Douluo: Dream Overlord

"Well... okay."

Looking into Shi Nian's resolute gaze, he seemed to recall his own situation back then.

Back then, he, like Shi Guang, possessed a tenacious will and an intense competitive spirit, which enabled him to reach the Soul Emperor level despite having what others considered a useless martial soul.

If I don't agree, he might resent me because he's not satisfied with my spirit ring configuration.

It's even possible that an imperfect soul ring could damage one's Dao heart, leaving them with no hope of ever reaching a higher realm.

Shi Nian understood his son; Shi Nian was a very self-centered person.

For some reason, he has an inexplicable pursuit of becoming stronger, and he likes to cultivate and learn all kinds of knowledge at any time.

"He is indeed my son! This son is just like me! He even inherited my indomitable spirit."

Shi Nian nodded with emotion and said, "Alright, even if I don't agree, you won't give up, right?"

But let's make it clear first, if you encounter any problems, I will interrupt your spirit ring absorption.

"Sure! I won't have any problems!"

Shiguang nodded in agreement.

Shi Nian reluctantly took Shi Guang with him into the Star Dou Great Forest.

During their journey deeper into the world, the two encountered several rare thousand-year-old spirit beasts with spiritual attributes, but they gave up on them because they did not meet Shi Guang's expectations.

Shi Nian silently scanned his surroundings with his spiritual power and discovered many ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts along the way.

However, spiritual beasts with ten thousand years of spiritual power are rare, and none have been discovered to date.

Shi Nian hesitated for a moment, then continued deeper into the forest, this time about to enter the middle layer of the forest.

Here, there are many more ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, and occasionally there are even traces of one-hundred-thousand-year-old soul beasts.

At that time, as a spirit-type Soul Emperor who was about to break through, although his spiritual power was comparable to that of an ordinary Soul Douluo, he was still a control-type Soul Master.

Shi Nian did not want to fight against ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts who were good at head-on combat. Their strength was enough to challenge the Soul King, which would be a troublesome thing for him.

The two chose to avoid ordinary ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, and hid in the bushes when they encountered soul beasts with dangerous auras.

Stopping and starting along the way, Shi Nian suddenly stopped and reached out to stop time.

He closed his eyes to sense the scan of mental energy, then opened them and said with a smile, "I really wonder why your luck is always so good!"

We found a ten-thousand-year-old spiritual beast, and its age was around ten thousand years, so its spiritual power was equivalent to that of a thirty-thousand-year-old spiritual beast.

Upon hearing this, Shi Guang smiled.

It seems that boys who smile a lot are usually lucky.

Led by Shi Nian, the two wandered around until they arrived at a patch of grass.

Through the gaps in the grass, Shi Nian pointed to a spot, and Shi Guang looked over and saw a spirit beast bowing its head and eating.

The soul beast, entirely silver and resembling a hybrid of an elephant and a hippopotamus, was devouring a rabbit soul beast on the ground, emanating a powerful aura.

"This is a ten-thousand-year-old nightmare beast!"

Shi Nian exclaimed in shock, "It can cast a mental mark on its target, exposing the marked object to the Nightmare Beast's sight, ultimately leading to its death!"

"If you kill this soul beast, you'll most likely gain the effect of this spiritual imprint, which is one of the best spiritual-type soul skills! You can't let this opportunity pass you by!"

"Then let's choose this Nightmare Beast as my Soul Ring." Time looked at the Nightmare Beast as it ate, a fiery glint in its eyes.

Shi Nian nodded, and the Remnant Dream Martial Soul appeared on his body, his final sixth soul ring suddenly shining brightly.

"Sixth Soul Skill - A Dream of Ten Thousand Years!"

The soul skill was used on the Nightmare Beast, and its body stiffened for a moment before it turned its head to look at the two people's location.

"Damn it! This Nightmare Beast's mental resistance actually resisted my attack!"

Shi Nian, his face grim, grabbed Shi Guang and said, "It seems I can't avoid a battle with it. I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you in a moment. You'd better be careful!"

"Understood." Time nodded.

The Nightmare Beast roared and charged toward the two of them. Shi Nian grabbed Shi Guang and dodged to the side.

boom!

The Nightmare Beast darted straight through the bushes and crashed into a tree, snapping the thick trunk in two. It shook its head and looked at Shi Nian and the other person with a fierce gaze.

"Third Soul Skill - Dream Whip!"

Shi Nian's face was grim. His third spirit ring shone, and a surge of spiritual power was twisted into a long whip, lashing out at the Nightmare Beast's head in the form of spiritual energy.

"Aww!"

The Nightmare Beast, in pain, stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. It roared at the two of them, and a beam of mental energy shot straight toward them.

Ordinary Soul Masters can only use their Soul Power to defend against the attack in advance, but Soul Masters with Spiritual Power Martial Souls can clearly 'see' the attack.

Shi Nian pushed aside the passage of time, his expression grave as he focused his mental energy to defend himself. At the same time, his second spirit ring suddenly shone brightly: "Second Spirit Skill—Mental Barrier!"

A nearly transparent mental barrier formed in front of Shi Nian, and the Nightmare Beast's mental energy impact hit the barrier, blasting him away.

The Nightmare Beast turned to look at Time, a glint of greed flashing in its eyes.

Shi Guang looked at the scene before him with some worry, silently summoned Can Meng, and Bai Meng appeared in his hand.

He estimated that with his strength as a half-step Soul Master who had not yet advanced to the Soul Master level, he would not be able to escape the pursuit of this ten-thousand-year-old Nightmare Beast.

He'd rather just fight it out directly than die a cowardly death on the run; he'd rather die a glorious death in battle against the soul beasts.

"Fifth Soul Skill - Dream's Entanglement!"

A furious shout rang out, and the Nightmare Beast's eyes suddenly went blank as it opened them wide and fell straight to the ground.

Its silent eyes reflected the years of anger and the moments of stunned silence.

Shi Nian was panting heavily, his face pale, clearly indicating that he had exhausted his soul power.

Even with his Soul Emperor-level Soul Power, his Soul Power was starting to feel strained after using one low-level Soul Skill and two high-level Soul Skills in succession.

His soul power had entered a sluggish state due to excessive consumption, and its recovery speed was much slower than usual. He looked at Shi Guang with slightly rapid breathing and said:

"Kill it quickly! My soul skill effect won't last long! It'll be troublesome once it wakes up!"

Hearing Shi Nian's urging, Shi Guang nodded and stepped forward. Looking at the Nightmare Beast with its lifeless eyes, he gripped Bai Meng tightly with both hands and raised it to stab it hard in the head.

puff!

The Nightmare Beast's head burst like a balloon, splattering yellow and white matter all over the ground.

A blackened spirit ring appeared on it.

"Let's find a secluded spot so you can absorb the spirit ring."

Shi Nian said he had two concerns.

One reason is that his soul power is currently weak, and he needs to rest for a while to recover his soul power before he can protect the Time Guardian.

Another option is to find a secluded place to avoid a repeat of the last time they encountered the legendary dragon and snake, where their son ended up with an extra marriage engagement for no apparent reason.

Time led the Soul Ring and Shi Nian to a secluded patch of grass. After Shi Nian had recovered some of his soul power, he nodded and then sat cross-legged on the ground to absorb the Soul Ring.

Shi Nian looked at him with concern.