The power of the Thunder God's Spear and Destruction Spear instantly surged.
The Forest of Thunder, amplified by both, rose dramatically in might.
It was filled with an intense aura of destruction. The attributes of extreme thunder and destruction naturally had an extremely strong suppressive effect on plant-type soul beasts. Even a plant-type soul beast like Infernal Delicate Apricot, who possessed a cultivation of a hundred thousand years, was no exception.
The two intertwined thunderbolts instantly shattered the fiery red protective shield that Infernal Delicate Apricot had condensed. The red light flickering on her body dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and strands of snake-like electric arcs danced across her main body.
After this clash, her origin had already suffered severe damage, and she could no longer contend with Xu Zihuang.
Ye Guyi looked at Xu Zihuang in surprise. They were both weapon-type soul skills, yet Xu Zihuang's Thunder God's Spear and Destruction Spear were far stronger than her Angel Holy Sword. But this was also understandable, after all, the Annihilation God Spear, from which the Thunder God's Spear and Destruction Spear were differentiated, was a hundred-thousand-year-level soul skill.
Normally, a hundred-thousand-year soul ring would grant a soul master two soul skills. However, in the rare case where a hundred-thousand-year soul ring only grants one soul skill, that single soul skill would be abnormally powerful.
The reasoning is not difficult to understand. When a hundred-thousand-year soul ring carries two soul skills, the power of the ring is somewhat divided. But a skill like the Annihilation God Spear, the only soul skill attached to Xu Zihuang's first soul ring of the Purple Inferno Thunder Prison Dragon martial soul, is the purest and most powerful kind of existence.
However, if given the choice, the vast majority of soul masters would probably still choose the former option. After all, not everyone is like Xu Zihuang, possessing twin martial souls and never lacking soul skills.
By now, the number of soul skills Xu Zihuang possessed had unknowingly reached as many as twelve. And this did not even include the ability of the gold-silver scale-shaped external soul bone at his brow to condense heaven and earth origin energy, nor the soul skills controlled by his hundred-thousand-year Thunder Prison Vine spirit itself, the Thunder God's Whip.
But for ordinary soul masters, one more soul skill means one more advantage.
None of the three, Qiluo Tulip, Aromatic Silk Beauty, or Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, went to rescue Infernal Delicate Apricot.
Aromatic Silk Beauty and Qiluo Tulip were not good at combat and did not react in time. The closest one, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, knew full well that he was no match for Xu Zihuang. His overall strength was roughly on par with Infernal Delicate Apricot. Since even she could not withstand Xu Zihuang's soul skill, the result would be the same for him.
Ever since they developed intelligence and cultivated to the hundred-thousand-year level, this was the first time they truly felt the powerlessness of not even being able to control their own fate.
The Thunder God's Spear and Destruction Spear dissipated from Xu Zihuang's hands, and the single blood-red soul ring beside him also vanished. In its place appeared six soul rings, five black and one red.
The blood-red sixth soul ring shone brightly. Sixteen golden-silver tentacles, each more than a hundred meters long, drilled out from the void. The strange golden patterns engraved on the tentacles flickered with light, and the terrifying, soul-shattering power contained within caused all the plant-type soul beasts in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to shrink back in fear.
Two of the tentacles wrapped around Infernal Delicate Apricot's main body and simply snapped her off at the root, placing her on the shore.
Xu Zihuang had consecutively used three hundred-thousand-year soul skills, completely and dominantly crushing Infernal Delicate Apricot.
Where was the slightest trace of the arrogance she had shown when she first met Xu Zihuang? She could clearly feel her origin power rapidly declining. As a plant-type soul beast, even with a hundred-thousand-year cultivation, having her main root snapped was an irreversible wound.
"You You…" Infernal Delicate Apricot called pitifully toward Aromatic Silk Beauty. Her extremely weak voice was filled with hope.
Among the four hundred-thousand-year plant-type soul beasts, she had the closest relationship with Aromatic Silk Beauty.
The large pink flower of Aromatic Silk Beauty was still in full bloom. Although it had lost the Qiluo Heart, the fresh fragrance it released had only become slightly fainter. Seeing Infernal Delicate Apricot in such a miserable state, she also felt a sense of "the fox mourns the death of the hare."
But when one's own life was threatened, even the deepest sisterly bond became meaningless.
Aromatic Silk Beauty continued to remain silent. Out of shame and reluctance, she kept finding excuses in her heart to justify herself.
"Wuwu, I'm sorry, A'Jiao. I'm really not good at fighting… I can't help you…"
Infernal Delicate Apricot fell into complete despair. As the saying goes, nothing is more sorrowful than a heart that has died. Even her best friend was unwilling to help her; she no longer held any hope for Qiluo Tulip or Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass either.
Soon, her sea of consciousness was invaded by the soul-shaking power carried by the Touch of Souls, and her awareness began to blur. In her final moments, she didn't even hear a single word spoken on her behalf by any of the plant-type soul beasts in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Amid her self-mockery, a thick resentment grew in her heart.
At that moment, a longsword as clear as golden crystal pierced straight through Infernal Delicate Apricot's body.
It was Ye Guyi, holding the radiance of the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword, who had stepped forward to deliver the final blow and end Infernal Delicate Apricot's life.
Xu Zihuang casually took out the Fiery Gel that had floated out from the heart of Infernal Delicate Apricot's flower. It was a piece of fiery-red translucent gelatinous substance. Even though Xu Zihuang had wrapped it with the soul power of the extreme thunder attribute, the heat radiating from it still caused the surrounding space to faintly distort. One could imagine just how astonishing the heat contained within it truly was.
Infernal Delicate Apricot's main body began to collapse, then shattered like exploding crystal, turning into countless brilliant, fiery-red specks of light that dissipated. All that remained was a strange blood-red soul ring floating in midair.
At the center of that soul ring was a peculiar soul bone emitting scorching heat. It was a left arm soul bone, entirely a deep crystalline red, close to the color of red crystal.
Unlike soul bones produced by animal-type soul beasts, this left arm soul bone was engraved with gorgeous floral patterns, somewhat resembling the appearance of Infernal Delicate Apricot's main body. But upon closer inspection, the patterns looked more like a red lotus.
A red lotus growing in the midst of purgatory.
Xu Zihuang nodded toward Ye Guyi.
"Sister Lingyi, begin."
"Mm." Ye Guyi did not hesitate. She immediately sat cross-legged beside Xu Zihuang, released her Sacred Angel martial soul, and used her soul power to guide the blood-red hundred-thousand-year soul ring toward fusion with herself.
Back when Xu Zihuang absorbed the hundred-thousand-year pure mental-type Evil Eye Tyrant's soul ring and soul bone, due to its special nature, he could fuse with the soul bone first before absorbing the ring.
But Ye Guyi had no such choice. Although Infernal Delicate Apricot was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, the soul ring could only remain for one hour. She had to absorb the soul ring first.
After consuming that stalk of hundred-thousand-year Yearning Heartbroken Red, Ye Guyi's physical condition had improved dramatically. Moreover, the Yearning Heartbroken Red was the emperor among immortal herbs. The soul resentment of Infernal Delicate Apricot could not affect Ye Guyi in the slightest.
A golden-red glow belonging to the Yearning Heartbroken Red enveloped Ye Guyi's body, firmly suppressing Infernal Delicate Apricot's soul resentment. Her physical strength was more than sufficient to withstand the impact of the hundred-thousand-year soul ring's power. The entire process was extremely smooth.
However, completing the absorption would still take several days. After all, this was a hundred-thousand-year-level soul ring.
Xu Zihuang did not put away the left arm soul bone that Infernal Delicate Apricot had dropped. He allowed it to float in front of the two of them.
At the same time, right in front of Aromatic Silk Beauty, Qiluo Tulip, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, and the other plant-type soul beasts, he used the power of extreme thunder to gradually refine the Fiery Gel into a diamond-shaped crystal that perfectly matched the radiance of the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword.
"Infernal Delicate Apricot's root is still there. Given the special environment of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, she should be able to be reborn here again before long."
Xu Zihuang's words struck directly at the hearts of Qiluo Tulip and the others.
As long as the root remained, Infernal Delicate Apricot could eventually be reborn. She had not truly fallen. Of course, her hundred-thousand years of cultivation would be lost. After rebirth, she would have to start all over again.
The reason they had not helped Infernal Delicate Apricot, aside from fearing Xu Zihuang's overwhelming personal strength and being powerless to do anything, was largely because of this.
Qiluo Tulip increasingly could not see through this human before him. With bitterness and confusion, he asked,
"Why are you so familiar with the situation of our Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?"
"As far as I know, the first person to discover the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well should have been Dugu Bo. The person you keep mentioning was merely occupying a magpie's nest."
Xu Zihuang gave a light laugh. A trace of mockery appeared in his deep purple eyes.
"Dugu Bo was already a Title Douluo-level powerhouse ten thousand years ago. Why did you think he never told his descendants about this place?"
"You are Dugu Bo's descendant?!" Aromatic Silk Beauty let out a terrified shriek, her reaction exceptionally intense.
Then she suddenly realized something and quickly shut her mouth. But Xu Zihuang could clearly sense that Aromatic Silk Beauty's fear had not decreased; it had actually grown stronger.
Xu Zihuang frowned slightly. His gaze became deep as he looked toward Aromatic Silk Beauty. His material and immaterial spiritual power instantly suppressed the three hundred-thousand-year plant-type soul beasts across from him.
"Although I am not Dugu Bo's descendant, there is indeed some connection between my origin and his. It seems you are still hiding some things, and those things are related to Dugu Bo. I'll give you a chance to confess."
Aromatic Silk Beauty was so anxious she was about to cry. Why did she have to run her mouth like that?
She shook her body pleadingly, turning toward Qiluo Tulip and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
"Qi luo, Ba Jiao, I…"
Qiluo Tulip was completely speechless. He inwardly cursed Aromatic Silk Beauty as a troublemaker. First, she caused Infernal Delicate Apricot to lose her physical body to Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi, and now she had dragged that other matter into it.
He really didn't want to clean up her mess anymore.
At that moment, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass suddenly spoke.
"I'll explain it."
Although Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's voice carried the same icy coldness as his main body's attribute, it was a very honest and straightforward young man's tone. The contrast between the two was extremely distinct.
Aromatic Silk Beauty trembled even more violently. If Xu Zihuang had any connection to Dugu Bo and learned about that matter, his impression of her would surely become even worse. But she didn't dare stop Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass in front of Xu Zihuang.
Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass saw things far more clearly than Aromatic Silk Beauty and Qiluo Tulip. Without holding anything back, he began to explain.
"I believe that on your way here to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, you must have seen those large expanses of Jade Phosphorus Seven Deadly Flowers and Jade Phosphorus Nine Deadly Flowers, right?"
"Mm." Xu Zihuang gave a slight nod. In his memories from his previous life, this Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass had always been the sharpest-eyed among them. It seemed that compared to the other plant-type soul beasts, he really was different.
Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass paused for a moment before continuing.
"Then with your insight, you should also know that the conditions required for such large fields of Jade Phosphorus Seven Deadly Flowers and Jade Phosphorus Nine Deadly Flowers to grow are extremely harsh. In truth… those flowers were cultivated by us."
Xu Zihuang was not surprised by this hidden truth. He had already guessed as much long ago. The distribution of those Jade Phosphorus Seven Deadly Flowers and Jade Phosphorus Nine Deadly Flowers was far too regular. Only deliberate human guidance could produce such a pattern.
But when he heard Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's next words, Xu Zihuang's gaze instantly froze.
"The raw material used to cultivate those Jade Phosphorus Seven Deadly Flowers and Jade Phosphorus Nine Deadly Flowers… was Dugu Bo's corpse. Ten thousand years ago, Dugu Bo's Title was Poison; he was also known as the Jade Phosphorous Douluo. He cultivated poison techniques his entire life, and his body had long been corroded by the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison. At the moment of his death, he carved out a sealed secret chamber deep underground near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, precisely to prevent the corpse he left behind from harming the living beings of the continent. Later, the chamber was broken open by You You. You You's main body is Aromatic Silk Beauty, which can resist all poisons. She guided the remaining Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison left in Dugu Bo's body to give birth to those Jade Phosphorus Seven Deadly Flowers and Jade Phosphorus Nine Deadly Flowers."
"Truly, birds of a feather flock together." Xu Zihuang gave a mocking smile. During this time, the Fiery Gel from Infernal Delicate Apricot had already been refined into shape. He gripped the radiance of the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword in his left hand and embedded the diamond-shaped crimson crystal into the groove on the hilt.
Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass seemed somewhat interested in Xu Zihuang's words and asked in confusion,
"What does 'birds of a feather flock together' mean?"
Xu Zihuang swung the radiance of the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword without answering Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's question. After pouring soul power into it, the crimson crystal in the groove of the hilt was instantly activated. The originally golden-crystal-like blade was immediately covered in a thick layer of crimson-red light.
"This is… extreme firepower?!" Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass felt the scorching aura, and his heart was filled with shock and doubt.
Had human weapons actually developed to this extent?
Xu Zihuang pointed the sword tip diagonally, directly at Aromatic Silk Beauty across from him.
"Wuwuwu, don't kill me! My attribute isn't suitable for you, I'm useless to you!"
Under the pull of the killing intent, Aromatic Silk Beauty could no longer withstand the pressure and completely broke down mentally.
The tragic example of Infernal Delicate Apricot was still right there in front of her. She absolutely did not want to die.
"It's my fault, wuwuwu, I'll give you that soul bone too, please don't kill me, okay?!"
Wrapped in magnificent purple light, a head soul bone broke out of the ground in front of Aromatic Silk Beauty.
This head soul bone was a strange gray-black color, much larger than ordinary head soul bones. Gray-black streams of air swirled around its surface like twisted, writhing serpentine strands of long hair spreading out menacingly.
The eye sockets were suffused with blood-red light, like two abysses of blood.
When Xu Zihuang's gaze fell upon those two blood-colored abysses, even his soul power momentarily stagnated.
"This is… a head soul bone from Medusa, the empress of snakes, that top-tier snake-type soul beast?"
He knew that Dugu Bo possessed such a head soul bone, and its quality was quite good. But the quality of the head soul bone before him far exceeded his imagination. It was probably something Dugu Bo obtained when hunting for his eighth or ninth soul ring.
Xu Zihuang couldn't help but complain inwardly.
With such a powerful soul bone, how in the world did Dugu Bo manage to be at the bottom among the Title Douluo?
Aromatic Silk Beauty nodded frantically in a very human-like manner.
"Yes, yes! This is the soul bone he left behind. Back then, Xiang Xiang and I carefully examined it. This soul bone came from a Medusa with roughly seventy-thousand years of cultivation. We spent a lot of effort to separate the remaining Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison from inside the soul bone. Our original plan was to leave this soul bone for any companion who failed their tribulation and had to restart cultivation as a human, so they would at least have some ability to protect themselves."
"I'm giving it to you now. Can you please not kill me? Wuwuwu—"
As she spoke, Aromatic Silk Beauty sent the head soul bone over to Xu Zihuang.
In just a short moment, Xu Zihuang confirmed that the soul skill attached to this soul bone had already been solidified; it was the strongest soul skill of the Medusa clan: Medusa's Gaze.
A terrifying soul skill capable of petrifying all physical entities and even energy bodies.
Xu Zihuang guided the head soul bone and the left arm soul bone dropped by Infernal Delicate Apricot to maintain the same rhythm in midair. Then he revealed a gentle smile.
"I already said that the grievances between us have been temporarily settled. After this, I will not act against you again. I will only take what I need from here. Of course… if you try to stop me, that will be another matter entirely."
As for the head soul bone from the seventy-thousand-year Medusa, it had become an unexpected bonus.
"Take whatever you want! If you don't know how to pick or use some of the immortal herbs, you can ask me anytime." Aromatic Silk Beauty's heart leaped with joy. She finally let out a long breath of relief.
As long as they didn't kill her, who cared about anything else?
She had always been quick to adapt to the wind and sell out her friends when necessary. These words had undoubtedly offended every plant-type soul beast present. But given her cultivation and Xu Zihuang's terrifying presence, none of them dared show any dissatisfaction.
Xu Zihuang no longer paid attention to Aromatic Silk Beauty. He sat cross-legged not far from Ye Guyi, took out the Qiluo Heart from his storage soul guide device, and began preparing to turn it into a pendant that could be worn close to the body during this period of time.
The Qiluo Heart could detoxify all poisons. Although he himself did not need it, he could give it to Ye Guyi, Ning Tian, and Ju Zi to use.
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