Douluo Continent: Starting with the Tiger Emperor Template

Chapter 96 "Ye Guyi, it's time to put your skills to good use after raising you for so long"

In the shadows, Zhang Peng stood on the branch of an ancient tree, watching Lu Ren's figure disappear into the dense forest.

His cloudy old eyes flickered with complex emotions: surprise, admiration, and a trace of greed that had not yet been completely extinguished.

"Such incredible physical strength, such incredible speed—"

Zhang Peng muttered to himself in a low, hoarse voice.

"This person's soul power is only at level fifty, but the speed and explosive power of his physical body that he just displayed are not at the level that a Soul King should have. Even a Soul Saint might not be able to reach that kind of extreme speed. If this child grows up in the future, he will definitely be a top figure on the continent."

He paused, then suddenly shook his head.

"Although he has the ability to manipulate blood—that should be his martial spirit."

"Although blood manipulation is bizarre, it has nothing to do with holy attribute martial souls. Holy attributes are about purifying light and suppressing all evil, while blood manipulation is more inclined towards the wicked. In a sense, it's even more bizarre than the methods of us evil soul masters. It seems that Zhongli Wu's suspicions were unnecessary. This guy looks more like an evil soul master than we do."

He had already reached a conclusion in his mind: this mission was now complete.

Now he can return to the Holy Spirit Sect to report to Zhongli Wu. Lu Ren is not a possessor of a divine attribute martial soul, so the Holy Spirit Sect is not worth making a big fuss about.

but----

"That kid's blood—it's really something else." Zhang Peng stroked his chin, his gaze still fixed on the direction where Lu Ren had disappeared. "His soul power can be transformed into real blood, and he can freely control its shape and hardness. I've lived for so many years, but I've never seen such an ability before."

Driven by curiosity, he decided to stay a little longer.

Although he wasn't going to attack Lu Ren, taking a few more glances and studying him would at least be in keeping with his promise to Mu En.

"Let's observe further. Even if we can't drink his blood, just seeing how far this ability can be developed is a valuable gain in terms of perspective."

Zhang Peng's figure once again disappeared into the shadows, and he followed silently.

The campfire in the camp was still burning.

When Lu Ren carried the three-meter-long golden toad spirit beast into the camp, everyone thought they were dreaming.

Ji Juechen was the first to react. He opened his eyes, looked at the giant toad on Lu Ren's shoulder, then at Lu Ren's nonchalant expression, paused for a moment, and then closed his eyes again.

This guy.

-

He can even pick up a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast while taking a piss; what else can't he do?

"Laughing at the world, come out."

Lu Ren took the Golden Toad Soul Beast off his shoulder and casually threw it on the ground.

The weight of several thousand kilograms slammed onto the ground with an extremely dull thud, waking everyone up.

Lu Ren didn't even dab his breathing out of place, patting the dust off his shoulders as if he were tossing a bag of potatoes.

The tent zipper was suddenly pulled open, and Xiao Hongchen poked his head out of the tent: "What are you doing, in the middle of the night—"

His voice abruptly stopped.

Because he saw the giant golden toad at Lu Ren's feet, which was still twitching slightly.

Then he rubbed his eyes and looked at it again.

It's still there; it's not an illusion.

"This, this is... a Golden Toad Soul Beast?!"

Xiao Hongchen rushed out of the tent in one stride, not even having time to put on his shoes. He squatted barefoot in front of the giant toad, his eyes wide open, and his voice distorted.

"It's over ten thousand years old! It's around twelve thousand years old!"

"How is this possible? How could a spirit beast of this level appear on the edge of the Jingyang Mountains? How did you catch it?"

He looked up and stared at Lu Ren with the eyes of someone looking at a monster.

Lu Ren recalled what had just happened, and his lips twitched.

He used a projection spell to accelerate, and the golden toad spirit beast was crushed like a speed bump in front of his super-fast speed.

Well—I can't just tell the truth, can I?

"I sensed it with my mental power, and then I grabbed it."

Lu Ren lied without changing his expression, his tone very calm.

Xiao Hongchen stood there blankly, his lips trembling several times, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

Then he took a step back and bowed deeply to Lu Ren.

His back was bent at a ninety-degree angle, his posture more respectful than ever before.

"Thanks!"

Xiao Hongchen straightened up, and for the first time, her usually arrogant eyes revealed genuine gratitude towards Lu Ren.

Because when Lu Ren was helping him find a spirit ring, he never thought about asking for anything in return!

This silent kindness touched him more than any exchange of conditions.

"No need for such formality." Lu Ren waved his hand, a rare hint of unease appearing on his face. "Isn't this precisely why we came out here?"

Xiao Hongchen didn't say anything more mushy. He just nodded heavily, then turned around and used a soul tool to end the life of the golden toad soul beast.

A deep black spirit ring slowly rose from above the corpse, emitting a faint glow in the night sky.

Immediately afterwards, he sat down cross-legged and began absorbing the spirit ring.

The commotion alerted the others, who all emerged from their respective tents.

They saw that Xiao Hongchen had begun to absorb the soul ring, and then looked at the huge golden toad soul beast corpse on the ground. They were stunned at first, and then nodded to each other in unison.

This is incredibly fast! We've already made progress on the very first night, which has significantly accelerated the process.

Meng Hongchen walked to Lu Ren's side: "Have you encountered any suitable spirit rings along the way?"

"Am I a suitable soul ring?" Lu Ren thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Of course he remembered what kind of spirit beasts were in the Jingyang Mountains. There was a Silver Moon Wolf King here that was tens of thousands of years old and of quite good quality, but that was just good.

At a level of twenty or thirty thousand years, it's not even as good as his fourth spirit ring.

Lu Ren's fourth spirit ring is 50,000 years old. If his fifth spirit ring is not as old as his fourth spirit ring, that's not progress, that's regression.

He didn't want the spirit ring that hadn't been around for 50,000 years, even when offered as a restraint, because it was just taking up space.

"A spirit ring that meets my criteria—that's not so easy to find."

Lu Ren answered casually, his gaze falling on the corpse of the Golden Toad Soul Beast.

He crouched down and began to examine the body carefully.

The onlookers were somewhat confused. The soul beast was already dead, so what was there to check?

Could it be that he wanted to see if this soul beast had any special value?

That's not impossible; the corpse of a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast can indeed fetch a lot of money.

Then Lu Ren stopped moving. He placed his hand on the left leg of the Golden Toad Soul Beast and felt an extremely subtle fluctuation of soul power at his fingertips.

The fluctuation was extremely faint and subtle. If he hadn't possessed magical power and his perception of energy far surpassed that of ordinary soul masters, he would never have been able to detect it.

He clenched his five fingers, embedding them deeply into the muscle tissue of the Golden Toad Soul Beast, and then suddenly pulled.

A burst of golden light emanated from his hand.

It was a soul bone about the size of a palm, crystal clear, with a pale golden halo flowing across its surface.

The outline of the skeleton resembles the leg bones of a toad, and its surface is densely covered with natural soul patterns, radiating a warm and heavy metallic energy fluctuation.

The soul bone of the left leg of a ten-thousand-year-old golden toad!

"Wow, it's actually a soul bone!"

Meng Hongchen gasped in shock; she was dumbfounded.

She never expected that a soul beast that was only about 10,000 years old would actually drop a soul bone!

The probability is too low. That's why no one expected that Lu Ren would actually find a soul bone.

Upon hearing this, the others also gathered around, their eyes fixed on the bone fragment in Lu Ren's hand that emitted a pale golden light.

At this moment, they couldn't help but marvel at Lu Ren's incredible luck; even grabbing a head-grabbing soul beast could casually bring out a soul bone.

It's important to know that soul bones are incredibly rare; many people never even see what a soul bone looks like in their entire lives. Yet Lu Ren simply went to take a piss and brought back a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast with a soul bone.

Lu Ren examined the left leg bone of the golden toad in his hand, turning it over and over for a few moments, before casually putting it into his storage soul tool.

No one said anything about Lu Ren's behavior.

They even took it for granted.

Lu Ren captured this soul beast all by himself, and he was also the first to discover the soul bone. He accepted the soul bone without any objection.

In the world of Soul Masters, there are rules: what belongs to someone else belongs to them, and teammates will not covet each other's spoils unless a distribution plan is agreed upon in advance.

Xiao Hongchen absorbed the soul ring in an unusually short time.

About half an hour later, the black spirit ring completely merged into his body.

Two yellow, two purple, and one black spirit rings slowly rotated beneath his feet. To obtain a ten-thousand-year spirit ring on his fifth attempt was already a considerable achievement for him.

Xiao Hongchen opened his eyes, feeling the surging power within his body, and couldn't suppress the excitement on his face.

"I've finally become a Soul King!" He clenched his fist, and all five Soul Rings erupted with dazzling light simultaneously. The aura of a Soul King spread wildly, causing the campfire to flicker violently. "Hahahaha! I finally broke through to Soul King before the tournament!"

For someone not even fifteen years old to reach the Soul King level of cultivation, while some credit should be given to the aid of medicine, is still a remarkable achievement.

In any faction, such treatment would be reserved for top-tier geniuses, something countless peers could only dream of.

Xiao Hongchen is hailed as the greatest genius in the history of the Sun Moon Empire because of his exceptional abilities.

However, before Xiao Hongchen could be happy for long, he saw Lu Ren take out the pale golden soul bone.

"This is----"

Xiao Hongchen's smile froze on his face as his gaze fell on the glowing bone fragment in Lu Ren's hand.

"Soul bone?"

"I found it on the corpse, here you go." Lu Ren casually tossed the soul bone away, his movements nonchalant, as if he were holding not a ten-thousand-year soul bone that would make countless soul masters fight tooth and nail for, but a scrap piece that had been used up.

"It just so happens that you absorbed its matching spirit ring and spirit bone, so this will greatly improve your cultivation level. You're quite lucky."

Although that's what he said, Lu Ren still felt it was due to his own luck.

If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't have been able to find this soul bone either.

The soul bone drew a golden arc in the air and landed precisely in Xiao Hongchen's hand.

Everyone was stunned. Orange covered her mouth, Keke's eyes widened, and Jing Ziyan's hand trembled slightly.

At that moment, they had only one thought in their minds:

Did Lu Ren just give away a ten-thousand-year-old soul bone like that?

They didn't even mention any conditions?

They didn't even ask for any benefits, just tossed it away casually, like throwing away trash.

That nonchalant attitude wasn't feigned generosity; it meant he genuinely didn't take the soul bone seriously!

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Lu Ren's actions completely bewildered Xiao Hongchen. He held the still-glowing left leg bone of the golden toad in his hands, staring at Lu Ren with an incomprehensible gaze.

"This is a soul bone! A ten-thousand-year-old soul bone! Are you kidding me? You just gave it to me like that?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

Lu Ren looked back with an even more confused expression.

"What's wrong? Why are you making such a fuss?"

Is this making a fuss over nothing?

You call this making a fuss over nothing?

Everyone subconsciously swallowed.

The soul bone that's been around for ten thousand years was given away just like that!

This is a ten-thousand-year-old soul bone! Looking across the entire continent, even a titled Douluo-level powerhouse might not be able to assemble a complete set of soul bones.

To possess a ten-thousand-year-old soul bone is the lifelong dream of countless soul masters, and now, Lu Ren simply gave it to a classmate he had only known for a few months without even flinching.

"This—" Xiao Hongchen felt his hands trembling as he held the soul bone. "What do you want? I can talk to Grandpa. Even if you have to trade a level nine soul tool for it, I'll find a way to get it for you—"

The fact that Xiao Hongchen could say something like exchanging a level-nine soul tool for a soul bone that's about ten thousand years old shows how chaotic his mind is right now; he's probably out of his mind.

Holding this soul bone, Xiao Hongchen felt genuinely uneasy.

In his life experience, no one would ever give away such a valuable gift for no reason. Unsolicited favors are always suspicious; there's no smoke without fire.

Why is Lu Ren suddenly being so nice to him? Could he have ulterior motives?

Even if you slap me a few times and beat me up, I still think it's no problem to take this soul bone!

But you're just giving it to me for free, I'm panicking!

Upon hearing Xiao Hongchen's words, Lu Ren rolled his eyes, his expression seamlessly shifting from confusion to speechlessness.

"I don't need it. In my eyes, this soul bone is of no use to me whatsoever."

"Also, could you please stop staring at me like that, like I'm going to hog it all? Do I look like that kind of person?"

What a joke.

In Lu Ren's eyes, it would have to be at least a 100,000-year-old soul bone to be worth absorbing, right?

The energy contained in a 100,000-year-old soul bone is not even in the same league as that of a 10,000-year-old soul bone. Only a soul bone of that level is worthy of him exchanging his bindings for a higher level of power.

Is this just a piece of broken, ancient soul bone?

He doesn't even deserve to absorb it!

That's funny.

He doesn't even want to make do with his spirit rings anymore. His first and second spirit rings were only at the thousand-year level because of his limited resources, but starting from the fifth spirit ring, he would need at least a hundred thousand years.

This was the deadline he set for himself, meaning that every spirit ring he acquired afterward was a chance for a qualitative change, and wasting it would be a loss for a lifetime.

"—No, it's useless?" Xiao Hongchen's lips twitched violently.

The expressions on the faces of everyone else looking at Lu Ren were all identical and fascinating.

Their eyes were twitching, their lips were trembling, they wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.

In their understanding from childhood, a ten-thousand-year-old soul bone is already the top-tier, supreme quality.

Countless Soul Masters have killed and robbed in the struggle for a single Soul Bone; countless friends have turned against each other over Soul Bone; and countless sects have formed blood feuds over a single Soul Bone.

The fifteen-year-old boy in front of me looked at a piece of ten-thousand-year-old soul bone with the same disdainful gaze one would give to roadside trash, casually saying, "It's useless to me."

Xiao Hongchen gritted his teeth, cradling the golden left leg bone in his hands. His fingertips turned slightly white from the force, and tears welled in his eyes.

He raised his head and looked at Lu Ren, his usually arrogant eyes now churning with extremely complex emotions.

There was gratitude, there was shame, and more than anything, something he couldn't quite explain.

He recalled his arrogant demeanor when he first met Lu Ren, and how he had often treated Lu Ren with an air of superiority.

Now, Lu Ren is helping him capture soul beasts in the Jingyang Mountains, giving him a ten-thousand-year soul ring that is highly compatible with his martial soul to absorb, and casually tossing him a matching ten-thousand-year soul bone without mentioning any benefits.

This made Xiao Hongchen realize that his previous arrogance was a joke. Not only was he inferior to his opponent in strength, but he was also inferior in terms of mental state!

Xiao Hongchen took a deep breath, then stepped back and bowed deeply to Lu Ren.

This time it was deeper and more solemn than before, with the back bent at a standard ninety-degree angle, the arms close to the sides of the body, the posture as respectful as a sect disciple bowing to the sect leader.

"Lu Ren, from now on, you're my brother!"

Xiao Hongchen's voice was several tones lower than usual, clearly indicating that he was trying his best to suppress his emotions.

But then his voice suddenly rose again, becoming that signature confident tone: "I've decided, in a few months, you'll be the captain of the reserve team!"

Lu Ren:

"————"

He opened his mouth, as if to explain something.

He wanted to say that the soul bone was really useless to him, that he hadn't specifically tried to help anyone, and that the golden toad soul beast had just stumbled upon him and tried to scam him.

But seeing Xiao Hongchen's grateful and excited expression, as if he was about to swear a blood oath with him, he swallowed all his words.

Forget it, I'm too lazy to explain.

It would be good if Xiao Hongchen owed him a favor, as it would make things easier for him to handle matters in the Sun Moon Empire in the future.

Xiao Hongchen is, after all, Jing Hongchen's grandson and the future heir of the Hongchen family, so his favor carries considerable weight.

"Whatever you want." Lu Ren waved his hand, turned around and walked towards his tent. "Get some rest after absorbing the soul bone. We still need to find a soul ring for your sister tomorrow."

"No problem! You should get some rest, bro!"

Xiao Hongchen responded loudly from behind, his tone as positive as if he had just received a shot of adrenaline.

Meng Hongchen stood still, her eyes reflecting the flickering light of the campfire, a smile unconsciously appearing on her lips.

Seeing that her brother had finally let go of his pointless arrogance and genuinely acknowledged Lu Ren, she felt an indescribable warmth welling up in her heart.

Orange stood on the other side of the fire and witnessed the whole thing from beginning to end.

Her gaze lingered on Lu Ren's retreating figure for a long time before she thoughtfully looked away.

This person is far more complex than she initially judged. To simply regard him as a gifted genius would be far from sufficient.

Such a simple tactic was enough to completely win people's hearts; it seems the other party is not simple at all.

Ju Zi held Lu Ren in high regard in her heart.

Moreover, at this moment, everyone changed their opinion of Lu Ren, believing him to be a person of high moral character.

Soon, Xiao Hongchen continued to absorb the soul bone, while the others silently protected him.

Just then, Lu Ren suddenly appeared in front of Ye Guyi.

Under Ye Guyi's questioning gaze, Lu Ren used his soul power to transmit his voice to her: "Come with me. I've raised you for so long, it's time for you to put to good use."

Upon hearing this, Ye Guyi's pretty face darkened.

What do you mean by "raising me for so long"?

Is that true?

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