Douluo Dalu II: The Peerless Tang Sect

Chapter 104 Phoenix Sky Blue Flame! Entering the Core Area!

Fifteen minutes later.

Zhu Lie was the first to complete the absorption of his spirit ring, becoming a true Soul Emperor-level Soul Master. Although the Diamond Rhinoceros spirit ring was close to 20,000 years old, it was still too easy for Zhu Lie, whose spirit was the One-Horned Mountain Boar. If it weren't for the extreme rarity of spirit beasts like the Diamond Rhinoceros, Zhu Lie would have preferred a 30,000-year spirit ring.

"Congratulations," Zhang Lexuan said on behalf of everyone, congratulating Zhu Lie.

"Hehe, I still want to thank Senior Sister, Senior Sister Ruoruo, and everyone else." Zhu Lie scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "When we get back, I'll cook something delicious for everyone."

"Great!" Su Meng was the first to clap her hands in agreement.

Everyone laughed.

Zhang Lexuan smiled, but her gaze shifted to Ma Xiaotao, who was still absorbing the spirit ring. She frowned slightly and murmured, "I hope Xiaotao can absorb the spirit ring successfully."

At this moment, Ma Xiaotao was frowning, absorbing the Fire Spirit Tiger Soul Ring with all her might. Her body was trembling slightly, but her hands firmly held onto the Soul Ring. Soft yet powerful soul energy poured out from the Soul Ring, impacting Ma Xiaotao's meridians and flesh again and again. Ma Xiaotao ignored it, enduring the intense pain and absorbing all of this soul energy.

Time slips away bit by bit.

"Chirp~"

The phoenix cries out loud and clear, the female phoenix sings softly and melodiously.

A clear phoenix cry rang out, and Ma Xiaotao instantly jumped up from the ground. Behind her, five spirit rings—yellow, purple, and black—shone brightly, along with a crimson phoenix phantom. Clearly, she had completed the absorption of her fifth spirit ring.

Ma Xiaotao put away her martial spirit and spirit rings, and like a gust of wind, she instantly rushed to Zhu Ziyang's side and hugged him tightly. The girl was very excited, holding the still somewhat bewildered boy tightly.

Her reaction showed everyone that Zhu Ziyang was right. Seeing this, Zhang Lexuan and the other girls couldn't help but smile. They all had a good relationship with Ma Xiaotao and naturally hoped that her martial soul defect could be eliminated.

"Sister Xiaotao, I can't breathe!" Zhu Ziyang's head was buried in something soft, his nose and mouth were completely blocked, so his voice sounded a little muffled, but the movement of his hands reminded Ma Xiaotao.

Ma Xiaotao immediately released Zhu Ziyang, then looked at him with eyes full of joy and gratitude, saying, "Little brother Ziyang, thank you so much!"

"Xiao Tao, has your martial soul defect been resolved?" Wu Ming asked.

"Not yet, but I can clearly feel that the evil fire's influence on me has weakened considerably. At least now I don't have to worry about losing control during battle!" Ma Xiaotao said excitedly, then hugged Zhu Ziyang tightly. "Ziyang, this is all thanks to you! I'll fulfill any needs you may have in the future!"

"It's alright, Sister Tao," Zhu Ziyang replied with a smile. "Does our relationship need to be concerned with such things?"

Zhu Ziyang was referring to a master-disciple relationship, while Wu Ming and the others, unaware of the details, looked at the two with ambiguous expressions, and several male students were already preparing to whistle.

"So, Xiao Tao's problem with her 'evil fire' hasn't been completely resolved?" Zhang Lexuan stopped the crowd from making a fuss. She understood Zhu Ziyang's meaning and was very familiar with the relationship between Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan, so she said.

"Hmm!" Ma Xiaotao nodded, not disappointed, and said, "But it's okay, at least I know the solution, right? As long as I absorb a few more spirit rings like the Fire Spirit Tiger, I won't have to worry about solving the evil fire problem, right, Ziyang?"

"Hehe~" Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but smile wryly upon hearing this, and said, "It's not that easy, Sister Xiaotao. Not to mention that soul beasts like the Fire Spirit Tiger are rare and difficult to find. Even if you did find one, it wouldn't be of much help to you. Your evil fire is a demonic power, and ordinary purifying fire can only work once. If you want to eradicate it, you can only do what your ancestor Phoenix did when he fought Roma Hongjun, and use rare and precious materials."

"Is that so!" Ma Xiaotao's excitement subsided a bit, but she still smiled and said, "It's okay, I was just too greedy. Being able to weaken it once is already good enough."

"Xiao Tao, you..." Zhang Lexuan wanted to comfort Ma Xiao Tao.

But Ma Xiaotao waved her hand and said, "I'm fine, Sister Lexuan. Let's continue on our way."

"Alright." Zhang Lexuan had no choice but to give up, and turned to the crowd, saying, "Everyone, let's get ready to go."

The group quickly tidied up, formed a battle formation, and continued their search for the soul beast.

"Sigh! If rare and precious materials were so easy to obtain, would little Peach have to suffer like this?" Xuanzi sighed from his hiding place in the tree.

-

Over the next few days, the group traveled thousands of meters, visiting many places, enduring a long and arduous journey.

Of course, hard work is rewarded accordingly. Most of the team members have already obtained the soul rings they wanted. Now, only Zhang Lexuan, Zhu Ziyang, and Wu Ming have not yet found someone they like.

However, Wu Ming will soon fall outside this category.

Ma Xiaotao, Wu Ming, Luo Wei, Wan Wan, Long Yu, and others were besieging a 25,000-year-old Earth King. The Earth King, a ferocious fire-attribute soul beast, was actually a scorpion soul beast, bloodthirsty and extremely aggressive, despite its name. The group had been provoked and hadn't intended to hunt it, yet it had attacked them first, displaying extreme arrogance.

Therefore, at Zhu Ziyang's suggestion, this Earth King is about to become Wu Ming's sixth soul ring.

"Phoenix Azure Flame!" Ma Xiaotao in the air revealed her fifth soul ring, and a phoenix made of blue flames instantly flew out from behind her, heading straight for the Earth King who was being controlled by Wanwan on the ground.

Phoenix Azure Flame releases a phoenix composed of flames imbued with purifying power, dealing massive fire damage to targets on the ground while simultaneously removing all negative status effects from itself.

The Earth King, struck precisely by Phoenix Sky Blue Flame, was immediately declared critically ill. Wu Ming finished him off in time, taking the head and the soul ring.

Wu Ming began absorbing the spirit ring, and as usual, everyone surrounded him in the middle.

"Ziyang, how strong is my fifth soul skill?" Ma Xiaotao sat down next to Zhu Ziyang and asked with some pride.

"Yes, very strong," Zhu Ziyang replied with a smile.

"Hehe, that's for sure!" Ma Xiaotao giggled repeatedly, her body constantly touching Zhu Ziyang.

Half an hour later, Wu Ming finished absorbing the soul ring and advanced to Soul Emperor.

"Everyone, should we choose to go deeper, or continue searching in this area?" Zhang Lexuan asked.

"Senior Sister, right now only you and Junior Brother Ziyang haven't found the soul beasts you want. Junior Brother Ziyang doesn't need to worry, the soul beasts in this area are enough to meet his needs. But what you need is your eighth soul ring. Alas, there are definitely no suitable soul beasts for you here. Why don't we go a little deeper?" It was Zhang Weiwei, a woman with a cold demeanor, who spoke. She said, "Once you obtain your eighth soul ring, we'll go back and find a soul ring for Junior Brother Ziyang."

"But if we go any deeper, we'll be entering the core area." Zhang Lexuan was conflicted. She wanted to refuse because, as a qualified team leader, she couldn't put the team in danger. But she also didn't want to compromise herself; her eighth spirit ring was crucial to her ability to break through to the Title Douluo level, and she couldn't just choose it casually.

"It's alright, Le Xuan," Han Ruoruo said. "If it were at the beginning, our strength might have been insufficient, but now, we have a team of one Soul Douluo, four Soul Saints, four Soul Emperors, and three Soul Kings. As long as it's not a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast, we can retreat with ease!"

"But..." Zhang Lexuan still couldn't make up her mind.

"Let's vote. Those who think we can continue to explore this further, please raise your hands," Cheng Hui said.

Everyone raised their hands, including Zhu Ziyang.

"Everyone!" Zhang Lexuan was deeply moved and had no choice but to agree, saying, "Alright. But I must make it clear that we will only advance one kilometer and stay for only one day. After one day, if I haven't found a suitable soul beast, we must retreat!"

"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.

"You can stay a few more days," Xuanzi suddenly appeared before them and said. "With me protecting you, there's nothing to worry about! Lexuan, you don't need to make yourself suffer!"

"This... thank you, Elder Xuan!" Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but smile brightly as she spoke.

After receiving Elder Xuan's assurance, everyone was immediately filled with confidence and motivation. With a level 98 Super Douluo in charge, they could even compete with a 100,000-year-old soul beast.

(End of this chapter)