Douluo Continent: Long Live the Spirit Hall

"After returning to Wuhun City, I immediately went into seclusion to break through to level 30 in one go. However, I can go and find the soul beast needed for my third soul ring in advance. Also, I must find a way to keep an eye on the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger."

Yan's eyes flickered, and he already had a plan for the next steps in mind. However, he knew he could take his time and didn't need to rush.

After the soul ring and soul bone of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear were absorbed and refined, the bear carcass was also put to good use. Perhaps because it was not yet an adult, the bear meat was quite tender, especially the four bear paws, which were simply delicious after being properly prepared.

After enjoying a hearty meal of bear meat in the Star Dou Great Forest, Yan and his group cut up the hunted soul beasts into pieces and brought them out before quickly returning to Wuhun City.

With their return, a large number of Spirit Hall personnel were dispatched to the Star Dou Great Forest, Sunset Forest, and the Arctic Ice Plains—the three major gathering places of spirit beasts on the Douluo Continent. Within a short period of time, hundreds of spirit masters entered each of these areas to investigate, all in order to find suitable thousand-year-old fire-attribute spirit beasts.

……

In the far north of the Heaven Dou Empire, in the forbidden zone for humans, lies a world of wind and snow. In such harsh conditions, ordinary people, even low-level Soul Masters, cannot survive; only Soul Beasts with special attributes can live and reproduce here.

A cold north wind howled, and most of the people traveling forward couldn't help but shiver. In such a snowy and icy place, there should have been no one around, but at the end of the direction they were heading, there was a sizable fortress complex, and further ahead of the fortress complex was an endless expanse of coniferous forest.

This is an ice-covered forest located on the northern border of the Heaven Dou Empire, outside the forbidden area of ​​the far north ice plains. This coniferous forest, which thrives in cold climates, is not suitable for human survival, so it is rarely visited by humans and has instead become a suitable breeding ground for soul beasts.

However, because the environment here is so harsh and the temperature is so low, most of the soul beasts that breed here possess ice attributes. Therefore, only soul masters with ice attribute martial souls choose to come here to hunt the soul beasts they need.

"Greetings, Holy Son, and the two elders."

The group, braving the wind and snow, finally arrived at the fortress outside the frozen forest, where the Soul Masters immediately came out to greet them. Among the arriving group, the first three were none other than Yan, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei.

Their purpose in coming to this far northern icy plain was to hunt for Yan's third spirit ring. After absorbing the Dark Gold Terror Claw right palm bone in the Star Dou Great Forest, Yan's aptitude improved, the bottleneck he was stuck in loosened, and after returning to Spirit City, he cultivated diligently for several months and finally broke through.

Before he broke through to the next realm, Pope Bibi Dong had already ordered more than a thousand soul masters to go to the three major soul beast settlements and issued a bounty notice in order to find him a suitable thousand-year soul ring.

Persistence pays off. After months of searching, the Spirit Hall obtained information on many precious fire-attribute spirit beasts.

Yan chose to come to this far northern ice plain because the Spirit Hall made a special discovery here.

The extreme north has a harsh environment and extremely low temperatures. Most of the spirit beasts that can survive here are of the cold attribute, so the Spirit Hall didn't really care much about this place at first.

But no one expected such an amazing discovery: they found a rare mutated fire-attribute soul beast, and it was almost certain that it possessed a soul bone. This news naturally piqued Yan's interest, leading to this trip to the far north.

Chapter 102 Mutant Mirror Beast

Outside the frozen forest, Yan and his group, who had traveled a long way, entered the fortress building with the welcoming group of Soul Masters. Although the temperature inside the ice fortress, which was constructed of ice blocks, was not too high, the insulation effect was still quite good.

“Bishop Esnor, there’s no need for such formalities. You are the lord of this frozen city in the far north, so please tell me about this soul beast.”

Inside the council hall of the Ice Fortress, a figure with a formidable aura stood before Yan: Platinum Bishop Esnor, a Soul Emperor-level expert and the person in charge of the Spirit Hall in this Icebound City on the outskirts of the far north.

If it were just to find a soul beast for Yan, this powerful bishop wouldn't have needed to come personally. But this time, Yan is accompanied by two titled Douluo, Ghost and Moon Guard, so the platinum bishop naturally had to come in person.

“Holy Son, this soul beast is somewhat special. It is a rare soul beast unique to the Frozen Forest of the Far North, a variant of the Mirror Shadow Beast.”

Opposite Yan, a blond middle-aged man glanced at the silent Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo before cautiously speaking, "This kind of soul beast is quite troublesome and powerful. It is good at disguise and can transform into the appearance of other soul beasts, even changing its skills to be the same. In addition, it can split into mirror clones, making it quite troublesome."

We discovered that this mirror beast was even more extraordinary. It had actually mutated into a fire attribute in this far north and, despite such unfavorable conditions, had cultivated itself to the level of a thousand-year-old soul beast.

We tried to capture it several times when we first discovered it, but all attempts failed. This Mirror Beast's camouflage and clones are quite strange, and its flames are also bizarre, causing wounds that feel like knife cuts, making it very difficult to deal with. However, now that guy is surrounded and under surveillance, and we can pursue it again at any time..."

Platinum Bishop Esnor briefly introduced some information about the mutated soul beast to Yan. It was a mutated mirror beast with fire attributes, possessing some strange attribute abilities, and it was suspected to have a soul bone.

Yan had some impression of this kind of spirit beast. In the original work, Oscar, one of the Seven Devils, hunted this kind of spirit beast for his sixth spirit ring. However, his beast did not mutate, but it still brought Oscar great benefits and a spirit bone.

Oscar's ability to obtain from the Mirror Beast is incredibly powerful. His Soul Ring skill, Copy, can directly copy the abilities of a Soul Master or Soul Beast, which aligns with the Mirror Beast's ability to disguise and copy opponents.

Another skill is the Soul Bone skill Mirror Image, which directly creates a physical clone. This is much more powerful than the Ghost Tiger's phantom clone, which only has a little bit of attack power. Both of these skills are very practical.

More importantly, the mutated primordial fire of this soul beast seems to be extremely wondrous. Yan is quite envious of this special flame, because it may be something unique in the entire Douluo Continent. It would be a real pity to miss it.

"Bishop Esnor, please arrange for the manpower to be ready. We will rest for one night and set off tomorrow to hunt that soul beast."

Yan did not rush to set off to hunt, but chose to rest for a night first. After all, they had been on this trip for a long time, traveling across the north and south of the Heaven Dou Empire. Even the two titled Douluo were somewhat tired.

Although it was practically impossible for anything to go wrong with the strength of two Title Douluos, Yan felt it was better to be cautious. Anyway, that soul beast had already been monitored and couldn't escape, so there wasn't much difference between a day earlier or a day later.

"Holy Son, Elders, I will make the arrangements now."

Bishop Aisno was quite sensible and took Yan's words to heart. After instructing his staff to settle Yan and the others in, he personally went out to arrange matters for the next day.

……

The next morning, the warm sunshine shone on the ice and snow, making the whole world extremely bright. Such sunny days are rare in the far north, and this beautiful weather seemed to foreshadow a good start.

Deep within the frozen forest, amidst a vast expanse of cedar trees, a hazy, ethereal shadow flickers in the sunlight—a remarkably beautiful and wondrous spirit beast.

It is over two meters long, and its entire body is covered in extremely peculiar scales, each scale resembling a small mirror. If it weren't for the extremely pale red color of its body, its camouflage would be remarkably successful. Simply by standing still, it reflects the surrounding environment, making it virtually invisible without close inspection.

Even though it's now more noticeable because of the red covering, it's still hard to spot this blurry shadow from a distance.

"Hooho..."

Suddenly, the blurry shadow let out two low growls and turned its head sharply to prepare to flee. However, before it could make a move, countless figures rushed out from all directions, completely surrounding it. What terrified it most was the strength of these people.

This Thousand-Year Mirror Beast only has about two thousand years of cultivation. Although its bloodline is of high quality and its strength is extremely strong, it can barely rival a weaker ten-thousand-year soul beast. But right now, it is surrounded by a group of powerhouses at least at the Soul King level, and it is completely unable to fight back or escape.

"Finally found you. It is indeed a very strange flame. The mutation doesn't seem to be in temperature, but in something else. Interesting, very interesting."

A voice suddenly came from behind the Mirror Beast. It turned around instinctively and saw three figures approaching, surrounded by more than ten people. The one in the middle was the one who had spoken.

On his left and right, the two figures, one black and one white, did not reveal much of their aura, yet they made the Mirror Beast tremble involuntarily.

"A two-thousand-year-old mutated Mirror Beast, let me see just how strong you really are. Come to think of it, this is the first time I've made a move since I obtained the Dark Gold Terrorclaw."

Directly opposite the Mirror Beast, Yan stepped forward as he spoke, instantly releasing his Martial Soul. The surging flames melted the surrounding ice and snow, revealing the dark frozen soil below. Surrounded by flames, Yan resembled a fiery war god, and his right hand had transformed into a fiery claw.

"Roar~~~"

The release of Yan's martial spirit made the mutated mirror beast feel threatened, especially its right hand, where the dark gold claw wreathed in flames emitted an unsettling aura. As the spirit beast roared, the red light on its body rapidly spread and deepened, and then a burst of blue-red flames rose more than ten feet high.

The blue and red flames made Yan's eyes narrow slightly, and he quickly circulated his soul power to enhance his mental power in order to investigate the information of this mutated mirror beast.

He discovered that the flame of this soul beast was extremely strange and powerful, no less than the flames he possessed. This piqued his interest even more. He was not a talkative person, so once he made a decision, he acted immediately, launching a claw attack the next instant.

Chapter 103 Mirror Image: Teleportation

"Roar~~~"

Deep within the frozen forest, the mutated Mirror Beast roared angrily as it watched Yan charge towards it. Although it was surrounded and in a very bad situation, this creature, which was clearly no stronger than it, dared to attack first. Although it felt somewhat dangerous, it still chose to fight back.

The Mirror Beast's body flickered slightly, and then a dense white mist burst forth from its body, with wisps of cold air rapidly spreading from the ground and enveloping the oncoming Yan.

Mirror Beasts are skilled at disguise and can copy the skills of other Soul Beasts. However, they mostly breed in icy regions, and the skills they copy most often are naturally ice-attribute attacks.

"Chichi..."

Flames burst forth from Yan's body, and the sweeping cold tide turned into steam under the power of the flames. However, an unexpected scene occurred: the surging cold tide suddenly surged with strange soul power, and a silver-red flame burst forth.

"Boom!"

As the golden-red and silver-red flames collided, Yan finally understood the reason behind the strange flames of this soul beast, as Bishop Esnor had previously mentioned.

Its flames were not the extremely cold flames one would expect, but rather a special kind of flame. In addition to being extremely hot, it felt like millions of tiny needles stimulating the body, yet it was not the sharp, metallic energy of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Instead, it was extremely penetrating, which was very strange.

The mutated Mirror Beast's flames made it difficult for Yan to advance or retreat, and the soul beast also made a new move. Yan, who was in mid-air, immediately felt a bloody wind rushing towards him, the surrounding air fluctuated violently, a biting cold wind swept over him, and the red crystal-like claws magnified in his eyes.

Yan, suspended in mid-air, was not afraid of the attacking Mirror Beast but rather delighted. He extended his dark gold claw with his right hand, and the two claws, which were stained with flames, collided in mid-air.

"Aww~~~"

The two figures landed in a crisscross pattern in mid-air, and then the Mirror Beast let out a miserable cry. Mottled silver-blue blood immediately flowed all over the ground, and five cuts on its right forepaw were bleeding profusely.

This Mirror Beast was incredibly stubborn, actually engaging Yan in close combat. Neither gained an advantage in the clash of flames, but when it came to claws, Yan's right hand was a Dark Gold Terror Claw. Since the Mirror Beast wasn't known for its physical strength, it definitely suffered a great loss.

"You want to run away? Did you ask me first?"

In the snowy forest, Yan stared at the Mirror Beast with its shifty gaze opposite him. He stomped his right foot on the ground and immediately leaped out. His dark golden claws, accompanied by a piercing whistle, went straight for the Mirror Beast's head.

He was very satisfied with the last collision. The destructive power of the external soul bone on his right hand was very strong. Ordinary thousand-year soul beasts could not withstand its penetration at all, so it was more than enough to deal with this Mirror Beast.

"call out!"

Just as Yan's dark golden giant claw was about to land on the head of this soul beast, a blurry flash of fire suddenly appeared, and the Mirror Beast actually split in two on the spot. This was its third ability besides copying and disguising itself and its alien flames: mirror clone. This was also the most famous divine ability of this soul beast.

In the world of soul beasts, there are not many soul beasts with the ability to create clones, and most of them are just phantom clones. Clones with a certain level of attack power, like the Ghost Tiger, are already very rare. The mirror clone of the Mirror Shadow Beast should be considered the most top-tier clone ability.

It can create physical clones that are almost identical to its original body, replicating its abilities almost 100%, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake.

"Boom! Boom!"

As soon as Yan landed, two figures spewed silver-red flames at him one after the other. Yan slashed with his dark gold claws, scattering the two flames, and looked at the two almost identical beast figures with a wary gaze.

"As expected, the ability is quite realistic, but the mirror image is just a mirror image after all. It is created by soul power and will eventually dissipate as the energy is consumed."

Yan's eyes were fixed on the two Mirror Beasts, a glint of blue light flashing in them. The AI, Dawn, combined with its own mental power to probe and calculate, also discovered the subtle differences between the main body and the clone.

However, these microscopic changes are really small. According to his estimation, unless it is a spirit-type detection soul master, or someone like him who is so powerful that he can notice the smallest details, ordinary soul masters or soul beasts cannot distinguish between the two at all.

"Hehe... I've found you."

Yan's gaze swept over the two Mirror Beasts for a moment before suddenly narrowing. Then, his right hand's dark gold claw erupted with five golden rays of light, which pierced through the air at an extremely fast speed, instantly piercing the Mirror Beast before it could dodge.

"Roar~~~"

Surprisingly, not a drop of blood flowed from the pierced Mirror Beast; flames surged at the wound, golden-red and silver-red flames clashing and attempting to wear each other down. At this moment, another Mirror Beast arrived before Yan, its silver-red flames about to erupt.

"You're going to come and ambush me, aren't you, Mirror Beast?"

However, at that very moment, Yan's two spirit rings flashed simultaneously, and a blazing wave of fire surged forth, instantly turning him into a massive torch. Yan, having released the Dark Gold Terror Claw, turned and extended a claw. Everything was so natural and fluid, as if he had practiced it a thousand times before.

This wave of fire had already discerned which was the main body and which was the clone. The reason it attacked the clone first was to lower its guard and expose its weakness. Clearly, the Mirror Beast fell for it.

The dark gold claws, surrounded by golden-red flames, slashed down towards the beast's mouth, which was about to breathe fire. Yan's movements were noticeably faster, and if nothing unexpected happened, before the beast could even exhale a breath of fire, Yan's claws would already have sliced ​​through its throat and severed its head.

"Boom!"

The dark gold claw, wreathed in golden-red flames, swept past with golden light, instantly shattering the Mirror Beast in mid-air into specks of light. At that moment, an angry roar came from behind Yan, and a torrent of silver-red flames shot towards his back.

"Be careful, Holy Son."

Ghostly Demon, Moon Pass, and many other Spirit Hall experts panicked at this moment; no one had expected such a turn of events. The one in mid-air that should have been the Mirror Shadow Beast's true form was actually a clone, while the one whose wounds were pierced by the Dark Gold Terror Claws and glowing was actually the true form?

"Boom..."

In the critical moment, Yan twisted his body sharply to the side, and at the same time, flames erupted from his back, causing him to stumble and narrowly avoid the attack that was originally aimed at him by the torrent of flames. However, the aftershocks scorched his back, and he rolled several times in the snow, his hair disheveled and looking extremely disheveled.

"The body and the clone were instantly teleported. I didn't expect to run into someone who is proficient in the Three Bodies Technique. Could he also have the Flying Thunder God Technique?"

After narrowly escaping death, Yan turned around again, looking at the Mirror Beast in dire straits, a hint of fervor in his eyes.

This Mirror Beast truly gave him so many surprises: mutated flames, illusionary body (disguise and copy), clone (mirror clone), and substitute (teleportation). That last teleportation was definitely a spatial ability; was it a soul bone?