(Part 1)
At this moment, the zu zong's eight spider spears, originally three meters long, had gradually extended to five meters in length, and each spear began to grow a row of neat barbs. They were somewhat similar to the barbs on the Azure-Eyed Flood Dragon. The difference was that the barbs on the zu zong's eight spider spears were sharper, and now they were completely a pale blue color as they absorbed. Under this pale blue color, the red and white halos added a layer of dazzling patterns to the eight spider spears.
Faint black light spots began to condense above the Azure-Eyed Flood Dragon's body. Unlike the hundred-year and thousand-year soul rings he had absorbed before, the zuzong could even faintly feel a faint soul aura within them. Even without touching them, the zuzong could clearly feel the enormous energy contained within.
Just as the zuzong was about to begin absorbing them, Dugu Bo's voice came from behind him again, "Boy, a ten-thousand-year soul ring is different from a thousand-year soul ring. It will produce a soul vibration when you absorb it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Dugu Bo closed his eyes again.
The zu zong's lips curled slightly, and he nodded. It seemed this old fellow wasn't so hateful after all.
He approached, raised his right hand, and slowly condensed his soul power into his palm. Accompanied by a pale blue halo, the Blue Silver Emperor grew from his palm, radiating a faint life aura, swaying gently with the fluctuations of his soul power.
Guided by that pale blue light, the Azure-Eyed Flood Dragon Soul Ring slowly flew towards the clan leader.
Zu zong's first feeling was pain, unbearable pain, excruciating pain, even more painful than when he absorbed the Blazing Apricot Blossom and the Eight-Cornered Profound Ice Grass at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
For a moment, the zuzong even felt that if he hadn't endured the pain of the "Ice and Fire Refining Body," he would probably have already fainted and failed to absorb it.
As time passed, an hour had gone by since the zuzong absorbed the Azure-Eyed Flood Dragon Soul Ring. At this moment, even Dugu Bo began to lose his composure, his face full of anxiety. Over the past two months, his relationship with the zuzong had gradually improved. Gone was the initial urge to attack upon first meeting him. Especially now, with Sword Douluo causing trouble, it was only thanks to zu zong's intervention that he escaped unscathed.
Dugu Bo frowned, muttering, "You brat, don't die!"
At the same time, zu zong's body had almost reached its limit in terms of soul power. Feeling the expansion of his meridians, without hesitation, Zu Zong channeled the expanding energy into his external soul bone, the Eight Spider Lances. Since the Eight Spider Lances could directly absorb the energy of the Azure-Eyed Flood Dragon's body, then the soul ring, being from the same source, should be able to as well.
The Eight Spider Lances automatically extended from zuzong back, and with the infusion of soul ring energy, they seemed to grow even longer.
At this point, Zu zong's soul power gradually stabilized; the painful peak had passed. Next, he would face the second severe test—soul tremor.
zuzong didn't underestimate it, immediately activating his Sharingan. Although his eyes weren't fully open, his Sharingan was indeed activated. In an instant, the zu zong's spiritual power surged, fiercely battling the soul-shaking tremors caused by the resentment of the Azure-Eyed Flood Dragon within his body.
Unbeknownst to the zuzong, a completely different scene unfolded before Dugu Bo's eyes.
The zuzong was now enveloped in a ring of four-to-five-meter-tall red skeletal silhouettes, with a gigantic arm phantom faintly visible on the left side of the skeleton, mirroring the Blue Silver Emperor in his right hand.
Dugu Bo's pupils contracted, his face showing disbelief. "Could this be... Twin Martial Souls—"
As evening approached, the zuzong finally completed the absorption. This time, it was a close call; without the Sharingan greatly enhancing his spiritual power, even if his physique had passed the test, he probably wouldn't have survived the soul-shaking tremor.
[Ding, congratulations host, your soul power has increased to level 46, and the number of steals has increased by 6.]
Hearing the system notification in his mind, Zu Zong smiled. After storing the Eight Spider Lances into his body, Zu Zong slightly opened his eyes, only to see Dugu Bo staring at him in shock. "Senior Dugu, what's wrong?"
Dugu Bo was taken aback. Hearing Zu Zong's shout, he finally snapped out of his shock. His eyes were sharp as he stared intently at Zu Zong and said, "Boy, I'm asking you, do you have twin martial souls?"
"Uh." Zu Zong was a little puzzled. Could it be that Dugu Bo had seen his Sharingan? That shouldn't be possible! He had his eyes closed. Zu Zong tentatively asked, "Senior Dugu, did you see anything?"
Dugu Bo nodded and said, "I saw a red skull phantom appear around you when you absorbed the soul ring."
"Susanoo." Zu Zong exclaimed.
"Susanoo? What kind of martial soul is that? I've never heard of it before." Dugu Bo asked in confusion.
The zuzong looked slightly embarrassed. With his current three-tomoe Sharingan, he certainly couldn't activate Susanoo. He guessed that during his battle with the Blue-Eyes Flood Dragon's resentment, the initial form of Susanoo had been projected from his spiritual sea. But since he'd already said it, he might as well go with the flow! He wanted to avoid revealing his Sharingan; if someone had malicious intentions and tried to gouge out his eyes, it would be a huge loss.
Clearing his throat, the clan leader resumed his deceptive mode, "That's right, I did awaken twin martial souls. One is a mutated Blue Silver Grass; the other is the red skull you see. It's very similar to a soul beast called Susanoo that I saw in some ancient text, so I named it Susanoo."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo looked at the clan leader with a complicated expression. External soul bone, super-limited soul ring absorption, soul power level surpassing his peers, plus twin martial souls—after thinking it over, Dugu Bo could only come up with four words to describe the other man—uniquely blessed.
Suppressing his complex emotions, Dugu Bo said, "Alright, I'm glad you told me this. But let's see your fourth soul skill first! An unheard-of ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring, just thinking about it makes me excited."
The zuzong nodded and said, "Okay."
As he spoke, the zuzong gathered soul power in his right hand, a faint white light appearing on his skin. Then, a deep blue-black Blue Silver Emperor with strange golden patterns surged out from his palm. Four clear halos of yellow, purple, and black rose from his feet, swirling around his body.
"Fourth Soul Skill - Blue Silver Flood Dragon!"
The zuzong raised his right index and middle fingers together, forming a hand seal. The white light on his skin gradually turned into a pale blue, and the ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch. Accompanied by a roar from beneath his feet, a blue-silver flood dragon several meters long emerged from the ground. The dragon's appearance was very similar to the previous Blue-Eyed Flood Dragon, with a long hooked nose and barbs on its body. Unlike other dragons, the Blue Silver Flood Dragon was entirely formed from the Blue Silver Emperor Vines, and the unique golden patterns on its body were a distinctive feature of the Blue Silver Emperor. The dragon moved with incredible speed, emerging completely from the ground in the blink of an eye, circling around the zu zong's temple.