakthrough..."
He narrowed his eyes. "That beast…!"
Demon Bear Douluo's eyes lit up. "Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear?!"
Though his martial spirit wasn't directly related, he recognized the creature immediately—they were both brute force soul beasts.
"Rare and terrifying," Ghost Leopard Douluo added. "They say a thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear can rival ten-thousand-year soul beasts. This one… is at the critical threshold. A 999-year-old monster ready to break through!"
Before they could say more, the twang of a bowstring echoed through the night.
Ye Tianxing had already drawn his Ice Bow, forming an arrow of pure ice. Without hesitation, he fired.
Swoosh!
The arrow struck the bear's left claw, instantly freezing it. Crackling ice spread up its arm, slowing its movements.
The Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear roared in fury and locked eyes with its attacker—a child?
Despite the three terrifying men beside him, the bear saw only Ye Tianxing as the real threat. He was the one who struck. And though the others could kill it, they hadn't yet.
More arrows—this time blazing with flames and lightning—rained down. The bear howled in pain, charging through the forest with thunder roaring around it.
Trees snapped. The earth trembled.
It raised a paw as thick as a boulder and slammed it down where Ye Tianxing had just stood.
But—
Clang!
The Azure Dragon Sword pierced its right claw, blood splashing like a red fountain.
That claw—those claws were the pride of the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear. As sharp as golden blades, able to cleave mountains and crush skulls. And now, one was wounded by a child's sword.
Panic struck the beast.
Retreat! Its instincts screamed.
But Ye Tianxing wasn't letting it go.
"Trying to run? Not happening!"
He raised his bow again, unleashing a storm of arrows that tore into the bear's retreating body.
"Let's follow him," Qianjun Douluo said calmly, motioning for the others. The trio tailed Ye Tianxing with ease, quietly impressed.
"To force a 999-year-old Terror Claw Bear to flee… this kid's something else."
The bear wasn't giving up just yet.
Lightning surged from its body. It stopped running, turned back, and stared down Ye Tianxing with blazing red eyes.
"Roar!!"
It howled, channeling the energy of the heavens. The skies above churned—lightning was coming.
"Oh? Are you going to play the thunder game with me?" Ye Tianxing's eyes sparkled. "Let's see who wins."
The bear charged.
Ye Tianxing calmly nocked his sword on his dead wood bow like an arrow.
TWANG!
The Azure Dragon Sword screamed through the air, slicing cleanly through the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear, splitting it in two.
Blood splattered across the forest floor.
Before him, a bright yellow soul ring shimmered in the air, purple lines beginning to twist through it—mutation triggered by the beast's nearing evolution.
Above, thunder rolled once more.
Ye Tianxing didn't move.
He sat cross-legged, the Azure Dragon Sword on his lap and the dead wood bow on his back, and waited.
The lightning struck.
One bolt after another hammered down, some hitting his body, others striking the soul ring. Yet he remained motionless.
The three Titled Douluo watched with tense expressions.
"Absorbing a soul ring while under a thunderstorm… is he insane?" Ghost Leopard Douluo whispered.
"More than that," Qianjun said quietly. "He's rewriting the rules."
Thunder roared.
Ye Tianxing's eyes tightened slightly, his brows furrowing with each impact—but he didn't break.
The soul ring glowed brighter, its yellow hue fading as purple magic lines consumed it. The thunder refined it. Evolved it.
He wasn't just absorbing a 999-year-old soul ring.
He was transforming it into a true thousand-year soul ring—under the heavens' judgment.
Clothes torn away, his upper body revealed a frame smooth like jade, glowing with latent power. For a boy his age, the pressure he exuded was monstrous.
Qianjun Douluo's lips curved into a smile.
"We picked up a treasure."