Fourth Soul Skill

At this moment, the eight spider spears of Zuzong, which were originally three meters long, had gradually extended to a length of five meters. A row of neatly arranged barbs had appeared on them, similar to the ones on the Green-Eyed Scaled Dragon. 

The difference was that the barbs on Zuzong's eight spider spears were even sharper, now emitting a pale blue glow that hinted at devouring energy. Beneath this light, red and white halos gave his eight spider spears an extra layer of dazzling patterns.

A faint black light began to gather above the body of the Green-Eyed Scaled Dragon. Unlike the hundred-year or thousand-year soul rings absorbed in the past, Zuzong could faintly feel a weak soul presence within it. Even without directly touching it, he could clearly sense the vast energy contained inside.

Just as Zuzong was preparing to start absorbing it, he heard the voice of Dugu Bo behind him, "Kid, a ten-thousand-year soul ring is different from a thousand-year one. It will create a soul shock during absorption."

As soon as Dugu Bo finished speaking, he closed his eyes again.

Zuzong smiled slightly and nodded, thinking that this old man wasn't that bad after all.

He approached, raising his right hand and slowly gathering his soul power into his palm. Accompanied by a pale blue glow, the Blue Silver Emperor sprouted from his palm, radiating a faint life energy, gently swaying with the fluctuations of his soul power.

Under the guidance of this pale blue light, the Green-Eyed Scaled Dragon's soul ring slowly floated towards Zuzong.

Zuzong's first sensation was pain—intense, unbearable pain, far worse than when he had absorbed the Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

For a moment, Zuzong even felt that if he hadn't endured the pain of the "Ice and Fire Alchemical Body" earlier, he might have already fainted and failed in absorption.

As time passed, an hour had gone by since Zuzong started absorbing the Green-Eyed Scaled Dragon's soul ring. Even Dugu Bo, who had always remained calm, now looked anxious. Over the past two months, their relationship had gradually softened. They no longer had the urge to fight upon meeting, especially today when Sword Douluo came looking for trouble, and it was thanks to Zuzong's mediation that they managed to avoid a disaster.

Dugu Bo furrowed his brows, muttering to himself, "Kid, don't you dare die on me!"

Meanwhile, Zuzong's body was reaching its limit for containing soul power. Feeling the swelling in his meridians, he didn't hesitate. He directed the excess energy into his external soul bone, the eight spider spears. Since the spears could directly devour the energy of the Green-Eyed Scaled Dragon's body, they should also be able to handle the energy from its soul ring.

The eight spider spears extended automatically from Zuzong's back, and with the influx of soul ring energy, they seemed to grow even longer.

Gradually, Zuzong's soul power stabilized, and the peak of pain passed. Now, he faced the second major challenge—soul shock.

Zuzong didn't underestimate this. He activated his Sharingan immediately. Though his eyes remained closed, the Sharingan was fully active. His mental power surged, fiercely battling against the soul shock caused by the Green-Eyed Scaled Dragon's resentment.

What Zuzong didn't know was that a different scene was unfolding before Dugu Bo's eyes.

Zuzong's body was surrounded by a red skeletal phantom about four or five meters high. On the left side of this skeleton, a vague shadow of a massive arm could be seen, echoing with the Blue Silver Emperor in his right hand.

Dugu Bo's pupils shrank as disbelief filled his face. "Could this be... a twin martial soul?"

By evening, Zuzong finally completed the absorption. It was a close call—without the Sharingan greatly boosting his mental power, he might have failed the soul shock challenge despite his physical strength.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, your soul power has increased to level 46, and you have gained 6 more attempts to steal.]

Hearing the system's voice in his mind, Zuzong smiled. He retracted the eight spider spears into his body and slowly opened his eyes, only to find Dugu Bo staring at him in shock. "What's wrong, Senior Dugu?" he asked.

Dugu Bo snapped out of his astonishment when he heard Zuzong's voice. With a piercing gaze, he fixed his eyes on Zuzong and asked, "Kid, are you a twin martial soul?"

"Uh…" Zuzong was puzzled. Could Dugu Bo have seen his Sharingan? That shouldn't be possible since his eyes were closed. Zuzong tentatively asked, "Senior Dugu, did you see something?"

Dugu Bo nodded and replied, "I saw a red skeletal phantom appear around you when you were absorbing the soul ring."

"Susanoo," Zuzong blurted out.

"Susanoo? What kind of martial soul is that? I've never heard of it," Dugu Bo asked, puzzled.

Zuzong felt a bit awkward. With his current three-tomoe Sharingan, he couldn't fully manifest Susanoo. It must have been projected from his mental sea during his struggle with the Green-Eyed Scaled Dragon's resentment. But since he had already mentioned it, he decided to go with the flow and avoid exposing his Sharingan. He thought, better not to let anyone know about it—someone might get greedy for his eyes.

Clearing his throat, Zuzong began to explain, "That's right, I awakened a twin martial soul back then. One is the mutated Blue Silver Grass, and the other is the red skeletal phantom you saw, which is similar to a soul beast I read about in an ancient text called Susanoo. So I named it Susanoo."

Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo gave Zuzong a complex look. An external soul bone, the ability to absorb a soul ring beyond its age limit, a soul power level that surpasses his peers, and a twin martial soul—Dugu Bo could only think of one phrase to describe him: "gifted by the heavens."

Setting aside his mixed feelings, Dugu Bo said, "Alright, I'm glad you trusted me enough to share this. But let's see your fourth soul skill. A ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring—just the thought of it is exciting."

Zuzong nodded. "Okay."

As he spoke, Zuzong gathered soul power into his right hand. A faint white light appeared on his skin, then transformed into a pale blue glow. A deep blue, almost black vine with golden patterns, the Blue Silver Emperor, surged out from his palm. Four soul rings—yellow, purple, purple, and black—rose from beneath him, spiraling around his body.

"Fourth Soul Skill—Blue Silver Dragon."

Zuzong formed a hand seal with his index and middle fingers, and the white light on his skin gradually turned pale blue. The ground beneath him began to crack, and with a roar, a blue-silver dragon over ten meters long burst out from the ground. 

The dragon's appearance was very similar to the Green-Eyed Scaled Dragon, with a hooked nose and spines on its body. The difference was that this dragon was entirely composed of Blue Silver Emperor vines, adorned with the distinctive golden patterns of the Blue Silver Emperor. It moved swiftly, emerging from the ground in an instant and coiling around Zuzong as its center.

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