"Sacrifice?!"
Hearing this human's words, the Titan Giant Ape first stared in disbelief for a moment, then roared with immense fury: "Despicable!"
"Despicable?"
Lin Mu let out a scornful laugh, his face filled with mockery. "When you attacked us just now, every move was fatal. Did you ever think of holding back? If I weren't so fast, I'd already be a corpse under your fist."
"The relationship between soul masters and soul beasts has always been one where the strong prey on the weak. You've lived for a hundred thousand years, yet you're still this naive. Do you expect me to reason with you?"
Hearing this, the Titan Giant Ape was instantly rendered speechless.
It couldn't be denied that what this human said held some truth. In the Star Dou Great Forest, the law of the jungle was the only law.
Moreover, they did not belong to the same race, so naturally, concepts like benevolence and morality didn't apply.
If it hadn't made a mistake, perhaps this human wouldn't have set his sights on Sister Xiao Wu.
Thinking back to the long years they had spent together, a look of pain and struggle flashed in the Titan Giant Ape's eyes, ultimately transforming into a long, deep sigh filled with helplessness and finality.
It turned around, gazing deeply in the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest's core area, as if looking through the endless trees to bid farewell to the Sky Azure Bull Python in the Life Lake.
"Big brother... for Sister Xiao Wu... I can only do this."
The Titan Giant Ape murmured, then lowered its head to look at Lin Mu, saying, "Swear on your martial soul that you will never lay a hand on Sister Xiao Wu."
"I swear on my martial soul: as long as you perform the sacrifice for me, I will never act against Xiao Wu in my entire life. If I violate this oath, may heaven strike me down."
Seeing the Titan Giant Ape agree to the sacrifice, the corners of Lin Mu's mouth couldn't help but curl upward.
Originally, he had thought absorbing a fifty-thousand-year soul ring would be a good outcome. He never expected to land a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, and even get a bonus hundred-thousand-year soul bone as a gift.
Luckily, this Titan Giant Ape wasn't very bright. If it were the Sky Azure Bull Python, things probably wouldn't have gone so smoothly.
"Sister Xiao Wu... this is all I can do for you."
As soon as the words fell, an overwhelmingly vast, majestic, and soul-trembling energy erupted from within the Titan Giant Ape's body!
Dazzling yellow-brown light shot into the sky, completely enveloping its massive form.
Within the radiance, immense life energy and soul power surged toward Lin Mu like a hundred rivers converging into the sea.
Immediately after, an incredibly profound, crimson soul ring, bearing the unique pressure of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, slowly coalesced within the light.
"Er Ming!!!"
At the same moment, in the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, within the Life Lake, a massive bull head suddenly emerged from the water's surface. It was the hundred-thousand-year soul beast, the Sky Azure Bull Python.
Sensing this all-too-familiar energy fluctuation, the Sky Azure Bull Python's eyes were filled with disbelief.
"How is this possible?!"
The Sky Azure Bull Python couldn't recover from the shock for a long time. Er Ming went to look for Sister Xiao Wu, how did it end up in a situation where it had to perform a sacrifice?
Even if it encountered a life-threatening danger, with Er Ming's personality, it would rather fight to a mutual standstill than choose sacrifice. What on earth happened?
"ROAR!!!"
Gazing at the all-too-familiar energy fluctuation in the air, immense grief welled up within the Sky Azure Bull Python. It let out a heart-wrenching roar, the sound waves sweeping through the entire core area, its powerful aura pressing countless soul beasts to the ground.
Elsewhere, Tang San was fleeing at full speed while holding Xiao Wu in his arms.
After taking the pill his master gave him, most of the poison at Xiao Wu's wound site had been neutralized. The swelling had also reduced somewhat, and her breathing gradually stabilized.
Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, as if she was about to wake up.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. For no reason, her heart contracted violently, an indescribable, wrenching pain instantly spreading throughout her entire body, as if she had lost something important.
"Xiao Wu? What's wrong? Are you still uncomfortable somewhere?"
Tang San, noticing her unusual state, hastily stopped and asked with concern.
Xiao Wu shook her head blankly, clutching her chest. That inexplicable sorrow left her unable to speak. She simply stared blankly back in the direction of the forest depths.
At the same time, Lin Mu sat cross-legged on the ground, using his will to guide that hundred-thousand-year soul ring as it slowly descended toward him.
In an instant, the terrifying energy contained within the hundred-thousand-year cultivation erupted into his limbs and bones like a volcanic explosion.
"Ugh!!"
Lin Mu grunted, his body violently shuddering.
He had still underestimated the energy contained within a hundred-thousand-year soul ring. Even with the Titan Giant Ape's voluntary sacrifice, it was extremely difficult to withstand all of that energy.
At this critical moment, an incredibly solid, lifelike, gigantic phantom figure soared into the sky from behind Lin Mu. It had a dragon's head, a qilin's body, and its entire form was covered in blazing flames.
It was the divine beast, the Fire Qilin!
Gradually, the flames surrounding Lin Mu transformed into Qilin Fire. A domain quietly formed, and his physical constitution received a comprehensive enhancement.
Through this unexpected turn of events, his martial soul used this opportunity to complete a transformation.
Right then, the soul power within Lin Mu's body began to surge at an astonishing, frenzied rate!
Level 71, Level 72, Level 73...
A vibrant, crimson soul ring, looking as if it could drip blood, completely solidified, circling around Lin Mu. It appeared exceptionally dazzling and radiated a suffocatingly powerful pressure.
"Finally, danger averted."
After absorbing the soul ring, Lin Mu only felt an unprecedented comfort in his body. His soul power was far more vast than before.
But it wasn't over yet. Lin Mu's gaze fell upon the Titan Giant Ape's corpse, where he soon discovered a left arm bone faintly shimmering with a yellow-brown light.
"I almost forgot about this treasure."
Lin Mu used his soul power to draw it to him, taking the left arm soul bone from the Titan Giant Ape. He slowly brought it close to his own left arm.
As if summoned, the soul bone instantly transformed into a stream of light and merged into his left arm.
Now that he had already absorbed the Titan Giant Ape's soul ring, fusing with the soul bone naturally encountered not the slightest rejection. The fusion process proceeded very smoothly.
Under the impact of the soul bone's energy, his soul power bottleneck broke through once again, leaping directly to Level 75!
"This feeling is incredible!"
Lin Mu let out a long exhale, sensing the soul power within him that far exceeded his previous state, as well as the terrifying strength contained within his left arm. A surge of heroic spirit welled up in his heart.
Now, with this hundred-thousand-year soul ring and hundred-thousand-year soul bone, he truly possessed strength comparable to a Title Douluo.
Combined with the extremely high parameters of the Kushala Daora armor, even if he encountered a Super Douluo, he could easily escape.
Lin Mu slowly stood up, looking at the already darkening sky, muttering to himself, "Absorbing the soul ring actually took such a long time..."
After simply stretching his body, Lin Mu was just about to leave this place when he suddenly sensed a faint fluctuation of soul power.
After his martial soul's transformation, all aspects of Lin Mu's body had been enhanced, and his perception had also improved significantly.
Arriving at the Human-Faced Demon Spider's corpse, after a simple search, he indeed found a dark purple external attachment soul bone, shaped like eight miniature spider spears.
"What a coincidence?"
Lin Mu was somewhat surprised. This Eight Spider Lance was no small advantage; it could continuously upgrade and was of significant help to Tang San.