Douluo Continent: The Eternal Dawn

Chapter 108 Ancient Crimson Dragon
Although the probability of a soul beast dropping a soul bone increases significantly when it is filled with extreme resentment, it is ultimately a matter of probability.

Ye Xixuan paid particular attention to the corpses of the Purple Spirit Wolf and the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Wolf King. These two powerful ten-thousand-year soul beasts did not drop any soul bones, but Ye Xixuan found another soul bone in the corpse of another thousand-year soul wolf.

Apart from the leader, the ten-thousand-year-old Soul Wolf King, the other Soul Wolves in the pack were mostly around three thousand years old, with almost none having a cultivation level exceeding five thousand years.

According to the habits of wolf-like spirit beasts, if another powerful individual appears in the wolf pack, it will inevitably challenge the wolf king's position. Therefore, the wolf king usually nipps such threats in the bud, either by driving them out of the pack or by killing them on the spot, in order to demonstrate its absolute power.

Ye Xixuan held up two silver-gray soul bones that shimmered with a faint light in front of Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao, which together formed a pair of arm soul bones.

Judging from both the overflowing soul power fluctuations and their completeness, the quality of these two soul bones is quite ordinary.

Even so, soul bones will always be the most precious items in any country's auction house, and they are completely priceless. Any soul bone can only be traded for at least 100,000 gold soul coins, and more often than not, soul bones are exchanged through barter.

After all, the probability of a soul bone appearing is extremely low. You should know that the chance of a soul beast of a rank below 100,000 years producing a soul bone is usually only one in ten thousand.

Even the lowest-grade secret technique soul bone, which requires using particularly cruel methods to slaughter soul beasts, has a success rate of only about one in ten.

Not counting the ten-thousand-year-old Purple Spirit Wolf, the number of Soul Wolves that actually died at Ye Xixuan's hands was less than twenty, yet two Soul Bones appeared. This probability was even higher than the success rate of the Secret Technique Soul Bones.

Moreover, this is a soul bone that actually fell from a soul beast, not a soul bone created by fusing the soul rings of a hundred similar soul beasts using a secret technique, although it is indeed of lower quality.

Looking at the two soul bones in front of her, Ma Xiaotao's surprise deepened, and then she said in a tone of deep agreement.

"Senior Sister, I now believe your previous guess. If only one thousand-year soul bone had fallen, it might have been a coincidence, but two thousand-year soul bones fell in succession. This must be related to his martial soul ability. Since his martial soul can resolve the evil fire in my body, it shouldn't be difficult for him to induce extreme resentment in a soul beast on its deathbed."

"Xi Xuan's ability involves too many things, so don't reveal it to outsiders for now." Zhang Lexuan said solemnly, looking at Ye Xi Xuan and Ma Xiao Tao in front of her.

If their deductions are correct, and the probability of Ye Xixuan obtaining soul bones from killing soul beasts in the future remains around one in ten, this will definitely shake the entire soul master world.

Faced with such enormous profits and temptations, who dares to say they can always maintain their original intentions?

This increases the probability of obtaining soul bones from hunting soul beasts by a full thousand times, enough to drive any soul master crazy.

Although Elder Xuan and Elder Song did not appear, it is foreseeable that the two elders were not at peace.

Ma Xiaotao, unlike her usual impatient self, nodded seriously.

"Senior Sister, I understand."

"Sister Lexuan, what should we do with these two soul bones?" Ye Xixuan asked Zhang Lexuan, controlling the two thousand-year-old soul wolf bones to float in front of him.

Zhang Lexuan smiled and shook her head, saying, "According to the rules set by the academy, if a teacher or student drops a soul bone while hunting a soul beast, the soul bone belongs to whoever is the last to kill it. Xi Xuan, you can keep these two soul bones for now and deal with them yourself when you return to the academy."

“Alright.” Ye Xixuan did not refuse too much and casually put the two soul bones into the black storage bracelet on his left wrist.

For most people, a soul bone of this quality isn't considered particularly precious.

Ma Xiaotao couldn't help but offer a reminder.

"You brat, don't let the temptation in front of you cloud your judgment. Although soul bones have a good amplification effect on soul masters, the slots on a soul master's body for fusing soul bones are not to be wasted. You can put these two soul bones up for auction or give them away to others, but don't try to absorb them yourself without knowing what you're doing. When you need them in the future, the academy will naturally provide you with higher quality soul bones that are more suitable for you."

"Sister Xiaotao, in your eyes, am I really such a short-sighted person who can't resist temptation?" Ye Xixuan sighed helplessly, but he also knew that Ma Xiaotao meant well.

Upon hearing Ye Xixuan's words, Ma Xiaotao's mind was suddenly filled with a series of thoughts. Although her cheeks flushed, she maintained her image as a kind and understanding senior, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"Isn't that right? If you can resist temptation, how do you explain things to Vina? A princess of noble birth, isn't that quite a treat? Or a gentle older sister who knows how to care for people, tsk tsk."

"Uh..." Ye Xixuan's tone faltered, and meeting Ma Xiaotao's gaze, he became even more certain of his guess. When he was absorbing the soul ring earlier, Vina must have said something to Sister Xiaotao.

What Ma Xiaotao didn't know was that while she seemed to be talking about Vina, she was actually alluding to Zhang Lexuan.

Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but glance at Ye Xixuan beside her, whose expression was somewhat unnatural. The look in her beautiful eyes became even gentler, and her bright eyes seemed to shimmer with starlight.

In fact, she had this feeling for a long time. The reason why Ye Xixuan was able to accept Vina so quickly was probably because he saw her shadow in Vina.

No matter how many outstanding girls surround Ye Xixuan in the future, she will always be the one who has the most profound influence on him.

This is the composure that belongs to Zhang Lexuan, because no one can replace her in Ye Xixuan's heart.

Ma Xiaotao continued to tease Ye Xixuan, as if this made her feel the authority of her senior, and also gave her a sense of superiority that came from knowing the truth but not being able to say it out loud.

"You little rascal, don't think your little sister Tao doesn't understand what you teenage boys are thinking. You may not say it, but you're secretly enjoying it, aren't you?" As she said this, she habitually puffed out her exaggeratedly full breasts.

"Tell me, aren't you very proud of yourself?"

Ye Xixuan was more focused on the reaction of his senior sister beside him. Compared to Ma Xiaotao, he naturally respected this senior sister more. Seeing that Zhang Lexuan remained calm and her eyes were filled with a gentle smile, he no longer had any worries.

Faced with Ma Xiaotao's aggressive questioning, Ye Xixuan straightened his chest and said with a smile.

"I admit I am quite proud of myself, but if Vina were replaced by you, Sister Tao, I would be even more proud."

"You brat, what did you say?!" Ma Xiaotao blushed instantly and almost jumped up and down on the spot.

What on earth does this brat mean?!
If you replace Vina with her, and then consider the scene Vina described to her last night, isn't Ye Xixuan's statement implying that he fantasized about doing that kind of thing to him?
Thinking of this, Ma Xiaotao immediately and subconsciously squeezed her long, firm, and powerful legs together, glaring at Ye Xixuan with shame and indignation.

"Say that again?!"

"Hehe, Sister Xiaotao, I was just joking." Ye Xixuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly chuckled awkwardly.

He didn't understand why Ma Xiaotao was reacting so strongly, but at this moment he dared not add fuel to the fire and completely enrage this violent senior.

After saying this, Ye Xixuan quickly took a few steps and walked to Vina's side.

Ma Xiaotao took a deep breath, feeling a mixture of shame and indignation, so angry that her breasts ached.

In the end, Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but say a few words of comfort.

"Alright, Xiao Tao. Xi Xuan is still young, and his words are a bit frivolous. Don't take it to heart."

"Senior Sister, it's really not that I want to stoop to his level!" Ma Xiaotao clenched her fists, on the verge of tears, but there were some things she really couldn't say to Zhang Lexuan.

Do you even know what this brat you raised has done?! Not content with spraying food all over his face, he even thought about…

Taking a deep breath, Ma Xiaotao finally calmed herself down a bit.

In addition to feeling ashamed and indignant, she also experienced a strange sensation not only in her heart but also in her body.

Ye Xixuan had no idea what unhealthy things Ma Xiaotao was thinking. He stood next to Vina, about ten meters away from Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao.

This was exactly where they had camped the night before. The corpses of the three-headed wolf ape, the ten-thousand-year-old purple spirit wolf, and the pack of soul wolves were scattered haphazardly around them, and the stench of blood was growing stronger and stronger.

This is also why Zhang Lexuan urged Vina to absorb the spirit ring as soon as possible.

The longer you stay here, the more likely you are to be attacked by soul beasts.

Soul beasts that are not afraid of the aura of ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts like wolf apes and purple spirit wolves, and that come attracted by the smell of blood, will only become stronger.

Just then, Ye Xixuan seemed to sense something and looked towards the depths of the forest, where another soul beast was approaching. It was entirely black, its form concealed within the dense foliage, making it difficult to see clearly. Illusory black light and shadow covered its fur, making its pair of blood-red eyes particularly conspicuous.

"Shadow Wolf? Another wolf-type soul beast?"

Unlike Soul Wolves, Shadow Demon Wolves, while not the top-tier among wolf-type soul beasts, are only inferior to those few standing at the pinnacle of wolf-type soul beasts.

Judging from its aura, this Shadow Wolf should also have a cultivation level of ten thousand years.

Ye Xixuan even began to suspect that the three wolf-axes had often bullied other wolf-type soul beasts in the vicinity, which led to their retaliatory attack after their deaths.

Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao also discovered the existence of this ten-thousand-year-old Shadow Wolf. If Ye Xixuan hadn't already absorbed his fourth soul ring, this ten-thousand-year-old Shadow Wolf would actually be a good choice.

The Shadow Wolf clan possesses several formidable dark-attribute soul skills and does not exhibit gregarious behavior, as they are powerful enough on their own.

With each flash, the Shadow Wolf left a trail of afterimages behind it, its speed astonishing.

It remained cautiously pacing in the outer area, about 100 meters away from the group.

Ye Xixuan's gaze sharpened, and as four spirit rings appeared beneath his feet, the powerful aura of his ultimate dark attribute martial soul instantly erupted.

Looking into Ye Xixuan's dark eyes, which were like an endless abyss, the Shadow Wolf suddenly felt an instinctive fear. The illusory light and shadow that flickered all over its body became much dimmer, and its speed suddenly stopped.

At the same time, shadowy chains emerged from the void, as if materialized from the shadow realm into reality, forcefully binding the shadow wolf's form.

Suppressed by the extreme dark attribute soul power contained in the chains, the fear deep in the eyes of the Shadow Wolf almost materialized, and it struggled frantically, constantly emitting shrill whimpers.

"Woo woo woo woo—" The Shadow Wolf barely managed to gather its soul power, and a strong black light burst forth from its body. A black light and shadow the same size as itself separated with lightning speed and transformed into its true form, while the true form, which had been bound by black chains, turned into an illusory light and shadow and disappeared.

This is not an ordinary clone-type talent soul skill, but a life-saving divine skill similar to the transformation between illusion and reality.

Before the Shadow Wolf could fully recover, it heard Ye Xixuan's cold, low shout.

"roll!"

The Shadow Wolf shuddered, its eyes instantly clearing, and without hesitation, it tucked its tail between its legs and turned to run away.

This is the terrifying aspect of attribute suppression. If this Shadow Wolf hadn't possessed the innate soul skill of transforming between reality and illusion, it wouldn't have been able to break free from the bindings of those shadow chains and would have lost the ability to resist on the spot.

Zhang Lexuan watched this scene with a smile, while Ma Xiaotao frowned slightly and pouted.

This brat is incredibly powerful and domineering when he uses his martial soul, but his usual unserious behavior is really infuriating!

Having scared away the ancient Shadow Wolf, Ye Xixuan sat cross-legged beside Vina and began meditating to recover his soul power. His soul power had already been nearly depleted while maintaining his Dark Night Dome domain.

However, even outside the domain, he can now directly connect to the Shadow Domain space in the void, instead of having to use the shadow beneath his feet as a medium as before.

The spatial power that only a dual-soul core Limit Douluo could comprehend was initially mastered by him at the four-ring Soul Master level through his soul skills.

Of course, the left leg bone of the Three-Life Wolf Ape also played a crucial role, as its attributes perfectly matched his second and fourth soul skills, which allowed him to accomplish this so easily.

Vina's subsequent absorption of the spirit ring went exceptionally smoothly; she successfully fused with her fourth spirit ring, which was at the ten-thousand-year level, in less than two hours.

However, finding a target for Ma Xiaotao's seventh spirit ring was not so easy.

For ten whole days, they gained nothing. In fact, this is the norm for Soul Masters when hunting Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings.

Obtaining a soul ring with suitable attributes and age requires not only strength but also a certain amount of luck. Getting nothing at all is considered good; sometimes, weak soul master teams not only fail to hunt down suitable targets but also suffer losses, with some even remaining forever in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Not all Soul Masters are born into noble families or have powerful mentors to protect them.

Ma Xiaotao's target is a top-grade fire-attribute soul beast with over 60,000 years of cultivation. Soul beasts of this level basically only live in the core area of ​​the Star Dou Great Forest.

Led by Zhang Lexuan, the group entered the core area of ​​the Star Dou Great Forest and searched horizontally around the most dangerous place in the center of the core area.

The core area of ​​the Star Dou Great Forest is much more dangerous than the mixed area. At night, Zhang Lexuan divided the four people into two groups to take turns keeping watch.

Zhang Lexuan and Vina formed a group, while Ye Xixuan and Ma Xiaotao formed another group.

This distribution was not due to any selfish motives, but rather based on a consideration of everyone's abilities.

On the morning of the eleventh day, Zhang Lexuan and Vina were still meditating, while Ye Xixuan and Ma Xiaotao stood face to face.

Besides being vigilant about her surroundings, Ma Xiaotao would always intentionally or unintentionally cast her gaze on Ye Xixuan, and this had been the case for the past few days.

Ye Xixuan couldn't take it anymore and said with a bitter face, "Sister Xiaotao, so many days have passed, you don't still hold a grudge against me, do you?"

"Who holds a grudge against you?!" Ma Xiaotao snorted irritably, though she was secretly quite pleased with herself.

Being trapped in the perilous Star Dou Great Forest, Ye Xixuan couldn't do anything malicious to Princess Vina. She just wanted to see Ye Xixuan's frustrated and helpless expression.

No one understands the restlessness of teenage boys better than her.

The two had just finished their conversation when they both suddenly noticed something was amiss.

Although they were deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, there was not a trace of damp mist today. The temperature gradually rose, and the fire element in the air had become denser at some point. The intense heat caused ripples in the air, and everything around seemed to be shrouded in a pale red glow.

"Such a rich fire element!" Ma Xiaotao's face immediately lit up with surprise. As a fellow fire element soul master, she knew that this was a sign that only appeared when the fire element was concentrated to a certain degree.

The only thing capable of triggering such a phenomenon must be an extremely powerful fire-attribute soul beast.

"Roar—" A deep, angry roar exploded, and a large shadow appeared on the ground.

Ye Xixuan and Ma Xiaotao suddenly looked up and saw a huge red dragon hovering above the tall tree canopy. It was over fifteen meters long, with a thick layer of crimson membrane between its wings, a ferocious single horn on its head, and its eyes looking down at Ye Xixuan and the others with a violent gaze.

The crimson dragon flapped its red wings and swooped down, its single, curved horn on its forehead suddenly glowing and becoming translucent. Countless fire elements surged towards this horn.

The earth cracked, flowers, grass and trees withered and spontaneously combusted, and an area with a diameter of more than a kilometer was shrouded in a distorted crimson red. Terrifying high temperatures accompanied by scorching air waves swept out, making it a truly desolate wasteland.

It's a domain again!

Zhang Lexuan and Vina had already been alerted and ended their cultivation to come to Ye Xixuan and Ma Xiaotao's side.

Before Zhang Lexuan could speak, Ma Xiaotao exclaimed excitedly with burning eyes, "The 70,000-year-old Crimson Dragon! I'll choose it for my seventh spirit ring!"

The sky was filled with the roar of dragons, and the crimson dragon brought an extremely oppressive dragon's might.

Zhang Lexuan wasn't flustered much; her eyes lit up as well.

"Ancient Crimson Dragon?"

The bloodline purity of the ancient Crimson Dragon is very close to that of a true dragon, making it one of the strongest soul beasts under 100,000 years old. They are proud and tyrannical by nature, and especially hate humans, which is why they rarely have descendants.

The crimson dragon before us may even be the only remaining specimen in the Star Dou Great Forest.

(End of this chapter)