Chapter 4: The Eighth Soul Ring
Qian Jun Douluo murmured, "Does the Young Master still lack enough combat experience? That last sword strike should have aimed at the Two-Winged Radiant White Tiger's wings. That way, it would lose its ability to fly."
Having the Six-Winged Angel's flight capability gave Qian Xunji a far greater advantage against a grounded Two-Winged Radiant White Tiger. Naturally, Qian Jun Douluo did not realize that the current Qian Xunji was no longer the same person as before and was indeed very short on real combat experience. He specifically chose not to cut off the white tiger's wings in order to sharpen his own battle instincts.
By inflicting a three-inch-deep wound beneath the tiger's forelimb, Qian Xunji had already secured an unassailable position. Once he activated his Angel Domain, its purification ability alone would allow him, given enough time, to cleanse all the soul power in the tiger's body. After that, even a seventy-five-thousand-year soul beast would be no stronger than a wild tiger of the same size.
The fight between Qian Xunji and the Two-Winged Radiant White Tiger continued. The beast, wounded beneath its forelimb, used its soul power to plug the injury and stop its bleeding. With its close-range combat ability diminished, it switched to ranged attacks.
The tiger's fur stood up like tiny needles glowing with golden light, each hair serving as a miniature soul power reservoir. Slowly, its golden soul power gathered in its mouth, forming projectiles resembling small soul power shells that it spat out in rapid succession.
Flapping the wings on his back, Qian Xunji swiftly dodged. One after another, the shells streaked past his flight path. Wherever they landed in the Star Dou Great Forest, they caused massive destruction. A single blast penetrated a towering tree well over a hundred meters in height and so thick it would take more than ten people to encircle its trunk—evidence of the terrifying power of these soul power shells.
Qian Jun Douluo narrowed his eyes slightly. "Jiang Mo, look at that beast. Doesn't its mouth get brighter each time it launches a shell?"
Jiang Mo Douluo, who until now had been paying attention to Qian Xunji and practically ignoring the Two-Winged Radiant White Tiger, shifted his gaze to study the tiger closely. "It does seem that way, Brother. And its belly looks bigger, too."
"That beast may be preparing an extremely powerful attack. Get ready to rescue the Young Master!"
While Qian Xunji was evading the white tiger's soul power shells in midair, he suddenly stopped. His long golden hair swept forward as a fearsome energy projectile rose right before him—barely an arm's length away.
"As expected of a top-tier soul beast—it even predicted my flight path."
Qian Xunji did not stint on his praise for the Two-Winged Radiant White Tiger. Someone once said that if you end up caught in your enemy's tactical trap and are killed, it proves your cultivation and intellect aren't up to par.
"Roar—!"
With another thunderous roar echoing for several kilometers, the tiger's mouth turned completely golden, surging like an ocean wave of soul power. The terrifying pressure emanating from it made Qian Xunji feel the shadow of death.
This was the tiger's finishing move. Every time it fired a soul power shell, some of its soul power was redirected into its abdomen for storage. Those shells just now had been a feint—the truly lethal force lay in its stomach. As a top-tier soul beast able to grow to seventy-five-thousand years, it clearly had some ultimate trump card. With such a vast area-of-effect attack, Qian Xunji had nowhere to run.
"So it's here… Angel Domain! Angelic True Form!"
A ring of golden light erupted from the Angel Martial Soul behind Qian Xunji. It expanded outward in a circle nearly a hundred meters in radius, suffused with endless holy radiance. At the same time, his seventh soul ring lit up, unleashing his Martial Soul Avatar.
The Angel Domain was an inherent domain of the Angel Martial Soul, similar to the Killing God Domain. Controlled by its user, in its first stage it could suppress an enemy's combat power by ten percent and enhance the user's by another ten percent. Moreover, the holy energy within would steadily purify soul power. Upon evolving at the Soul Sage level, the Angel Domain's suppression reached thirty percent!
Qian Xunji had already realized long ago that the Two-Winged Radiant White Tiger was storing a killing blow, though he noticed later than Qian Jun Douluo had. He inferred it because the wound he'd inflicted was still bleeding—the tiger was using no extra soul power to stanch it—yet it continued launching soul power shells. Where, then, was the rest of its soul power going? The answer was obvious.
As if vomiting, the tiger spewed out all the energy amassed in its abdomen—a torrent of shimmering golden light, like a mini waterfall, each section possessing the same destructive power as the previous shells. Its soul power was all but spent after unleashing this final attack. Usually, it would either devour its felled prey or, if further danger approached, spread its wings and escape. But with Titled Douluo present, all it could do was wait to see Qian Xunji's end.
"Angel's Descent!"
Qian Xunji's fourth soul ring lit up slowly. Power output, attack, speed—everything surged by fifty percent as he poured all his soul power into his Holy Sword, which blazed with dazzling golden light. Like a falling star, he plummeted from the sky into the golden onslaught. Explosions rang out one after another, strong enough to shake even his Angel Domain.
From within that golden cascade, a single golden meteor shot out—Qian Xunji. But the Holy Sword in his hands was already shattered, and his first, fourth, and fifth soul rings had dimmed. It seemed he must have continued fighting within the golden flood, breaking his Holy Sword, and resorting to his first soul skill.
Even so, the sleeves on both his arms had been torn up to the shoulders, revealing pale skin covered in bulging veins and dripping blood.
"You've lost!"
Bursting forth from the golden light, Qian Xunji slammed a heavy punch onto the head of the Two-Winged Radiant White Tiger, whose eyes were wide with shock. He struck the top of its skull and sent the tiger crashing back down into the Star Dou Great Forest.
Amid the dense vegetation, Qian Xunji's fists glowed golden as he punched repeatedly—several blows per second—each time aiming for the tiger's heart. A wave of golden soul power passed through the tiger's body with every impact.
"Angel Assault!"
The instant his first soul ring's cooldown finished, Qian Xunji launched another soul skill. Gathering soul power in his fist, he hammered the tiger's chest before the shield effect could even fully form, sending golden power straight through it. A tree more than ten meters behind exploded under the force, leaving a sharply etched fist-shaped impact.
The Two-Winged Radiant White Tiger coughed up a mouthful of blood, its heart destroyed. Qian Xunji had beaten it to death with his bare hands. A thick, inky-black soul ring radiating horrifying soul power and bitter resentment floated up.
Exhilarating!
Qian Xunji wiped the sweat from his brow as the adrenaline rush ebbed away. He gasped for breath in great heaves. Fighting without fully relying on a martial soul—this raw, visceral clash of fists—felt incredibly satisfying.
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