31. Crystal Bear

Next day_

At the back of the STGT sect martial arts platform, there was a two-meter-tall, wounded light brown-white bear locked in a cage.

"This is the crystal bear you asked for. Our sect members searched for all three soul beasts you wanted. Even though we found other beasts as well, this crystal bear is the only one that is suitable for your soul ring age. It's around 710 years," Sword Douluo said to Xie Yue, who was near him.

"Mm, thank you for your hard work, Grandpa," Xie Yue thanked him. Every gesture of his was filled with elegance and nobility.

Sword Douluo was also surprised by Xie Yue's talent. It's not easy to get this noble aura. He could see it more clearly; Xie Yue didn't pretend or try to act elegantly. This aura was already rooted deep within him, as if he was born with it. Can a child learn noble etiquette to the core in just a year and a half? It's impossible! But his disciple did it.

Seeing his disciple, Chen Xin also felt happy and proud.

"It seems your study at Moon Pavilion has benefited you a lot. Now you can clearly control your mood fluctuations easily," Sword Douluo said after evaluating Xie Yue once again.

"Is it?" Xie Yue asked back.

"Yeah... You didn't even show your joy after seeing this bear. It's a good thing," Sword Douluo praised. Now Xie Yue was only 9 years old, but he already knew the importance of hiding one's emotions. He was already showing maturity.

But the truth is Xie Yue deliberately controlled his mood fluctuations. He didn't want to act like a little kid anymore. He was tired of it. Even though acting was very easy for him after learning how to control his aura from Tang Yuehua, Xie Yue didn't want to act now. If he kept acting like always, he couldn't get involved with many important things related to their sect's higher-ups. So he also had to show some maturity step by step.

"Thank you for your praise, Grandpa. I am really happy to receive it from you," Xie Yue smiled mildly and sweetly. Little maturity and little cuteness, but full of elegance.

"Haha, kill it and absorb it. Grandpa also found a suitable fourth soul ring for you. When our sect members found the crystal bear, they also found another bear. They said they didn't know the name, and it must be a powerful soul beast above 30,000 years. It has the ability to fight against the soul saint. So I went to have a look. After feeling it, I found it was only around 5,000 years. It's on the same level as the bird we found for your first soul ring. It's good to be your fourth soul ring. So I let someone keep an eye on it. After a while, I will go there and bring it back," Sword Douluo said slowly.

They sent people to search for the soul beasts Xie Yue needed one and a half years ago. After a hard search, they found the crystal bear. They also found many other suitable soul beasts for Hu Liena and Xie Yue. That powerful bear was also one of the coincidental encounters.

Xie Yue knew his luck was not good, so he asked them to search for his soul beast a year earlier. If he were to go there in person after reaching the bottle neck, who knows whether he would meet a super or top-level soul beast that was suitable for him within few days?

His luck was always bad. He didn't want to bet on this possibility. Since he had the backing of the sect, he had to utilize it for himself.

Now, see... he had already found the second super soul beast. This was the power of collective force. That's why Xie Yue didn't choose to act alone and found a backing for himself.

Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear... it was on the same level as the Emerald Demon Bird.

"Kill it quickly. I want to see what skill this top-level soul beast will give you," Sword Douluo urged.

"Yeah." Xie Yue summoned his Moon Blades. A light yellow soul ring circled around him. Xie Yue willed to activate the soul ring. The soul ring shone brightly... In a flash, he disappeared. Then a flesh-cutting sound was heard. The crystal bear's head fell down. It was very simple.

Xie Yue had the default innate ability of doubling his speed, plus the first soul ring boost of 140% (120% + 10*2%). It also had an attack boost of 140%, plus the default 20% defense-breaking property of his Moon Blades.

He had super speed and attack that broke the limit of level 30+ soul elders. Since it was a seriously injured crystal bear, he easily broke its defense. But if it had been an uninjured crystal bear... it would have been just a pipe dream to kill it.

Even in ancient times, crystal bears would be exceedingly rare and powerful. They were mutated from the same species as the Dark Gold Fear Claw Bear. Only, its mutation made it far weaker than the Fear Claw Bear. Although it was weaker than the Fear Claw Bear, the Crystal Bear possessed a special ability. Every single one of its attacks would cause its opponent's body to crystallize by a fraction, stacking until its opponent eventually shattered from its subsequent attacks.

The Crystal Bear's skin was as hard as copper, and its bones were as hard as iron. Its body was super strong. Only with strong soul power and a quick removal of the crystallized areas could one avoid massive losses from a Crystal Bear. The Crystal Bear also had a weakness; it lacked ranged combat abilities, and its neck was its weak point.

Its soul power exploded when it was on the verge of death, crystallizing everything in a certain radius. The stronger the Crystal Bear, the greater the radius of its soul power explosion.

The thousand-year Crystal Bear was practically no different from a bulldozer as it barreled through the thicket. Any small trees unfortunate enough to stand in its way will be simply crystallized, then smashed into fine powder. It was simply overbearing.

"Maybe if it wasn't for Chen Xin's methods, it would have self-exploded," Xie Yue thought.

He sat down cross-legged and started absorbing the soul ring.

After a while, two yellow soul rings circled around him. His height also increased a little. He was now more than 140 cm. His soul power also increased by two levels, unlike when he absorbed his first soul ring. His first soul ring age was only around 200 years, so he didn't get any soul power improvement. But now, he was already level 22.

"What is your soul ring ability?" Sword Douluo asked impatiently.

"Crystal Slash," Xie Yue said simply.