Douluo Continent: I, an evil soul master, work nine-to-five in the Tang Sect.

Chapter 68 Long Xiaoyao!

"this……"

Normally, it would take at least half an hour to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring. For someone like Luo Chen, with his cultivation as a three-ring Soul Venerable, to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring beyond his level would take even longer.

However, at this moment, the black ten-thousand-year soul ring that had just risen before him transformed into Luo Chen's own soul ring in the blink of an eye. Moreover, not only the soul ring of the Taipan Poison Armor Scorpion, but even its incomplete remains disappeared at this moment.

The several-meter-long venomous scorpion carcass that was originally in front of Luo Chen and Xuan Zi has now disappeared. Even Xuan Zi, who had been protecting Luo Chen, couldn't help but frown.

All of this was too bizarre to describe in words. Even in his hundreds of years as a Soul Master, he had never encountered anything so strange.

Although Xuanzi didn't know how Luo Chen absorbed the soul ring of this ten-thousand-year-old Taipan Poison Armor Scorpion, or where its remains had gone, Luo Chen, who had successfully broken through to the third-ring Soul Venerable stage, already had some clues.

"The power of death... so that's what it means."

Sensing the things that suddenly appeared in his mind, Luo Chen, who was originally confused, gradually understood.

The Taipan Poison Armored Scorpion in front of him, which he had killed with his martial spirit, did not have its remains disappear directly after death. Instead, under the effect of his cross-shaped light pattern, it was directly "absorbed" by his Death Scythe martial spirit.

It has become part of the martial spirit!

The ten-thousand-year soul ring that gathered after his death was directly transformed into Luo Chen's third soul ring by the life-absorbing ability that Luo Chen's martial soul had awakened.

The soul tremor of a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast couldn't even cause a ripple under such an unreasonable and forced soul absorption skill!

However, what truly surprised Luo Chen was the power of his Death Puppet. After Luo Chen's Death Scythe Martial Soul successfully awakened, he gained control of a portion of the power of death. The Death Puppet skills, which originally required the use of a body after death to perform, have now become even more powerful!

No longer relying on its own body, it has transformed into the "undead spirit" residing in Luo Chen's Death Scythe Martial Soul!

Any living being that dies under Luo Chen's blade will have its soul and body merge into the Reaper's Scythe, becoming nourishment to strengthen its own martial spirit, and will also be at Luo Chen's disposal under the control of his death authority!

In other words, at this moment, the ten-thousand-year-old Taipan Poison Armor Scorpion within Luo Chen's Death Scythe has become a member of the Death Puppet controlled by Luo Chen. At any time, it can be summoned from the Death Scythe according to Luo Chen's will.

Moreover, although the summoned Death Puppet does not have intelligence, it still possesses the most basic combat instincts. It does not require Luo Chen to control it with his mental power; it can act according to Luo Chen's commands!

Previously, Luo Chen had killed a group of hyenas with a hundred years of cultivation and used their bodies as a medium to control them. However, this had a major drawback: these death puppets could not withstand the "consumption".

Once one's own body is damaged, one becomes unable to move, which means one loses all combat power. However, Luo Chen's advanced version of the Death Puppet ability is completely different!

As long as Luo Chen's own life force is not completely exhausted, he can rely on his own life force to summon the Death God puppets in the Death Scythe time and time again. After all, these puppets are not physical entities, but "undead" constructed from life force!

Although they no longer have their original bodies, these "undead" are not less powerful in the slightest. They can unleash both physical and mental attacks with the same force as when they were alive, which is what truly alarms Luo Chen!

"I'm really turning into a necromancer... I just escaped the label of evil soul master, and now I'm becoming a necromancer. Is it possible that I can never be a normal soul master?"

Although Luo Chen was extremely satisfied with this change in ability, a sense of frustration still welled up in his heart. After all, his dream was to become a sword immortal who could fly on a sword, but now he was heading completely towards the other extreme...

"Hey kid, are you alright?!"

Seeing this unbelievable scene before him, Xuanzi was stunned for a moment before hurriedly asking Luo Chen.

After all, that's a ten-thousand-year soul ring. However, even though Luo Chen, who is a three-ring Soul Venerable, has reached the five-ring Soul King level in terms of both mental strength and physical attributes, he can't be sure that he can absorb it safely.

What Xuanzi didn't know was that after killing this ten-thousand-year-old Taipan Poison Armor Scorpion, Luo Chen's strength had increased by an extraordinary amount. This was not only because of the Death Puppet that could be released at any time, but also because of the soul skills that the ten-thousand-year-old soul ring had given him!

The third soul skill, Death's Howl, allows the user's physical attacks to simultaneously affect the opponent's soul level, and also inflicts a minor soul tremor...

Just as Luo Chen had predicted, the soul skill provided by this third soul ring was finally a powerful offensive skill that could be used to attack the opponent's soul level at the same time. This alone was enough to be called a divine skill!

After all, as long as Luo Chen can inflict physical damage on the opponent, that damage will also affect the opponent's soul, causing damage to the opponent's soul. This means that every attack after breaking through the defense is a true injury!

Physical injuries, whether in a Soul Master or a Soul Beast, can be healed through healing abilities. However, injuries to the soul are not so easy to heal, and even if they are healed, they will leave behind incurable sequelae!

Moreover, this soul skill also allows each of Luo Chen's attacks to be accompanied by a small amount of soul vibration. If one's own soul is not strong enough, then after Luo Chen inflicts the first attack that causes substantial damage, one's own soul will instantly collapse!

In conclusion, this soul skill is perhaps even more monstrous in terms of strength than Luo Chen's previous two soul skills!

However, in Luo Chen's opinion, it was nothing special. After all, the soul skills that followed would definitely be more and more monstrous than the ones before. Luo Chen could guess this with his own eyes. After all, how could a later soul skill be weaker than an earlier one?

"I'm fine, Elder Xuan. I feel great now. One strike would be enough to kill at least two of me!"

Upon hearing Xuanzi's words, Luo Chen chuckled and replied, "This is no exaggeration. After all, summoning a Taipan Poison Armor Scorpion with ten thousand years of cultivation is roughly equivalent to three-quarters of my previous strength."

Don't underestimate this ten-thousand-year-old Taipan Poison Armor Scorpion that has become a Death God puppet. Even a five-ring Soul King of the offensive type would probably be suppressed if his own martial soul is not top-notch!

Not to mention Luo Chen, who has now truly broken through to the Soul Master level and whose soul power level has reached the peak of level thirty-six. In terms of soul power alone, he is much stronger than himself before he absorbed the soul ring!

Now, Luo Chen is truly confident that he can enter Shrek Academy's inner courtyard to study, without having to worry about being suppressed and beaten by those senior students in the inner courtyard whose talents are frighteningly high.

If Luo Chen's normal combat strength is that of a five-ring Soul King, then with the enhancement of various heaven-defying Soul Skills, even a six-ring Soul Emperor with extraordinary combat strength would probably be defeated by him!

Of course, this was largely due to the opponent's underestimation of him. A six-ring Soul Emperor-level Soul Master would never think of unleashing his full power and releasing his strongest Soul Skill immediately when facing a three-ring Soul Venerable.

This tiny "mistake" gave Luo Chen the opportunity to unleash his powerful control soul skill and take the enemy down in one go!

"Heh, I really made the right choice coming here. Otherwise, I might not have known that there was such a little monster as you in this outer courtyard. You just broke through to the third-ring Soul Master level and were already able to kill a ten-thousand-year-old Soul Beast and absorb a ten-thousand-year-old Soul Ring..."

"If you're going to participate in the freshman assessment, you'd better hold back a bit, otherwise I'm afraid you might accidentally crush the fighting spirit of those trainees."

After using his spiritual power to examine Luo Chen's condition and finding that the other party was indeed fine and had even become stronger, Xuanzi shook his head with a mixture of excitement and helplessness, and said.

"Don't worry, Elder Xuan, I'm very confident in my abilities. I won't accidentally kill someone. But Elder Xuan, if you ask me, why not just award the freshman assessment champion to me directly? What's the point of having an assessment at all?"

In response to Xuanzi's reminder, Luo Chen nodded. He was well aware of the vast gap between himself and ordinary students.

Honestly, even if thousands of first-year students fought against Luo Chen together, Luo Chen wouldn't feel any pressure. After all, with his current Soul King level combat power, defeating a group of freshmen whose highest level was only three-ring Soul Venerable was too easy!

Luo Chen didn't even need to use his soul skills; a simple sweep of his mental energy was enough to eliminate a large number of them. Therefore, in Luo Chen's view, the freshman assessment was unnecessary, and even if it had to be conducted, the result would not change!

Upon hearing Luo Chen's words, Xuan Zi couldn't help but smile and said:

"Hey kid, the purpose of the academy's freshman assessment isn't to see who's the champion and who's the runner-up, but to select truly talented students. If you want the championship, then take it! It's not like someone's going to steal it from you!"

However, just as the two were talking, a figure appeared silently beside them, like a ghost, without revealing any aura, and silently watched them.

Although the opponent did not reveal any aura, the unparalleled, meteorite-like presence made Luo Chen's body tremble uncontrollably.

Upon seeing this figure, not only Luo Chen, but even Xuan Zi, who possessed the cultivation of a level 98 Super Douluo, suddenly widened his eyes, his gaze filled with astonishment and doubt.

"It's you! How could you be here?!"

"Hehe, Xuanzi, it's been a long time. Decades have passed since we last met. I didn't expect that even you are about to step into the limit realm. Time really flies."

Seeing Xuanzi's surprised expression, the figure in the gray robe in front of him took off his hood, revealing a baby-like rosy face, and said with a smile.

However, Xuanzi was unmoved by the attempt to get close to him. The nine soul rings swirling around him emitted an exceptionally dazzling light, and the aura he exuded was several times stronger than before, protecting Luo Chen behind him.

"Long Xiaoyao... I never expected that you, as the Dark Holy Dragon, would still be alive after your battle with Elder Mu that year. And that repulsive odor emanating from you... if I'm not mistaken, you've already fallen into the clutches of an evil soul master, haven't you?"

Seeing that the old man in front of him looked much the same as before, with his silver hair still neatly combed behind him, Xuanzi directly gave him his name.

Upon hearing this, Luo Chen, who hadn't quite grasped the situation before, instantly became serious.

"Long Xiaoyao, the Dark Holy Dragon... Could he be that top expert who also reached the level of a ninety-ninth Limit Douluo, and was from the same era as Mu En?"

Luo Chen was naturally familiar with the name Long Xiaoyao. After all, there were only a handful of true powerhouses on the entire continent, and today, he had witnessed it with his own eyes!

For a moment, Luo Chen was also at a loss. He didn't understand why Long Xiaoyao, who had already defected to the Holy Spirit Cult, would appear here, in the Star Dou Great Forest, which was not far from Shrek City.

However, the next moment, Luo Chen knew the answer.

"Evil Soul Master? Xuanzi, you should understand that at my level, I am no longer obsessed with the distinction between good and evil. Whether one is good or evil, it is ultimately just a matter of choosing a different path."

"Besides, even if I were an evil soul master, what could you do to me? My cultivation level is only ninety-eight, and although I'm only one level away from the limit, the difference is far greater than you can imagine!"

As he spoke, Long Xiaoyao slowly shook his head, then his gaze suddenly shifted to Luo Chen, who was being protected by Xuanzi and possessed an extraordinary aura. A hint of envy flashed in his usually calm eyes.

"I never imagined such a dense aura of death would emanate from such a child. He's truly a prodigy, a match made in heaven!"

Upon hearing Long Xiaoyao's words, Luo Chen frowned. He understood the meaning behind Long Xiaoyao's words; it was clear that he wanted to capture him and make him the Holy Son of the Holy Spirit Cult!

(End of this chapter)